A group of Amherst residents is gathering signatures on a petition that would have the town spend more on public schools, open space protection, and other items. The petition supports a so-called "proposition 2½ override."

"When the roof is leaking you fix it to protect your home," Andrew Churchill told The Valley Post. Churchill is a supporter of the petition drive and assistant director of the UMass Amherst Center for Education Policy. He said recent cuts to the town budget have resulted in a situation like a leaky roof on a house.

In Granby, Mass., near Northampton, teachers and administrators are breathing a sigh of relief as they prepare for the upcoming school year. Using stimulus grants and reserve funds, and by making minor cuts, Granby kept its school budget nearly identical to last year, despite the recession.

For Fiscal Year 2010, which began on July 1st, Granby lost $150,000 of state aid and faced an increase of $240,000 in contractual obligations over last year. To close this deficit, the town:

Negotiations between the Northampton teachers and the school board are heating up. The teachers belong to a union www.nea.org Mayor Clare Higgins asked the workers to forgo previously negotiated pay raises for next year.

On June 16, voters in Northampton will decide on the so-called “Proposition 2½ override,” which will affect the city’s budget.

The National Priorities Project www.nationalpriorities.org is a nation-wide non-profit based in Northampton. According to the group’s web site, the Iraq war had cost American taxpayers $790 billion as of October 2008.