I have just received another copy of Insight, that handsome, beautifully presented publication of the Massapequa schools. It features full-color pictures of smiling children, some receiving awards and others excelling in exciting new ways, all under the care and guidance of world-class educators. It almost shouts the implied message: We have a superlative school system and it's worth every penny we spend on it. Let's keep the momentum going and vote for another increase in school taxes on May 16. After all, it's for our children.

With a budget of over $137 million this year, the district hasn't spent a dime educating us about the generous salaries and benefits that make up the bulk of the budget. You have to file a Freedom of Information Request to get that information. Well, some of us have done that. And we learned the following:

• There were 719 teachers and administrators last year and approximately 8,500 students. That figures out to one teacher or administrator for every 11.8 children.

• Of the 719 teachers and administrators last year, 140 of them were paid more than $100,000 and the pay of another 109 was somewhere between $90,000 and $99,000. (This was in addition to pension, family health insurance, a dental plan, life insurance and a nine-month school year.)

• Very quietly last summer, a new four-year contract was signed with the teachers' union committing the district to further increases. A high school science teacher and one with 23 children in third grade are all paid the same. The top pay for a teacher this year is $108,052 and, in three years' time, it will be $120,394.

But this is not the only area in which the district carefully avoids giving us information. Aside from hosting candidates' night, the district tells us precisely nothing about people running for the school board. Those five people on the board pull all the strings and spend all the money. And given the size of our school taxes, the board now has more power over our pocketbooks than the president of the United States. Most people, however, don't even know their names, let alone their backgrounds.

And when you discover that one present member of the board is a retired teacher and a former member of the union, and another is married to a teacher in this district, you may begin to understand the reason for all the silence. No doubt, these are honorable people and their membership is quite legal. But in my view, it is high time the legislature addressed the serious problem of conflict of interest on our school boards.

On May 16, the people of Massapequa will have to decide whether or not to endorse the spending plans of this school board. They want another increase of 6.34 percent. I hope we make the right decision.

James E. Stubenrauch