Shame on Deer Park district

Shame on Deer Park School District. They have reduced this levy vote to a cry for sympathy for our schoolchildren.

Please educate yourselves on what is really happening with the money the schools receive. Go to the Washington state superintendent website for the facts – http://www.k12.wa.us/safs/reports.asp – and look up some of the pay and budgeting information for area schools.

You will find that Deer Park has a superintendent paid well over $100,000 per year and five principals paid in excess of $90,000 per year. This may seem OK until you consider that every school district in this area (there are 11 nearby without even going into Stevens County) all have the same bloated high-paid upper-level administrative staff.

If these schools are serious about managing costs why don’t they consider merging districts, stop duplicating services and utilize the ability to purchase supplies in larger bulk?

Washington state is required to fund basic education, and the school districts just want more, so instead of the high-paid administrative staff taking reductions in salary, they just threaten to cut student programs and teaching staff.

George Bacon

Clayton, Wash.