To the editor:

Realizing that the annual “more money for educators” drive would fall on deaf ears in the current economic environment, the school board has shifted its focus to facility improvement with the intent of adding $59 million to the local tax burden.

I do not favor ANYTHING that increases an already-excessive tax burden. Personal feelings aside, the fact that the school board would farm out a $3.9 million management effort to an Overland Park consulting firm (DLR Group, Dec. 2 J-W), in my opinion puts the initiative on shaky ground from the start. By my calculations, if the bond floats the board will be shipping 18.75 man-years of $100 an hour work out of Lawrence! It is hard to imagine that the city that claims to be the hub of education for Kansas does not have the local talent to manage such a project.

Gary Stussie,

Lawrence