Part 1: Most of Us Donʼt Care...
Most of us donʼt care enough about how our District operates.
Ouch! Sorry, but itʼs a fact. No, weʼre not bad people, not at all, but letʼs call a spade a
spade, OK?
Many of us spend considerable time grumbling about our schools.
Then we donʼt truly do much about them, do we?
We hold the Superintendent, the teachers, the union, the students, text msgs, Play
Station XIV, Angry Birds, politics, the bus company or the cafeteria franchisee
responsible. Or the bald, hard, dangerous, superannuated ground we call Meszaros
Field. Even keeping up with Scarsdale or Ardsley. High energy costs? For sure. Unfair
property assessments, high taxes? Check! Tax certs decreasing our school revenue?
Yup. And how about the lousy economy or the Governorʼs still unfathomable but-not-
really-2% tax cap? All great targets.
Hereʼs what we actually control:
Every year, we vote 1 or 2 folks on to the Board for a 3-year term.
Whyʼs that so important?
Hereʼs why:
All Irvington Union Free School District actions, every single one, ultimately lead
back to Board responsibility. The Boardʼs supposed to discuss, decide, direct and
make sure the Superintendent does what they ask. And the Superintendent leads
the entire school district in all its myriad aspects—from education to budget to
community relations. The IUFSDʼs bottom line is that the Boardʼs most important
job is directing the Superintendent.
So, keeping this top-down relationship in mind:
Question 1
Does the public know enough about the nitty-gritty of the Boardʼs day-to-day and
long-term responsibilities? Do we know the whens, whats and wheres of their
work and talk and decisions?
Question 2
Do most of the 6500-or-so eligible voters know enough about Board candidates
before voting for ʼem? Do voters have reasonable expectations of what any given
candidate will stand for?
For both questions, weʼd guess the answerʼs “probably not”. Maybe this is part of why
we have really low voter turnout.
Low? The majority doesnʼt even vote!
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Only 1500 or so folks generally vote—yes, less than 25%.
Ten-year voter-turnout high to low: 1992 to 527.
Donʼt misunderstand—whether weʼre in touch with current school board affairs or not,
weʼre a caring community! We turn out in overwhelming numbers for student concerts
and open houses (so much so that we could probably monetize parking—thereʼs an
idea, Budget Task Force!). Calls for committee memberships are often over-subscribed.
Our PTSA is large and very active. The IEF is vigorous and generous. All good.
But, when we examine the wider view of District business, few stakeholders participate.
Count the ʻciviliansʼ at any given board meeting. Count how many meeting videos are
watched.
Many fewer than 1% of us attend any given board meeting. Whereʼs the disconnect?
ʻChickenʼ or ʻeggʼ? Stakeholders or Board? Whyʼs the public not attending?
Before venturing an answer, letʼs look at our sources of information. So where do voters
get their general IUFSD information or educational theory? From some of the following:
• our students (and their progress reports and report cards)
• once-a-year Open Houses or teacher-parent conferences
• Edline, our schoolsʼ public website
• the Districtʼs weekly official e-mail blast, the Irvington BOE Mailer, to 1800+
recipients, most of whom are parents
• 2 local education-focussed blogs (one has 350 members, the other, Diligentsia,
has 1500+ readers)
• national media
• local newspapers (1 daily, 1 weekly, 2 monthlies)
• 2 daily, local internet news-sites
• internet searches
• libraries
• Board press releases and agendas
• School Board Meetings or Work Sessions
• Board Meeting minutes
• letters home from Principals and the Superintendent
• videos of School Board meetings
• participation in PTSA, IEF and other volunteer organizations and committees
• NYS Education Department website and publications
• self-congratulatory District flyers just prior to the budget vote
• over the backyard fence, or, more likely, SUV-to-SUV chats in the parking lots
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No lack of opportunity, wide range of possibilities, right? But, seriously, who actually
looks at most of ʼem? Whoʼs got the time? If we only listen to media sound-bites, this is
what weʼd think:
The American education system fails its students.
But, wait a minute—what about the IUFSD? How are Irvington students doing? What
needs to be improved in right here?
So, the reality is that many of us gather only hearsay, neighborsʼ opinions and whispers
—and, looking at the almost-inevitable proposed tax increase—we then proceed to
vote. We ignore the most important sources—especially Board Meetings and Board
membersʼ voting records. And, remember, the stakeholder majority, whether in
possession of any opinion one way or another, doesnʼt even bother to vote at all!
Very few of us want to figure out what the School Board is talking about. The majority
doesnʼt care enough.
Most of us donʼt care to pursue our Board for their miss-steps or mistakes, whether
moral, fiduciary or just simple abandonment of sense. Few amongst us are willing to
question or criticize the Board or individual Board Members face-to-face, in public. The
majority of us donʼt care to hound our Board President for being intransigent, a bad
listener, conflicted or less-than-politic—not to speak of being just plain careless and
insulting.
This isnʼt criticism of the silent majority—most of us are normal, relatively uninvolved
citizens who donʼt care to be very public at all—despite liberally volunteering time and
resources.
Still, you can bet that most folks feel:
• some of the Boardʼs work is accomplished without
meaningful public input
• some of the Boardʼs work is accomplished too privately
• some of the Boardʼs decisions are inappropriate or just plain
nuts!
Guess what? Weʼre largely wrong for thinking so. Why?
We werenʼt paying attention. Most of us donʼt care enough.
Obviously, the Board must pay constant attention to the quality of their public
communications, including board meetings. Not just the appearance or volume, per se,
but the actual quality. On the other hand, the publicʼs got to keep insisting on good,
clear information. Always, forever.
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First thereʼs understanding; then thereʼs voting. That pesky annual budget vote and
School Board election every May—is it an opportunity simply squandered—or just plain
dangerous?
Turnout is so low that a small, motivated, out-of-step minority
could easily take over and run our schools into the ground.
Based on prior voting trends, this controlling minority could be as few as 750 voters or
so. Is this what the much larger majority really wants?
Soon: Part 2, What to Do
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