If I didn't know better, I would swear that Levittown Superintendent of School, Herman Sirois earned his doctoral degree at either the Tom Carvel Institute for Advanced Ice Cream Studies or PTAU. PTAU, with campuses everywhere, is a proponent of the "More is Really Less" educational philosophy.

Herman, in the days prior to Levittown's recent budget debacle, appeared to advocate this revolutionary educational philosophy at several communitywide budget discussions as well as in the budget flyer sent to all Levittown School District residents. I watched in awe, one evening, as Herman presented this concept at a sparsely attended Forest City Community Association (Wantagh) gathering of 40-50 residents. Using "smoke and mirrors," albeit a slick video presentation, he presented an amazing tale regarding Levittown's low property taxes. Did you know, he chronicled, that the typical Levittown SD property owner whose home is assessed at $5,200 pays only $3,150 in school taxes vs. $4,000 by neighbors in nearby Merrick? Of course, he forgot to mention that those nearby homes are assessed at $7,500 and have fair market values of $250,000; substantially higher than Levittown's $175,000.

One skeptical pundit finally asked a question regarding the district's electrical costs and how much money was being saved following the LIPA takeover of LILCO. Well! Intoned our superintendent, as he mustered all of his oratorical skills to avoid giving the resident a direct answer. What was so difficult, I thought, since the answer to the resident's question was clearly printed in the proposed Levittown SD budget. Equally disturbing was the fact that not a single member of the Levittown School Board present at this meeting, including its president, knew the answer either. It soon became evident that I was the only person in the room with a copy of the proposed budget. Once again, I wondered, how could the Levittown School Board President (who is also the chief fiscal officer) and superintendent of schools be so grossly unprepared and unable to discuss the contents of their proposed spending plan? If they couldn't respond to a resident's simple question, how could they ask Levittown residents to approve? It's rather frightening when you think about it.