Dear Editor
06-06-2005, 08:50 PM
Dear Editor,
Thank you for publishing __________'s letter which you titled
"This Budget Must Pass!" in the June 2 issue of the Long Islander.
I found _________'s letter very informative, and I appreciate the
time she spent on it as well as the time she spends for her presentations
at Huntington Town Board meetings and at the school and her service to
the town in these capacities are admirable and appreciated.
I will be voting "NO!" ( in Huntington ) once again as I have at every
school vote every year and let me tell you why. I was not one of the lucky
children to attend public school in grades 1 thru 12. My parents sent me
to private catholic schools. In elementary school some of my teachers
were not certified to teach and had no license from the state. My school
did not have computers, science equipment or ballfields. At recess we
played on the ashphalt parking lot. There were more than 40 students in
the classroom! My public school friends from the neighborhood had color
TV's while we watched on a black and white. Their families had new cars
while we had bought their used ones that broke down often, usually while
we were on our vacation as we drove to an upstate campground while my
neighborhood public school friends flew to Disney World!. My parents
worked very hard for long hours for companies that offered no pension
but somehow they did manage to send 4 children to 47 years of private
school education. My sister did "attend" 1 year of public school if you
can call it that, since she found that she never really had to go to classes
since she was years ahead of the rest of the class and could just show up
to take the tests and do very well indeed.
The taxpayers did pay for our transportation and textbooks but I conservatively
estimate that my parents saved taxpayers, in present value terms, at least $8,000
a year per child or approximately $376,000. My wife's family saved taxpayers
approximately $480,000. _________ states at the end of her letter that she
"...can do without stops at Starbucks and eating at restaurants." Doesn't she
realize that Starbucks and Restaurants pay much higher school taxes than she
does? If everyone adopted ________'s position, some of those restaurants
may have to close and workers laid off. I don't believe that that is the 7.47 or
6.45% solution to the rising cost of public school education. If the voters vote
"no" on 7.47% and "no" again on 6.45% what have they done???
By voting "no" and "no" again, one essentially has voted to APPROVE a 5%
increase in the budget, which is called a contingency budget.
So the voters in Nothport's choices are:
Yes = +7.47 %.
No + Yes = +6.45 %
No + No = +5.00 %
Will someone please tell me how does one vote for a 5% DECREASE in spending?
Thank you for publishing __________'s letter which you titled
"This Budget Must Pass!" in the June 2 issue of the Long Islander.
I found _________'s letter very informative, and I appreciate the
time she spent on it as well as the time she spends for her presentations
at Huntington Town Board meetings and at the school and her service to
the town in these capacities are admirable and appreciated.
I will be voting "NO!" ( in Huntington ) once again as I have at every
school vote every year and let me tell you why. I was not one of the lucky
children to attend public school in grades 1 thru 12. My parents sent me
to private catholic schools. In elementary school some of my teachers
were not certified to teach and had no license from the state. My school
did not have computers, science equipment or ballfields. At recess we
played on the ashphalt parking lot. There were more than 40 students in
the classroom! My public school friends from the neighborhood had color
TV's while we watched on a black and white. Their families had new cars
while we had bought their used ones that broke down often, usually while
we were on our vacation as we drove to an upstate campground while my
neighborhood public school friends flew to Disney World!. My parents
worked very hard for long hours for companies that offered no pension
but somehow they did manage to send 4 children to 47 years of private
school education. My sister did "attend" 1 year of public school if you
can call it that, since she found that she never really had to go to classes
since she was years ahead of the rest of the class and could just show up
to take the tests and do very well indeed.
The taxpayers did pay for our transportation and textbooks but I conservatively
estimate that my parents saved taxpayers, in present value terms, at least $8,000
a year per child or approximately $376,000. My wife's family saved taxpayers
approximately $480,000. _________ states at the end of her letter that she
"...can do without stops at Starbucks and eating at restaurants." Doesn't she
realize that Starbucks and Restaurants pay much higher school taxes than she
does? If everyone adopted ________'s position, some of those restaurants
may have to close and workers laid off. I don't believe that that is the 7.47 or
6.45% solution to the rising cost of public school education. If the voters vote
"no" on 7.47% and "no" again on 6.45% what have they done???
By voting "no" and "no" again, one essentially has voted to APPROVE a 5%
increase in the budget, which is called a contingency budget.
So the voters in Nothport's choices are:
Yes = +7.47 %.
No + Yes = +6.45 %
No + No = +5.00 %
Will someone please tell me how does one vote for a 5% DECREASE in spending?