BUDGET WAR: Jewish Parochial School Families Organize to Defeat Budget with Inequitable Transportation Cuts

11 thoughts on “BUDGET WAR: Jewish Parochial School Families Organize to Defeat Budget with Inequitable Transportation Cuts”

1. Richard O really has to go
   I think a compelling factual case has been made by Bob Cox and others have come forth with well reasoned and heartfelt views both in support of the good folks at the Temple and opposed.

   I believe that a core of fairly new board trustees lead by Sara Richmond are trying courageously and, for the most part, sensibly to bring the Disrict to a point where it once was; a school system which could challenge for excellence most of its contempories in the County.

   There are lines in a classic rock song by the Beatles — “you have to carry that weight a long time.” That weight is Richard Organisciak and he must go! His actions are actually less controversial than they are risky for the approval of the proposed budget. As a so called educator, I want to heaer about plans to move the district forward, improve drop out and regents results, bring up the standard of education for our hispanic population, weed out the underperforming administrators and principles — not to politicize a position which he is both ill prepared to challenge legally and too eager to embarrass his board of directors. This is an individual who lacks plain common sense.

   I must now be concerned about Valerie Orellana’s candidacy for the board. It will be very, very important for me and a number of my associates and neighbors to hear where she stands on this issue. I am not personally upset at what direction it goes; after all, I have no cards on the table on this issue only the old fashion virtues of supporting your leadrs and letting them work through the community issues on both sides of the problem.

   Bob also points out another failing of a principal player on the board who, in his bid for re-election has made the somewhat curious and I believe misleading point that 96% of the graduates of NRHS go on to college. No one at the meeting where he made this statement had time to follow up and get at the source of this statement. Read Cox’s views above and that says it all.

   I want to close with an Organisciak story which is reminiscent of his flaunting of the proper reporting relationship and responsibility that a direct report has to his board. Let me be bried — years earlier when he served in the NYC Board of Education in some management capacity, the NYS head of of the Board of Regents (or Education Deparment — the mind wavers which one) made a determination concerning Regents Testing that would be incumbent on all districts in the State. Mr O’s boss (NYC Superintendent) accepted the matter; some public and private individuals and organizations challenged it in court). Mr O wrote what is called an “Amicus Curiae” paper going against the decision and by implication if not directly, his direct superior, by doing so.

   I am sure this can be researched easily on the Internet, but the major issue is fideltiy of reporting relationship and I don’t know, but I seriously doubt whether Mr O went to Sara Richmond and said I am going to write Daly and Orellana and want your support.

   And, think further — Organisciak by law (PERB — Taylor Law) is the responsible management negotiator for union contracts with FUSE (Daly’s union). Fat chance of aggressive renegotiation under these ‘sweetheart” arrangement.

   Sara, you don’t have to carry this weight a long while. There likely are many loyal, skilled educators ready and able to step in to turn this district around. Please be kind to yourself, your colleagues, and your City. And, if Valerie defeats Jerome Smith, please congratulate her on her victory and state the obvious — she now represents the Cit of New Rochelle, its parents and its taxpayers.

   I don’t think Noam Bramson would be happy if Chuck Strome mounted a campaign to defeat, say Sustainability. And, I don’t think Strome would do that in the first place whether he was in agreement or not with the policy. anthony Galletta points out the expense associated with this man’s annual salary rate, —- add benefits and likely other travel and personal expense expenses to this equation. Lets get someone who is skilled, devoted to the community, knows how to weed out an overgrown garden, and will strike for fairness and balance like other communities are doing in these troubled times. Maybe we all need to sell and rent, but that is an issue for another day.

   Great dialogue, great blog, and kids who attend any and all schools in our city deserve our support. Richard O does not!

   warren gross

2. Outrageous
   It is an embarrassment to the school system, a disgrace to New Rochelle, an insult to the education system and a slap in the face to the taxpayers of New Rochelle for Superintendent Organisciak to skirt the law with his not so generic email. For years the school district has stacked the deck concerning the school budget and trustee votes by holding various school activities (bake sales, plays, music nights etc.) on budget vote dates. Now Organisciak has taken that to the level of scheming by emailing two individuals who would prosper from a voter approved school budget.

