We do not need a charter school in Glen Cove. The use of public money for a private agenda should not be tolerated in this community. The so-called attempt at "educational experimentation" that was decided on in the charter school law will have a serious impact on educational funding in Glen Cove, and we taxpayers will have no financial say in matters related to this "for profit" entity. In addition, for people considering selling their homes, buyers will often times look elsewhere when confronted with a school district that has a charter school.

In addition, it is very interesting that, according to last week's Record-Pilot, the lead person on the application, a Vito DeSimone, comes from Great Neck. Why would a person from Great Neck be interested in a charter school, if according to my reading of the law, initiation and organization should develop and evolve within the community? Perhaps the real motive here is profit, with the best interest of the children secondary.

In addition, because the Glen Cove School District has one of the strongest and most highly respected Italian language and culture programs for students on Long Island, I don't understand why Mr. DeSimone sees the need to publicly fund what amounts to an Italian parochial school. It is also interesting that Mr. DeSimone will not share the names of the proposed school's board of directors. Again, why would a person who lives in Great Neck, have such an interest in education in Glen Cove? Has he tried to start a charter school in Great Neck as well?

Mr. DeSimone stated that "the charter school is a public school that allows tax dollars to stay in the district." This statement is totally inaccurate and misleading since according to the charter school law, the money follows the student. If this charter school was approved, the per pupil cost would be taken from the school district operating budget and given to the charter school, with no financial controls by the school district at all. This would mean that, as a school district on an austerity budget, over $1 million would be taken from the operating budget without taxpayers having any say at all about how the money would be spent. Citizens groups in Glen Cove worked very hard to have citizens' vote on the school district budget. This charter school legislation takes that right away from us. This situation is an excellent example of "taxation without representation."

Mr. DeSimone's statement, "The school is not an Italian parochial school or ethnic Italian school. It's an American school and if approved it will be a regular public school like any other." If indeed "this is an American school like any other," why do we need another public school in Glen Cove that could now take over $1 million out of the district operating budget? And, as yet, the group that would be running this school has not been named.

New York State Senator Carl Marcellino has told me that the charter schools legislation was passed to allow for "educational experimentation." I don't want this kind of an experimentation done on the young children of Glen Cove. (The proposed charter school is designed for kindergarten to second grade). What if this experiment fails or the youngsters are not able to pass the first series of standardized exams that are given to students in fourth grade (the English Language Arts exam). The additional cost of remediation will be passed back as an added budget line for us taxpayers to absorb.

The Glen Cove Board of Education has stated that the community will be heard concerning the issue of the charter school. We citizens of Glen Cove who oppose the spending of our taxes without any financial oversight, should attend the meeting in overwhelming numbers and let the board of education know that we do not want our taxes and more importantly the education of the young children of Glen Cove, used as "educational experiment."

Maureen Tracy