Everyone is incredibly busy, which should go without saying about our way of life.
That's even more so for those who have children. The more children there are and the younger they are, the busier those parents will be. We get it.
The other thing we get is that in the hustle and bustle of daily life some things get overlooked, forgotten, wrongly prioritized or worse.
One thing that always gets shoved to the side, some times more wrongly than others, are those stodgy government affairs – public hearings and meetings.
Ten parents made it a point to attend a hearing Oct. 13 on the proposed school budget which won't be finalized until the Harford County Council passes the county budget next June.
So, for the next seven or eight months, people will have the chance to offer their views on the budget. Last week was a golden opportunity because Barbara Canavan, superintendent of Harford County Public Schools, and Joe Licata, chief of administration, the second-highest ranking school official, were both on hand to hear from the community.
Unfortunately, according to David Anderson's report in The Aegis Wednesday, just 10 people showed up to speak.
One of those, Matthew Lazzaro, a parent of a Churchville Elementary School second-grader, came to comment about class sizes, as in they are too big.
"She has come home and complained many a time," he said about his daughter.
"I'd like to see more money spent to put more teachers in the classroom and keep class sizes below 25," the father said.
Ryan Burbey, the one person who can be counted to show up at every meeting that offers the opportunity to speak about the school budget, and rightly so, was there. Burbey, head of the Harford County teachers union, is always on the circuit advocating for the educators he represents.
Burbey said more teachers are leaving Harford County Public Schools each year and salaries, specifically, the lack of pay increases, is one of the reasons.
"We are at the point where we can't lose one more experienced person and have to replace them," Burbey said. The school system has to deliver on raises for teachers, he said, or "we are going to continue to experience an exodus of teachers."
We applaud the relatively few parents who showed up at the budget hearing to advocate for their kids and those who teach them. There will be many more opportunities, online and in person, for people in the community to have their say about the school budget for the next fiscal year.
We can't say it loud enough, long enough or often enough: Speak up or you'll never be heard.