To the editor:

The Mehlville School District has not changed and won’t if we continue to give it more money.

They continue to spend money they do not have and then they complain they need more money from taxpayers.

Chief Financial Officer Marshall Crutcher presented to the Board of Education a five-year summary last June projecting a deficit, but the board voted 5-2 to approve a 2.4-percent salary increase for the teachers anyway. One would think the board would cut, not increase it.

I am a senior on a fixed income. I received a 1.7-percent cost-of-living increase this year and 1.5-percent cost-of-living increase last year from Social Security. This does not even cover the cost for food, much less my medical and utility increases. So I must cut my spending, making adjustments to my budget. I don’t have the option to ask taxpayers for more money.

If I ran my household like the Mehlville School District runs the school district, I would also be in a deficit.

Come on Mehlville, stop the wasteful spending and stop giving salary increases when you don’t have the money. Make some cuts before you get in too deep.

I will not support a tax-rate increase of 51.25 cents.