   It is hard pressed for mom, dad, granny or Uncle Pete to vote against a school budget after watching little Susie perform on stage before the school district representatives through the local PTA’s encourage the audience to vote. But to intentionally contact two individuals who influence the biggest supporters of the bloated school budget should be criminal. The PTA is a well intentioned organization which has little concern for the unjustified burden placed on the property owner from a good-old-boy system which accepts mediocrity and protects under-performing tenured employees.

   Now I’m sure I will get the predictable politically correct response that most PTA members, teachers & trustees are taxpayers. To that I respond, let’s compare tax returns and see how many of the politically correct are making the median income or below. The in crowd, the vast majority of which are well above the median income level and can afford higher taxes, promote a YES vote because it’s a bargain compared to sending their children to private schools while the average New Rochelle taxpayer/home owner must decide between taxes, heating oil, health insurance and the like just to make it to next month.

   While I have never met Mr. Organisciak I have listened to him on his weekly radio spots, talked to friends employed in the city and read about issues here. It may be time to move on. It is high time that the highest paid public employee in the city of New Rochelle (in excess of $250,000) resides here!

3. Share the tax burden…it’s only fair.
   I agree.

   There should be a voucher system for property owners who send their children to private schools and a tiered “lower tax rate” for those without children in the system. My understanding is that currently only home/property owners are taxed for school and library services. With the 30 year tax abatement for the Avalon and Trump residences, it seems as if apartment dwellers pay nothing into the system that is hopefully attempting to educate their children. How is this fair? Those who live in apartments do not pay into the system, yet they have a vote on the approval of school budgets. It is easy to vote yes for something you are not personally paying for.

   The system would be more equitable if ALL New Rochelle residents shared in the expense of education our children and the cost of operating the public library, not just home and property owners.

   We are paying too much for a failing school system and the financial burden must be shared, not applied as a burden to the few..

4. Slippery Slope…
   Does Mr. Organisciak’s e-mail constitute improper advocacy in favor of the school budget? Any attorneys out there want to take a crack at it?

5. I wonder if the members of
   I wonder if the members of Young Israel have enough numbers to single handedly defeat the school budget although I am sure many others will join in voting down the school budget for the concept that those in the school district have yet to really get into todays world and make cuts equal to what is going on in the private sector. The district has not figured out the party is over and a Tax increase is not acceptable. Even the schoolies as i call them won’t be completely on board. Funny how people on opposite sides of an issue will wind up being allies in voting it down. My personal belief is if you send you child to private school, Jewish schools, or Catholic schools which is your choice and right you should be on your own as far as transportation. I do not understand the concept of people who have enough money to use the Private schools but yet they expect the tax payers to fork over to support this decision.
   Okay lets not get out the Anti Semetism fire trucks now I believe we have a choice in education but once we excercise that choice we get the whole Enchalada with the package. That includes transportation. Religous preference is not the same as transportation for special needs or handicaped transportation. Religous schools is a choice the special needs or handicapped is not.

   1. I’m a schoolie & I’m voting NO!
      And I take whatever/whoever’s support in voting down the school budget. I disagree, as you do, with there reasoning, but who cares what the reasoning is so longs as they vote no. Lets hope some in the PTA have been downsized or layed off and also feel the hurt enough to also vote NO. By voting down the school budget, the system won’t just stop. I’m sure that with a budget of close to $20 Million per month, there’s room to make more cuts.

      I also don’t think I’m going to vote any of the school board candidates, there’s just nobody worth voting for. A rather sad state of affairs.

   2. explaining the concept
      Since you don’t understand the concept of private school families using the New Rochelle yellow bus system, let me explain it: WE ARE TAX PAYERS, and as taxpayers we are entitled to EQUAL transportation services from NRED, whether or not our children are enrolled in the public school system.

      Private school families pay public-school taxes just the same, sharing the cost and burden of educating all the neighborhood children. Forgoing one’s public education does not in itself relinquish their right to other public services.

