One of our most important holidays – our birthday. These are sacred words to most of us. "When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

This declaration states only the pursuit of happiness. There are no guarantees.

Neither are any rights granted by persons, groups, royalty, politicians, schools, universities or institutions. The only true allegiance or reliance is from our creator. There is no mention in the declaration or our constitution of education, income tax, sales tax, foreign aid, welfare, free medical care or a thousand other items which our citizens are today burdened with. Our enormous state and federal debts will be our undoing if we do not face up to our responsibilities.

Holy Spirit School is expanding. With a projected expense of less than $1 million, a 6,000 square-foot addition with three new classrooms, library/computer and science laboratory will accept students through grade 8 for the 2001-02 academic year. The expansion will increase current enrollment by 50 students whose parents are seeking a viable option to the tax supported public school system.

Last month the East Greenbush Central School District endorsed a plan to encourage parental involvement in their siblings’ education. Its impetus was the identification by a Professional Development Plan task force of three student performance deficiencies. Unacceptable problems exist in the fundamental three R’s of reading, writing, and arithmetic. The goal is improvement.

As reported in The Independent, June 15, 2000, comments made by specific board members may be of interest to readers. Ms. LeClair considered the goals lofty and expressed concerns about how to achieve positive results. Ms. Jones hoped the plan would increase the number of parents and their level of involvement. Mr. Baldwin is of the opinion the plan will provide better communication between the school district and parents.

The school’s administration team offered many comments. Assistant Superintendent Barlow indicated the task force found the need for increased parental involvement was chosen because of its difficulty. Barlow continued, "As a district, we cannot survive without parents. We have to teach them how to work with their children. There are a lot of smart parents who simply do not know how to teach their child to read. They are not teachers. We need to give them some help." The panel recommended parental education and out-reach activities which may offered in the fall. Superintendent Brewer compared parent support for community sports and the time involved in justifying their need to commit the same time to academics.

RCTA suggests that teachers and others on the East Greenbush Central School District payroll take a hard look at what they view in a full length mirror. The system serves as the children’s role models. Students spend one third of their waking hours in school. The problem which exists needs an internal solution. This problem should not be transferred for its solution to the already hard pressed single or two parent working families.

This is a word seldom used today. Why? It has a nice ring to it. It implies, among other things, a depth and richness of things permanent with solid value. The varied peoples of the earth place high value on the gifts handed down to them in many forms. Sincere religious beliefs, stories told and retold, quaint costumes, special foods, struggles, triumphs and tragedies all melded together to form a cohesive saga representative of the best mankind has to offer. Without tradition, we have little in the true sense of the word.

It is sad indeed, that our modern public school system seems to take special delight in avoiding anything of a positive nature that comes close to teaching things that have a traditional value.

In the past, our academics referred to the three R’s and basic math, together with a true American history that always enthralled young students with a pride and inner happiness that they retained throughout their lives. These were living legends. Today we have TV trash, liberal mush and secular nonsense. In more recent times Senator Byrd, D W.VA, said, "U.S. math educators have all but eliminated numbers. They are creating a generation of mathematical nitwits". The National Science Foundation has been pushing the new math which depends on calculators, guess work and answers from machines. Our present students know little of the basics that mean anything. Many of us today observe in stores and supermarkets when a machine is out of order the clerk is dumbfounded. Elderly cashiers are not bothered by this but carry on. The NSF downs basic math at every turn. It is our basic math, however, that helped us to put men in space and on the moon. Our modern math couldn’t assist in construction a ham sandwich. Let us go back to the traditional way of doing things. Our competitive position among industrialized countries is not improving one wit. Nothing will change unless the parents and the general public demand a change.

State grant money is coming our way from all angles. Flora Fasoldt, D, Sand Lake Councilwoman says, "It’s actually incredible", according to TU, May 11. Fasoldt continues, "however residents around town have expressed mixed feelings about the mother lode. While many are clearly as thrilled as town officials with the news of the impending gold mine, others have expressed some measure of consternation." She said, "With a surplus like this, it makes you wonder if people are over taxed in this state."

We can answer you very quickly on that one, Ms. Fasoldt. Yes, we are overtaxed. We are the highest taxed people in the country.

Also, we send 18 billion dollars to Washington D.C. plutocrats, more than we receive back in any form. One of the worst boondoggles was sending $75 million to Buffalo to build a new football stadium.

