Editor:

Attending a meeting with member of the Rhinelander school board was a real eye-opener. After listening to a board representative present a “summary” of information provided in handouts, one knowledgeable attendee pointed out a number of significant discrepancies, misleading “spins,’ questionable statistics and what seemed to me to be outright lies given in her “summary.”

Recently, we have heard that laying off a few teachers because of decreased enrollment would result in class sizes increasing from 14 to over 30, when according to actual figures, it would only be 17 children per class. Many of us remember most classes having over 30 students in a system which didn’t have a problem preparing students to become engineers, architects or scientists. It is insulting to suggest kids today are so dumb they practically need private tutoring.

A few at the meeting were concerned about losing their homes because they can’t afford the ever-increasing tax burdens. Also, who will want to buy here?
Someone wondered why the community is paying for 40 after-school programs. Have we allowed schools to become very expensive child care facilities? That was not intended to be the purpose of public education. Teachers are paid twice as much or more with benefits for nine months of work as the average family in the district earns working a full year. Anyone can go online and check out what school employees are getting (http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/99999999/WIS0110/130110023?appSession=23735343743397).

We are even paying over $22,000 a year in benefits alone plus salary for the “public relations” staff member the district couldn’t manage to do without. Now they want even more.

Vote “no” Feb. 19.

David King, Harshaw