To the editor:

I’m writing in response to Kathy Malone’s letter on July 25. She indicates she doesn’t support Les Cochran for school board because he wants to build more schools. Clearly, she didn’t check the facts. I have followed Les Cochran’s campaign since the beginning and he has never indicated any desire or need to build more schools in Lee County. And, none of his literature mentions it either. I called him to see if he had ever said anything about building more schools. “The thought has never crossed my mind,” he said. “The system is over built; we don’t need more schools.”

Les has focused on improving the quality of education. We receive the 11th highest amount of funds per student out of 67 counties in the state, yet we rank 48th in graduation rate. He says we don’t need more money. We need to reallocate the funds. He found we spend 57 percent of the budget on learning. The average amount spent by other districts is 65 percent. Wow! We are 8 percent below average. When I heard him speak, he said that means we are shortchanging kids and teachers by $60 million. As a university president he’s very experienced in working with large budgets and knows how to get the most results from the funds available.

I’m voting for Les Cochran and encourage others to do so. His long-term goal is to make our district one of the top ten in the state! Get the facts at his website: www.LesCochran.com .

Dottie Muske

St. James City