School District 2 Trustee Conrad Stroebe takes issue with my editorial about the new school teachers contract. What the piece overlooks, he says, are two factors that make more money available than I indicated: The school district will save money each year through attrition, i.e., more expensive experienced teachers who retire will be replaced by new ones. Plus, the Legislature has now created a flex fund that school districts can use as they please.
In fairness to Business Clerk Deborah Long, I should point out that she freely admitted her numbers for the cost of the contract could be high. She was trying to prepare for the worst possible case.
And Mr. Stroebe acknowledges that nobody knows where the money will come from in the third year, which is a legislative session away. But he says that it's no more valid to assume the worst than it is to assume the best about what will happen.
Fair enough.