West Chester Area School Board President Jim Smith took issue with the headline attached to my Oct. 23 article on the school district's potential 2009-2010 Act 1 exemptions.

The headline:

"WCASD'S TAX HIKE MAY EXCEED STATE CAP

"Millage increase could be as high as 5.24, officials say."

Here is a link to the letter in which Smith lays out his objections to the headline. He also outlines the school district's financial situation and refutes some of the claims the Republican school board candidates are making. (Note: In the scanned PDF of Smith's letter, the underline at the beginning of the fourth paragraph is mine, not Smith's.)

At the Daily Local, copy editors write headlines. Reporters do not. This is because copy editors, when putting articles onto pages, can see exactly how much space is available for a headline. And it's their job, not ours, to make the paper look exciting.