MAY 2009

""A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
                Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Every day as I read various newspapers from Long Island and around the state, I am not surprised to see that each of the four corners of New York seems to have a different take on what the governor’s actions or inactions mean to taxpayers. But nowhere are Albany’s actions more damaging, and more unpopular, than here on Long Island. As I have been saying for years, the system is broken, and until structural changes begin to take place, Albany will continue to heap the financial burdens of the state on the backs of Long Islanders. The golden goose that is Long Island has run out of eggs, and now that Albany is solidly in control of  the “city guys.”  Well, hold on to your wallets and buckle up; this is going to get interesting.  The Metropolitan Transportation Authority bailout legislation has been passed, and only because of the massive grassroots lobbying campaign carried on by Long Island residents, including a significant number from South Huntington, school districts have received some relief not available to other employers in the affected counties.  But the bottom line remains the same, our district has to collect the MTA’s tax from you.

As mentioned earlier, structural changes are needed more than ever to begin to cope with the tide of red ink flowing down from Albany.  Your Board of Education and school administrators know this and have had the unpopular but mandatory task of scrutinizing and evaluating every program we offer and beginning to disassemble certain extracurricular offerings that were relatively new to the district. Unfortunately some favorite clubs will be disbanded, and some sports teams will be folded into one another.  But I need you to know that these decisions were not made lightly.  As those who have attended our budget meetings know, our goal is to keep our academic offerings sound while still fiscally prudent.

For those who could not attend these meetings, you need to know that the Board and administrators heard from a wide range of community members. Those who attended early on in the budget process know that the unions that represent the various district employees were being asked to help ease the community’s financial hardship and to help save jobs by agreeing to the Board’s proposal to work a week without pay in a plan known as the 5-day giveback.  As your superintendent I made it clear from the beginning that my assistant superintendents and I would participate in this giveback. I am pleased to inform you that all but two of the unions voted to save their members jobs and lower the budget.  Many of you continued to ask for updates as to which employee unions agreed, and each week the voices got louder as it became increasingly clear that the teachers’ union not only would reject the offer but would not even let the members, your children’s teachers, cast a vote.

The teachers’ association offered a counterproposal to the 5-day giveback that, after review, was actually no proposal at all—at least not one that the Board could rationally approve. Their offer would have saddled South Huntington taxpayers with 100% of the cost of retiring teachers’ health benefits—for life.  So much for community spirit.  Unfortunately, the calls from community members who wanted to know why they were not allowed to vote and why their leadership had rejected the Board’s offer went unanswered, and the union’s stature and credibility have declined by the week.

So now, along with all the red ink flowing from Albany, we also have many thousands of teachers’ union dollars being spent to fund a print and TV/radio campaign filled with false information.  But let us be perfectly clear and fair: Our teachers, who work so hard to educate our children, were never allowed to vote on the giveback, and from what I am led to understand, a substantial number would have voted in favor of it.

Some very difficult decisions, but ones that were made painstakingly, have led us to the 2.92% increase we are requesting for the 2009-2010 budget. When decision time arrives for the South Huntington school budget on Tuesday, May 19, I urge you to let your voice be heard by voting.

Tom Shea
Superintendent of Schools