Past Prez, Rye School Board: Vote YES

In a letter to MyRye.com, Josh Nathan, the past president of the Rye City School Board, says Rye citizens should vote YES for the Rye school budget this coming Tuesday, May 19, 2015:

ANOTHER COMMUNITY VIEW

Vote For our children, our homes and our community

Vote Yes on Tuesday May 19th

Rye City schools are among the very best in the Nation. For students, a Rye education means the very best in learning, in and out of the classroom, and the very best in choices and opportunities after graduation, not just for a few top academic achievers, but for every student. For homeowners, Rye schools have been central to maintaining and growing home values, even through the thick and thin of the economy. And for our community at large, our schools (together with our parks and waterfront, our non-profits and small businesses, and proximity to NYC) are core to what brings us together and makes Rye the place so many of us love to call home.

For decades we have invested in our schools and we have been ahead of the State and the Nation in delivering a highly competitive curriculum. In partnership with our educators, we have achieved this using efficient budgets and prudent fiscal management, including thoughtful cost cutting, well before the State imposed its tax cap. We must not get distracted by the few folks who every year attack and bully our schools by making crazy and irresponsible statements about “excess margins” and millions in “easy and immediate savings.” These statements insult our intelligence as a community, mock and bully our teachers, our administrators and the many residents who volunteer and, if relied upon, would truly harm our children and our community.

The facts are straightforward: enrollment has grown substantially and therefore the cost of educating our children with the outstanding program we have built over decades will, for next year, cost more than a tax cap budget can cover. So if we don’t vote to override the tax-cap we will need to make major cuts in our school program. (Some object to this reality by calling it scare tactics and then engage in arguing about what those cuts should be. Do we really want to go there and start destroying one of the finest public school districts?)

We need to come together as a community and protect what we've built: our schools, our homes, and our community. Don't let the crazy bullying win. Please join together on Tuesday May 19th and VOTE YES!

-Josh Nathan
(Past President, Rye City School Board)