"Edgemont is Magic": Greenstein letter on Edgemont budget

Edgemont resident Arnold Greenstein recently wrote the following letter in support of the school budget. (I reprint Greenstein's letter here with permission of the author.) Greenstein has also written a letter to Jack Vaughan on similar issues, available here.


(Click on above image to open letter in new window.)

Here is the text of the letter:

Editor, The Journal News
letters@thejournalnews.com
June 13, 2005

Edgemont is Magic. Edgemont is a World Class school district that is run at a cost below that of many similar districts. According to last month’s Westchester Magazine, Edgemont was the #1 rated school district in Westchester and the per pupil cost was $16,163, $2,000 per pupil less than second rated Chappaqua ($18,200 per pupil), $5,000 less than #3 Briarcliff ($21,183), and $3,700 less than #7 rated Scarsdale ($19,873).

However, there is an organization in the community that would like to vote down the current school budget. They have sent two letters, full of misleading, inaccurate and inflammatory “facts.” Their statement, for instance, that “Teacher salaries increased 25% in the last three years... in the face of record low inflation,” seems to intentionally imply that teachers are making 25% more than they did three years ago. They must know that this is untrue. This increase is due to adding more teachers because of increasing enrollments. Salary increases averaged 3% in the last two years compared to the 2.7% cost of living increase. And Edgemont teachers are paid at the median of districts in Westchester (less than in Scarsdale, for instance).

Their solution to an admittedly high tax increase is to vote down the budget. They show little regard for the educational environment. They want the board to negotiate teacher contracts that would make our teachers among the lowest paid in Westchester. They want to take away sports and co-curricular activities from students. They want to increase class size. It’s too bad they don’t put their time and effort into productive, positive solutions.

Edgemont residents have enjoyed an increase in home values that astronomically exceeds the increase in real estate taxes. Is an extra thousand dollars in taxes worth a hundred thousand dollar increase in real estate value? Even if I never plan on selling my home, if necessary, I can go to the bank and extract some of its equity, pay my taxes and put a couple of hundred thousand dollars in my pocket. This is only possible because of the quality of our schools. It is not possible in many neighboring districts.

I have to applaud the Board, administration, teachers and staff for creating and maintaining a World Class school district, and spending less money doing it than any other similar community. I don’t know how they’ve done it, but I wouldn’t fool with it. My Edgemont home is the best investment I have. There are ways of using your substantial home equity to offset your taxes. I don’t know of any other investment or institution that provides the kind of returns, for our children, our community and our pocketbooks than the Edgemont schools. Please do not unnecessarily threaten our schools, our children’s futures and our real estate values.

Arnold Greenstein
Moorland Drive