On Wednesday, Nov. 7, the New York State Comptroller's office claimed that school taxes in the state have outpaced inflation two-fold, thereby promoting the myth that school taxes are irresponsibly exorbitant. The reporting omitted important information that does not support - and, in fact, negates - the myth of excessive school taxation.

To begin with, any comparison of increases in school taxes to the general rate of inflation is invalid and inflammatory, because school districts, as well as other governmental units, do not purchase many of the things, such as private homes, that have suppressed the rate of inflation during recent years. A more valid frame of reference would be those increases experienced by other governmental units, including the State of New York itself.

The fact is, that increases in school expenditures and taxes pale in comparison to recent increases in both expenditures and tax receipts of New York State. For example, the average increase in school taxes for the 2007 year, as reported by the Comptroller, was 5.9 percent compared to a 9.4 percent increase in total taxes collected by New York State during the same period. During this period a similar pattern existed relative to expenditures, wherein, school expenditures increased about 5 percent as compared to an increase in total expenditures on the part of New York State of 6.9 percent. The bottom line is that New York State has posted expenditure and tax increases at considerably higher rates than that of schools throughout the state. When compared to the State of New York, increases in expenses (3.93 percent) and taxes (3.96 percent) in the Levittown School District are exceptionally responsible and efficient.

State and county politicians are fond of making the claim that 60 percent of our taxes go to school districts. When challenged on this statistic, they readily concede that the 60 percent figure includes only property taxes, and does not include all of the other taxes (e.g., income and sales taxes) that we pay to the state and/or counties, but not to our school districts. When everything is considered, school taxes account for about 40 percent, not 60 percent, of all local and state taxes paid by the average citizen in the state.

The omission of information that would enable valid comparisons and evaluations of school taxes is disingenuous at best, and is a strategy that should be abandoned by our state and county politicians, and one that should not be abetted by the popular media. I am not suggesting, here, that the increases in taxes and/or expenditures on the part of New York State have been irresponsible. What I am suggesting is a) that the myth of school taxation is, in fact, just that, a myth; and, b) that, in comparison with New York State, our school districts have been paragons of responsibility and efficiency.

Herman A. Sirois, PhD

Superintendent, Levittown Public Schools