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Name: Virginia Oehler

Residence: Buffalo

Would you favor a more regional approach to school spending? Yes, because there are practices throughout the region that other areas of the region could benefit from. Best practices.

Do you think people know enough about school budgets to make an educated vote? Probably not generally, but it would behoove us regionally to have some kind of a summit, some kind of an education plan that would, in fact, inform and better define what regionalism could do and what it can’t do. We could take a look at the budgets and the performance of

children relative to spending.

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Name: Kelly Dixon

Residence: Buffalo

Would you favor a more regional approach to school spending? I would. We live in a regional setting now, and we need to start thinking in a more progressive way. We need assistance from suburban regions where the majority of our population lives to help strengthen inner city schools and the system as a whole.

Do you think people know enough about school budgets to make an educated vote? I think more education is needed to fully understand where funding is going, and perhaps illustrate differences in spending practices and some of the

other parts of the region.

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Name: John Marhon

Residence: Buffalo

Would you favor a more regional approach to school spending? I kind of agree with that. I think we have to look at the entire community, that the community goes beyond regional and geographic distinctions. If you look at the inter-relatedness of the police, hospitals, they cross borders. I believe it ought to be a metropolitan issue.

Do you think people know enough about school budgets to make an educated vote? I think a lot of them are willing to vote for higher school budgets, because they see the need, that they should be our primary concern. I’ve objected to school budgets in referendums. If school budgets are put to a public vote, they run the risk of not

being understood, but since it’s worked out in favor of education I

think the practice should continue.

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Name: Joseph Riggie

Residence: Town of Tonawanda

Would you favor a more regional approach to school spending? That I can say yes to in general terms. I don’t know a lot of the specifics about the budgets that were offered or passed, but I would say, in general, yes, we could gain some benefits out of regionalism.

Do you think people know enough about school budgets to make an educated vote? Yes, I do. Let’s face it, in the end it’s the taxpayers’ money, and for the most part it’s the taxpayers’ children. I myself have not voted for a school budget in many years. Part of that is my youngest child is in college, I don’t have anybody in public schools. It makes it more difficult to be interested.