Lookout Eugene-Springfield’s editorial on the Eugene School District 4J budget staff’s error in estimating the projected budget deficit doesn’t go far enough. The important question is more fundamental than the technical questions raised in the editorial. 

I want to be clear here. I am not questioning the 4J school board nor the new superintendent. This school board is one of the very best in recent memory. They are probably asking the very question I am asking them to explore. My goal is to make the inquiry more public. 

That’s a lot of background to my basic point. The 4J board must ask whether its budget staff is capable of competently assessing the financial condition of the district. Simply asking its staff to go back and correct its mistakes puts the onus on the same people who made the mistakes in the first place.

Once confidence in the staff is restored, the public can be assured that we are supporting an education program that produces the quality graduates that we need to build our community. 

Tom Barkin
Eugene