To the Editor:

I am sure that Worthington Board of Education member Mark Schare does not equate the want of such a luxury/status symbol as a Lexus with the want of an excellent school system in a community. Yet, from the story you published recently (Worthington News, July 9), one might gain that impression.

Schare used the word affordability to indicate what would be the acceptable level of any tax increase. However, affordability is a relationship between availability of funds and existing priorities, and thus differs for each of the district's constituencies.

Purchasing a luxury/status symbol car is a discretionary purchase with little consequence except for the individual, while the quality of the educational endeavor affects an entire community in many ways. Mr. Schare wants to have the community determine what is an acceptable and affordable tax increase. The community already does this at election time.

Although there is nothing wrong with having community input by using town hall events, the outcome usually reflects who attends the meetings, and unless a broad segment of the community is represented, the outcome will not be representative. The perspective of parents with children in school or of those who have moved to the community with certain expectations for their pre-school children will be different from that of individuals without children in school. Even among this latter group, there will be a division between those who see little value in an excellent school district and those of us who value such a district as a community asset.

Past episodes indicate that much of the controversy about the tax level will center around teacher compensation. Are teachers compensated too much, too little or just right? It is important that any discussion be based on how to achieve the desired level of quality (program diversity/staff quality) and not on anti-teacher/union positions as have been expressed in the past by a few very vocal members of the community.

Abramo Ottolenghi