Here are a few facts to help you decide who makes the decisions on how taxpayer money is spent by the Rondout Valley School Board of Education.

Last year, the Rondout Valley teachers' union endorsed four candidates for the board of education, three of which have spouses who are teachers in the district and the forth being the current board president. (Only five votes are needed to approve anything.) Those three teacher spouses sitting on the board, all first time board members, became the budget committee. In the 2010-2011 budget, 98 percent of the proposed $2+ million increase will go guess where?staff compensation.

Again this year, the teachers' union is endorsing teacher spouse, Mr. Berg. As budget committee chair, he has worked hard to assure that we taxpayers will send our money directly to the people who endorsed him?the teachers. Yet, it will be programs, sports, extra events, etc. that will end up being cut at the children's expense if this is allowed to continue.

But, will the union's real payback be negotiation of their new contract in 2012?

If you don't think the henhouse(your money) is at risk, thanks for your time. If you do, remember that if we voters don't decide which board trustees guard the henhouse, then the teachers' union will.

This election, there are three open seats and four candidates. It's your choice.

Do you want to keep the fox out? Please vote on May 18th.

Richard Countryman
Accord

I would like to thank the Village of Ellenville for making the Celebration of Cinco de Mayo happen. I would like to thank the Chamber of Commerce and the Ellenville Library, special thanks to Asha Golligher and Mark Craft and all the people who made it possible.

I would like to make a note that there was supposed to have been a raffle that day, however, due to certain circumstances we were unable to have it. The raffle will be offered on Fri., May 28th, at Gaby's Restaurant following the ribbon cutting for the new bar. The raffles will be held at 4 pm and 6 pm. There will be free snacks available at the bar and free entertainment.

Genaro Garcia
Ellenville

I am disappointed in your May 6 front-page article about the Ellenville School Board election, Intimidation? Or Just Hard-Nosed Politics? Everyone knows that a news story should tell the reader, "Who, Where, When, What, Why, and How." In addition, reputable news providers always have at least two independent sources for what they present as facts.

If the owners of the "three village businesses" who claim they were approached by opponents of Mr. Donald Oglesby, "refused to be publicly identified," then that is not news. It is rumor and innuendo, and unfair to Mr. Oglesby's opponents. If these owners refused to give their names or to come forth publicly, you have a responsibility either to ascertain the facts, or to refrain from printing an article that hints darkly but presents no real information to your readers. How can anything in your article possibly be corroborated or refuted, when the accusers remain anonymous? Yet your article, vague as it is, could do real harm to Mr. Oglesby's opponents.

I also question why this article appears on the front page of your newspaper, when it expresses a clearly editorial bias in favor of one School Board candidate. When will local newspapers learn that editorials belong on the editorial page?

Jane S. Wood
Wawarsing

I became truly appalled when I learned that certain local Ellenville citizens began to bully local business merchants and private property owners and friends- threatening these good, hard working people that their businesses would suffer as patrons would not buy from them or support them if they ENDORSED or publicly displayed Mr. Donald Oglesby's BOE Campaign Signs.

One business owner indicated he had the same thing happen to him over a decade ago in another political campaign. Imagine that...no progress in ten years!

Exposure of this type of behavior is the only way to deal with it.

I respect each business owner as they fear loss of business-however, folks you need to stand up to these grown-up bullies and realize the masses are what will support their businesses to success and preserve their livelihoods - NOT THE FEW that are tied into the local wannabe political power base.

Too many new faces, families and other professionals with strong secure minds have moved into the area-hence the cliques are becoming powerless. Please do not become victims of this mentality. It is unhealthy.

We expect our children to learn from our examples as role models in school with ZERO TOLERANCE TO BULLYING then how can we expect them to carry out our life lessons if we don't practice what we teach.

We are a Country free from oppression. It's America! Everyone please step up to the business owner's store fronts and display your own BOE signs along side with Mr. Oglesbys! What a Country! What a Community! Let's be proud of what we can achieve through freedom.

Marco Bocanumenth
Monticello

Recently at a Noonday Club Meeting, Lisa Wyles, Superintendent of the Ellenville Central School was the Guest Speaker. Mrs. Wyles spoke about the upcoming vote for the School Budget and the changes that will be taking place with very little increase in taxes. We hear about the horror stories in the daily papers on what is happening to other School Districts, large layoffs of teachers, cuts in High Schools and Elementary Programs.

There are very few cuts in the Ellenville Budget that will effect the Education and activities of our Students in all grades. I commend the School Board, the Business Manager and Mrs. Wyles in predicting an increase of 1.74% in taxes and still be able to take care of all our students needs in giving them a good education.

I urge all voters to approve this bare bones budget on May 18,2010.

Jane Eck
Ellenville

Albany failed to act on Property Tax Reform, so we have to choose between education spending and keeping our homes. Thanks Albany.

One by one our residents move away to more affordable states, children go without adequate health care and parents choose to forego saving for college. Our local businesses are struggling, lay offs are constantly on the minds of our taxpayers. Everyone can see the sagging economy and the desperate attempts to stimulate it with money borrowed from our children. Housing prices are down 20% and we can no longer refinance to pay off credit card debts. The policies of tax, borrow and spend, promoted by both parties have come home to roost.

