Let me first say that I am neither for nor against the override; I am a somewhat conflicted citizen at the moment, and I don’t find it surprising considering all the viewpoints out there.

Now, let me propose something to you, and then you can give me your opinion on it. If there’s one thing I’m not confused about, it’s about changing our school motto. Actually, we might not even have a school motto. Well, then I propose that we create one that goes like this: “Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.”

Yes, that might sound familiar. If you thought, “Spider-Man! Spider-Man! Does whatever a spider can!” you’re right on target. But this quote seems to have sprung from famous predecessors. Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Power invariably means both responsibility and danger.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt wrote a speech for a dinner in 1945 that included the words, “Today we have learned in the agony of war that great power involves great responsibility.” John Fitzgerald Kennedy once famously said, “For of those to whom much is given, much is required.”

So why this quote as our motto?

Although we can’t swing through city jungles by shooting strands of web or hop from building to building, we have our own kinds of powers. We can say whatever we want; we can write whatever we want; we can believe in any religion or opinion we want; and we can vote. And though we don’t have the responsibility of saving New York City from robbers, evil villains, and trains heading towards disaster, we do have a duty to make the best decisions we can.

These powers don’t come without a price. If our judgments are rash, so will the consequences likely be. The more informed a citizen is on an issue, the more qualified his or her opinion will be as to what’s best for the common good.

Peter Parker demonstrated this in Spider-Man 2, and even better, he judged not solely with emotion, but also with rationality. In deciding what to do with the power of choice, he weighed both his duty as a superhero and his desire to live a normal life, coming to the conclusion that he couldn’t sit by, day after day, watching injustice happen and knowing he could stop it. He knew that the common good is more important than individual desires. In the end, however, he was able to find a compromise between the two. We can learn from this: We need to make the best use of our power of choice by critically analyzing what we hear and read and by keeping our ears and eyes open to all opinions in order to make sound judgments.

So, it seems many of us might believe that we must pass the override, that we can’t do without. It may be so, but let’s just take a look at both sides and see where we come out. Let’s make the best use of our freedom to choose our positions and use that power to the best of our ability to do what’s best for our community. Even if we are too young to vote, our manner of coming to opinions now will affect our decision-making process in the future.

The advocates of the override describe the importance of education and the town’s other departments.

Selectman Joe Nolan, in a WSPN interview, said “Commitment to schools helps define Wayland’s character. It also helps our property values stay up.”

Ann and Kent Greenwalt, residents of Reservoir Road, commented in the Wayland Town Crier (WTC), “Small, one of the best school systems in the state, and close to Boston – that sums up our criteria…this is not the time to punish the schools for the increase in health care, insurance, fuel and other uncontrollable market costs. Only our children will suffer the consequences…we know nothing will get fixed if the override fails. You’ll have residents turning to private schools or moving out, exacerbating the real estate situation.”

Middle school Vice Principal John Kavaleski said, “College recruiters readily admit that a Wayland education carries additional weight in the college acceptance process.…Wayland High School graduates acknowledge that the education they received in Wayland allowed them to compete with fellow students from around the globe.…It is during difficult times that people are called upon to make courageous decisions. When I was a junior high school student, President Kennedy encouraged all citizens to ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, but rather, what you can do for your country.’”

Fred Knight of Trinity Place noted that the override “was arrived at through fair and open discussion by all town departments with the Finance Committee” and that “the amount was reduced from $2.6 million through the savings due to the early configuration of elementary schools, savings in health care costs due to foresight of the FinCom, and other reductions.”

With such an openly school-supporting community, it may be intimidating for those who don’t consider it the better option to voice their standpoints. Money, of course, is a concern, but there are also other points and ideas that we should consider.

As David M. Hill, a resident of Orchard Lane, commented in the WTC, “We are told we are in a recession and that we can expect inflation…if homeowners can find places to save, so can the town.”

Gene Cosloy of Jeffrey Road said, “Our very survival as a true democracy is here at stake and yet the only sacrifice we’re called to make is to happily pay an ever-increased tax burden to Wayland year after year so that many of our affluent neighbors can guarantee the economic prosperity they currently enjoy for their progeny. Meanwhile the vast American majority is undereducated, miseducated or worse. So no, I’m not in favor of providing the highest quality of education for a favored few based upon a discriminatory system that all but guarantees failure for the majority….Currently Wayland is a two-tier town – those that can just afford to live here and those whose appetite for more will eventually drive out the former.”

Phillip L. Radoff of Rox Meadow Lane said, “In my view, it does a disservice to the voters to offer us only an ‘all-or-nothing’ choice….voters should not have to approve all services in order to preserve the ones that are of value to them…. We will only increase divisiveness and bitterness by forcing the populace to make a binary choice of either accepting or rejecting the entirety of the override package.”

Having read these opinions on the override, we are now more qualified in deciding our positions. Reading and learning more will increase our ability to make wise, informed choices. Whether you have changed or strengthened your position on the issue, at least you now know, if you hadn’t already, that after considering all the factors that play into this issue, your stance is best.

So, which option, for or against, will better serve the common good? Not only our freedom to vote, but also our freedom of speech, are rights that we are fortunate to have. We need to use them properly. “Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.” If three presidents, along with many other famous individuals, agreed with this saying, there must be some truth or credit to it. It even appears in the Bible’s Gospel of Luke, specifically chapter 12, verse 48.

I said I would let you have your opinion on my motto idea. What do you think? Yea or nay?