HAPPY EASTER

We wish all our readers a Happy Easter, Passover and weekend.

We'll leave you with a few thoughts for the weekend.

SCHOOLS

There are two unaddressed items that will prevent Troy from it's supposed comeback, irregardless of which party or person controls the city: schools and the commercial tax base.

Today, we'll discuss the public schools. Troy's public schools, overall, suck.

Check out the Times Union site. Compare cost per pupil, teachers salaries, and academic achievements. Doyle Middle School and Troy High do not measure-up to schools like Shaker, who spend less per pupil and have a lower median teacher salary. Also, at Shaker, the poor students do almost as well, and sometimes as well, academically, as the 'economically advantaged' students.

That's just one school report. Although different school reports use different formulas the evidence all points in the same direction: Troy Schools are inadequate. And now, this!

We don't really know if the Troy Schools suck. That is the perception and as long as that perception remains, middle-class families will not move to Troy. These are the people you want. They work, they get involved in their children's schools and they own homes. They're not coming to Troy and they won't until something is done about the schools. If you do not think young couples with school age children research this topic, you're wrong.

Except for Schenectady, Troy residents have the highest tax burden in the area. What do you get for these outrageous rates: poor schools, garbage pick-up, some street maintenance and a park or two. That's about it. You get basic services at an overpriced rate.

A large part of Troy's future is not in the hands of City Hall or the City Council. Until the school situation is addressed, along with the deteriorating commercial tax base, Troy will, on a good day, do nothing more than tread water.

Have a nice weekend.