Thank you to everyone who made a call, everyone who knocked on a door, everyone who donated, who came to an event, who volunteered on election day. Thank you to anyone who helped in any way. A special thank you to candidates Hiram Rivera, Joanne Thompson, and Kim Foskew.

As you have probably heard, our district was the only one in our area to not pass the budget. None of the candidates with children in the public schools was elected to the school board.

However, these sad results are certainly not for lack of trying. As you will see from the analysis below, East Ramapo Voters are the most active and involved of any in the county (and possibly the USA!)

Our public schools have been making due with less for a long time, despite increasing enrollment over the past three years and increasing needs of the children.

This is not due to any lack of concern or commitment on the part of the parents, many of whom are not citizens and therefore cannot vote, despite being parents and taxpayers.

An excellent analysis of the implications of the failed budget was published in the Journal News

Lack of signatures in this school board election undercuts the security of the entire system according to election experts, as reported in New York Newsday

What is the future of testing in our schools? Don’t miss this opportunity to voice your opinion about our schools and testing.

Come to a public forum held by the Gordon Commission on the Future of Assessment in Education.

Learn more about the work being done to change testing nationally and how these changes can affect your school-aged children for the better.

 

 

Please join us on Tuesday, May 22 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Rockland Community College, Technology Center, 145 College Road, Suffern, NY. Light refreshments will be served. This event is free and open to the public.

 

 

A confirmation is not necessary to attend, but will be helpful for our planning.

To confirm your attendance or for additional information, please email Jamila Brathwaite at jbrathwaite@cejjesinstitute.org.

To learn more about the Gordon Commission visit www.gordoncommission.org

4. 2012 Election Analysis

This year, once again, East Ramapo voters turned out in numbers far beyond the other districts in Rockland.

Voter turnouts were lower all over the county compared to last year, likely due to the steady rain.

The following table includes East Ramapo PUBLIC sector voters only:

Despite our far greater turnout, our budget was the only one which failed.

This is despite the fact that our YES vote turnout was also much higher than other districts:

The budget which was voted down was less than half of the tax cap limit allowed by state law.

Teacher Salary and budget increases had already been much lower than the county average.

Over the past five years they have been barely more than inflation.