Summing Up The School Board Campaign

May 6th, 2005

Except for the garbage dumped in my driveway and the garbage contained in the Saucon News editorials, this has been a remarkably clean campaign. The four gentlemen running as a slate are indeed gentlemen. I might add that someone has been stealing and knocking down my signs, but I certainly don't mean to imply that the slate candidates had anything to do with that. My quarrel with them is simply that they are running on slogans, not plans or solutions.

Two years ago the TEACH candidates ran on similar slogans: taxes are too high, the district should be run more efficiently and the like. But after they were elected, when three of those five candidates were confronted with the real problems of the district, they responsibly had to change their tune. They voted for the 2004-5 budget. One of other two, the Republican-hopeful-house of representatives-candidate Karen Beyer, actually voted for most if not all of the individual items included in that budget and then voted against the budget itself. Thus she hoped to have her cake and eat it.

The school board is now in the midst of working to put together the 2005-6 budget. The first draft, brought in by the administration, was horrendous. In fairness to the administration, while it was unwise to scare the public with these kinds of numbers that the administration along with everybody else know would not be adopted, what the administration did was simply to provide a list and ask the board to decide what to drop. The process is very painful and requires thought, political courage and an absence of posturing. Unfortunately Ms Beyer is warming up for her campaign for the house, so she makes populist speeches. Interestingly, at the last board meeting she made one too many.

One of the items that was being discussed as a possible cut was $23,000 for band uniforms. We have just finished and hour's discussion on special ed teachers and administration in which Ms Beyer, along with Susan Baxter, were arguing should be sizably reduced despite the obvious human and legal need. The board majority agreed to retain the special ed requirements in the budget. Ms Beyer then made a speech saying that in a $32 million budget it was ridiculous that we could not pay for band uniforms.

A parent with a student in the band, Renee Hillman, spoke from the audience. She said that as much as she thought the band needed the uniforms, she was unwilling to have them purchased at the price of dropping special ed teachers. I thought that was both simple and eloquent. It certainly quieted Ms Beyer for a while.

I can't tell you where I will come out on the various cuts about to be proposed by the administration to bring in budgets which provide for no more than a 6-mill raise, a 5-mill raise and a 2-mill raise. Much more information yet to come is required. A two mill budget is impossible, but clearly something needs to be done to limit the budget increase. Public input at this point is vital. Thus far at budget meetings the board has heard almost exclusively from older folk who don't want an increase period and don't care what it does to the school if that happens. I believe that the community has a broader understanding. We need to hear from more citizens. Attendance at board budget meetings is now vital.

For this budget problem to occur at election time ratchets up the heat on board members running for re election. All I can say is that my re election is not so important to me as to require me to bend to the political winds. Popular or not, I will, as the Spike Lee title says, do the right thing.

 

Election day is Tuesday, May 17 th . Please vote.