Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The superintendent is on the school board. Where do the other members come from? PTA? Is it as simple as getting more parents who care into the board? I can see why those who have an interest in the schools (teachers' side) would be more inclined to participate on the board. Moms and dads are busy working trying to pay for it all.
The superintendent is on the school board. Where do the other members come from? PTA? Is it as simple as getting more parents who care into the board? I can see why those who have an interest in the schools (teachers' side) would be more inclined to participate on the board. Moms and dads are busy working trying to pay for it all.
The superintendent of schools is not on the school board. S/he is not elected, as the school board is. S/he is a paid employee. However, s/he interacts with the school board to make the decisions. A school board is an elected council. One is the president or leader and there are others who are just members. Every time people vote on the budget, some of the school board's terms come up for re-election. The public votes for school board members at the same time every year that they vote on the school budget.
PTA is a totally separate entity and has nothing to do with school boards.
Anyone can run for school board. Parents can. People who are not parents can. You just have to live in the district. Teachers who teach in the district cannot, but teachers from other districts can because it would be a conflict of interest to be deciding on your own union contract (however, see below for more on that).
The best people to get on there are (a) people who understand budgets and (b) people who are operating in the best interests of the TAXPAYERS, not the teachers and administrators and (c) people who cannot be bamboozled or bullied by existing school board members into toeing the party line and making everything all "nicey nice" for the unions like has been done for decades ... in short people not afraid to rock the boat and make changes!
Unfortunately, the people who run are often insiders who are "education" related.
A typical classic is a teacher who teaches in another school district. They like to play the "I'll be on your school board and scratch your back, you be on my school board and scratch mine" game.
LI taxpayers have not been paying attention for too long and this is the result!
People have blamed the high taxes on the Counties, who really are only guilt by association because they collect all the taxes, including school taxes, while it is the teachers' unions and the administrators, the bosses of the teachers (who must always get more money, perks and bennies simply because they are the bosses) in the school districts who are the real culprits who have been quietly feasting right under the taxpayers' noses driving the taxpayers broke.
^ thanks I think I asked the same thing last year without such a detailed response. If we're not going to band together to vote NO on the budget (for various / legitimate reasons), we can at least vote in the board members who aren't so obviously tied to teachers in the particular district.
FYI, according to the ARC office, the next county-wide reassessment of values will be '16/'17 for Nassau. I guess that also tells you they don't actively re-assess everyone every year.
FYI, according to the ARC office, the next county-wide reassessment of values will be '16/'17 for Nassau. I wonder if that's good or bad. I guess that also tells you they don't actively re-assess everyone every year.
Depends who is the County Executive and who is the County Assessor at that time ... and depending on that, what methodology they choose ... and how (un)realistic it is.
The contracts (salary plus benefits) for teachers, administrative staff, bus drivers etc. are what drive the budget costs. Often times the school boards are well educated to the problems but can't change anything because the contracts tie their hands.
I was talked out of running for the BOE by two friends who served in two different districts and that was their primary gripe. The purpose of a school is to educate the kids but the first thing that goes is either programs or support for programs, not salary nor raises nor additional benefits which often became fact by a union responding to contract negotiation by saying if we forego "A" then we get "B". Additionally, the Taylor Law also cripples the schools and the funding of GASB 45 has been hanging over districts for years.
Not only unfunded mandates, but salary and retirement costs, too. This article is from late 2012 discussing the (then) upcoming budget. Note the district retirement costs in 2001-02 when compared to the 2013-14 projection.
The elephant in the room... retirement costs from $302K to $17MM in 12 years - the other numbers are ugly, but that one - wow. Taxes have to go up significantly YoY no matter what they do... they can cut back on salary or even teachers completely, close schools, etc... but none of that addresses where the real money is going and taxes have to keep up.
But nothing will be done. Its like pissing in the ocean against the big unions. That's why people don't have any fight.
Actually there have been some districts have elected BOE members who are tuned into the finances but not nearly enough. The Lawrence School District BOE is made up entirely of parents (orthodox Jews) who have no children attending public schools, they are unique and have gone way to far in the direction of cuts. There are also several districts that have gone to the mat and operated without a contract but the Triborough Amendment that allows the current contract to remain in place makes it a tough fight
Sometimes things have to get really bad before they get better, I think we are getting close to that point. Wait for the budget meetings in the spring but don't wait for superman, the indifferent taxpayers are the key to any change.
