To the editor:

The school system has become a monster whose appetite for funding cannot be appeased. The school board needs to change the focus of teaching to education instead of sports training grounds for college and professional sports.

For example, one of our high schools played baseball using the Youth Sports fields. Their own field was built, which is now lighted with an electronic scoreboard. Junior high schools have tennis courts.

A firm was hired prior to the bond issue to tell the school board what was needed to upgrade the Lawrence schools. By promoting the bond issue, they were paid millions after it passed. If they did the job they were paid to do, why was it necessary for the school board to raise the mill levy almost 6 mills right after the bond issue passed. Now they want to raise the mill levy more than 6 mills again. All in a space of two years.

Homeowners have to live within budgets in making repairs and improvements. We have to decide, can we afford it and is it needed? So should the school board.

I have some questions for the school board. How much land, building space and time is spent teaching leisure time activities (sports)? Can some be cut – tennis courts at junior highs? How are lower-income homeowners and seniors (10 percent of Lawrence population) going to pay more property taxes when they are pushed to the limit now? Being overtaxed created this country; is it time for another revolution?

Scott Henderson,

Lawrence