Yeah, I'll take door number two on the New Paltz school budget

It took me a while to find it, door number two.

Door number one is the New Paltz School District's proposed budget. It increases the tax levy on a median-valued home by 2.95% (or 3.0%, when rounded up by members of the adult world). That's the increase that voters will get to say "yes" or "no" on when the annual budget vote is held.

But behind door number two is the contingency budget that takes effect if voters say "No" to the proposed budget. That contingency budget provides for "only" a 2.0% increase.

I'll take door number two.

True, it's not much of a choice. Just the usual "More" vs. "More More." But there is a lesson that needs teaching here. It is, in the smarmy language of the modern educator, a "teachable moment."

The lesson plan is a simple one: "No."

What I would like to have seen was the School District not try to make up for any lost state aid by getting it from local taxpayers, but rather to first reduce its budget by the amount of aid lost, and then to reduce the budget by 1% on top of that. The School District constantly told taxpayers how painless a 1% increase would be for the $50 million Middle School renovation bond. So, how could a 1% decrease be so terrible?

Never forget that the School District is a political operation with a sophisticated PR approach to the people who pay for it. It is not all about "the children," and far from it.