The contracts (salary plus benefits) for teachers, administrative staff, bus drivers etc. are what drive the budget costs. Often times the school boards are well educated to the problems but can't change anything because the contracts tie their hands.
I was talked out of running for the BOE by two friends who served in two different districts and that was their primary gripe. The purpose of a school is to educate the kids but the first thing that goes is either programs or support for programs, not salary nor raises nor additional benefits which often became fact by a union responding to contract negotiation by saying if we forego "A" then we get "B". Additionally, the Taylor Law also cripples the schools and the funding of GASB 45 has been hanging over districts for years.
Unlike the taxpayers, the school boards are the ones who actually have the power to vote on the union contracts so how can they be helpless? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Believe me, the complaining is done with a wink and a nod. Most likely they thought you were too honest or principled a person to see the behind the scenes and that's why you were discouraged. They are all in on it against the taxpayers: the unions, the school superintendent (the more the teachers get, the more s/he gets as the "big boss" of the teachers), the lawyers who know how to expertly represent all sides EXCEPT the taxpayers, and the school board members who routinely rubber stamp "yes" on whatever the unions tell them to. "Negotiation" is playacting in case anyone is looking, but since they do that behind closed doors and don't let the taxpayers see it, it's usually in vain to even bother to pretend to do that anyway except nowadays with the "faux giving up raises" some teachers unions are valiantly pretending to do. The Taylor Law was also a rubber stamp for unions to keep them getting all the goods and not suffering for years without having the pain of negotiating a contract. What really should be done is no contract, then they have to work on austerity pay until they negotiate a contract that is IN LINE with today's economy ... never mind the current practice of 1950s raises, benefits, pension and job security with 2013 salaries ... all on the taxpayers' backs.
The elephant in the room... retirement costs from $302K to $17MM in 12 years - the other numbers are ugly, but that one - wow. Taxes have to go up significantly YoY no matter what they do... they can cut back on salary or even teachers completely, close schools, etc... but none of that addresses where the real money is going and taxes have to keep up.
Well maybe the idiots who run things in NYS should stop the ridiculous idea that the pension funds must earn 8.5% each year or THE TAXPAYERS HAVE TO MAKE THAT UP ... especially when CDs have been earning 1.5% a year for what decades NOW?
Let the pensioners make it up ... they're the ones getting the pensions after all!
What we need in NYS is a constitutional convention to deal with pensions and bring this out of the 1950s and off of the taxpayers' backs already. WTF is Cuomo doing about that? Nothing I suppose.
Just like he did about "no public sector or government worker in NYS should earn more than the governor does" ...a statement which was triggered by ... what else ... a school superintendent on LI!
Actually there have been some districts have elected BOE members who are tuned into the finances but not nearly enough. The Lawrence School District BOE is made up entirely of parents (orthodox Jews) who have no children attending public schools, they are unique and have gone way to far in the direction of cuts. There are also several districts that have gone to the mat and operated without a contract but the Triborough Amendment that allows the current contract to remain in place makes it a tough fight
Sometimes things have to get really bad before they get better, I think we are getting close to that point. Wait for the budget meetings in the spring but don't wait for superman, the indifferent taxpayers are the key to any change.
Draconian cuts and cruel penny pinching for the public school kids ONLY. Plus, selling off Lawrence school property at below market rates to jewish schools in insider no bid deals. However, for their OWN, it is nothing but the extravagant best on the taxpayers' dime ... in terms of special ed, since some of their jewish schools don't traditionally offer it, what Lawrence SD offers is more expensive and extensive than most districts would normally have. The Lawrence SD pays for transportation to jewish schools with mileage far exceeding normal SD limits like all the way far into Borough Park, Williamsburg or Crown Heights, Brooklyn. I wouldn't be surprised if they're driving jewish kids up to schools in heavily jewish areas of upstate NY on the taxpayers' dime! No, they are not saintly and heroic taxpayer dollar savers, I am afraid. They are actually just all out for themselves on the expense of the taxpayers and being predators on the kids who have to go to the public schools in the Lawrence SD. Sadly, they are just a bunch of selfish users who figured out how to game the system and get ahold of the taxpayers' money for their own personal benefit. Think about it: they get the Lawrence SD to pay the maximum that other SDs wouldn't for their religious school attending kids like transportation to ridiculously far away religious schools that otherwise would come out of their pockets PLUS they get their own and their cronies' personal property/school tax bills on their homes slashed as low as possible by razing the budget for the kids that go to public school. How nice! What humanitarians!
Last edited by I_Love_LI_but; 10-18-2013 at 05:47 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
