(Editor’s note: This letter is in response to the column “From the Desk of Dr. Charles Murphy, Island Trees Superintendent of Schools” that appeared in the Friday, Sept. 23 edition of the Levittown Tribune. The information from the superintendent was also sent via email from the district to Island Trees residents who are subscribers to the district’s email notification system.)
I am in receipt of an email newsletter from Dr. Murphy and I need to respond. The superintendent lays out in detail the forthcoming tax cap law signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo after being passed by the senate and the assembly.
Once again, the Island Trees taxpaying community is receiving cautionary advisories about common sense legislation. Threats about increased class sizes (I was one of 45 to 48 in a class at St. Andrew’s grammar school. IT averages 20 to 24); layoffs (IT has a surplus of 25 teachers); program cancellations (my parents paid for all my music lessons and afterschool programs), and the sky falling are taken directly out of the NYSUT playbook. These threats are scripted, preplanned, and false.
It would appear that Superintendent Murphy may be setting up a straw man argument early to prepare the electorate to pass the next school budget with a minimum 60 percent margin so as to override Cuomo’s tax cap plan. The voters in New York State have spoken. The legislature and the governor heard them loudly and clearly. The questions remains…has the Island Trees School Board and Administration listened and heard?
Let’s ponder revisiting the Triborough Amendment. The first assemblyman/woman or state senator who would deign to introduce a bill to alter the terms of Triborough would face the awesome political fury of NYSUT and its 660,000 members. Any state pol that mentions Triborough will face a primary in his/her district. NYSUT is already litigating the merits of the new teacher evaluation laws passed in May 2010 designed to weed out inferior teachers so one has to wonder who NYSUT really represents. NYS government was forced to pass landmark laws because there is no alternative.
Hempstead Turnpike is becoming a ghost town and the tax base in Island Trees is disappearing. Vacant homes are on the rise. This district must find a way to do it better and do it for less. Perhaps they can take a page out of the Wantagh District’s playbook. Wantagh educates children for over $3,000 less per pupil. Why not find out how they do it.
Brian Kelty
Island Trees Taxpayer
