To the writer who says teacher benefits are not the problem (“Teacher Benefits Needed” Jan. 19-25), I guess we all found out we can agree. If you want to put forward the “high education costs” excuse, just take a look at what a “professor” at SUNY Potsdam starts at, and realize that many positions that require master’s degrees and higher don’t have compensation as good as our local school teachers get. And even our new governor understands that school superintendents are overpaid, and he’s willing to say it. And to the writer that says we couldn’t replace school teachers if benefits were cut, look around the North Country and see how many former college students went to college, got their BA and MA degrees and still can’t get a teaching job. The issue comes down to taxes that we can’t afford and teachers and other labor expenses that we can’t afford in the current and future state of New York finances.