As a journalist covering education on Long Island and across the country, I was astounded by the number of taxpayers who complain about their public schools—yet fail to make constructive suggestions, or simply vote for school board. Now, in my hometown of Manhasset, I want to help change this trend.
After years of remaining silent about my choices for the Board of Education, I am enthusiastically supporting a teacher, father and education activist: Frank Bua.
Let’s be candid: We have very good schools, but they could be far more innovative. If you step into a third- or a tenth-grade Manhasset classroom, you surely will see a lot of similarities to what you would have seen 20 or 40 years ago—other than Smart Boards, Zoom cameras and other technology.
For the high taxes we pay, we should expect the highest quality, most creative instruction of languages, STEM, history and writing and creative thinking. And we should see deft responses to setbacks like the pandemic.
Here, in brief, are three reasons I’m urging neighbors to vote for Frank Bua:
First, Frank has made his life about service. From his earlier work as a volunteer on three national non-profit boards to his recent efforts to secure vaccine appointments for community members, Frank walks the walk.
Second, Frank lives by a leadership mantra: Improvement is essential to survival. He knows that we can look at our schools critically without carping and criticizing. The Board would benefit from his knack of taking a strong foundation and making it even better.
Finally, Frank is a big picture thinker. He knows there is more that unites us than divides us. This approach is refreshing during a time of divisiveness on the Island.
I salute every candidate who is running for this position, which offers no pay and very little appreciation. Now it’s time for someone like Frank—who will be refreshingly frank (no pun intended) about the progress we need.
—Dave Marcus, a Manhasset resident and father of four, is the author of Acceptance (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), a book about a school counselor in Oyster Bay.
