During the past few weeks you have published a number of articles on the financial plights of the Andalusia and Opp school systems.

They have now taken a page from the tactics of Gov. Riley and former Alabama Superintendent of Education, Ed Richardson, who stated that, if their 2002 proposed $3 billion tax increase was not approved by the state voters, they would have to lay off at least 3,000 school teachers. As all of you know, this tax increase was not approved and no teachers were laid off. At that time I called the governor “a ball-faced liar” which was printed in your newspaper, and he has never spoken to me since.

Now the Andalusia and Opp school superintendents are threatening to lay off school teachers if we don’t give them more taxes. But they will never do it; it is nothing but a scare tactic, which they learned from their bosses in Montgomery.

I hope the city and county officials, and voters in Covington County, recognize this scam and tell our school officials to spend more time learning to operate without their income, like the rest of us have to do.

Wyley D. Ward

Andalusia