To the editor:

I consider the educational professionals in the Lawrence school district to be among the most dedicated and underpaid in the state. I have many friends and family who have entered into the teaching field only to find the lack of respect given by some parents, students and our own state government to cause them to pursue other careers. I wish President Bush in his new economic package would consider making teaching at K-12 grades a tax-exempt profession.

With the average teacher in America making around $30,000 a year, after you back out ordinary exemptions for tax deductions, the overall cost to the federal government would be very small in comparison to other programs. The impact however could be huge in terms of attracting, retaining and motivating our current and future teachers. The trade-off for this break could be an increase in the tenure qualification to 15 years from the current shorter period. This will also allow for the possibility to attract people to the teaching profession currently in other fields of endeavor by making the move less of an economic burden. The pool of available candidates would increase, and the quality of instruction would follow.

Teachers are spending more time with our children per day than most parents do. It is time to give them the respect, incentive, and opportunity to do this important job with the pay to go with it. As Thomas Edison once said, “There is a better way for everything. Find it.”

Joe B. Jones,

Lawrence