Finding out where nearly 85 percent of Millstoners' local taxes goes should be as easy as turning on the TV.

This summer, the Millstone Township Board of Education will begin discussing the possibility of televising its meetings, and we encourage its members to support going on the air.

In a town that will open up a new middle school in 2007 - which will depend on huge budget increases - and at a time when residents continue to vote down proposed school budgets, we think the school board needs to better educate the public about its proceedings. Broadcasts would also help the board explain certain problems in the district, such as not being able to power the new middle school and having to meet tough state mandates. In addition, they would help the board highlight the good things in the schools, including the many accomplishments of their students.

We live in an age where various circumstances make it difficult for the average person to get to an 8 p.m. school board meeting on a Tuesday night. With rebroadcasts, televised meetings would give the public greater access to the board's decision-making process. Furthermore, it would help the board get its budget requests and other messages out to the public.

We realize taking to the airwaves could create some problems, such as making board meetings a political arena for those in town pushing certain agendas, but these potential difficulties could almost immediately be squashed with a strict set of procedural guidelines and a sure-footed school board president who can ensure that the meetings will run smoothly.

Instead of waiting to see if the district can pass a budget that would fund the purchase of its own mobile audio/video camera, we encourage the board to strike up a dialogue with the township about using recording equipment it will purchase in the next few months.

Mayor Nancy Grbelja has said that the township would have no problem teaching someone how to use the new equipment, and we like her idea about having the board create a club made up of student volunteers who could record the meetings.

Once a board majority votes in favor of broadcasting, it only remains to be seen if a better educated population would stillturn down the next proposed school budget or just have more suggestions as to what the board should cut from the spending plan before it hits the polls. However, with the move to broadcast, the average resident who usually doesn't attend a board meeting would have an immediate better understanding of where his or her $7,138 in school taxes will go this year.

Stay tuned to find out what happens, but those who seriously want to influence the outcome of this cliffhanger should call their Board of Education representatives now to voice their support for televised meetings.