do residents really have representation through their boards

[lmstech1]

having been in business for 26 years, and on a school board for 6, my opinion is that Long Island taxpayers have little influence on the direction of school districts. The current exposure of corruption and outright lack of control of the districts is just the tip of the iceberg. Watch over the coming months as districts throughout the Island are opened up to real public review. Districts run as private self serving operations, with a public "exterior" that attempts to put the public good first. The reality is the public does derive "benfit" from the billions spent, but the real question is how much is spent wastefully to better serve those we pay to run our schools?

Part of the problem is that most residents don't get involved and/or attend Board meetings until April/May when the budget has been completed. People need to be involved more then just the month or so before a budget vote.

[Taxed Cryer]

Too often what you see and read at budget time is not the truth.There's the underlying self-serving and favor calling of school board members and administrators that is rampant throughout many districts......

would it make sense for an Island wide association that could promote through the media the real concerns of the citizens? An association that had the ability to wake up the sleeping masses and put all of the districts on notice? An association that could support the average individual that wants to run for the school board but actually stay independent of the unions and administration. Do you think there are enough concerned people on Long Island to join together and have the ability to actually control, audit and direct the Boards and administrations, so that the community is actually served ? I would love feedback on this.

Bring back taxpac and get a grass roots movement going. I think most people are working too hard to pay to live here and do not have the time to attend board meetings.

[wonthappen]

It won;t happen, the teachers union is too powerful and has more time than the average worker to plan a counter strategy. In our school district we had such a school board memeber, he actually pushed for volunteers to do some of the extra jobs, he actually volunteered as a coach, saved the district money, but was crucified by the union...and no one including the other board members stood up for him. This has to be done on a regional basis since the administration will probably pit one school against the other if changes are to be made, and then the moms will come out and cave in to the status quo which will be what the union promotes.

There is a needed critical mass of individual that have battled for change over the past years that if unified could provide the needed leadership and finances to bring the real truth to the masses. The reason nobody "goes to a board meeting" is that they feel there is little they can do to change anything and they tend to feel they don't understand the process. If a method of clearly exposing the day to day waste and self serving process existed, there would be a call to arms. Think about it. Board meetings beyond the awards shows they put on are attended by typically a few people complaining about an individual issue, PTA players and other teachers and administrators forced to show face. That probably comes out to less that .1 % of the popuplation showing up to hear the real "news" and action off the district.
What about forcing the districts to do interractive voice polling of their community to get real input of whether the $100 million bodn issue is really what the community wants? What about video taping and streaming of every board meeting and archiving them so there is a video record for the community to view the antics that go on. Having spent almost $100K and finally going to trial next week in a defamation suit against the superintendent in Commack, my hope is that the next 100k will be dedicated to sending a uniques set of messages and expsosing the behind the scenes actions in Commack. What about the rest of the Island. Isn't there others that want to do the same thing?

[Henry L. Stimson]

The problem with voting on school budgets is that most people have a false sense that they are actually deciding what they will pay in taxes. Wrong! School budgets are the only tax related vote we as homeowners get to vote on, but yet it is a sham!The whole process is a dog and pony show put on by your local school board and sup to make it appear you are actually voting on something that you have control over. You don't.
When school districts have to hire a PR person to promote a budget or pass a bond, ya have to wonder why. Isn't just telling the truth good enough? Offering free food or free internet to come in to vote for a school or library bond sounds almost like a bribe, and should be illegal. Does it benifit the kids or just the admin? And why does a school district use blackmail when a budget goes down? Is that the way to teach our kids? Threaten the public if they don't cave in to thier demands? They cannot take away busses anymore for safety reasons, but music, art and athletics are always the first to go. Maybe they should only get one chance to pass a budget. Fail? Go on austerity! Then they might even get a little creative! An austerity budget limits a school to a maximum budget increase of the COLA. That's about 3% these days. What was your increase last May? What most people do not realize that over 80% of what they vote on in a school budget is contratual or mandated costs, and will come out of thier taxes no matter what. Taxes will never go DOWN if a budget fails. They might even go up more than what was put up for a vote!. A state mandated cost must still be added to a austerity budget! And of course, no administrator is going to give up his or her 6 figure salary in an austerity budget. The only way the homeowners on Long Island will change this system is to convince the state that it must be changed, or Long Island will become the land of the rich and the illegal, with no more middle class. Anyone out there willing to lobby for this?

