A major impediment to the school board's getting control over expenses is the Taylor Law. The New York Times reported Feb. 5, that "entrenched interests like employee unions" have in the past prevented implementing recommendations to ease school financing. Changes in the law are necessary in order to limit the growth of school budgets to that necessary for excellent education without bankrupting the taxpayers.

There are two major issues in the Taylor Law that prevent management from having any strength when negotiating with labor unions. When mediation or arbitration is necessary, the mediator or arbitrator's motivation is to bring the parties together in a successful conclusion, by finding a midpoint between the positions, regardless of the validity or weakness in opposing arguments.

The law requires that, in mediation, a comparison be made with surrounding wages, hours and conditions. It also requires that the financial ability of the district to pay be considered when determining the final terms.

The first is a double burden to management. As we all know, people migrate to the jobs with the best terms, and leave similar jobs offering lower pay and benefits. A district therefore must offer reasonably valid terms if it is to hire anyone for open positions. It is self-correcting. The marketplace rules. The law, however, also forces management not to be able to have alternate compensation practices. It makes the management offering the lowest terms unable to reach an agreement with the union because they are not "comparable." This is a built-in bias for escalation. There is no limit.

The second is the killer. Manhasset's ability to pay is based on the property tax valuations conjured by the county. We all know our valuations are very substantial. But this measurement does not consider that there are many in the district who, while having been declared land-rich by the tax assessor, actually live modestly on modest incomes. They have difficulty paying the rising taxes. The law is flawed in this matter. It allows the mediator to find in favor of the unions in spite of compelling logic by management.

Another significant management hindrance is the rule by the department of education that, if a budget proposal fails to pass the voters, a contingency budget must be larger by 120 percent times the cost of living change than the previous year's budget. This puts a floor of about 4+ percent increase on any budget. There is never a negative adjustment. With the school salaries going up about 6 percent a year, and being about 75 percent of the budget, something must be done.

We all need to contact our county officials and state representatives to change the Taylor Law and to remove these inequities so that school management can do a better job of being fiscally responsible. The union's entrenched interest is not better schooling for children, but more members and better compensation and working conditions for its members. The pendulum has swung too far.

Paul Early