To the editor:

The mayor's plan to reduce the number of special parking permits issued to city agencies makes sense if only those permits that have traditionally been granted as plumbs and favors are axed, but sometimes this parking right is not merely a convenience or a gift, but produces dividends to the taxpayers in terms of worker productivity.

Our public school teachers are dedicated professionals who are glad to go the extra mile, often unpaid, for their students, but they balk at walking that extra mile, due to street parking restrictions, from their car to their classroom each day.

They should be given special permits for privileged parking, not as a perk, but strictly as a practical measure to serve the public interest.

The permit should be valid only during actual work hours and at the site where they are on up-todate record as being employed.

Enforcement will guard against abuse. A teacher's workout should be defined in terms of strides made in building skills, confidence and character, not in time logged from curb to chalkboard.

Ron Isaac