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Post by Wantagh Parent on Jun 17, 2008 20:29:44 GMT -5
Pass 2,330 45.3%
Fail 2,812 54.7%
Total Votes 5,142
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Post by forestlakermomof2 on Jun 17, 2008 20:52:46 GMT -5
I am disgusted by the ignorance of my neighbors in this community! For a lousy $240, you decided to vote no. Who loses in this case? OUR children! That's right...these kids in Wantagh belong to ALL of us. They are the future. What kind of message are we sending them? We are telling them that we don't care. Nice. Think about all of those high school juniors who spoke so beautifully at the budget meetings back in May. They will have nothing to put on their college applications. No extra curricular activities of any kind. I know that I can go to sleep tonight and not have a guilty conscience. I voted YES, the way everyone should have. This is a total shame! I still can't believe it! No one likes to pay high taxes, but it is this way all over Long Island. I believe that you get what you pay for. If you move to an area with lower taxes, you will not get the same education as you do here in Wantagh. You cannot put a price on education!
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Post by manyquestions on Jun 17, 2008 21:05:59 GMT -5
I just hope all the people who made it their mission to vote this budget down, show up at something in the fall, a PTA meeting, the BAC or a Board of Education meeting.
I have be flooded with emails over the past few days and some of these people had the courage to sign their names so I hope the begin to get involved in the process BEFORE the last minute.
Show up at a meeting in September and start talking, help out in the PTA, get involved with your actions.
I think this is a sad day for Wantagh.
And now we will be pressured with non stop fundraising in order to get our extra curricular activities off the ground.
How is that any better.
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Post by mandalayparent on Jun 17, 2008 21:06:30 GMT -5
I agree with everything you just said. This community is not thnking about the children. Failing his budget will not save you thousands of dollars-it probably won't even save you hundreds. What it will do is force unnecessary cuts that will eventually effect every child. We should have more respect for our school, our teachers and our reputation. Your house value is bad enough right now, this certainly will not help any of us. Stop listening to the negative chatter on the field- get educated!
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Post by mandalay4 on Jun 17, 2008 21:07:15 GMT -5
It's an absolute disgrace that this budget failed!! All of our kids will now pay the price for our failure to come together as a community and pass this budget.
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Post by dotherightthing1 on Jun 17, 2008 21:10:33 GMT -5
As a parent who is involved, please don't insult those who voted no. I too will sleep well tonight knowing that this overwhelming defeat will force the board and admin. to step up and find savings in other areas to save sports, clubs etc.
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Post by taxed2death on Jun 17, 2008 21:10:49 GMT -5
I totally understand both sides, and that there is alot of anger with the BOE and Admin, however it has now been taken out on the kids. We still pay high taxes, only now its for a no frills school district -- not what I moved here for. Home value = school district value. Not so funny that my tax bill certainly will not reflect my decrease in home value. It is what it is, and now we need to figure out how we can pull together major fundraising over the next 2 months. I feel literally sick over this.
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Post by dotherightthing1 on Jun 17, 2008 21:15:32 GMT -5
This is not a vote against the kids. This is an opportunity for the board and admin. to show if they are really for the kids by finding the money from other areas of the budget.
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Post by taxed2death on Jun 17, 2008 21:20:06 GMT -5
Dotherightthing1 said: As a parent who is involved, please don't insult those who voted no. I too will sleep well tonight knowing that this overwhelming defeat will force the board and admin. to step up and find savings in other areas to save sports, clubs etc.
I wish I was as confident as you that the board is now "forced" to step up and find savings in other areas to save sports. What makes you think that particularly when they were not previously "forced" to cut for a revote.
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Post by forestlakermomof2 on Jun 17, 2008 21:25:52 GMT -5
As an educator, I find it hard to really understand both sides. Teaching is one of the hardest jobs around, yet it is the most rewarding. I am so tired of hearing about *teacher's salaries* and how much we make. Do you know that we are required, in order to keep our license, to take many hours of professional development each year? Guess who pays for that? Teachers do...not taxpayers...teachers, from their own pockets. Teachers MUST get a Master's Degree in order to hold a permanent license. Who pays for the Master's Degree? Teachers do...not taxpayers...teachers, from their own pockets. Teachers work VERY hard to educate your children. A lot of what I do I did not learn in school. Besides being a teacher, I am also a mother, friend, social worker, psychologist, care-taker....I could go on...to the kids in my class. I don't just teach them how to read and write. It goes way beyond that. Society needs to get over the fact that teachers *make so much money*....because we don't! Look at the salaries of professional athletes! They are the ones making ridiculous salaries, not teachers! No one, NO ONE is worth 3 million dollars a year to play baseball! That is insane. Teacher's salaries are no where near what they should be in many districts. I get really annoyed when everyone thinks that just because the budget has failed, now teacher's salaries will go down. They won't! Salaries are part of a contract, and that contract won't be broken. By failing this budget, we will now have to pay out of pocket much more than $240 in order to have sports/clubs for our kids. How smart is that? Not very. What a mess! Like someone said earlier, we need to come together, attend meetings, voice opinions before it is too late, and come up with a decent budget for 2009-2010 so this won't happen again. I, too, am sick to my stomach.  |
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knalb
New Member
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Post by knalb on Jun 17, 2008 21:32:39 GMT -5
dotherightthing1: you said they should find areas to cut back on to save sports and clubs- do you realize that ultimately means cutting academic programs, staffing, support services and everything else that makes this district a top one? Other things need to be considered,not just sports. Don't complain next year when something else your child enjoys is taken away. Why should our children have less then what is offered in competing districts
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Post by hightax on Jun 17, 2008 21:39:04 GMT -5
taxed2death - What cause the budget to fail is the arrogance of the BOE. Every other school district put up a different budget. The Wantagh BOE will now have to truly listen to the people. If they try to cut something out of the contingency budget that you feel need to stay in then you need to express your self to the BOE. If they DO NOT LISTEN to the people then it is time for them to go.
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knalb
New Member
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Post by knalb on Jun 17, 2008 21:42:41 GMT -5
hightax; you obviously weren't at the boe meeting when about 300 of your concerned community members asked the board to put the same budget up for revote-they were listening to the people
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Post by hightax on Jun 17, 2008 21:50:49 GMT -5
forestlakermomof2 - I truly do respect your profression. I will let you in on a little secret I am not baseball player. I do not make what a teacher makes and have guarantee pay increase. I most certainly do not have the job security that a teacher has. I have one question would teacher give up the job security (tenure) for more pay?
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Post by forestlakermomof2 on Jun 17, 2008 21:53:06 GMT -5
hightax-
Yes, I would give up my tenure in order to get more pay. I think I do a great job in my profession and I am confident enough to give up tenure and know that I would still have a job for many years to come!
;D
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