That's what it's going to come down to, very soon now. With the release of the governor's preliminary budget proposals with their hefty cuts in school aid, the taxpayers and teachers of the Ellenville School District are now standing on opposite sides of a line in the sand.

For a long time now our federal government has ducked the task of funding education, and Medicare, and infrastructure and most of the other things that people need. That threw those costs onto the shoulders of the states. Now the latest crisis in capitalism has shaken them down to the local level.

And at this point there are two ways for the Ellenville School District to handle this. One way is to succumb to the perceived absolute of "contractual obligations" — and raise taxes. That means district employees, many of whom earn far more than the average wage in this district, might get salary increases. It means that firms with contracts with the district will get paid what was agreed to last year before the roof fell in on the American economy.

The other way is to recognize, just as it's been recognized in Washington and Albany and much of corporate America that the days of business as usual are over. That means contracts will have to be renegotiated, or even, gasp, cancelled outright. That means teachers, especially those in our district who are receiving $90,000 or $100,000 a year can be asked to give back.

Yes, we know those teachers have put in many years in the schools. We respect their efforts there. Yes, we know that they only reach that salary level after a full career.

But these aren't normal times. Normalcy got tossed under the bus back in October. Anyone making twice or three times the average wage level in Ellenville, and who is paid by the taxpayers, should be thinking hard about helping out those taxpayers.

In light of the CRREO report which showed that Ellenville has the highest school tax burden in Ulster County, along with some of the highest paid teachers, it is absolutely clear that something has to give here. Just piling four percent more in school tax onto the backs of the taxpayers of the Ellenville School District is basically asking the poor to help out the rich.

Unfortunately that has become the habitual way of doing things. Tellingly, when Superintendant Lisa Wiles was discussing the revenue situation at the school board meeting on December 17, she observed that "you [can] increase your tax levy four percent — because that's the one area you can always look at." Right there she was giving the game away.

And we understand why she might feel that way, because the taxpayers can't fight back. We don't get to negotiate with the school district over our tax contribution to the schools. The other players in the game — the teachers, the administrators, the contractors — they all have contracts! They're real legal entities who have to be negotiated with. The taxpayers just have to give what the budget demands of them.

However, we have to point out to Superintendant Wiles, and to the members of the school board, who are elected to their posts, that the game has changed, the days of just strapping another four percent tax increase onto the back of the long suffering local electorate has to end. Because, just like Albany and Washington, they're broke. Their wallets are empty, they're sitting around the kitchen table juggling heat, food, and gas money for the week. Any more taxes and you're asking them to freeze, starve, or walk, while very well-paid teachers and administrators share none of the pain.

The routine argument from teachers and teacher union representatives is that "it's all about the kids." Well, it's also about the kids' parents. And it doesn't serve the children, the parents or ultimately the district itself to tax families beyond their ability to pay. It's time for our school board to stand up for the taxpayers and say enough is enough, we cannot give you any more.

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