(MONEY Magazine) – As always, MONEY's annual ranking of the Best Places to Live in America stirred controversy. And, as usual, the criticism included spirited send-ups, like this cartoon from the Waco Tribune-Herald. Rockford, Ill., dead last at No. 300 in July's 10th annual survey, sent MONEY a six-foot-by-five-foot box containing 300 reasons why Rockford should be No. 1. Among enclosed items were local hot-dog rolls and potato chips--a rather tasteful protest, we think. July also created controversy with a report on a day in the life of a public school principal. Readers were moved by the problems at the New York City elementary school--and praised MONEY's role in a program showing kids how to resolve conflicts without fighting. But the teachers union was upset at accusations that regulations protecting its members have contributed to the school's problems.

Isn't it ironic that top-ranked Madison, Wis. and last-place Rockford, Ill. are only 70 miles apart and that in the 1960 U.S. Census each city had a population of exactly 126,706 persons? End of similarity. Today, Madison, state capital and site of a mammoth land-grant university, thrives. Rockford, a classic blue-collar town reliant on a skilled machine-tool industry, atrophies. Madison's current prosperity is partly a result of the growth of steady government jobs. Tax dollars drained from productive free- enterprise sectors like Rockford helped create their current problems while helping places like Madison prosper. JERREL K. RALPH Glen Ellyn, Ill.

I can't take seriously July's rankings. Wisconsin can keep its cheese and its cold winters. I'll hold on to Boston's great educational, medical, leisure and arts facilities, as well as a rebounding economy. Beantown ranks lots higher than the 69 spot you gave it. SCOTT D. WILLIAMS Ipswich, Mass.

Placing Modesto, Calif. only 285 out of 300 cities is a farce. Modesto is located within two hours of anything we could possibly want--majestic Yosemite, skiing, beautiful beaches, professional baseball, basketball, football and hockey. And the higher education of our state is second to none. Where else can you pay as little as $50 a semester at a junior college and $870 at a California State University campus? RICHARD VANDEN BOSCH Modesto, Calif.

SOLVING PROBLEMS IN OUR SCHOOLS

Thank you for July's in your interest column about a day in the life of a public school principal--"Reading, Writing--and Union Work Rules." As a former teacher and school counselor in the parochial and public systems, I can attest to the article's veracity.

MONEY's help in allowing the students to create their own magazine, Harmony, is to be celebrated. We need people to show up and work with kids, as the MONEY editors did--not just ghosts with checkbooks who toss money at the system. PATRICIA NESBITT Albertson, N.Y.

MONEY repeats the myth that union rules tie principals' hands. Here are facts:

--Of some 4,000 teachers hired each year in the New York City public school system, only about 300 transfer into schools without being selected by principals.

--Principals, not the union, recommend teachers for tenure. If some don't make the grade during their probation, principals can simply "terminate" them.

--If tenured teachers fall below par, good supervisors would try to improve their performance, but few bother.

--For those teachers who can't be helped, principals should make the case for dismissal; the law guarantees only due process, not a lifetime job. Neither the union nor their colleagues want incompetent teachers working with children. SANDRA FELDMAN President, United Federation of Teachers New York City

CORRECTIONS

--August's table of "2,698 Major Funds" listed an incorrect phone number for the Vanguard stock mutual funds. The correct number is 800-851-4999. MONEY regrets any inconvenience caused by our error.

--A box that accompanied July's "Best Places to Live in America"--"Will You Come Out Ahead If You Relocate? Take This Test"--contained an error. By completing the second step of the three-step test we published, you will learn how much more (or less) you will have to earn to maintain your current lifestyle when you move to a new metro area. But you will not learn, as we said you would, the actual salary you will need. To find out that salary, please take the dollar figure you end up with from step two and add it to your current salary, then, for step three, multiply that sum by 1.15. The result is a salary, adjusted for your new location, with 15% more buying power than your old one. MONEY regrets the error.