I find it interesting that lawmakers are encouraging school districts to violate the requirements for class size in their negotiated agreements with the teacher unions.

Obviously, any agreement between the unions and the districts means nothing because both sides work together to reduce class sizes and impose a larger tax liability onto the taxpayers.

Therefore, when school districts split classes in half, they must hire another teacher at a cost of $80,000 — and fund that position from their appropriated funds.

It is not the responsibility of the taxpayers to fund that additional teacher through a bond or a levy.

As a matter of fact, if lawmakers are funding schools for smaller class sizes (more salary, more retirement, more health benefit, etc.) they are illegally increasing the tax liability on the taxpayers.

At that point, Attorney General Rob McKenna needs to step up and get them under control.

Or is there a problem understanding or remembering how the Constitution works?

To solve this huge education funding hit, Washington state lawmakers are taking money from the 2011 education money to pay for the 2011-13 education money — problem solved.

I didn’t take accounting in school, but if I understand this right lawmakers are taking money from a budget that has no money in it to fund a budget that starts on July 1 and runs until 2013 that has no money in it yet.

I always thought that was “mis-appropriation of funds” — or maybe “cooking the books.”

What was it that Rep. Jan Angel said? “We’re robbing Peter to pay Paul again.”  Yes, that was it.

In Washington state, accounting means we don’t have money to spend now, but we’ll spend next year’s money — which we may never see anyway — to show the people what a good job we’re doing.

LARRY L. MANN
Port Orchard