The Lowell Sun editors ran a disturbing and vitriolic piece on Sunday (Parking Rates: Part II). In this editorial, they viciously attack the Lowell School Committee, and committee-member Joe Mendonca in particular, for protesting the proposed parking increase. In typical fashion, they try to play off the private sector “working stiffs” against school department employees. Boy, is that getting old. As usual, the city manager and the Lowell Sun want the school committee to rollover and play dead instead of doing their job – which is to stand up for the Lowell School System. The Sun seems to think that the school department should accept the hike in fees just like any other private business in the city. However, after the budget battles of last spring when the school department cut programs and positions and squeezed every dime to arrive at a budget that the city then didn’t fund (cutting the final number by $1.2 million), this latest maneuver by city hall feels like an additional slap in the face. It is in effect a further cut of $150,000 from our children’s education.