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Impact Must be Stated

I would like to comment on Erica Gelven’s March 29 letter “Incorrect and Misrepresented Info.” She states that the year over year increase in the Education operating budget is 2.04 percent. This is correct, but the impact that taxpayers see is the total budget, which includes debt service and capital spending. When these are included, the year over year increase is 4.16 perent. This can be then broken down into its components, but to omit it is simply misleading.

In addition, the per-pupil expenditure comparison also omits debt service and capital expenditures. I realize that the state data doesn’t include this, but that is no reason not to not include it. A decision was made to build a new school, and its financial impact must be clearly stated. Finally, a comparison is made to 11 nearby schools. These comparisons are not normally done by location, but by comparing schools with similar socio-economics.

Len Fried

Clinton