To the editor:

In the April 30 issue of the Call, Mehlville school board member Jean Pretto was reported to have made the following comments in reference to raising our taxes:

“… It really breaks my heart to think how fast our community will decline if we don’t step up to the plate and do what we need to do … So you might as well bite the bullet for your own town …”

Since the majority of the current school board is owned by the teachers’ union, it’s not surprising that Pretto would make such comments. No doubt her union overlords have given clear marching orders about beating the drums for a tax increase.

But what Pretto and those same union members would not like you to be aware of is that currently in Mehlville — as reported May 6 by a daily newspaper — there are over 17 administrators within the district being paid in excess of $100,000 and over 200 teachers and others being paid over $70,000. That’s over 200 people making over $70,000. I know many people who support families on much less.

These teachers and administrators are the same bunch who demanded their lackeys on the school board increase salaries by over 6 percent in the last two years, which has brought the district to the financial situation it currently finds itself in.

Once again — over 200 people are taking home over $70,000.

When the school board receives orders from the teachers’ union to put that tax-rate increase on the ballot, send a clear message to those alleged public servants about who owns this school district and that your money is not theirs for the taking. And to Ms. Pretto, don’t solve financial problems you created by taking money out of the taxpayers’ wallets.