Why I Run For Re-election To The Saucon Valley School Board

April 20th, 2005

These are desperate times for our children, our schools and our property values. Four candidates running for the school board chosen by board member Susan Baxter describe themselves as financially conservative businessmen. They have expressed no interest in the quality of education the district offers. Rather, if they succeed in the May 17 primary, they can be counted upon to vote with Ms Baxter in adopting budgets which will decimate the schools.

Ms Baxter has already supported a 2005-6 budget which would provide for a zero tax increase. That budget would mean:

-necessary repairs and expansion at the high school will not take place

-the stadium will be allowed to crumble

-no new teachers will be hired to meet the increase in school population

-purchasing of new texts and teaching equipment will be eliminated

-class sizes will rise dramatically

-the bus system we presently know will be abandoned

-all extracurricular activities including sports, musical productions, band, and clubs will have to cease unless the students and/or their parents pay the actual cost of whatever activities they are involved in.

Mrs. Baxter and her friends will also insure that the district does not buy the property it needs to expand to meet increasing population. If the property along Polk Valley Road is not purchased now, it will no longer be available and new homes already planned for the site will rise. When new schools need to be built, as will surely happen, the property on which to build them will no be available or, if available, will cost many times more the price of the Polk Valley properties now.

No one, least of all me, wants to pay higher school taxes. At 77 and on a very limited income, every tax increase probably causes me more personal financial pain than most of you. But taxes are the price we have to pay to educate our community's children. And good schools, as any realtor will tell you, have a direct effect on property values. The fact is that since the board of which Mrs. Baxter went out of office ten years ago, property values in our community have risen approximately 75 percent.

I run for reelection to the board because I passionately believe that there is nothing more important than providing excellent education for our children. Their success, the success of our community and, indeed, of our nation depends upon it. I have no personal axes to grind. I have no longer have a child in school. And unlike some others, I certainly am not using my board service as a stepping stone to a political career.

As a board member I have consistently worked to insure that our schools are as good as they can be while at the same time being mindful of the financial implications of what the board does. To that end I initiated a program two years ago to lower our insurance costs by approximately $500,000 per year, savings which will continue long into the future. Since that program was adopted, according to our independent insurance broker, the program has been widely adopted by other school districts throughout the state.

I have also proposed innovative means of improving tax collections without raising taxes. I have been working hard with representatives from Hellertown and Lower Saucon to encourage them to undertake joint zoning. Joint zoning would have the effect of severely limiting new development in Lower Saucon thereby slowing the growth in the school population and saving all taxpayers in the district a good deal of money. I am happy to report that good progress toward this end has been made.

I voted to build new classrooms in order to meet the needs of the growth in the student population and keep class sizes down. I have fought hard to insure that our excellent Fine Arts program continues. No one is more in favor of complying with the Sunshine Law and opening up our board process to the public than I am. I have encouraged the administration to continue their work in updating the curriculum. And I have volunteered my time to run a chess club of high school students and participated in teaching chess at the elementary school chess club formed by Sharon Stack.

Finally, board service requires well-motivated members who have experience in dealing with school problems educationally and financially. The candidates selected by Mrs. Baxter simply do not meet that standard. Two of them have never even attended a board meeting nor expressed publicly, to the best of my knowledge, any interest in the school district before becoming candidates. A third appeared some time ago to argue that the Reinhard School should be rebuilt. That argument could hardly be more foolish. Ralph Puerta who has served on the board some years ago and has indeed recently begun to attend board meetings again. Unhappily, however, Puerta's financial opinions seem to coincide with those of the others Ms Baxter has chosen.

In contrast, I have served six years on the board and covered the board as a reporter and a columnist for about six years before that. Other experienced candidates now running are

 

* Linda Krentz , a parent who now serves as board president and who has served wonderfully well on the board for the last eight years.

* Sandra Miller, a parent who has attended innumerable board meetings and who has been a parent leader for many years.

*Sharon Stack, a parent who often attends board meetings and has been very active in providing extracurricular activities and learning support for elementary school children.

Although we are not running as a slate, I hope you will vote for these candidates as well as me.

 

Joel Katz

 

P.S. Please forward this email to your friends in the district and ask them to do the same. All of us must participate in this effort to protect our schools and preserve our property values.

If you would like to discuss anything I've said, feel free to call me at 610 838 6273 or email me at ajkatz at rcn dot com.