We recently received an anti-school budget flier in the local Pennysaver that pictures a cow and shouts "vote NO to any tax increase." The flier - crudely made - does not indicate its author. The cow is meant to suggest that the teachers have "cash cow" assignments. Its symbolism to us, however, is rank cowardice.

Perhaps the author was too cowardly to admit the flier's many half-truths. The extracurricular activities for which extra pay is given to the teachers are not performed during regular school hours, save for choir, band and orchestra rehearsals that are taught during regular class periods (and the teachers for those activities do not receive extra pay for their regular school hour work). The cafeteria duty that teachers are requested to provide is done at the administration's request; since such duty is extra, the teachers are paid for it. The same logic applies to coaching salaries. Those teachers who have the talents to coach do so outside of their regular contract requirements and, appropriately receive extra compensation.

The flier's use of teacher salaries to scare readers similarly conveys a false impression. For example, the $100,784 salary given in 2005 to a sixth-grade teacher is for one who has worked in our district for 30 years. The $17,664.50 she received is for three seasons of coaching after school.

The negativism about this year's budget expressed in the flier is terribly misplaced and loses sight of the larger picture. Education is not like an assembly-line manufacturing process. Teachers are not like riveters who do the same task repetitively. Students are not static objects that should be made the same. Rather, student differences must be embraced by the teachers for them to be effective. Each student presents different challenges for his or her teachers. Good teachers, such as the ones we have in Manhasset, will concentrate on the strengths of the students to get them to perform their best. The teaching process manifestly is dynamic, not static.

Better schools benefit Manhasset in many ways. Better schools mean better real estate values and lower crime. Better schools mean better futures for our students. Moreover, better schools will help us compete against countries like China and India which are placing a premium on education (for scientists alone, in 2005 China graduated 600,000, India 350,000 and the US, 70,000; the US is getting left behind). Decreasing budgets lead to poorer quality education systems. They lead to the hiring of poorer teachers, and thus create opposite effects.

Our hope is that residents in Manhasset have the courage to vote for the budget and that we are able to regain the view that education here should be supported, not strangled.

Red and Marie Horowitz