More Than 22 Percent Increase?

Given the range — 12.2% to 22.4% — of the four proposed school budgets, we at the Waking Bear have been getting inquiries. They're mostly from folks wanting to now if we've given up the battle to bring about change in the Three Village School District: needed changes in vision, purpose, direction and budgeting. The short answer is "No, we haven't." But, in some ways, the playing field has changed.

Less than five years ago, from the Senate of the United States to the most obscure school board in America, the selfish had been manipulating the "weak." Yet slowly, the strangle hold of the selfish that has brought about the dumbing-down of two generations of our children is weakening.

The terrible influences that have made ganglands of our classrooms, shooting galleries of our schoolyards and emphasized humanism instead of reading, writing and arithmetic are waning. Morality, ethics, the importance of family structure over self-indulgence, religious convictions in lieu of 12 step programs, patriotism in place of nihilism, equality instead of the discrimination found in affirmative action and, finally, sanity in response to the perverse revisionist expletives of the multiculturalists: these things are again moving to the forefront of American society.

Special, bilingual education, English as a Second Language [ESL] — more recently and euphemistically retitled English Language Arts [ELA] — and whole language programs are becoming part of education's history of futile and costly efforts; while charter school and voucher programs are successfully competing with union dominated public school monopolies nationwide.

Yes, things are changing. But budgetary constraint, a local issue and one that YOU have the most immediate control of, remains a problem.

That is YOUR fault and to reverse the process requires that force be brought to bear upon the three factors impeding conservative fiscal policies: 1) selfish and unreasonable parental expectations, 2) the avarice of teachers, and 3) the conjunctive failure of prince-like administrators and weak, well-intentioned school boards members.

First: Consider the impact of the newly arriving two-paycheck families. Recently, the New York Times published a lengthy front-page article concerning the impacts upon communities flooded with nouvo riche parents, who contribute little more to a community than expense. Expense that pushes out those having lived in a neighborhood for thirty and forty years. People on fixed incomes. People that have for decades supported with their time and effort - not just money - community programs and organizations. People, whose departures will bring about the demise of what has become known as the Three Village Community.

Second: Teacher salaries are at 30-50% higher than they should be. Three Village teachers now earn as much as $103,000 with annual increases of from 8% to more than 12% in each of their first 16 years of service in the district! These kinds of salaries are, in fact, common throughout Long Island. And, if they are ever to be contained, it is YOU and not some delegate of your choice that must:

• Resist efforts to reduce class size. Smaller classes, in all but the lowest grades, are clearly unwarranted and only increase the number of highly paid teachers on OUR payrolls. The breaking up of classes into groups that include both fast and slower learners has the brighter students functioning as assistant teachers, greatly reducing teacher span of control issues, in even the lower grades.
• Demand strict, enforceable standards of performance for students AND teachers. ·
• Demand measurable, enforceable and enforced criteria for teacher dismissal.
• Demand programs be trimmed to meet state requirements for a diploma. Eliminate the "pastry" courses from the curricula.
• Write your state legislators and direct them to carefully review and then reduce the number of mandates so costly to local taxpayers.
  You could, perhaps, request the elimination of or a reduction in the number of social workers and staff psychologists.
  And let them know you will stand up for them and against teacher union interests recognized as contrary to the public's interest.
• Do not vote for any federal, state or local candidate known to be a teacher or supported by the teachers unions.
  Already, the president of our school board, William Connors, is a teacher/administrator at Suffolk County Community College and four more members have spouses that are teachers in this or surrounding school districts.
  Your county legislator, Vivian Fisher, was a full time - now part time - teacher in this district and our district's State Assemblyman Steven Englebright taught at Stony Brook University. Both are regularly supported by the teachers unions.
• When the "crisis" over the need for teachers disappears, and they come to recognize themselves as but merely overpaid mortals, YOU should direct administrators and state legislators to closeout the present local salary and state retirement boondoggles and establish new and sensible payroll and retirement systems.

Third: Administrators and school board officials must stop their empire building. They have been able to do so because YOU were not paying attention. When YOU came to trust in their insistence that the district needed budget increases of two, three, four and five times the inflation index, YOU failed to see the fiscal impacts of such outrageous spending practices. YOU failed to see the long range costs of nearly forty million dollars in bonds. YOU let them do this because YOU haven't told them "NO!" again and again and again at the ballot box.

YOU must begin to seriously question the need for greater than $100,000,000 per year to run a school district and their proposed 12% to 22% plus budget increases. For some of us, that's $1200 to $2000 more in taxes! YOU must come to seriously question the merits of each and every Three Village Central School District [TVCSD] proposal suggesting that it's made in the best interest of our Jacks & Jills.

Why?

Because, "they lie, like dogs."