LETTERS

Stop the lies, support our community, vote ‘yes’

To the Editor:

There are some people in this community who, for years now, have been playing fast and loose with the facts. They are the ones behind anonymous districtwide mailers and email blasts that do nothing but spread misinformation. They are the “Vote No” contingent.

They take numbers from the school district’s website and manipulate them to suit their argument that the district is “hoarding our money.” They sue the district and then blame it for defending itself. They use fuzzy math, adding when they should be subtracting, and deliberately manipulating publicly available information, while leaving out muchneeded context — all with the intent to intentionally mislead the community. Call it misinformation or disinformation, these are lies, plain and simple.

The truth is that successive school boards, and superintendents, including the incumbents, have been responsible stewards of the district’s resources. Over many years, they have promoted, and the community has supported, the investment that our kids and our community — past, present and future — deserve. They have provided our students with excellent educational, special ed, sports and extra- curricular opportunities, while deftly managing the budget and utilizing voterapproved reserve funds, including the responsible use of capital reserves like the one in Propositions 2 and 3, to keep budget increases low and under the tax cap. als have their own educational needs. Equity is similar to that concept, because each person has his or her own needs to meet their full potential. Equity is meeting each individual where they are and creating a path forward consistent with their abilities and ambition. Creating an environment where individual have the opportunity to succeed is a very Reaganlike initiative.

They have done this while also maintaining, and making improvements to, the physical plant of the district, which spans seven buildings, a bus depot, a maintenance yard and more than 50 acres of property. This year was especially challenging due to the LIPA settlement that led to a $10 million-plus shortfall in revenue. And they still managed to stay well beneath the tax cap.

Our schools are by far the biggest asset to this community. It is a well-known, and well researched, fact that great schools contribute to significantly increased property values. Our district is no exception.

This means that investing in our schools benefits not only households with children in school, but also those without children and retirees. Talk to any local realtor and they will tell you that the main factor in attracting new home buyers, and the main drivers behind the increase in our property values, is the school district. Let’s say no to the lies, maintain our great schools and our home values, and vote “yes” on props 1, 2 and 3.

Equity 4 LI Youth is a forum for identifying opportunities, with volunteers helping young people see possible paths to success. We are not a governmental agency, and we have not raised any money — we are just people from all political perspectives trying to help. We do so by partnering with altruistic groups representing a wide array of causes, and providing resources to help promote equitable opportunities for anyone who is interested. Their race, religion, gender or politics don’t matter to us; all deserve a fair chance to reach their goals.

We are open to all points of view. Books written from any perspective must be respected, not feared. Canceling another person’s ability to experience lit- erature based solely on one’s own political perspective indicates a fear that there is weakness in that perspective. Fear drives hate, and hate brings more fear.

We believe in reading and analyzing works from multiple perspectives, listening to all positions and engaging in factbased debate. Hearing and respecting a different point of view doesn’t mean you are capitulating to it. Reagan stressed self-reliance, not the destruction of other members of the American experiment in democracy. There is room in the shining city on the hill for people of all beliefs.

I like to study and evaluate all points of view. No single perspective has all the best ideas, or only bad ideas; there is always information to glean from listening to, and learning about, others. Even if all you learn is how to refine your argument, you’ve still gained knowledge and understanding of another’s position. And the experience forces you to critically evaluate your own views. All gain from a sharing of ideas.

Reagan wasn’t always right, but he wasn’t always wrong, either.

Patrick M. Pizzo II, Ed.D., is the assistant superintendent for business and finance in the East Meadow School District, the president of Equity 4 LI Youth and the Education Committee chair for the Hempstead branch of the NAACP.

FRAMEWORK by Tim Baker