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Post by idea2004 on May 21, 2008 6:15:17 GMT -5
on another note we were the only district to vote down the budget ,how many other school districts budgets were increased by 8% I belived the average was about 4.5 % wantagh needs to take a hard look at what other districts are doing .llike the families that moved out because they could not get what what they needed in special ed services we all have that option including me and I thought about it many times
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Post by sally on May 21, 2008 6:28:21 GMT -5
Idea2004,We have bond payment Which had already been approved by the community last year included in this budget,by the way all the bond projects still go forward and you still get a tax increase,just a savings of APPROX. 250.00 a year..So now we will see what we do not get when we defeat a budget...Hold On..... Also,Wantagh Parent ,the last defeated budget was in 1987..Just an FYI.
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Post by avg768 on May 21, 2008 7:35:52 GMT -5
This is an absolute embarrassment!! We as a community should be ashamed of ourselves. The only people hurt by this NO vote are the children of the school district. For those adults that voted NO should get out their and get more involved in the process to ensure that our children get all that THEY deserve from living in this wonderful town of Wantagh. We should all be proud to live here and want to do all we can for our children. This NO vote does not help the situation.
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Post by parentinwantagh on May 21, 2008 7:40:21 GMT -5
I have to agree with dotherighthing - if children are depressed it is because they choose to. Yes we may have some hard times ahead of us, but hard times should only make us stronger. We as a community need to teach our children to make the best of what we have and to fight for what they believe in. Actions speak louder then words. And it appears the word was sent.
Maybe this will get people to stop throwing the Blue Ribbon School of Excellence around and start realizing we are no where near Blue Ribbon status and have not been for a long time. (An older woman in the neighborhood told me she remembers when we were awarded the Blue Ribbon (1992) and how she said "Great, our schools are headed down hill after this, because it is a title one uses forever.") I have to agree with the woman. Yes we have good schools, put are the children truly getting all they deserve?
As I said before if it is truly about the children then why aren't the Super's and staff offering to give back their raises or take a cut?
The budget may not have passed and only time will tell if we are going to spend another $10,000. for a re-vote. A message was sent and instead of being depressed and upset this should make all of us come together and do ALL WE CAN for our CHILDREN! Including calling our legislature and asking for more aid, etc. We need to find as many ways as we can to get money for our CHILDREN without asking for the community to flip the bill. Maybe this will help us be more creative. Maybe we will not be so quick to shoot down sponsors.
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Post by parentinwantagh on May 21, 2008 7:53:24 GMT -5
avg768 - as I understand you are frustrated I don't think you should be pointing fingers. Maybe in the community felt that the budget wasn't acceptable. Maybe the school should have tried harder to educate the community. We can't point fingers, we all do our best with what we have. Maybe this will tell the community that we just don't have it.
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Post by lilly on May 21, 2008 8:06:47 GMT -5
I'm going to call it like it is and I'm with parentinwantagh. I'm embarrassed by some of the reactions this morning.
I think bamper had great points.
The finger pointing serves no purpose.
In my circle of friends, everyone angst'ed over the vote. People who have legitimate gripes with the district voted yes for the kids. People who are extremely happy with the district voted no. This is not about how people feel about the district and all this personalization. It's becomes emotional because 1) it's just not a great economic environment and 2) it affects our kids.
I came on this board this morning to be in the company of my community, further process it and to talk about the possibilities. I had a poor night's sleep like many of us probably have. I have a very disappointed child who asked about clubs and how that will look on college applications. I said maybe you do a lot more community service this year - how bad a thing is that? It's not, in fact, it's a very good thing and a life lesson.
How we handle this as a community going forward will be very telling. I have a thousand questions - will we do a re-vote, if not who decides how the cuts are made, will there be more board and BAC meetings to decide those cuts, what do those cuts mean, how much do we have to fundraise, how can I HELP?
I hope people galvanize around each other, for my kids and ALL our kids.
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Post by sally on May 21, 2008 8:22:19 GMT -5
From the vote numbers the community was torn.The numbers reflect that not everyone coming out voted on the budget..I truly think many decided to obstain on the budget because they did not want it to be defeated....They now will have to live with all the cuts in the budget that they truly did not want by not voting for or against.
Lily,lets work together from this point,like you just said,and send a message that community involvement is a great thing for all in this community.For me,I have only just begun..This is a beginning and not an end!!!!!!!
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Post by hightax on May 21, 2008 8:26:16 GMT -5
Finally Wantagh has spoken. I have a few statements to make:
1. Sally - The children will be ok. I can bet there was not one child crying or in of need psychological help for depression because of the budget failing (which would only cause the administration to hire another Psychologist that we don't need).
2. Sally - State-Aid has been an issue since day one. This is not a new issue for the BOE. The BOE should have confronted this issue instead of complaining that the State is giving us less money when in reality the state increases state-aid every year. The Administration and the BOE increase the budget at a greater rate then state aid goes up giving the illusion that we are getting state aid.
3. Forthekids - MAKE HARD CHOICES. This is the problem with the BOE. They don't make hard choices. Other districts made the hard choices. According to Sally other districts are excessing 49 teachers. Why with declining enrollment do we constantly add teachers. I don't want to hear the bubble is moving to the middle school that is why we need to add teacher. EXCESS the teacher where the bubble was. Don't find a position for them.
