To the Editor:

it's one thing to be the self-appointed watchdog of how taxes are spent in this town. Nobody will argue against fiscal responsibility.

It's another to be a destructive force against our school system. Phil Christe's ad in the May 12 edition of The RecordReview in which he published the salaries of 205 teachers and administrators in the Bedford Central School District crossed that line.

As an outsider to the public school system (his children attend private school), it's easy for Mr. Christe to lobby against the school budget. He derives no direct benefit.

But by choosing these tactics, he is operating within the dynamics of our schools and our teachers, where he has no right to be. Mr. Christe will say that the information he presented was public, but the spirit of what he has done was nasty and inflammatory.

We are incensed at the possibility that this ad might foster any negative effect in our children's school whatsoever. His crusade has taken an especially ugly turn, even for him. But we will be just as determined in defending the system as he seems to be in beating it down.

Silvia and Steve Ohler Bedford Hills