Dear Editor:
The headline of your March 21 news story by Darryl R. Isherwood read, “Tax relief plan threatens education.” What followed was a litany of woe from public education officials who claim a legislated cap on property taxes will crimp their spending plans.
Imagine a headline that reversed plan and plight: “Education spending plan threatens property owners.” That is not sheer fantasy. After all, Standard and Poor’s index (SchoolMatters.com) reveals that New Jersey public schools spend $14,823 per pupil (2004 data), compared with the U.S. average of $9,414.
Faced with slightly less money than expected, couldn’t school bureaucracies find ways to cut niceties without harming necessities? That’s what households must do when government big-spending plans throw their own budgets out of whack.
Robert Holland ([email protected]) is senior fellow for education policy for The Heartland Institute.
Robert Holland, a journalist and author who has championed school choice throughout his career, is a Heartland Institute Senior Fellow addressing education policy.
