Much like Kathy Damjanovich ("Jordan jilted," Forum, Jan. 31), I too am upset about the financial straits of the Jordan School District, but I am unsympathetic.

When my family moved to Midvale, one of the many things we quickly learned was that many of our tax dollars paid to the school district were used to build new schools on the west side.

Our children attended east-side schools that were older and designed for a bygone educational era. Although clean, the east-side facilities were marginally maintained with few modern improvements or amenities. For example, funds earmarked years ago for air-conditioning at Hillcrest High School were diverted to resolve some real or imagined environmental odor at a newer west-side school. Today, Hillcrest and other east-side schools remain without air-conditioning.

Jordan District's current plight makes it clear that the east-side tax base was supporting the district's west-side growth and getting little local return on its investment. It was the cutbacks, school closures and general arrogance of the Jordan School District administration toward the east side that put the district in the fix it is in today, leaving kids, faculty and staff in the lurch.

Greg Dutkowski

Midvale