To the editor:

I noticed quite curiously in your school bosses’ pay article on Wednesday that Lawrence district administrators’ salaries were compared to Baldwin, DeSoto and Eudora in the front page summary. Obviously, the Journal-World holds relatively modest aspirations for our children’s education and future.

Where are the salary comparisons with administrators in the Blue Valley school district? According to their Web site (www.bluevalleyk12.org), the average Blue Valley administrator, which includes many people below the school principal level, will make $97,220 in 2003-2004. This average pay is more than all but two of the top Lawrence district administrators detailed on the front page of your article.

This begs the issue of what expectations we set for our schools. Shouldn’t a town with a major university value education enough to aspire to be the best in schooling our grade school and high-school-age children? If so, why not compare Lawrence administrators’ salaries with the top school districts in the state like Blue Valley rather than geographically local towns. Articles such as yours mislead the public into thinking that we overpay our administrators (and teachers) in Lawrence when, in reality, we underpay the people in these positions relative to excellent school districts.

I’m glad the Journal-World is looking out for our children’s interests by doing its best to continue to force our schools toward lower-cost mediocrity.

Vincent Barker,

Lawrence