The editorial “Huge pay hikes unacceptable” (May 26) suggests the proponents’ arguments for the school district administration pay raises could be nothing more than “the public not understanding compensation” and the need for paying “competitive” wages to “attract talent.” This is the same worn-out argument as is still being made by bankers and others with an inflated sense of self-worth.
Should the choice of a vocation or profession always be primarily about money, or should other elements count for something too?
Why should public service executives always want to compare their compensation to that paid to their private-sector counterparts or to their peers in some overcrowded, overstressed urban conglomerate where they would not wish to live?
Where is the sense of altruism, of serving a cause, of the public’s interest?
Should our surroundings and the much lower stress level here compared to a big city not also count for something, even if it cannot be measured precisely in monetary terms?
Wolfgang Wittenburg
Squamish
