You mean to tell me more people in New Rochelle are worried about class sizes than their taxes possibly going up? This survey is delusional. People are CHOKING on their taxes. Everyone I have ever spoken to is far more worried about their taxes than any other part of the school system.

I believe the Judeo/Christian philosophy encourages us to place the good of others in front of our own wants and desires - why would you consider that to be delusional?. While I am concerned about my finances I was brought up to always donate to charities and while I am concerned about my taxes I also concerned about the education of our children and the welfare of our elderly. Does this make me delusional?

First, this is no charity that we chose to give to. We are being told how much we have to give. In my family it was always a measuring point to give what you can afford. But you give or contribute. Most of the average citizens can’t afford any more. My church has not told me that I have to give them double of what I did since 2005. No one has said to cut class size. But with all of the mismanagement and corruption that is going on, there is something that could and should be done. Taxes are not like a charity where if I don’t like them I can freely chose to give less, stop paying or give to another charity. The citizen bears the burden of poor management and greed while the children and their education suffer. Sorry, there is no little box on my tax statement that gives me an option to not contribute at this time. The BOE and the Teachers Union both can afford to run campaigns to fight each other but can’t find ways to cut expenses. Go figure.

Another way to look at the survey results is that residents don't want teacher cuts and hence larger class sizes but would rather see cuts in back office functions, like the assistant superintendents. I believe most are very concerned about the impact of property taxes.

If the New Rochelle school district got rid of the top 10-20 wage earners, the district would save close to $5 Million per year & not 1 teacher would be affected.

So because the survey does not fit your world view it must be wrong: Who's "delusional" and "out of touch" here? Do you think parents who care about schools are not also taxpayers? Clearly New Rochelle residents value the public schools system.

Mr. McCaffrey please remember this was just a survey and all I was doing was trying to explain why the results may have been what they were and why it wasn't surprising. I happen to think that most of us care very much about the welfare of our community and those that are in it, so I think the results were predictable. The survey is a tool and nothing more.

I don’t question the survey results. They are what they are. However, the survey was only filled out by 536 respondents. 75% were parents or guardians of a current school age student. That is only a sample audience of 402 people with children in the system. There are 1047 students in Ward alone. Not much of a sample size to get an accurate sample. My point was that the school taxes are not like a charity. All the citizens bear the burden of poor management and greed while the children, their parents and their education suffer. Those with big wallets seem to have a bigger voice. Clean up the system of its waste and mismanagement. Then tell me you need more money and I will gladly pay what is needed. I am far from being delusional. However I recognize the facts as they have surfaced time and again. I do value the public schools system. I am a product of it.

Hmm, 60%? OF WHAT? I mean, how many people responded? 536? How many taxpayers does THAT represent? Ever notice how on school budget vote nights, there always is the "coincidence" of some kind of a concert or something going on at Ward and Davis? Ever notice how the more affluent neighborhoods tend to think we're "under-taxed" for such a marvelous school system? Then, if you can't afford the taxes, they paint you as "anti-education" or a crackpot? How long is it before we hear that hackneyed cup of coffee a day line on THIS one? By the way, this is not a news piece. Read up top. It is "user generated news". It is more of a self serving press release, masquerading as news. I did my own survey consisting of me, deco, billy, reality and bob. I am going to call it a satisfactory sample. NEWSFLASH -- 100% of taxpayers think taxes are too high! What are we going to do about THAT? BTW, I value no opinion that purports to know what most people think of the value of the school system that is offered by someone who makes their living off those taxes, know what I mean?

Actually 536 is a very large response. If you ever took statistics you would acknowledge that getting 536 responses represents a large number of responses and would make the survey statistically very accurate. Unfortunately, I am not one of those that has a big wallet, but I am not shy to speak up. Mr. M. I agree with you that I don't want to see waste and I also agree with you that when there is a need we should be willing to pay. I am glad that if you see a need you are actually happy to pay