LTTE, need advice

[FrannyD]

I am about to submit a LTTE to my local paper. We have a special election for a parcel tax to help fund school programs. They almost always print my letters. I worked particularly hard on this one, as I'm so fed up. If you could leave any imput or help fix any grammatical errors, I would greatly appreciate it. Also It's a little long, I admit, maybe I could shorten, but believe me I already have immensely!
Here it is:

While I never thought I’d side with the Chamber of Commerce on anything, but I have to conclude Measure A is not the answer to our education woes. Many districts across California are considering similar parcel taxes. Apparently they too have the lowest teacher pay. There is also a similar state-wide proposal gathering signatures for the November ballot.

The wording of Measure A is very vague. For example, it states changes in state or federal funding may prevent the board from funding the programs listed. Prop 49, Arnold’s ballot initiative for after-school programs is about to be implemented, taking away $426-million from classroom instruction. Is this the sort of change in state funding to allow them to disregard these special programs which the public just taxed themselves for?
Any increase in school spending will most likely go toward costs such as utilities, health benefits, and salaries, not the students. The schools are still owed $3.2 billion dollars from the loan they gave to the government during the (Enron) budget crisis.
The corporate tax con game is creating local and state hardships all over the country, and they are starving our local educational systems.
The percentage of federal tax paid by corporations has gone from a high of 39.8 percent to a low of 7.4 percent last year. 71 percent of foreign-controlled corporations paid no taxes on their US income.

Corporations had a stake in our educational system when they employed Americans. Those days are long gone as “free-trade” allows them to outsource jobs to places like China. There is absolutely nothing being done to turn this tide. President Bush is proposing a large increase in funding to make us more competitive in math and science. You’d think as an ex-Ceo, he’d know we need only be competitive in one area, and I don’t foresee Americans working for 5 dollars a week any time soon. The race to the bottom has begun and no measly parcel tax is going to change that fact.
California with the largest prison system, spends only a little more for higher education. Higher Education is becoming unattainable for the average American as we continue to lay off teachers to pay for corrections officers. The nation spends more than 50% of its budget on defense, while education is next getting just 6.5%. Do we want our children to have opportunities other than becoming soldiers and prisoners?
With a third grader in the San Leandro public school system, I’m all for improvement and real reform but unless they plan on teaching my son Mandarin, I will be voting no. I believe public education is the backbone of any democratic society. We will have a chance in November to vote for new leadership in our state and country. I hope we make the right one so we can begin to see real progress being made for our sake as well as our children’s.

[slide to the left]

1. love it,

Third sentance: Apparently they too have the lowest teacher pay

Change to: Apparently, they too have some of the lowest teacher salaries

And % is a word, percent, not a symbol unless you are using it in a chart, you have it correct in some places and not in others.

Avoid contractions


If you write a lot of LTTE, you might want to get an AP style guide. You can get one at any book store and it will become your best friend.