      Bussing is one of the main service we receive to-date. Frankly, the Board of Education miscalculated when cutting this sensitive benefit which was once accessible to all New Rochelle tax-paying families. In the new budget, alternate transportation options were made available to public-school kids but NOT to everyone. Many private & parochial families were left to fend for themselves. This is simply a prejudicial act by NRED to withhold transportation services from families that choose a differnt type of education, either due to their religious or other motivations.

      What will be the next cut from private-school families?

      1. Let me say I sent 2 children
         Let me say I sent 2 children to private school. All while paying New Rochelle taxes. That was the need for those 2 children. We made sacrafices to do so. Do the math.
         However If I live within walking distance of a Elementry and Middle school and I choose to send my child to Private which is miles away why am I entitled to transportation? Probably the fair way to handle this would be to offer a tax credit but we have seen where the voucher concept went in the past. Maybe the tax rate should be one level for homeowners with children in the system and another for children not in the district or for those without children. I do feel it would be hard to encomplish as the districts do need stability. I believe the waste within NRED is vast. I believe the NRED is out of touch with reality. I think the future of Tenure, Pensions, and entitlements must be brought into todays world. In the end the entire community is hurt by a system that does not reward results, by a system that protects mediocraty. I believe change must happen that brings the cost to educate each student in line by cleaning up the administrations never ending pool of money. Unfortunately the line item of transportation for children attending Private school is only the begining of what needs to be done. If you are not part of the educational system how do you expect that system to serve you! I understand you pay taxes, way too much taxes but the party must come to an end. When the budget is defeated it really won’t solve the problem. The waste must be exposed and those responsible must be replaced.

      2. It’s the law
         New York State law gives local school district discretion in how to set transportation policy with just one caveat. The policy must be “equitable” to all.

         So, for example, the district offers transportation without cost to parents for any children more than 1.5 miles and less than 10 miles from home to school. As a result, many children attending public AND private schools in New Rochelle do not get transportation, they must walk to school. In this day and age, many parents are reluctant to allow their child to walk to school so that means they drive them. As both public and private students are treated the same that is perfectly legal under NYS law.

         The issue with the middle school age children (6,7,8 grade) is that the school district pays $210,000 to Westchester County. I have yet to confirm this but I believe that some or all of that money is paid so that the Bee-Line buses will run to and from ALMS and IEYMS. The district did not do this for private and parochial school children. Instead, they offered comparable “door-to-door” service by hiring yellow buses to run the routes to SAR, Solomon-Schechter, Westchester Day, Sts. John & Paul, etc.

         What the district has now proposed is two very different things.

         If you go to ALMS and IEYMS you are already riding the BeeLine bus to school. The only change is that instead of getting a 100% subsidized Metro-Card, a 6th grader will not get the same partially-subsidized Metro-Card currently sold to 7th and 8th graders. Nothing else changes. You have the same bus stops going to/from the same destinations. The extra cost to parents is a couple hundred dollars a year and no new inconvenience.

         If you go to SAR, Solomon-Schechter, Westchester Day, Sts. John & Paul, etc. your bus is taken away altogether, you are allowed to buy a discounted Metro-Card but there is no bus stop for your child and the buses do not go to/from your child’s school. The Metro-Card is a “ticket to nowhere”. In fact, some of the schools are outside of Westchester County so even through making transfers, children cannot get from New Rochelle to, say, Riverdale. The reason the buses do not run to/from the school is because the district is not paying any part of that $210,000 so that Bee-Line will run buses directly to/from those schools.

         As a result, the proposed change in the budget is transparently not equitable and thus a violation of New York State law. When this cut was announced in March it was among the first questions I asked Asst. Superintendent for Finance John Quinn. “How is this equitable?” His answer was “you have identified a problem.” In other words, the district knows perfectly well that what they have proposed is illegal but they were hoping to sneak it through unnoticed. As Talk of the Sound has raised the issue and written about it extensively, parents of private and parochial schools woke up to the fact that the district was seeking to violate state law and trying to establish a “past practice” so that future litigation would fail.

         All that has happened now is that the district has all but guaranteed that they will be sued — and then very likely. The effect — they will still pay for the busing and they will pay all the legal costs.