The concept that great schools cost a lot but you are getting incredable appreciation on your house is a worthless spin. Producing a location of housing cost that strip the middle class of savings will result in the masses revolting sooner than most people think. Consider it a tax pac nuclear exposion when everyone gets fed up and puts on the pressure. The typical person will go back and spend 2 hours getting a $5 refund on something they saw cheaper in another store, but won't spend an hour a year at a board meeting. For good reason, nothing real ever happens there. Outside of a coach being let go or an award presentation, there in never any board discussion of any interest, just a repeat of the things that are happening of which the taxpayers have little understanding. Bills are approved because they are recommended by administration, and pre-staged questions to show the value of the bill are made. NOthing more.
If you keep the content meaningless, nobody will come. If you hide the truth, nobody will come. Maybe by putting the entire meetings on the Internet, people would come to express themselves since they know the potential is that the entire community could view it.
Open up the districts, let the public really see what goes on.

[quote="Anonymous"]The concept that great schools cost a lot but you are getting incredable appreciation on your house is a worthless spin. .quote]


Boy are you clueless

[ItDepends]

Many school board encourage community participation - formstask forces, solicit input, take surveys - asking for community feedback to help them shape policy. Just because a board makes a decision you personally disagree with does not mean you are not represented. Sometimes, in a democracy, we all have the opportuinty to have the minority opinion. Sometimes, if there are enough people with the miniority opinion, there will be a compromise solution. Sometimes we just have to live with a solution that benefits the majority. And let's not forget that our elected leaders have access to confidential information that we might not have.

And then there are the handful of boards with people interested in their own self interest. If you have to stretch to find self interest for your board it's not really there. We are talking about people walking away with real money here, not a case where a board member's kid gets elected as captain of the cheerleader squad.

Look at how many board members have spouses or children or very close friends working as teachers in their own districts. Or look a little further at other local districts and you will find a statistical impossibility when you see how many of their "blood" relatives are employed. It is the most blatant form of abusive power that is out there. The only reason the type of theft going on today in the districts is because of the personal relationships that have been allowed to form that eliminates the checks and balances that exist in properly run businesses. Look at the make up of local boards, how many teachers and administrators serve currently on them? Who is guarding the chickens?
How do most districts "survery" the population they serve? Do you think that because most of the population does not go to a board meeting, and don't vote, that the system should just run on the input of the few that show up for meetings? Or should a real attempt at capturing the true community pulse should take place?

OK, as long as you look how many board member have no relatives in the school too. Do you look at them and say "right on" or do you just focus on the lowlifes who do use their positions to buy jobs for their relatives?

[numberzcruncher]

The answer to the main question here is "Some do and some don't." Board members having relatives working for the school is a matter for concern. You have to be careful about who you listen to when it comes to board members. An honest board member is in a position to tick off folks who are used to working the system to get their own way at the expense of others.

[Open your eyes!]

The president of my school board has no relatives working in the school, works hard to keep taxes low, lets everyone be heard at meetings, actively solicits public opinion, isn't a NIMBY and stays open to everyone's opinions. Our board is a collective body that brings diverse opinions together to make decisions. And guess what? People who want to make it at the rest of our expense hate them and would pay big money to see them go so the candy store is open again.

Maybe someone should take a look at school district 20 in Nassau. Two board members with spouses that are teachers and one is the VP of the board and a new super that they hired who has caused the successful increase in taxes by 38% in his previous district CM. It smells like Reynolds Channel during low tide.

[Open Your Eyes!]

Yes, this is exactly what I'm talking about. This is wrong.

[Grandpa Moses]

Open your Eyes! has to be from my school district. We have a great board and a handful of complainers around who try to make trouble for them

Look at Commack in the news

[Commack Insider]

It will be fun to see Hunderfund go down. It was great fun to see the evil teachers union give him up as their accomplice in a smear campaign. This kind of thing still goes on with the union in a district over to our West on Jericho Tpke. I hope they get caught too. At least their Supe isn't in on it. Hunderfund should rot.

[Uncle Walt]

You would not be refering to my alma mater, SHSD, would you insider?
That just could not be......please say it aint so.....

[Commack Insider]

Not to your school district . To you. You people never like it when the rules apply to you and yours.

[Original Commack Insider]

Syosset Teachers Union couldn't come close to the corruption we saw in the Commack Teachers Union.

