Opinion: Budgets, Taxes and Salaries, Oh My!

Hello again. I was going to leave this as a comment onSara Walsh's but as it grew longer I thought it might be more appropriate as a new blog post.

Here are some of the arguments, and my own conclusions, after reading her article and the related comments. As always, feel free to fire away if you disagree.

1. A few people argued that the room was stacked with pro-tax teachers. I don't know how many teachers were at the hearing, but all the people who got up to speak and ask questions were, as far as I could tell, parents. If the rest of the audience was packed with teachers, I have no idea. But out of the 150 attendees (Sara's estimate), I can't imagine that it was all teachers. I did recognize many of my fellow parents, even if they tried not to recognize me. (Not that I blame them!)

2. Even a 4.1% increase isn't that large (unless it really is too large!). While every town has its range of rich and not-so-rich, Commack seems to have a larger-than-normal variance in haves and have-nots. Many of us are struggling to stay in houses we bought 10 or 20 years ago, yet we continue to see new construction and houses that cost up to three times the value of our own homes. (All I think about when I see those palaces that went up next to Burr is, what are those kids going to be driving when my kids get to high school?) 
On the other hand, if you were lucky to get into Commack in, say, the early '90s, your mortgage might be paid off or much lower compared with the folks who bought at the height of the bubble. So I think that's why a $250 increase can be an easy expense for some ("That's 68 cents per day!") but not for others ("We're already tapped out!"). Everyone's living under different budgets, and I think some of the arguing and "How can you say you can't afford that increase? I saw you come out of Nisen Sushi last night while I was going into the Dollar Store!" accusations spin the issue off the rails. That being said. 

3.  Even if we accept the (for example) $250 increase, that's on top of all our arguably already-too-high taxes, and it's likely that the taxes will go up again next year. As my wife (who handles these matters) said to me (and I'm paraphrasing, because I never pay enough attention), "When we bought the house in 2003, we were paying about $5,000 in taxes. Now we're paying double that.

4. We won't know for certain whether that new Hess station on the corner of Harned Road will cause more accidents unless -- oh, wait...wrong issue.

5. Whether it's justified or not, people angry about their taxes -- particularly those who live here but don't have children in the district -- are going to vote no on the budget because they feel empowered by doing so. This is also why we blame the President for things over which he has no (direct) control: because it's easier than learning all the nuances that go into issues, like why our taxes go up. If Albany is the problem, then it's important for those who have a stake in these issues to mobilize and inform the rest of the community. Unfortunately, this will likely be difficult because most people aren't big on the small (but important) details, let alone voting in elections for representatives they likely don't even know.

6. I haven't read any studies or journal articles on the matter, but it seems to me that there would be a substantial effect in the classroom environment if the class size rose from 22 to 29. (As I write this, someone on the thread provided an actual link about this. Is it biased? Possibly. But walk into a classroom with 22 kids, then picture 7 more.)

7. Arguing about salaries can be very tricky. On one hand, anyone can view the teachers' and administrators' salaries and conclude that they are on the high side. Even when I was at the budget meeting, I was thinking, "Dr. James is earning like $400,000, and this is what we get? Would a $200,000 superintendent have done much worse? For $400,000, we should all get free pies at these budget meetings!" But those are the salaries, based on whatever system exists that sets them. If the system is broken, how can it be fixed?
It seems as if salaries have been a complaint from residents forever. I'm new to all this, but has there ever been any headway with reforming this? I do know that the teacher's union (whether it's the local or national union, I'm unschooled in these matters) is very powerful, and I can't imagine them ever taking a pay cut, because that sets up a slippery slope ("If we take one this year, it'll just make it easier for them to make us take one next year!") As far as administration, could someone explain how those salaries or positions work, since they seem to have nothing to do with the union?

8. If you think the teachers should take a pay cut, or they should cut administrators, or they should sell Hubbs, or that it's an outrage that the superintendent gets like 347 sick days a year, go to the next budget meeting and speak up. Ranting anonymously on the Patch boards might help you release some steam (and believe me, if I didn't have my real name listed here, who knows what I'd really be saying!), but it's not going to do much more than foster a feeling of "What's the point? No one ever listens to me anyway." I was expecting even more heated stuff at the budget meeting, based on the knife-sharpening I saw on the boards in earlier Patch articles, but the budget meeting turned out to be pretty tame. I'm not suggesting you show up with pitchforks and torches (the Commack schools are non-smoking facilities, after all), but if you really have something to say, then say it in the right forum. It might actually benefit your neighbors.