To the editor:

Every year I look at the salary scales for teachers in Lawrence. Every year I look at the salary scales for teachers in Shawnee Mission. All the Lawrence folks who grumble about spending money on education should take a look at the salary scales on these districts’ Web sites. The disparity is large and does have a direct impact on recruiting and retaining the best teachers.

Such disparity also exists in professional baseball. The teams that offer the best salaries often have the best personnel. Bill James, a Lawrence resident, is the senior baseball operations adviser for the Boston Red Sox. He crunches numbers in an attempt to predict a player’s value to the team. The Red Sox healthy spending has attracted great personnel and produced success. Statistics matter. Money matters. Look at the Royals. Look at the Red Sox. Salaries matter. Personnel matters.

Will Lawrence ever catch up? I commend the Lawrence district teachers for proposing a bold revamping of the salary scale. This is badly needed. Lawrence needs every dollar it can get now and in the future so that it can compete with neighboring districts. The excellent teachers in Lawrence must be compensated fairly for their experience and educational levels. When the school board considers use of the local option budget, it should not be a matter of restraint, but a matter of spending money wisely.

Mark Craig,

Lawrence