Puppydog – While you took the time to do the math and came up with 15%, the school board most likey just picked a random number they felt (hoped?) you would just swallow. Fight it, you can probably get them to accept 5% this year, and another 5% the years after that. And don’t accept the cutbacks. But answer this question to yourself before calling; is your tuition in line with the 5% / 15% cap I’ve been hocking about?
Oh and just so we are all on the same page; 5% is based on your “adjusted” net income (how many kids, ect) but that’s a thread in itself, so I don’t want to go off to that topic here.
Bottom line: are you paying you fair share? If so, you can and probably will sway them. If not, well, perhaps you might reconsider upping the ante to be in line with they truly can expect for someone like yourself. Again, this is not something we need to know, but something that you should (the answer might surprise you).
FYI – I once had this discussion with my shul buddies (how much is the right ammount to spend in shul) and by my own math, I was short a few hundred $, so within a short while, I made up the difference. Math is funny that way.. it doesn’t play favorites!