J.J.: Peter’s article on why college is so expensive is indeed instructive

and timely. Let it be noted, however, that the great bilking of the middle

class by the educrats does not begin with college. Public schooling is

extraordinarily expensive for the middle class too. We pay through the nose

for our kids’ grade-school and high-school education, mainly through

property taxes and elevated house prices in neighborhoods with good school

systems. In my own county, Suffolk (in NY state), real estate taxes, of

which school costs constitute 70 percent, are set to rise from 8 to 12

percent this year. This is in an environment where inflation is running at

less than 3 percent, and many of our schools are looking at declining

enrollment.