My name is Michelle Lambert, and I live in the small town of Andover. I love our close-knit community — but I’m deeply worried about its future.

Over the past few months, I’ve watched elderly neighbors put their homes on the market and move in with their children because their property taxes doubled. Mine did too. And now, I know I won’t be able to afford to stay here much longer.

I don’t have children in the local school, but I’ve always believed in the importance of public education. Schools are the backbone of an informed, thriving society.

But our current system is broken. It asks middle-class and working-class residents to carry the full load, while handing taxpayer dollars to families making hundreds of thousands a year to send their kids to private schools. That’s not right — it’s infuriating.

We need an income-based approach to education vouchers and a serious rethinking of how we fund public schools. Otherwise, this unsustainable system will continue pushing longtime residents out and leaving communities like mine hollowed out. What’s happening in New Hampshire is gentrification in real time. It’s hurting families, hurting kids, and hurting the future of our state.

We need lawmakers to make decisions based on what’s right for students and communities — not what’s politically convenient.

Michelle Lambert

Andover