Dear Editor, I am a school board member, but I write today as a past teacher. I am a Democrat, but I support the governor’s efforts to change our education system because we will be in crisis otherwise. Almost three years ago, the Joint Fiscal Office Report identified possible options t o contain educational costs, including encouraging or mandating more mergers, consolidating administrative services and moving education spending decisions to a statewide level.  But there was very little discussion about managing administration.  We have 52 supervisory unions and 119 districts. I understand that reducing the number to 12 or 13 might be too drastic to start with, but if we cut it by just half, there would be savings. Do we have too many buildings for 80,000 students and 630,000 people in our state? There is only so much money in the pot. There will be very little money coming from the federal government.  Moving some of the children 15 to 30 minutes away to another school and closing a small school could be an option. Why are we spending money that could be used for children on buildings? We do not need more administration. We need more teachers in classrooms. We may have fewer children, but teachers today handle more emotional needs of the students than in the past.  The number of children requiring special education is growing in the state. Consolidation would help with some of the costs. However, what I often hear from neighbors is “We want to keep our little school with 60 children.” We are past sentiment and nostalgia. We will be in crisis if we do not act. The supervisory unions have curriculum directors. Are we so big that we cannot have a statewide curriculum? Principals and teachers are smart enough to take a statewide curriculum and adapt it to their needs. What is so different that each supervisory union must have a separate one? I love town schools. But I know that things have to change.  Linda M.W. Smith, Poultney, Vt.  Read the story on VTDigger here: Linda Smith: Education reform requires hard choices. ...read more read less