To the editor:

The hard-line conservatives in the Legislature never cease to amaze me. Now, with Phill Kline backing them up, they are refusing to balance the inequities they created. What is fair about under-funding all districts but allowing those that can afford it to supplement state funds with their own to get to a workable level? What about the poorer districts that can’t afford to supplement those funds?

All the studies have shown we need more funds for our schools. That should be obvious, at least here in Lawrence, where we have been in dire need for years after tax cuts led to decreased funding. Those decisions the school board had to make (school closings, staff cuts and cuts to the curriculum) affected at risk neighborhood schools the most.

Despite assurances from the school board that class sizes in our “at risk” neighborhoods would remain low, that is far from the truth. My grandchild’s kindergarten class, in east Lawrence, reached 33 children. My third-grade grandchild’s class had 27. Both were almost double the recommended size for “free lunch” kids. After a call to the school district, I found that class sizes in East Lawrence in general are quite a bit larger than some in West Lawrence. Now, instead of trying to remedy the situation, the hard-liners are trying to re-write the rules to take the court out of the picture. It’s unfortunate, for our kids, that the irresponsibility of some of our legislators led to making a court case necessary.

Stephen Crockett,

Lawrence