To the editor:

The latest labeling of those who are opposed to placing the Jackson school bond proposal on the November ballot is a "small vocal group of selfish dissenters who are intent on lambasting school board members and impeding the district's plans for the future."

It doesn't sound to me like it's a small vocal group. On the contrary, the results of the last two elections wherein the funding proposals were soundly defeated might just suggest a majority, rather than a small vocal group.

Some say unilateral decisions by the school board in such things as land acquisition has caused citizens to lose confidence in the school board members. My own personal reason for opposition to the boards decision to place the proposal on the November ballot -- which, incidentally, will result in a tax increase, however minuscule -- is the fact that no consideration has been given to other areas of concern for an expanding Jackson, such as additional police and equipment, firefighters and equipment, street and road maintenance repair crews and other vital necessities.

What with the schools already consuming 68 percent of the total county tax revenue, and the board asking us to increase that tax bite by approving the proposal on the November ballot, what happens if additional finding is required for other city needs? Will we be asked to support those requirements by additional funds -- an increased tax, if you will?

An expression I heard at the last school board meeting was, "The first priority of a community is to educate its children." That certainly is not the first priority of any community. Its first priority is the security and protection of all it's citizens.

As previously said by some, those of us who have no children in the Jackson district have no grounds or rights to criticize the school board. That's absurd. Let me set the record straight. As long as we are taxpayers, and as long as a part of our taxes go in support of the schools, we have rights to oppose, criticize or speak out, for or against any elected official or public servant. I know many people who have moved to Jackson for reasons other than its school system. There are those who came to town because of the job opportunities or promotions. There are those, like myself, who came here because of family ties. The idea that the only reason people have settled in Jackson is because of its school system is a myth.

Criticism has been directed toward the elderly because most oppose a tax increase. As one person spoke out at the last board meeting, raising his tax liability, even a little, would cause him undue distress toward the purchase of his monthly medical prescriptions. Federal and state incomes taxes, sales taxes, county real estate and personal property taxes, and now a proposed increase in tax for the schools where does it end? A limb will bend until it finally breaks. Have we reached that breaking point?

RICHARD BRUCE

Jackson, Mo.