[Commack Insider]

True. All I am saying is that it is not at all uncommon for a smear campaign against good board members to originate with insubordinate staff. They can always seem to find a couple of tools in the community to help run out a board member who is cramping their style with management oversight. They like to call it micromanagement - something they could have used a lot more of over in Roslyn.

Yep. That's how it happens all right. Take 1 Screwup employee with a bad attitude. Add a dozen suckup parents who are on the take for their kids with aforementioned screwup. Factor in community gulibility and the usual number of opportunists. Stir. Presto! You got all it takes to clear out any board member with a conscience and set yourself up to become Roslyn.

[robert freimann]

The president of my school board has no relatives working in the school, works hard to keep taxes low, lets everyone be heard at meetings, actively solicits public opinion, isn't a NIMBY and stays open to everyone's opinions. Our board is a collective body that brings diverse opinions together to make decisions. And guess what? People who want to make it at the rest of our expense hate them and would pay big money to see them go so the candy store is open again. Which school board are you speaking about.

It sure ain't Rosyln

Commack is next and they are shaking.
They had a good run.

Nassau County SD 20
In this district you have 2 board members whose spouses are teachers. One of the Board members is even the VP of the board. They also do exstensive bussiness with SCOPE. (latest Supt. form Center Moriches & many part timers)
Get this the VP of the school board is running for the position of Local Village Trustee...guess who his backers are 'the concerned citizens of Lyn....K'

Lets have some ethical feedback on that one.

why doesn't the Long Island community push to have their local school board meetings video taped and kept as part of the public record for everyone to view. Unless residents actually can see and understand what is going on, it will continue to "go on". In most cases nothing criminal is happening just an absolute lack of leadership and management. The schools run on momentum, nothing more. Yes there is vision, we all have vision, another word for cheap dreams. You can't run on "vision". An engine can't really run on fumes. How do you make it happen when residents really don't care until they hear laws were broken and somebody might go to jail. Once they reach a breaking point on taxes they then get involved and overreact to the situation that they let develop over years. In a way the boards and administrations can't be fully blamed. It is like not providing an employee with a proper and timely review. If they think that the election of a union sponsored candidate is an approval to a process, they will just continue to do business as usual. As long as budgets pass, they will think they are doing fine.

In otherwords, you think that the momentum of the situation is to blame. Not the fact that so many school Districts are rife with questionable ethical parctices and curruption.

Pitty the poor parent that ever raises that flag of opinion.....their children in school would feel the repercussion. OOPs, sorry that college recomendation didn't get out in time. Instead of Havard you can go to to NCCC.

Think that doesn't happen? Guess again. In Nassau District 20 you have 2 members of the board with spouses who are teachers in the district. Many members of the teaching staff send their children to private school to keep them from being targets. Don't believe it...check the stats!

I'm just saying people use the situations like you mention where there absolutely IS corruption to take license in commenting on situations where there IS NOT corruption. I know school board members who take pains to keep their own childrens' situations at arms length when it comes time to weigh in, people who suffer along with the rest of us when their kids get the lousy teacher or get cut from a team. These people wouldn't think of hiring a relative or stealing a dime. But, I've seen them get dipped in the same tar and it's wrong. How does anyone ever hope to have good board members if they don't support the good ones?

[Lenny P]

Very true.

Would a county wide website that allowed direct whistle-blowing input make sense?

[Is this Sensible?]

Here's what would make sense...

Get the State to spell out what is exactly the minimum requirement for school districs. Minimum bussing. Minimum academics. Minimum electives. Calculate a school budget based ONLY on the minimum and give taxpayers that CHOICE on every school budget vote.

Simple line: State minimum. Cost: 420.00 per assessed 1000.

Next line: School board status quo: Cost: 927.00 per assessed 1000.

1 vote. One chance. No re-votes.

With a choice like that, do you think the teachers union is going to demand 4% yearly across-the-board salary increases, knowing that if approved, the cost of a school board status quo budget will go even higher, and the taxpayer will have a choice to actually cut their taxes in half as an alternative choice?

[Sensible Sam]

The unions will continue asking for 4 and more no matter what until NYS collective bargaining rules allow BOEs to say no. It's not the unions job to care how this impacts you and your family and they do not.

Guess what it isn't the district 20 board's concern to keep teachers pay in check. It directly affects 2 board members since they have spouses who are teachers. dave penso is the board VP and his wife brings home a paycheck baased on his decision. How much have we as taxpayers shelled out as a result of dAVE'S greed and unethical behavior.

dAVE in the 6 years you have been on the school board, what have you done...don't tell me opened car doors. You have hurt all of our families in the pocketbook the district 20 budget is way out of control due to YOUR greed and very questionable behavior.

