After finally seeing an end to the previous school board, why are we still subjected to the opinions of the former board's favorite son, the "In God We Trust" man, Frank Russo? Having read Mr. Russo's letter in the March 27 Port Washington News, I read through the works of Eric Hanushek. They weren't hard to find. Dr. Hanushek maintains his own website where he publishes most of his unpeer reviewed work. It is a treasure trove for fiscal conservatives who hope to cut school budgets.

I did some further research into the class size issue and found most of the source papers on the topic of reduced class size and its relationship with student performance. While student performance is difficult to measure and the results are multifactorial, what is clear is that younger children (K-3) clearly benefit from smaller classes, particularly at-risk kids. There are other studies, however, that have shown that smaller class sizes can reduce student alienation, dropout rates and absenteeism. These factors don't make it into the strictly economic analysis that Dr. Hanushek provides. In fact the evidence is convincing enough that 21 states (not New York) have adopted class size reduction legislation.

Why is Mr. Russo so obsessed with being average? His argument in a letter in the May 8 Port Washington News is that the professional staff to student ratio in the Port school system is less than the average for Nassau County. He is unhappy that the average cost per student is too high.

Isn't the average income of families in Port Washington higher than Nassau County, New York State and the country as a whole? Aren't our property values, on average, higher? Is the difference in the average cost out of proportion to our assets?

The average household income in 11050 (Port Washington) is $142,719. Average for New York State: $71,348, US: $58,330. Percentage of population with graduate degrees in Port: 23.07 percent, New York State: 12.75 percent, US: 9.26 percent. Air Pollution Index - Port: 111, New York state: 103, US: 100. (source: http://realestate.citysearch.com)

Why are these smart, high income families attracted to Port Washington? It's not the fresh air, Mr. Russo. It's the schools. In a neighborhood where we are worth twice the average for New York State, why shouldn't we spend more on our kids and have a professional staff: student ratio that is 30 percent lower than the rest of the state?

In the book Equity and Adequacy in Education Finance: Issues and Perspectives (1999, National Academy of Sciences) it is suggested that the more correct approach to pricing education is to index the cost of education to the cost of living, enrollment, income class, property values and factors such as special services for handicapped or language-impaired kids as well as the educational quality based on standardized scores, non-dropout rates, regents diploma rates and other educational outcomes. When these factors are taken into account it costs 32 percent more in small cities in downstate New York to get the same educational quality as the average for New York State. In order for New York City to achieve the same outcomes they would have to spend almost four times the average per student cost for the state. Small cities upstate are relatively spared this expense with a cost index only 9 percent higher than average.

John Adams said, "Facts are stubborn things." The only relevant facts I can see are that our schools are clearly successful and our town's reputation has been built on that success. Young, economically productive families continue to stream into Port Washington to enjoy the benefits of small classes for their kids and much higher than average college success rates. We came for the schools! And we shop at Jimmy's Shoes, the Dolphin Bookshop, King Kullen and the Shish Kebab Restaurant. If my daughter were to walk into a classroom of 25 students after an entire school career of 18 - 20 students and felt lost and ignored, it would be a terrible waste of previously strong educational policy. If we allow fiscal conservatives like Mr. Russo to have their way, we will chase our families out of town. Our businesses will feel the crunch, as will our property values. No one moves to the suburbs to save money. We come here for a better life and more advantages in our schools. If you want lower taxes and larger classes, I hear that there are some very good values in the five boroughs.

Ethan Fried