This writer predicts that the current drop in the stock market will significantly reduce Auburn's school aid for next year. Wall Street substantially underwrites New York's education funding. The markets are taking a big hit this year, and Albany knows what is about to happen.

Unfortunately, our autocratic state government is reverting to business as usual. The scandalous “three men in a room” process is being revived. Gimmicks such as the 4 percent tax cap are offered to appease uninformed taxpayers, while the deep systemic issues - the root causes of Albany's dysfunctions - continue to be ignored.

I was surprised at the naive reaction of this paper to the sudden rearrangement of the state Senate's leadership. Does the editor not perceive the corruption behind the smiles and the smooth transition? In yet another Albany scandal, the former Senate leader is reportedly threatened by a serious FBI investigation. With scarcely a blink, his party meets in secret, and he reappears, smiling as always, to step aside and usher in another veteran pol. Please note that his replacement is a shrewd, hard-hitting Long Island rep, with a very successful history of driving unfair amounts of school aid to his constituent districts.

The proposed 4 percent cap will do nothing more than limit local revenue. In other words, it will permit Albany to continue to under-fund Auburn and its surrounding rural districts, while setting their citizens against one another in ways that will divide and disrupt communities.

Our community has just experienced the results of this ploy: bitter recriminations, acrimony, and blame directed at one another, instead of toward the truly responsible parties - our elected representatives in Albany. There is a very important election in November. Let us come together in support of our community and its schools.

David Lansford

Auburn

Lansford is a member of the Auburn Enlarged City School District Board of Education