Are you going to go into a rage again, hope to see you do that again at school. It was such an amusing thing. You must be a real prize!

[Penso is losing it]

Guess what it isn't the district 20 board's concern to keep teachers pay in check. It directly affects 2 board members since they have spouses who are teachers. dave penso is the board VP and his wife brings home a paycheck baased on his decision. How much have we as taxpayers shelled out as a result of dAVE'S greed and unethical behavior.

dAVE in the 6 years you have been on the school board, what have you done...don't tell me opened car doors. You have hurt all of our families in the pocketbook the district 20 budget is way out of control due to YOUR greed and very questionable behavior.

Are you going to go into a rage again, hope to see you do that again at school. It was such an amusing thing. You must be a real prize!

Its a complete conflict of interest but PEnso and the board let it happen and ignore the fact. Penso is showing his true light to the taxpayers in failing to adress this, failing to televise meetings and being supported by the gasbag 3.

Thank God this isn't happening in most school districts. The BOE meetings in my SD are all taped and our BOE negotiates the best it can. No relatives policy exists and is followed. That's just common sense. Anything else is Roslyn.

[Sign of the Times]

No good deeds will go unpunished.

Commack board members children and spouse are teachers. Nice.
Past board member Patterson daughter now teaching in school

mandatory board meeting video taping and access via Internet, open the operations and make everything visible. The only way to do it.

mandatory board meeting video taping and access via Internet, open the operations and make everything visible. The only way to do it.


bump

I give the boards who do this a lot of credit.

The others are afraid to show the public what is really going on. The only hope is that the state makes it mandatory to record and post the meetings on the web and on the record. Unions, Board members and administrators are all working together to make sure the public never knows the truth. Even if they don't outright lie, their failure to present the truth to the general public is just as bad.

This district is scared to death about a true open meeting. They have channel 19 which scrolls district meeting times and dates. They claim it wouldn't be fair to the few residents that do not have cable or have sattelite tv. What a crock. The real reason is that 2 members have spouses that are teachers in the district, Get this, the VP of the board is Penso who is running for village trustee, he is even claiming that he will run for re election to the school board as well. Village board, school board, own business & family, HOW MANY HATS CAN YOU WEAR. You tell me which will suffer.
Seems like he wants to stay on the school board so he can ramrod teachers raises through the budget. And did you get a load of the District soliciting donations for lighting the Middle school field. Should have been in the budget under capital improvements. But no, Penso approves things like this so that it is a hidden tax, not affecting the already out of control tax increase from the schools.
How dare you try to dupe the public and headline it 'DO IT FOR THE KIDS'

Check out yesterday' Newsday re the use of school district ballfields, gues that is the next hidden tax right DAVE

[Do The Right Thing II]

Way too many boards stay in power by sucking up to the teachers. Ten years ago my district said no to that kind of a board. We voted in a board that immediately started taping meetings, opening things up, and encouraging the community to weigh in on decisions. And what happened? You guessed it. The teachers and influential parents who were making out under the old order buckled down against them. Go figure. Keep up the good fight over there. No matter what you do there will be people who throw mud so you may as well be doing the right thing when you get hit.

Since the board has 2 members whos wives are teachers, including Penso. Do you think that open door rhetoric has any substance. Nope they have been asked to broadcast the meetings/they have use of channel 19 for a 24 hour scroll (usually outdated)

What else are you hiding Dave? Besides your close ties with Collway, Cox and Mitch!!!!

Hunderfund found guilty in Shulman defamation lawsuit!!!
$100,000 punitive damages awarded!!!
Long Island wake up!!!

[Burning Question]

OK So who pays? Hunderfund I hope? Or do the taxpayers get the honor?

Commack school board is responsible for all of this, they could have resolved it day one, everyone knows what happened and who did it, no jury was needed.

[Smoochy]

Seems to me that a school board has its work cut out for it when the superintendent and the teachers uniion conspire against members of the board. Leave it to the teachers union to worm out of something like this and leave a fellow traveller holding the bag.

Not a surprise to see teachers unions and admin conspiring against a board member who is trying to ensure the proper contols are in place. It's hard for the voters to see through the smoke. Rule of thumb - if the teachers unions are really high on a candidate, be suspicious.

[Easy Mark]

Absolutely!

let's see if Commack gets rid of Hunderfud

[SachemSentence]

Ruck never left after his little indiscretion.

