Topic-The following appeared in an editorial in the Bayside Sentinel."Bayside citizens need to consider raising local taxes if they want to see improvements in the bayside school district. Test scores, graduation and college admission rates, and a number

The editorial proposes that local taxes should be raised in order to improve the condition of Bayside District School (BDS) as it has displayed poor performance as compared to New Harbour School (NHS) across the Bay. The writer has compared the two schools on the basis of parameters such as student test scores, admission rates, school infrastructure and per student expenditure. It is finally concluded that the superior performance of NHS is due to its better monetry resources. Though writer presents some compelling points, a close inspection shows that his logic is flawed and consiquently the conclusion drawn is incorrect.

First of all low test scores by BDS students can have a number of alternative explainations. For example it is possible that the students intake of BDS is not as good as that of NHS. If students have weeker educational backgrounds, it would be wrong to blame low test scores on lack of money alone. Also it is not mentioned when were the grades of the two schools compared. If the two studies were conducted at different times, it would break the logic at its core. Similarly shortage of graduation and college admission rates can have other reasons. It is possible that the courses being offered at BDS do not interest the potential students or these courses have little practical value in getting a job. Article says that there are some other points in which NHS surpasses BDS. However as no details are provided, it is hard to believe that thoes shortcomings necessarily exist due to shortage of money. To agree with the writer's conclusion, solid evidence is needed so that all other posibilites, besides the monetry ones, are efectively excluded. This can be done by conducting comprehensive survey from existing and potential student. To sum up, the parameters presented are not convincing enough to coincide with the writers conclusion.

The author has noted the case of broken windows, unuseable bathrooms and outdated class room equipment in support of his conclusion to raise more tax money. Though the point looks stronger at its face, unfortunately it too can have a number of alternate explainations. For instance these observations might as well be caused by poor administration of the school. It is quite possible that school does not implement the rules and regulations strictly. This linency can result in mischivious behaviour from studnets which could have resulted in damages the writer has noted. A linenit administeration often results in lax staff performance which further detiriorates the situation. The school administrator may not have made the new equipment purchases even if there were no dearth of monetory resources. Corruption, too, can have a share in these poor conditions. Unless information about school administeration efficiency is provided, lack of facilities can not be the result of resources defficiency alone. Author should provide more information on these lines to make this argument more convincing.

The last point of the argument seems a bit stronger than the previous two but, unfortunately, not strong enough to be convincing; that NHS has better scores than BDS because it spends twenety-seven percent more per student. What if the better scores are due to inflated grades by the teachers? What if the tests at NHS were easier as compared to BDS? Wether the students prefer NHS over BDS due to its prestige and its professional courses or due to its better facilities? Unless these questions are answered, it is again a stretch to agree with the writer.
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In a nutshell, there are number of fallicies in the logic presented in this editorial. The lower performance of BDS can be explained by a number reasons other than the lack of money. AS writer has failed to provide substantial evidence that excludes all other possiblities, it is not possible to agree with his proposal to raise local taxes to improve the school performance.