East Ramapo, NY – In an interview with the Journal News Editorial Board (http://lohud.us/PafniM), New York State Education Commissioner John King said he is aware of the controversy in the East Ramapo School District and is carefully monitoring developments.
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In July, 14 parents filed a petition with King asking him to intervene to remove five school board members because of a “pattern of impropriety” and to appoint a state monitor to manage the district. Since 2005, Orthodox Jews who send their kids to private schools have headed the East Ramapo School Board.
“We are looking closely, and we are concerned,” King said. While the Commissioner was reluctant to discuss detailed issues related to the petition and problems in East Ramapo, he did say that the Education Department expects boards of education to work in the best interests of the students.“To the extent that boards are not doing that, they have violated their responsibility,” he said. The State Education Department has the power to remove officials because of willful misconduct or neglect of duty, but needs a special act of the New York State Legislature to take over operation of a school district.
Harry Phillips, who represents Rockland, Westchester, and Putnam on the state Board of Regents, said that the school district will not be able to meet the special-education costs of the rapidly-growing ultra-Orthodox and Chassidic communities going forward. “We see nothing but problems ahead,” Phillips remarked. “People will have to look at some of sort of takeover.” Of the Orthodox board members, he said, “They’re shafting the public- school kids.”
On a related issue, King also noted that he opposed the bill which required schools to take a child’s “home environment and family background” into consideration when making school placements. The measure, which had been promoted by Orthodox groups, passed the legislature but was vetoed by Governor Cuomo. “We expressed serious concerns about that bill and will continue to express them,” King said.
The schools in East Ramapo are horrible and it has nothing to do with the board members having Peyos. The teachers are overpaid, the administrators and incompetent and the parents of the public school students are ignorant fools. The kids cannot read or write and the only ones being taken to task are the guys who joined the board of education in the past 3 years?
I think something is majorly wrong here:
Public school students, their families and the people who’ve run the East Ramapo district have become accustomed over the previous years to a huge amount of money with few expenses.
Most residents of the district were paying six – seven thousand (+) dollars a year in school tax while sending their own children to private schools. The district at that point had almost no services for those students.
Had all taxpayers of the district sent their own children to public school all these years the district would have learned to live within its means.
All the board members are asking for is that all residents be treated equally and that the students who are not attending public school (saving the district THOUSANDS of dollars per student ) get the services they are entitled to (PL 94-142) in their appropriate environment (FAPE).
What is considered the best interest of all students??? The public schools have science labs, computer labs, gardens and pets, spacious classrooms and beautiful buildings while a lot of private schools can not afford decent buildings and when calling to complain why a bus route takes over an hour a parent is told that there is no funding for buses????? Four schools sharing a building that is not big enough to house them and students learn in trailers with holes in the floors? Who pays the school taxes, the public or private school parents???? For a district that has 9000 students in public school and 20,000+ in private schools I would surely like to know where the money goes if even proper transportation can not be provided for us. Now they are saying there isn’t even funding for that and they might do away with transportation for private schools too!!! Let us stop paying school taxes and let those that go there (probably illegals anyway) pay up or go back to their countries.
Taxpayers should be able to choose where their School Tax dollars go. There should be options between private or public schools.
All children of East ramapo should register their children right after the Yomim Tovim and then watch the district scramble to place them and come up with the funding and the buildings to teach all these children.