There is however one bright spot in our economy. The public sector has, up to recently, been immune to this downward spiral. Stimulus money has poured in to maintain jobs. The pain of the private sector has not migrated to the public sector employees. Strong Unions have negotiated generous salary and benefit packages, all apparently without any concern for those responsible for paying the taxes to support those programs. Then the doodoo hit the fan and New York is 9 Billion dollars in the hole. We cannot raise taxes in the Great Recession, no one wants to cut programs, so we borrow and borrow and borrow.

There is no free ride. Locally our school district has faired better than most.

Our enrollment has been shrinking 30% over 15 years. City folk have moved in and paid taxes with no children in the school district. As a result per pupil spending has increased 45% in the last 5 years. We have even talked the voters into expanding the school facilities during that 30% drop in enrollment. We have very small class sizes and our school facilities are in very god shape.

So we are being asked to support more spending, a 7.8% increase using a 3% increase in the tax levy, plus 4 million from previously taxed funds held in reserve. Money held illegally for years, as pointed out by the recent state audit. Well we can vote yes and more residents will move out, we will borrow more from the credit card companies, and we will put off paying for health care and saving for college. All of which our tax dollars are paying for, for the employees of RVCSD. Three quarters of every taxed dollar goes to employee compensation.

So I say NO, we have to start thinking about the future and the state of our economy, both of which our children are going to inherit.

Vaughan L Smith
High Falls

When will the Rondout Valley School District superintendent and board face the reality that they are killing the community that supports them?

They are expanding the High School in complete denial of clearly falling student enrollments in the district. The expansion isn't even complete and there is already a need to consolidate the district's schools. They gave away a 4% per year pay raise from taxpayers who are struggling to keep jobs or keep their business doors open.

We pay some of the highest property taxes in New York and the country and yet are house values are falling because the school property tax rate is so high that buyers are scared off. So what will happen to you and your family when you can't pay the taxes but you can't sell your house either?

Face reality — that time is here now.

Vote NO on the school budget on May 18.

Jacqueline M. Cohen
High Falls

I am certified as a teacher of Physics and Math and I have once again made myself a candidate for School Board in the Ellenville Central School District. It is my intention to set an example as a candidate who puts forward specific ideas that he is prepared to advocate for. If I was to get elected I could be satisfied in setting certain policy directions and then leave the board. One of the seats this year is a one year seat. If I was to win a three year seat maybe there would be another four seat race again. It is my view that with the low level of participation in this process perhaps the whole board should be required to seek re approval every year.

There are certain ideas that I would like to put forward during this election season.

Over the years the board has been raising salaries for people in tenured positions and then they need to offer retirement incentives to get them to leave their positions. The top salary has gone from about 75K to over 110K in the last 5 years or so. We should gradually diminish the importance of tenure by permanently freezing the pay levels for the tenured portion of everyone's position. We should move toward a system of variable pay based upon class sizes, number of preparations, number of periods taught and summer sessions taught. In exchange for this the number of steps in the pay scale could be reduced. This system would permit those that merit it to gain additional work increments and therefore more compensation while the more mediocre could be cut back in some measure.

We should be using the summers to develop new learning methodologies using computer aided instruction. It is not hard for me to envision students taking computer generated exams whenever and as often as they wished and have them computer graded instantly. The education paradigm of the future could be that of the Teacher preparing the student during the school year for a consummating self educational experience in the summer in interaction with interactive computer software and of course the book.

In the future I can envision every student having access to a learning booth in the school where a computer would be placed and a student could work through an instructional package that would exist on a computer disc. A computer would issue forth a problem for the student to solve. The student would work on the problem until they either solved it or gave up and the computer would display the worked out solution. Then the student would be issued another problem of the same type. The computer could have a vast database of problems and could randomly adjust parameters so that every problem is virtually unique.

In a system such as this a teacher could have students granted the option of being at a learning booth obtaining a grade that could be made to count instead of being in class. This could become an excellent instrument in disciplining students who are being disorderly in class. They could be told to leave the class and perform a graded assignment at a learning booth.

We should develop the expectation that students are to pass a Math regents at the end of their freshman year and if they don't they simply attend summer school. If at summers end they still do not pass they could still be passed on to an Applied Math course were the Math is repeated along with some theme of application.

More students should be encouraged to take more advanced Math and Science courses like Physics and there should be summer programs that could prep them to take such courses at the AP level.

Francis Gurgui
Napanoch

The divisiveness and anger coming from those who oppose next week's proposed Rondout budget vote seems to be missing one important thing: solutions. The rancor and misrepresentation directed towards teachers seems to me indicative of a mob mentality, rather than that of people who "care about education". Unfortunately, it often seems like the loudest, most ignorant voices are a fair representation of the whole community. I just want it known that in know way do those voices represent me, nor any other reasonable community member I know.

I hope that the more reasonable voices are heard loud and clear next Tuesday, in support of the recommended budget.

Thelma Applebaum
Stone Ridge