What happened in Sachem? Anybody know what that's all about?

[guessingthat]

about plainedge

In Nassau we have a school board with 2 members having teachers in the district for spouses. They continually vote on the salaries and benifit packages they think this is business as usual.

Penzzzo is the vp of the board he also wants to be a village trustee and is waging a campaign based on lies and intimidation. His crew of the gasbag, halfbagged, and flabbag have been attempting to run the village into the ground for years.

His team has resorted to stalking of individuals destroying campaign materials, intimidating store owners and the spreading of venemous lies.

Want to see what people really think of him. Go to his block and see how much support he has for his run for trustee!!!

Got a flyer about davey's acomplishments.

Aux PO. Just ask the cops what they think of him!!! He doesn't even show up to do service he just wants the title.

Chamber of Comerce Member. He knocks the business community every chance he gets. Never has he been to a meeting. Doesn't even support their causes. He never got involved with their fundraiser for Chris Market.

What has the excellence in education foundation done. Lets ask somebody from roslyn!

Not Allowed School board. Davey has managed to keep the meetings super secret and not televised. ThANKS FOR KEEPING US IN THE DARK. You claim to have an open door policy....Yea Right!!!

He complains about lack of cooperation. Gee the First gang meeting was held in the Library after the Not Allowed Police were refused a forum by the school Board...Thanks Dave for your lack of school partnerships. Only after the Police scheduled the Library Did the school contact NCPD, to do a talk. Very nice, however LPD are the local experts and the agency you look to to help you when your situations get out of control!!! Nice partnership!!!!


Davey why is it that you manage to put down all the activities for our children, Little League, Soccer, Hockey, Pool ect. Why do you exclude the children from SD 24, 19 & 12 from your activities. The Village of Not Allowed includes ALL residents of District 20 not just the ones living in the Inc. Village?

Why is it that you have chosen to align yourself with the likes of The collway crew who nearly destroyed this village and cox the night stalker as well as Mitch the .... you fill in the blank!

[About Ruck]

He had a cop friend do a number on his political adversaies. Real sweetheart.

[great borad]

:o :lol: :cry:

Hey Dave P. since you have been seen all over the village with your car dressed as a sandwich board, slow down. You passed me on Hendrickson this weekend like a complete idiot.
If you want to drive like a jerk talke off your signs. Its slick out watch our children, as if you really cared about anyone but yourself!!!!

Davey, it seems that your crew is back to the tricks of Lawn/4x8 sign stealing. Don't you realize you are tresspassing on commercial property and private residential property. Do you really want to get caught?

I would like to know who has the sticky fingers, and can't resist stooping to the level of a parasite?

Well the slugs are at it again 10 more missing lawn signs. Thats Ok I understand that they have been replaced by 15. DP and the slugs are at it again. Who's got the sticky fingers. The Gas Bag, or the Half bagged stalker. DP you have really hitched your wagon to a circus!!

[Running]

Well the slugs are at it again 10 more missing lawn signs. Thats Ok I understand that they have been replaced by 15. DP and the slugs are at it again. Who's got the sticky fingers. The Gas Bag, or the Half bagged stalker. DP you have really hitched your wagon to a circus!!

Anywhere around to order signs, I don't need alot maybe 20, services found on the web seem priced high and have a higher minimum order

do your teachers union steal your board elections? Do your candidates reallly have a chance to represent your taxpayers?

[board membership]

do your teachers union steal your board elections? Do your candidates reallly have a chance to represent your taxpayers?
be wary od stacking resident teachers and ex-teachers on your school board, they are there for one reason

[ha ha ha ha ha ha]

do your teachers union steal your board elections? Do your candidates reallly have a chance to represent your taxpayers?

Stop taking shots at the teacher's union, Tom. :o

start listing district names and the number of teachers, administrators and total number of votes. Also ask them if they have children, spouses or relatives in their respective districts. It gets pretty ugly when you print the truth for everyone to see.

Re the Village election

Poor Gas Bag is upset because he knows that all his grunt work and intimidation tactics was for naught. All his involvement did for the DP team was drag DP down further.

Hey gas bag, ask your candidate what he did after reading this weeks Herald. A pretty sick thing!!!!! The word is spreading like wildfire.

[Fannie Mae]

Show me a district where the teachers union controls the board and I'll show you a district full of waste and corruption.

