Teaneck
has an election for Town Council on Tuesday, May 8th. I urge all readers from Teaneck to vote in
that election. While most of us do not
have children in the public school system we are still affected by public
policy as we’ve discussed when it comes to vouchers, aid to private schools for technology, charter schools, etc. While
many of these items are decided by the local school boards or at the state
level there is still a significant amount of influence that the local town
council has on these decisions. Deadline for a Vote-by-maill application is tomorrow, May 1st. Download an application here:
Last
week I sent out an email to the candidates running for council asking them
their positions on these issues. I will
post the responses as I get them. I
understand that people get a little emotional when it comes to politics but
please try to keep the comments respectful.
The candidates have taken time to address our issues and we should try
to comment on them with derech eretz. Comments
with personal attacks will be deleted. Here’s the letter:
______________________________________________________________________
Dear
Teaneck Council candidates,
I
am writing to you as the moderator of a blog that discusses Jewish Day Schools
in Bergen County (http://www.yeshivasanity.blogspot.com/) The site
gets about 1,000 hits a day, mostly from parents of day school students.
Teaneck residents make up the largest share of the parent body.
I
was hoping you could address some of the issues that affect parents of
non-public school children that you could impact in your capacity as council
members. While I understand that many of these issues are better
addressed by the school board, I understand that the Town Council has some say
in the matters as well, especially in years when the public gets to vote on the
school budget and the council gets to alter it in the event that it gets voted
down.
Some
of the issues are:
1. Courtesy busing for private
schools. Do you favor keeping it even in times of fiscal austerity?
3. What about charter schools with Hebrew immersion or other languages?
4. Do you support vouchers in general? (Not really a Teaneck issue but as a local politician State & Federal officials may seek your input)
5. There was a bill in the NJ legislature (A238) that would reinstate $7M in non-public school technology aid to NJ school districts that was cut from the state budget in 2010. Would you support a bill like that?
Thank you very much for taking the time to respond to my questions.
Logging you in...
TheOracle · 674 weeks ago
It is also important to understand that only 30% of property taxees go to run the municipality while 60% of your property tax bill go to fund the school system yet the orthodox community can't get any representation on the school board.
Lets see if the orthodox community" pulls their heads out of their butts and shows up to vote on May 8th. Given the apathy and sense of entitelment in the community, I doubt turnout will be significant.
Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 674 weeks ago
I stated that in the letter. However in most years the town gets to vote on the budget & it goes to the town council votes it down. This year the school board gets to decide the budget by itself without any public vote as long as they keep the increase under 2%.
There is someone on the Teaneck school board who is supposed to be representing our interests & he's done absolutely nothing in his position.
Our community has voted in significant numbers in the past, but statements like the one you make below, that the council has nothing to do with school issues, won't help us get out the vote.
-YD
TheOracle · 674 weeks ago
Our community needs to get out the vote for every election. When the politicians see we show up, we vote, and that we have the ability to make an "impact" on an election, only then will they start to listen and address the needs of our community.
Josh Pruzansky from the OU has been pitching this message for a while now, but the people in our community tend to sit back and complain instead of taking the time to educate themselves and vote.
With regards to the board of ed, the "balance of power" changed in the 5 towns and that change helped reduce taxes, increase school efficiency, and the quality of education improved. We have the ability to effectuate the same change here, but it wont happen until we have 100% participation. Yes there is an "orthodox" jew on the Teaneck Board of Ed, but he has done NOTHING to help increase efficiency, improve quality of education, and control spending.
JS (hello) · 674 weeks ago
UNFAIR · 674 weeks ago
Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 674 weeks ago
Mr. Burack voted FOR the 10% increase in the school tax levy that was eventually rejected by the votes & the town council. Supposedly he didn't know what he was voting for. And where was he on the consolidation of the private school bus stops? He's done nothing but embarrass our community with stupid remarks ("we'd rather site shiva than send our kids to public schools"). I'd vote for any other member of the school board before voting for him again.
Concerned · 674 weeks ago
The Board of Ed is now planning to centralize bus pickup. This will hurt our community by forcing you to drive your children to a cental location far from your house before their bus picks them up. Henry Pruitt, who brought us ten million dollar budget increases, is running for Council to bring the ways of his Board of Ed to a veto-proof level.
We can block Pruitt and his Board of Ed cohorts by electing Mohammed Hameedduddin and Mendy Schwartz to Council May 8th.
Yeshiva_Dad 69p · 674 weeks ago
-YD
guest 3 · 673 weeks ago
Concernd · 673 weeks ago
GD Fan · 673 weeks ago