         I have said from day one that this is a stupid plan. It is illegal. It is an attempt to hoodwink some residents. It will cause problems and lead to successful litigation against the district. I have said this since March.

         For those who do not like public and private schools getting ANY transportation, understand that the only way to accomplish that under NYS law is to take away some or most services for all. If you do not like that you will need to lobby in Albany to change the current law.

         My purpose in raising this issue was not to support or oppose one group or another but to highlight how, once again, the district is engaged in an illegal or unethical or deceitful practice. This is the case whether the practice entails allowing illegal direct solicitation of charitable donations, failing to charge staff with criminal conduct when circumstances warrant, failing to report to Child Protective Services when required to do so, failing to follow NYS Assessment requirements for administering and scoring state tests, permitting “no-show” jobs, allowing workers to misappropriate district vehicles for personal use or all the other illegal or unethical, illegal advocacy for school board candidates and budget votes, lying to the public about wrongly enrolled students, the cost of expensive programs, etc.

         Residents have a right to expect that the Board of Education and the District administration always be honest, forthright and comply with local, state and federal law. The fact is that the New Rochelle School District is a criminal enterprise with an educational mission — and has been for many years.

         Many residents have turned a blind-eye in the mistaken belief that whatever “sins” were being committed the ends justified the means and the district was delivering a quality educational experience for students. With the third lowest graduation rate in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties, that canard has been exposed. Under the current administration, New Rochelle is now one of the worst school districts in the lower Hudson valley. Not exactly the “more bang for the buck” that school board members have been claiming for years.

         As a rule, never ask your barber if you need a haircut and never ask someone on the Board of Education if the district is doing a good job. You already know the answer. Instead, look at the data from objective sources — low test scores, very low graduation rates, the worst cafeterias in Westchester, among the highest paid teachers in the United States, employees who steal trucks, supplies and time, all run by the one of the highest paid public employees in the United States, Schools Superintendent Richard Organisciak who makes over $250,000 a year plus all sorts of perks.

         “Bang for the Buck” indeed.

      3. Well said certainly your
         Well said certainly your factual points are all indeed true although your drum bangs the same beat.
         The system is a mess and the tax payers are being taken for a ride.
         My opinion is that the situation in the schools compounds when everyone meets at NRHS which is the proof in the pudding.
         The NY State law provides for equal transportation and thusly it is illegal.
         However I believe they have the right to transportation if they live far enough away form the public school they are districted to attend. The law should not cover Private schools in my opinion. I believe the NRED will force property values to continue to erode as its a wasteland with poor performance while being overly fat in spending per student… I am sure you might agree.

      4. Simple Averages Not a Good Measure
         The School District is responsible for generating the data that is used to measure performance which is, in turn, analyzed and published by the State Education Department which is required to apply laws passed by the State Legislature which is controlled by the SEIU including the teachers unions, the school administrators union and the association of school boards. One of the so-called “requirements” of serving on a school board is that you must support public education.

         Given all the many ways in which the deck is stacked it just about a miracle that you get any data which reflects badly on the school system.

         There are lots of numbers thrown around but the bottom line number — the gold standard for measuring performance — is “on time” graduation. By that measure, the New Rochelle school system has been in steady decline since Schools Superintendent Richard Organisciak was hired. We are currently the third lowest in Westchester.

         BTW, if school boards member when running for re-election love to say 96% of students at NRHS go to college. If 66% are graduating on time, how can that be? Organisciak says that if you look at the “August Graduation Rate” the number goes to 70%. and that if you look out 5-6 years the numbers go into the 80’s.

         Let’s grant that point that after 6 years 80+% of kids from a given cohort from NRHS will have gotten their diploma. How can it be that 96% of the kids go to college?

         And what colleges are we talking about? Technical or Vocational Schools? Junior Colleges? How does the district know what happens to these kids 1 or 2 or 3 or more years after they leave the high school?

         Or do they mean that 96% of the students who get a diploma go to college.

         In that it would be 96% of 66% which is 63.4%.

         Anyone who pushes hard on a statement like this from school officials will almost invariably find that it is yet another phony claim.

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