Residents across Long Island are preparing to vote on their school budgets and Board of Education candidates on May 17.
Prior to the big day, Patch is asking readers to weigh in on the importance of the public's participation in school budget votes and elections.
How important is it for parents to vote in school elections? Should all residents vote on the budget, regardless of whether or not they have children in the district?
Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Further, who moves in to the neighborhood is of no concern to me. My primary concern is my own ability to stay.
This budget and the referenda are not as crucial as is electing good Trustees.
This isn't only for the Commack school district, this cross-publishes across four Patch sites: Smithtown, Kings Park, Hauppauge and Commack.
But money for public education has to come from SOMEWHERE, and if the state is not going to fund it - guess who is? WE ARE! And how are we going to do it? Through our property taxes! And who do we blame? School district administrators and teachers. Wake up, people.
I do go to meetings and I am informed. The most important thing I have learned is this: 75% to 80% of the budget, consisting of salaries and benefits, are locked in and are not open to discussion at budget time. These contracts are negotiated without community input and quite frankly, the community isnt even privvy to the position of the Board or union when negotiations are conducted. So, when I sit in a budget meeting and hear that unless the community approves X% budget increase, childrens needs will be cut, I get incensed. Most Boards are doing nearly nothing to curb the real wage growth that has existed for teaching professionals for more than a decade. And, as such, the only way to change things is to make the statement that the status quo is unacceptable. I believe that you are well informed, I have no question about that. The question I would like to see your answer to is "How do you feel about the fact that 75 to 80% of the budget you vote for is completely immune to your input, pro or con?" As a taxpayer, and as a voter, this is the single issue that I am focused on. Boards are not stupid. They know the leverage they have, i.e. your children. They have no crisis of conscience when it comes to using those children as a tool to muscle budget vote passage. Have you ever visited the website www.seethroughny.com? If you have not, I urge you to do so. It can be enlightening.
I'm not quite sure a 260 day work year is correct for the average person. I think it's more like 220-230. Say, 2 weeks vacation, federal holidays, sick days, yadda-yadda-yadda.
"It's a vote for ensuring school district employees are financially secure at the expense of your family's well being." - I'm not sure this is correct. The budget vote has nothing to do with contract negotiations. That is left up to elected officials (boe) to do. You might want to vote yes for the budget, but choose you very carfully the boe candidate that supports your interests.
"And who do we blame? School district administrators and teachers." - I'm not sure what you mean by this. Why are they to blame?
do you have children attending schools?? if you do and you are so negative about education than why don't you "home school" , than you could run your child's education the way you see fit. I also want to know if you feel this way about the "bailouts" for the banks that we as taxpayers are also paying for and getting NOTHING in return. We bailout private sector companies who were financially irresponsible and we had NO choice. School districts are doing the best they can, and anyone who says teachers ONLY work a certain amount, please walk in their shoes!!
I do you have children attending schools. And if you read all my postings, you would see that im not against education, I am against the way its delivered on Long Island. The SYSTEM is broken. All of my posts have been backed up with facts. It is a verifyable fact that real wages for education professionals on long Island have been growing while the private sector has seen real wage erosion over the past decade. Further, pension costs for education profesionals have soared at an outlandish rate. Why? Because the State guarantees a very generous rate of return regardless of how the financial markets perform. The taxpayers must make up any shortfall. The private sector enjoys no such guarantee. Just ask someone that had a 401K during the financial crisis. These two components make up 75% to 80% of the average school budget on Long Island. The system is unsustainable, plain and simple. As for the "bailouts" for the banks, I was not in favor of bailing them out, but another fact that must be noted is that the Government has been divesting itself of its positions in those companies and in fact has been generating a positive return on its investment in most cases. So, while the term "bailout" has been a rallying cry for denegration of capitalism, they did in fact work as planned.
"These two components make up 75% to 80% of the average school budget on Long Island." - A school is a box with students and teachers in it. Why wouldn't 75 to 85% of the cost of education go to salaries? Where else is the money going to go? "Further, pension costs for education profesionals have soared at an outlandish rate." - During the "good" times, districts were paying out almost nothing towards their pension funds. Because of that lack of fiscal discipline, when the times went "bad", the districts were forced to raise steep taxes. How is that the fault of Sally the kindergarten teacher? I don't know Michael. I would love to blame everything on the teachers. It just seems like an over simplification. I'm just not buying it.
you need to go back and reread my previous posts. I do not blame Sally the kindergarten teacher. You are mistaken. I also can not follow the logic of your post. Please clarify and use facts so that I may properly respond.