The community's trust in the school board has certainly been compromised given the $40,000 or 19 percent superintendent's annual salary cover-up, and many other similar situations such as the school board's announcement of a 3.35 percent annual salary increase for the teacher's union when in fact the real raise was 3.35 percent over and above existing and guaranteed raises as set forth in the union contract. Such existing and guaranteed annual raises have ranged from 0-27 percent in any given year and are now 3.35 percent to 30.35 percent thanks to the very generous new contract.

Trust is everything between the homeowner and the school board, as homeowners are not in a position to question the many financial representations set forth by the school board. We believe The New York Times article was on target with respect to taxpayer's skepticism of local taxes: "The problem is not that people do not care, it's that they don't know," and let's face it, the school board has a history of keeping taxpayers in the dark on the most important spending decisions such as salaries and benefits.

The goal of MPSA (Manhasset Proponents for School Accountability) is to make sure every Manhasset homeowner understands and knows how school taxes are really spent. For those not familiar with MPSA, MPSA is a community organization consisting of business leaders and educators, independent of the school district, with a mission that prioritizes both academic excellence and fiscally responsible budgets. MPSA has a website at manhassetpsa.com.

MPSA has long warned that the school board is on an unsustainable spending spree that simply increases the cost of education and not the quality. For too many years the school board has refused to change its habits even in the face of the worst economic downturn in which the economy is grinding to a halt.

MPSA believes the May 20 annual budget which homeowners will be asked to support, is a defining moment for the community as many believe the school board was less than truthful and transparent in its financial disclosures of last year's budget, and did little, if anything, to bring spending in line with inflation.

J. Vivinetto