Commack's board backed the superintendent after he was found guilty of defaming a current board member years ago. What does that tell you about the present board?
What are they working so hard to cover up?

[Fannie Mae]

This is exactly what happens when Superintendents and Teachers Unions use dupes in the community to keep good people off the boards. You are so right.

[Guest506]

Dear GovenorParaki,

I am writing in support of Comptroller Alan Hevesi’s request for $5.8 million to hire 89 additional auditors for school audits.

Governor Pataki’s decision to under fund this necessary safeguard for the 49 additional school districts that employed the same auditing firm as the Roslyn School District leaves these districts open to wide spread financial fraud and corruption. In addition, all districts in New York State are vulnerable to the same mismanagement of school budgets. Without proper funding and oversight, no school system can feel secure that their money is being spent appropriately.

Many New York State students are already faced with poorly run and under funded schools. An independent auditing process with state oversight is vital to ensure that all monies are being spent on educating our children.

I am opposed to Governor Pataki’s $2.9 million dollar cut, and urge you work to re-instate the total amount requested by Comptroller Alan Hevesi so he has the proper funding to hire additional auditors in the wake of the corruption scandal that has tainted the Roslyn school district.


Very Truly Yours,
School District Tax payer


email htto:www.state.ny.us/governor/

or mail to
Governor George E. Pataki
State Capital
Albany, NY 12224

Please cut and paste to email or letter. This is a plea for Governor Pataki to include the 45.8 million needed for the Scool District audits through out Nassau and Sulfork School Districts.. Don't end up in a scandal catch it before it gets worse. If we join forces we can win.

[do we]

unions do :twisted:

[Dear Abby]

Elect effective board members. Vote with your brains instead of your knees for a change.

[who running]

watch out the unions will dump anyone that doesnt agree with them. :oops:

[Old Soldier]

Many thanks to the folks who put themselves out there in the crosshairs to run for school board this year and took the time to run clean campaigns. Win or lose you are the pillars of your communities.

Why would anybody ever put up with the kind of abuse you read on this website?

The Old Soldier is none other thatn Davey Pnsseo from sd 20 in nassau county. Blowing his own horn as usuall. Hey Davey have you abstained on any votes lately. You certainly had one for your own compensation!!!!!!!! :lol:

Why would anybody ever put up with the kind abuse you read on this website? so true!!!!!

[Old Soldier]

I never met anybody named Davey Pnsseo and I'm from Suffolk - and I agree with the previous post about the abuse wholeheartedly.

Here's a question for everyone: Can LI voters get beyond media manipulation and come together over some of the toughest quality of life decisions the Island has ever been asked to make or will we continue to help Newsday manufacture its news?

[23]

a very good point......

Newsday will continue to manipulate the news and Long Island will continue to help them do it.

[Dear Clueless]

And how many times do the foks up in Albany get to vote on the state budget? Answer: As many times as it takes until they have one! And the school budget would be different why?

[The Morning After]

OK here's the score.

A bunch of dopes voted down their budgets and then raised holy heck over the fact they now will not be getting the same services as back when they had a funded budget. Hello!!!

And then there are the morons who continue to plant their little posts in the hopes of running out strong board members and replacing them with puppets who will do their bidding in terms of the morons' own jobs or kids usually - or just to have an opportunity to seem witty while sitting on their lazy behinds anonomously running down a community volunteer.

Recommendation: Elect good people and then stand by them. Hint: If 60% of your neighbors re-elect a board member you might try to find out what everybody else sees in that person before you accuse him/her of being shifty etc.

[The Mandate]

You bring up a good point. Candidates who enjoy landslide defeats win by these large margins for a reason. Partly because the incumbent may not be liked ... perhaps partly because they've proven to be capable and honorable people whose leadership could benefit the schools and the community.

For all new BOE MEMBERS they have to suffer the constant digs from those who lost their seat and their supporters. Unfortunately, after contentious elections people can't let go of the results and move forward with the business of the school district.

[Beyond Credible]

And now we are supposed to believe that a Superintendent who works for his board is doing something wrong, that he is some kind of a dupe for working with the people elected by the community to represent their interests??? Who on earth would be peddling such nonsense? Hmmmmmm.......

Absolutely correct. :!: :!: :!: :!: :!:

[yes /no]

go to meeting and listen :roll:

[tacpayers]

no :cry:

[It Depends]

Obviously not in Roslyn under Tassone, but in general probably yes. I went to my meeting the other night because I was interested in a land deal I'd been hearing about. The board was fair open and honest.