Another political ploy is granting $12 million to Hudson Valley C.C. for a new baseball stadium nobody wants and the neighbors are up in arms about. Noise, confusion, too much traffic already, night lights, and a waste. In the meantime the fact that our NYS is $40 billion in debt is totally ignored.

Overtaxing is one part of the problem. Overspending is the other.

In the meantime, senior citizens are taking trips by the busloads to Canada to buy prescription drugs for a fraction of the US retail price.

Take your pick, each of our local school districts have come up with their own demerits. One district down plays assaults, embarrasses pupils in front of the class and pokes students with pencils. Their test ratings are mighty low. Another specializes in employing felons and giving them tenure. The board also has the habit of insulting citizens who question their activities. Yet another has high incidents of assaults, illegal drugs, very high taxes, outrageous bond issues and unsightly graffiti. Still another district overbuilds at enormous costs, has a huge garage on its hands while at the same time pushes sports, social issues and raises taxes beyond limits for questionable reasons. Take a guess. Each of you knows who you are and so do we. We didn’t go into the finer details but it goes without saying that the unionists have a hand in gouging the public by using "the children" as an excuse and a cover for average to poor performance. They need "extra help". Perhaps the "help" they are getting is the wrong kind of help. When we get back to basics in math and teach students how to think rather than what to think, we may be able to again be proud of graduates who themselves will be self assured and not have to worry about remedial courses in order to really qualify for college. Our young people are too precious an asset to be left in the wrong hands.

When you think about it, the more you contemplate the antics of the left, the more you see their lack of conviction and their disingenuousness.

Prominent people such as Ralph Nader, it turns out, are heavily invested in the stock market. He preaches all the time about the evils of "capitalism" and "ruthless business activities", but his personal business is another matter. Likewise our politicians and union heads are involved with the hated capitalists as long as they profit by it.

Some of our private business owners now succeeding in running small shops and various service agencies are "Surprise", former teachers who some times reluctantly admit they’ve seen the light. Almost unanimously, they state that the bureaucracy and the unruly, disrespectful students were just too much for them. Believe it or not, many are complaining about high taxes. We need education as well as every other activity in order to have our civilization operate. However, order and proper organization with the highest goals in mind is the only way for any activity to function. Otherwise mediocrity will be the inevitable result.

Hillary, the darling of the leftists has never denied converting one thousand dollars into one hundred thousand dollars by investing in "futures" in one week’s time. The writer has never heard of her donating any part of this to charity. You see folks, that’s your obligation not theirs. They are takers not givers.

For several years past, many of us who are conservatives or middle of the roaders have been vilified for not "contributing to the community". It is obvious that those who are adverse to the truth may have something to hide. An exaggerated example – if a segment of our armed forces had undisciplined, disrespectful members who wrongfully taught new recruits, the general public would demand immediate changes to bring our armed forces up to top efficiency. Our top commanders would also be held to account.

Why then, must our education activities be held to a much lower standard? Strict military discipline may be overstating the case but classroom disorder and a lack of the observance of our historical and cultural American values, together with basic decency and the teaching of right from wrong leaves a "vast wasteland" as Newton Minnow once said of TV. "Self esteem" is a poor excuse for neglect.

The concentration on questionable spending, exorbitant bond issues by our academics coupled with the influence by liberal politicians is the formula for disaster. The present public education system is only a shell of it’s former self. National school superintendent Clinton is a poor example for any fair minded American to follow.

In TU June 17, the excellent writer and true American Thomas Sowell, scholar and journalist said, "the most positive thing we can do for American education is to replace the kinds of teachers we have with better educated and more intelligent people. Private schools have no problem doing that because they are not tied up in red tape or in laws that enable teachers unions and the schools and departments of education to keep out people who have not jumped through their hoops". Makes sense.

Individual initiative instilled as a youngster and encouraged will produce great results every time. However, when the bland mass-produced enigma of government social engineering takes over, the possibilities of excellence are reduced proportionally. Meanwhile our East Greenbush elite 16 (13 principals and 3 chairwarmers) contrive to "initiate" themselves to generous raises. There is then nothing left but to commiserate with one another about the lack of a swimming pool. How will they ever make it through the summer?

RCTA
PO Box 145
East Greenbush, NY 12061

The taxpayer group is your voice to alert the public on matters involving the use of your money by public servants.
New members are needed to support our goals, which are excellence, accountability, and cooperation.

Give us a call.

Next regular meetings at the East Greenbush Town Hall Tuesday August 8, 2000, at 7 PM.

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