I read with great interest the editorial commentary dated Thursday, March 24, 2011 in The Great Neck Record by Wendy Kreitzman, concerning the issue of a tax cap for Great Neck school budgets.
While I agree with the problem she mentioned associated with unfunded mandates, I was a bit perplexed about her passionate antipathy toward a tax cap for school districts. We all appreciate how fortunate we are to live on the peninsula of Great Neck.
I was curious how we compare with other school districts on a per capita spending basis, so I went on line and did a little research, and while most sources may differ a little bit, the basic premise is the same: According an article by nationmaster.com, which analyzed World Bank data, the United States of America ranks third in the world in primary and secondary education per capita spending, ranking behind Switzerland and Austria.
According to the article, the U.S. spends $7,764 on average annually per student.
According to an article published by the Cato Institute, dated March 10, 2010, the five largest metro areas of the United States were analyzed in what they termed real and stated per capita spending in the Washington D.C., Phoenix, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York metropolitan areas.
In Table 6 (page 12), the per capita annual spending in the Great Neck School District was $29,836 per student. This was the highest any school district in the United States mentioned in the article, and by extrapolation, the highest in the world.
We have been living in Great Neck for a little over 10 years and our property taxes have more than doubled in that period of time, and would have gone up even more had we not made use of a firm that seeks to lower tax expenditures of burdened home owners.
When I read the article I wondered if a tax cap was mandated, whether our children would have to begin studying in a cave in Afghanistan as a result of putting” all of our children at risk.”
Right now, our children receive a concierge level of education and by maintaining our present budget, would not “suffer.”
What was not mentioned in the article was the burden this concierge level of education places on many of the taxpayers in our community.
We are living in economically challenging times and it is about time that the school board and editorial board of The Great Neck Record newspaper became more sensitive to those issues.
In fact, what I would have rather read was a note of thanks to the taxpayers of our community, especially to those who don’t have students attending the Great Neck schools.
We find ourselves in a new paradigm, and we all must work together to be part of a common solution, which takes into consideration the reality of the times in which we live.
The Great Neck School District will continue to have the highest per capita expenditure per student, even if we cut the budget.
The question is: Are we willing to take the steps necessary to balance the real needs of our students and our ability to pay for them?
Richard L. Reiser
Great Neck
