State and local officials are claiming credit for the passage of New York State's School Property Tax Reduction (STAR) program which goes into effect this year just as all the state legislators and the governor face re-election. Regrettably, STAR benefits politicians more than taxpayers. The program could turn out to be a financial nightmare for New York, already burdened by next to the lowest bond rating and the highest debt load of any state in the nation.

Governor George Pataki originally intended the plan to control escalating school taxes by placing a 4 percent annual cap on school budget growth, but intense lobbying by state school boards association and the powerful teachers unions watered down the program.

School districts can continue their spending spree since the state will make up any reduced tax payment by residents. STAR simply shifts the costs of school taxes from the local homeowner to state taxpayers.

In a published article, two Syracuse University professors say that the STAR plan will boost the school tax rate by one-third, placing an increased tax burden on commercial and industrial properties which are excluded from the program. STAR is expected to spur even higher spending by schools since senior citizens' opposition to school budgets has been mollified by the property tax reductions.

Even some supporters of STAR admit that it masks the real problem: Long Island's bloated public school budgets which are soaring at nearly four times the inflation rate, driven by teachers salaries that are among the highest in the nation. In the Franklin Square elementary school district, as a typical example, the starting salary next year for teachers with a master's degree will be $47,034 and 10 percent of the teachers will be earning $83,236 for less than 10 months of work plus fringe benefits that could be the envy of every private sector employee.