The people of New Rochelle have no assurance that their public employees are being hired, promoted and paid on the basis of merit and fitness as State law has required for 126 years. The most recent incident involving a Board of Education hire has shed light on serious deficiencies within this system and it has now become incumbent to request the assistance of Nancy Groenweger, the NYS Commissioner of Civil Service. As she did with her investigation and findings of the City of Long Beach earlier this year, she will find that the system in New Rochelle is broken. As a former counsel for the New York State School Boards Association, she will certainly feel offended at the machinations of the New Rochelle Board of Education. It is a system designed to get friends and acquaintances into the payroll despite their incompetence, but more importantly they are thumbing their nose at the very process that is supposed to be fair and transparent. To have the Board of Education be part of this onerous scheme or being misled by their legal or HR leaders is a shame. We will await further instructions from our complaint in Albany.