4. Loveforwantagh - People are going to lose their jobs. What people (teachers)? Your neighbors are losing their jobs because of cut-backs. Why should the employees of this school district be immune? What edge are the students from Wantagh losing when they apply to a college because of a failed budget? Wantagh never had an edge. Wantagh DOES NOT RANK as a top school on any list. Sorry the only list we rank in the top 100 is teacher salaries.
5. Sally - On idea2004 just thinking of his own. He should be thinking of his own. If idea2004 needs extra money to pay taxes will you give him the money to pay.
6. To All - As for the BOE stating they WILL NOT have a second vote if the budget fails. They have used this as a threat and scare tactic on this community for years. NOW LETS SEE IF THEY HAVE ANY GUTS TO FOLLOW IT UP. If they do have a second vote this only goes to show everyone they are not leaders but followers making decisions too soon as they did on the teacher's contracts last year. As soon as my 3 children are out of this school district I will be running for the BOE and hopefully establish a leadership that will make some hard choices that are so desperately needed for the whole of the community and not just to appease certain individuals and teachers. The only reason I do not run now is my time with my children is WAY more important.
7. Some people just have NO PROBLEM spending other peoples money.
8. With only 18% of the population voting - if this budget had passed no one would be complaining that only 18% of the community voted.
9. If more money was actually spent on our children and what the school needs (books, etc) rather then on the ever increasing teacher and administratives salaries we would not even be having this blog. Remember over 75% of this budget is salaries and benefits.
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Post by hightax on May 21, 2008 8:32:00 GMT -5
Bravo!! parentinWantagh. Bravo!!
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Post by lilly on May 21, 2008 8:36:48 GMT -5
From the vote numbers the community was torn.The numbers reflect that not everyone coming out voted on the budget..I truly think many decided to obstain on the budget because they did not want it to be defeated....They now will have to live with all the cuts in the budget that they truly did not want by not voting for or against. Again, from my friends I had people who were researching and considering how to cast their vote for days on end about this. Many were undecided up until yesterday, probably until they got in the voting booth. Despite all that consideration, there were two who said they maybe wouldn't vote because this is just too hard but they did vote - maybe there are many more like them out there. My sense is that there were a LOT of people who were extremely torn about their decision. And however they voted, no one felt good about it or are they gloating this morning. But that's just a sampling of my friends. No one is against the kids no matter how they voted. I think in any school budget there are the people who vote yes no matter what and the people who vote no no matter what. Last year's bond and budget votes were hardly a landslide, neither is this budget vote. There were probably more in the swing margin this year. I think bamper was astute in his observations. Sally, your energy amazes me. I aspire to it. As a community, we need to listen to each other and galvanize around the common cause of OUR KIDS. How we accomplish it will tell a lot about us. I don't think it's an us against them mentality however you voted. I don't think anyone felt really good when they left that booth, whatever their vote. So, what are we going to do next? How are we going to move forward?
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Post by lilly on May 21, 2008 8:38:27 GMT -5
And yes Sally, let's definitely work together.
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Post by sally on May 21, 2008 8:39:32 GMT -5
Hightax,You are very defensive.
I can only hope the children are not crying and your statement is very cruel.
State aid,we still need more to keep up with mandates and rising costs.
People have major issues with class sizes,as seen first hand at a recent BOE meeting.Not to say that I agree with them,though.
We do not rank at the top for teacher salaries.
Idea2004 can do what he wants.We all make our own decisions.We all feel the crunch,at the gas pump and the supermarket.
All our children are WAY more important why not run next time around so the decisions you make affect your OWN kids and NOT everyone elses.Be prepared though for a thankless job,most don't have the stomach for it.
I spend my own money the way I see fit.
18% does not reflect the entire community,thats all...
Books were included in this budget,this BLOG served all not just those who started it.
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Post by sally on May 21, 2008 8:42:33 GMT -5
Lily,stay tuned...I will be in touch...Thanks.
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Post by vetmann on May 21, 2008 9:10:07 GMT -5
Fact- according to Newsday: Wantagh ranked 28 out of 116 districts for teacher salaries in 2005-06 ( $76,480) . The superintendents pay ranked 20 out of 100 ( $ 295,758) for 2007-08.
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Post by truthprevails on May 21, 2008 9:10:14 GMT -5
It continues to astonish me that many folks in Wantagh are forgetting the fundamentals of our democratic system. In the case of the Budget vote one could have chosen yes or no. Either one is a perfectly legal, valid, moral and ethical choice. I am therefore amazed, that some folks on this blog, seem to suggest, that because they voted a particular way, they somehow command the high moral ground. Parents and our school system, both teach our children to respect opinions that don’t coincide with their own, a lesson that many of us should learn. This is a time for healing and coming together as a community to address the crucial issue of how best to use our resources for the education of our youth. To do this we need to study, in depth, the underlying structural causes of wildly escalating budgets and high taxes and seek a long-term solution. If we continue to accept the BOE’s band-aid approach, it will come back to haunt us.
More to come !!
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