Spending more money is not the answer

To the Editor:

As residents of the Bedford Central School District decide how to vote on the revised 2000-2001 school budget, they should consider the quality of the service being delivered. One objective measure is the recently reported New York State fourth grade reading scores (www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/home.html).

To my chagrin, in 2000 the Bedford Central School DistricCs ranking among 43 Westchester County school districts fell to 24th place from 10th place in 1999. Even more startling, among individual schools, Bedford Village Elementary School's ranking dropped like a lead balloon, from sixth place all
the way to a tie for 27th place. Similarly, Pound Ridge Elementary School, which just three years ago ranked a proud second in Westchester County, saw its ranking plummet from 10th place in 1999 to a disappointing 34th in 2000.

Perhaps Schools Superintendent (Bruce) Dennis can explain to the taxpayers why this deteriorating performance relative to our peers deserves an increase in spending of three times the rate of inflation.

Guess what! Spending more money is not the answer.

Peter A. Leidel Pound Ridge