[tax $]

the unions :oops: tell all

[Doubtfulll]

unions are a unique challenge to employers and boards in a variety of industrices particulary education. I'm doubtful with the strength of organization and the deep pockets - that this will ever change.

[Duped Voter-Duped Taxpaye]

Too often what you see and read at budget time is not the truth.There's the underlying self-serving and favor calling of school board members and administrators that is rampant throughout many districts......

I think that you're right. School board members and administrators however feel more pressure to present arguments in a way that some taxpayers who are looking for something to hen peck at can't get at though. I think some of the responsiblity lies in the public who at times prioritize the fan fare of getting up to the mic and being in the paper than whats best for the educational and financial operations of the school district.

[larrys]

the appellate division has just ruled in favor of Shulman.
last page of the decision and order "The award of punitive damages was not excessive.There was legally sufficient evidence in the record to support the jury's finding that Hunderfund was motivated by malice"
Now consider this. If a school district superintendent collaborated with the union president and board candidate, was found by a jury guilty, and the board continues to protect and defend the person, what is the chance that any person can ever expect to come on a board, speak there mind, and actually be effective in bringing any change to the system? Our system is going to destroy our nations ability to compete, and the union holding onto a education process that is over 200 years old, will be the cause. Until we fully revamp the delivery of education, we are doomed as a nation. We owe our kids more.

[Hunderfund is a Loser]

What happened in Commack was way over the line. There are plenty of districts that do not tolerate that sort of behavior. You think it can happen again in Commack after all of this?

[lmstech1]

yes. Commack should have reviewed the actions of the board memeber Tornee, union president Mayer, and Superintendent Hunderfund when they were told that the "unsigned election piece" was determined to be the work product of the three. They hid like roaches in the dark until flushed out (took 3 days) then denied it all, then claimed it was opinion, then.....
the amazing thing is this cost taxpayers probably in the order of 500k, myself 300k, and the board could have brought it out open, had appology forced and retraction done for about the cost of a few Whoopper burgers. (I would have settled for pizza).
The fact is the ego of the union and superintendent controlled the board and forced them to "fight" the good fight. Judge Orshin reviewed this case within the first $2,000 of legal fees and stated what was to be the final decision 750k later. Now think about all the districts on Long Island and think about how many puppet and mindless board members are floating around.
pretty scary. They would last a minute in the business world.
If the money would have come out of their pockets to fight they would have cried uncle in a minute. If the taxpayers knew how much was spent they might react. Want to know why the budgets are exploding? Wait until the perfect storm of taxes, recession and loss of house values hit this year. When the 90% of the homeowners who have debt against their homes find themselves strapped they will reset the madness out there. I am sorry that my attempt to cut spending led to this type of action. Not too many residents will fight the fight. Maybe they will carry it on for me. see you at the polls.

[SICUPANDFED]

The problem with voting on school budgets is that most people have a false sense that they are actually deciding what they will pay in taxes. Wrong! School budgets are the only tax related vote we as homeowners get to vote on, but yet it is a sham!The whole process is a dog and pony show put on by your local school board and sup to make it appear you are actually voting on something that you have control over. You don't.
When school districts have to hire a PR person to promote a budget or pass a bond, ya have to wonder why. Isn't just telling the truth good enough? Offering free food or free internet to come in to vote for a school or library bond sounds almost like a bribe, and should be illegal. Does it benifit the kids or just the admin? And why does a school district use blackmail when a budget goes down? Is that the way to teach our kids? Threaten the public if they don't cave in to thier demands? They cannot take away busses anymore for safety reasons, but music, art and athletics are always the first to go. Maybe they should only get one chance to pass a budget. Fail? Go on austerity! Then they might even get a little creative! An austerity budget limits a school to a maximum budget increase of the COLA. That's about 3% these days. What was your increase last May? What most people do not realize that over 80% of what they vote on in a school budget is contratual or mandated costs, and will come out of thier taxes no matter what. Taxes will never go DOWN if a budget fails. They might even go up more than what was put up for a vote!. A state mandated cost must still be added to a austerity budget! And of course, no administrator is going to give up his or her 6 figure salary in an austerity budget. The only way the homeowners on Long Island will change this system is to convince the state that it must be changed, or Long Island will become the land of the rich and the illegal, with no more middle class. Anyone out there willing to lobby for this?

