The Port Washington Teachers Association president sounds like a true blue George Bush Republican. Like our current president, she ignores messages that upset her view of the world. Like our current president, she sees the world as one-dimensional. Like our current president, she ignores the "message" from elections and polls. Everyone - except the PWTA president - knows what that message is: contain education costs. And in the same way our current president plays the "terrorism" card whenever someone questions his actions, the PWTA president plays the "you must hate the children" card whenever anyone hints at containing teacher salaries and benefits.

So I will state outright that though I am a father of two children, I actually hate children. Though my spouse is an assistant principal, I hate children. Though most everyone in my extended family is in education, I still hate children. In fact I hate them so much that I am compelled to offer two suggestions on how the school board can control teacher salaries and benefits. Suggestion 1: Offer the teachers a multi-year contract similar to those that teachers (and others) get in New York City. No raises year one; no raises year two; 3 percent raise in year three. Suggestion 2: If the previous suggestion is deemed unsatisfactory by the PWTA president, then fire all teachers and hire new ones at a starting salary of $60,000 per year. That's still a nice salary and qualified people will beat down our doors to get those jobs.

In case those who are reading this letter are asking themselves "What kind of gall does it take to write such a letter?" the answer is simple. The same kind of gall it takes to write a letter asking for raises for teachers after our school budget has been rejected twice and services to children have been cut. Now you tell me, who is the one that really hates children?

Jeff Siegel