To the editor:

In response to Mr. Pavlacic’s letter suggesting families pay for school supplies, perhaps he should have checked his facts before he spouted off.

Families pay, on average, $30 per child for supplies and teachers do pay out of their pockets. As for the 49-cent tax in-crease in 2000, the money was earmarked, by state law, for building and technology improvements.

Prop A will fund daily district operating expenses, including teacher salaries, state-mandated retirement programs and textbooks. It’s Mehlville’s first operating tax levy in 20 years. Mehlville is poised to lose $7 million in revenue once the desegregation program is phased out.

Here’s a Business 101 lesson Mr. Pav-lacic: If a company loses $7 million, they must find a way to replace it.

I respect Mr. Pavlacic’s decision to choose private school. In order for these schools to attract talented teachers, they need look no further than their public school counterparts.

If public schools fail to entice top educators with competitive wages, its likely private schools will see a direct correlation.

Let’s come together as a community to sustain the quality of our children’s education.

Jeff Clobes

Oakville

Editor’s note: A flier distributed by Citi-zens Protecting Our Investments, a committee promoting the passage of Proposition A, states: “Outside of a Prop C rollback waiver in 1998, our district has not approved a day-to-day operating tax rate increase in 20 years.” The flier also states: “Through a wai-ver election, school districts may ask patrons to forego some or all of the property tax rollback required by Proposition C. If voters approve the waiver, the effect is the same as an increase in the operating tax rate.”