The only tax we can really truly measure usage for as far asproperty taxes areconcerned is the school tax. Why should homeowner a who has ahouse worth $500,000.00 and no kids attending school pay more in schooltaxes then homeowner B whose house is valued at $400,000.00 and has two kids in the school system. Why is when abudget goes to asecond vote it seems to ultimatley pass becuase the parents of the children that attend the schools put out an all out effort to make sure austerity does not come into play. Remember two or three years ago in the Plainedge school district were parents raised the funds to restore all the sports programs that were cancelled due to an austerity budget. My point is that the parents with kids in the schoolsystemwant the best for their children. However when they no longer have that need then they become like the rest of us, angry about the high taxes and feeling as if they getting nothing in return for it.

What if instead of basing the schooltaxes on a homeowner's assessed value, the biil was divided up so as to create abase ammount that every homeowner starts off with. For example: A $60 million total budget bill that is reduced by
$10 million in state aid and has a toal of 15,000 households in the district would have a $4000.00 base per household.

Now from that base we can do alot of things to help acommunity grow and prosper. For instance we can help that young cuople with no children that just bought that house with that big mortgage by giving 50% discount off the base for the fisrt lets say five years, with 10% increase peryear. They can maybe make some improvements to the house which will bring up the value, improve the neighborhood and on and on. After the welcome period expires or until their first child starts attending a school in the district, which ever comes first, they pay the base amount in full.

Now they had a child in the second year of livving in this haouse. When that child starts attending school in the school district they will pay the base plus a surcharge as long as that child attends school. If they have a second child, a second surcharge will be added when that child starts to attend. When the first child graduates or moves on to school out side the district, the tax bill drops for that surcharge. By the way after living in the house for five years they applied for a mother/daughter permit. The wife's sister moves in with her two school aged children. The tax bill now goes up to double the base plus two surcharges.(Under this plan multiple dwellings are assesed on a per unit basis as to the base)

14 years go by and there are no more children in this household enrolled in the district schools. The school taxes drop back to the base.

My how the years have gone by. The kids are grown and now out of college with jobs and families of their own. The parents have lived in this house now for 30 years and are now seniors faced with retirement. The schooll tax bill drops to 50% of the base from there on out.

Lets talk about accountability. Since the parents now have a larger stake in paying the school tax bill, they will hold the schhool board more accountable to keep cost under control (More Participation). Thay may even agree to look into the merging of school districts to cut costs.

The big picture that is over looked with this ever increasing school tax burden is how it impacts on our small businesses in our towns and villages. In Valley Stream we have many vacant stores and a downtown that is in need of revitalization. However we cannot attract the right businesses because of the school tax burden. This approach again shifts more of the tax burden to the actual people using the schools and if we include a reduction in the costs to commercial properties just maybe our downtowns will thrive.

How about those illegal apartments and non-residents that attend our schools and don not pay their fair share. Every kid that attends a district school must supply an address. Since a surcharge is assessed per child attending, there is sometyhing being paid for every child in that house,
which is currently not the case. It may not stop the illegal rentals, but at least the landlord will be paying something for the misdeed. No more free rides.

Let's not forget the parents who do not send their children to the district
schools. They would pay the base for the entire period that the children are of school age. This would be an alterantive to vouchers.

School budgets with parents taking charge and holding the boards accountable. Budgets being passed on the first try because everyone is paying their fare share. Downtowns thriving because of reduced tax burdens on businesses. Non resident students are now paid for. Just imagine.
Can it be done. I do not know if this is the perfect answer to the problem but it is a start.

[Albany is Broken]

Or Albany could just give LI back all the tax money collected from here and sent to the rest of the state.

[George Washington Carver]

Even Dean Skellos is a believer. Give LI it's fair share Eliot.

[Matt's Radio]

Well if the BOE's would do the right thing and represent the best interest of the local taxpayers and not friviously waste the aid on selfserving projects Albany would entrust them with additional funding.

[Vinnies triumph]

Perhaps if school employees stopped stealing form the taxpayers, then the school budgets would be lower too.....

[Whitman Past]

maybe admins should eliminate positions handling extinct technology they could save $100000 yrly.ain't that right harry ball?

[The Guv]

That's right. Keep bickering amongst yourselves while I send your tax dollars to the rest of the state. Thanks Newsday for giving me cover to get the job done.

Eliot

[Eliot]

Opps. My bad.

[Scandalous Times]

Picking up a hooker - not the crime of the century. Picking up a hooker when you've put others behind bars for same - wow!