01:00 AM EDT on Monday, August 23, 2004

It would be a disservice to your readers to leave unanswered the Aug. 13 column by James P. Hosey ("Compare CEO benefits with teachers,' " Commentary).

Aside from his comparison of apples and oranges, and the unarguable premise that corporate America is looting stockholder equity, his picture of teacher compensation in Rhode Island is completely false.

I negotiated teacher contracts over 30 years. Our contracts were usually in the lower half of Rhode Island contracts, in overall cost per pupil, but among the highest in the United States.

I don't know where Mr. Hosey worked, but every Rhode Island contract I know of contained "step increases" over 10 or 12 years. Teachers received an increase in pay for each credit earned toward an advanced degree, in courses paid for by the school districts. The workday consisted of less than seven hours, of which no more than four hours were spent in actually teaching. The work year was, and is, 180 days, and anything over that required additional compensation. Paid sick leave increased every year, and, amazingly, sick days taken by teachers also increased every year. Retirement, as taken by Mr. Hosey, was a combination of age and years worked, which permitted teachers to retire in their 50s and early 60s.

Mr. Hosey's anguish at having to pay "out of his own pocket" for health insurance and Medicare is a reflection of his naive view of the real world, from which he was protected by his union contract during his teaching years.

Former teachers who enter the real work world from the warm womb of the education industry are consistently shocked by the work demands of employers who must compete to survive. Unfortunately, these same people are teaching our children that everyone is "entitled" to all the benefits of a comfortable life, from annual pay increases to lifetime health care, without regard to individual talent or effort.

That economic philosophy is called socialism, and it hasn't worked anywhere in the world to date.

DAVID F. SWEENEY

East Greenwich

The writer is a retired lawyer.