You know, Ed Lee's letter in the July 23 edition of the Hicksville Illustrated News was inspiring. Why, might you ask? He encouraged people to do what should be done more often: investigate. See, I've been reading these arguments in the "Letters to the Editor" section for a few months now with the kind of mild entertainment people get from looking at three cop cars in Manhasset that have stopped to assist someone who drove into a curb and bumped into a telephone pole. It's kind of funny to think of the overkill, but in the end, you just want the scene to clear up so you can get to work.

And then, finally, the voice of reason that is Ed Lee graced us with his presence and set things straight. Ultimately, his letter boiled down to taking one fact and drawing a whole bunch of paranoid and overly radical conclusions from it. (That one fact being Nancy Callari and Diana DePalma were sitting next to Superintendent Maureen Bright at a public event, which I honestly wouldn't know about: I was there, but I just wanted to celebrate the life of a wonderful teacher.) But you know, I had to cheer him on anyway because he was trying to rally people to do what they should be doing; find the answers for themselves. That's the way to do things these days since everybody's got their own agenda to push. I yelled out "It's about time!" after reading that.

So go ahead, research Mrs. Bright to your heart's desire. That way, you'll be better equipped to find that golden nugget of truth in all the bile that's being spewed these days. But, gee, why stop with her? People should be investigating anything they want, all they want - of course, within the boundaries of privacy and reason. Public documentation is okay, breaking and entering is not. Attending someone's memorial service to pay your respects is wonderful, concentrating on three other people in the 500+ crowd attending the memorial service when you should be thinking about the deceased is...well, it's not totally wrong, but it is kind of creepy. In the end, the only information that's too much information is the information that's obtained illegally.

So, charged by this newfound love of investigation, I decided to look into Mr. Investigation himself, Ed Lee. Well, I didn't quite investigate, but I chatted with some friends of mine within the Hicksville political scene (biased as well as non-partisan), looked through some back issues of newspapers I kept, and there are a couple of things that strike my curiosity.

First off, who's Ed Lee? The people I've talked to have never heard of him, which doesn't mean much - it could just mean that he attended a meeting and was quiet about it. However, I've been to a general meeting. There are very few people there, and no wonder - general board meetings are carve-the-book-of-Job-into-your-right-eyeball-with-an-Xacto-knife boring. The only people I can imagine wanting a part in this special sort of torture are those people who have issues to talk about or those who really enjoy politics. As I've stated before, I know people who fall in with the latter group, and they are very tight-knit - you can agree with them, you can violently disagree, but you know who they are. As a result, I'm curious to know if any of the "old" board members remember Ed Lee speaking. A letter that virulent toward the people that are being attacked, well, you don't just write a letter like that unless you've had a long standing hatred of those people. I'm not saying that it's impossible, of course, just improbable.

My point is this - if my hunch is right and Ed Lee doesn't really know who Mrs. DePalma and Mrs. Callari are - then how does he know that he saw the two former board members sitting with Mrs. Bright at the Kristoff Memorial?

Secondly, actually, this is probably nothing, but Ed Lee has that same scatterbrained method of writing as Caryn A. Calabrese. An example from Ed Lee's letter: "I encourage you to support Caryn Calabrese, Augustine Tornatore, Gus Costa, and Sue Powell because they will do what's right, not Alessia Sommers, Pat Love or Jim Pino. This is unprofessional on her part." Now, I'm generalizing here, but I'm pretty sure that any seventh grader will tell you that those two sentences do not naturally flow together. Oh, it's easy to dismiss those two sentences as an editing mistake or a typo, but if one combs through Ed Lee's letter, you'll find plenty of other examples of sentences or pairs of sentences that were clearly written without any thought whatsoever.

Just like this quip from Caryn A. Calabrese, BOE, for the July 16, 2004 edition of this newspaper: "You [Diana DePalma] state that the HCT put an ad, to support board candidates, in the paper for the last two elected board members. This is support of a candidate, not 'funding their campaign.'" This is all well and good, but when it comes to ad space in a newspaper, supporting and funding are one and the same. Ads cost money. Money funds campaigns. At the end of the day, if you look very closely, the writing styles of Caryn A. Calabrese and Ed Lee seem remarkably similar.

I won't pretend to know for sure what all this means - I have my conclusions, but it's not the only conclusion one can arrive at. However, in case you are on the same page as I am, I'm sure you'll find this very interesting. This is a quote from Board of Education President Augustine E. Tornatore, from his letter to the editor in the July 2, 2004 edition of this paper: "...The board of education, superintendent, staff, students, parents and community need to work together to move any district forward."

In his letter, which is supportive of Caryn A. Calabrese, Augustine Tornatore, Gus Costa and Sue Powell, Ed Lee writes, "Mrs. Bright should never have become the superintendent, currently is not a good superintendent and her contact should not be renewed when it is up."

Signing off.

Dr. John P. McKeenan

I am writing this letter in reaction to three letters that appeared in [the July 23 issue] of the Hicksville Illustrated News. First, Ms. Kani's letter - a tribute to the late Dan Kristoff - was very moving. While I did not know Mr. Kristoff personally, I was fortunate enough to have seen him in "action" - that is, directing his chorus students in concert. It amazed me then how tangible the respect, admiration, and, yes, love for a teacher by his students was. The devastation expressed by students, parents and staff at the initial news of his taking ill, and again at his loss, speaks volumes as to the person he was. May he rest in peace.

The second letter, Ms. DePalma's latest installment in the dialogue that has appeared in this publication over the last several weeks, has left me feeling that Ms. DePalma feels the teachers of Hicksville deserve no raise at all. I hope she hasn't forgotten the last negotiations - during which she served on the board, and the meeting where the district's own counsel described the "problem" with the structure of the teachers' contract (basically the "money" coinciding with longevity) and especially when the fact finder's report was read.

As I remember it, while the fact finder did ultimately advise that the increase percentages offered by the district were fair, the report also cautioned this district as to the potential problems of attracting, hiring, and retaining qualified teachers should the status of the teachers' salaries be ignored. As the recently enacted "No Child Left Behind" federal legislation puts the onus on school districts to employ highly qualified teachers, I feel the students, parents and community have the right and responsibility to expect, demand and allow for the same. While I don't endorse "giving the store away," taking responsible steps to return Hicksville's teachers to the median in the range of Nassau County districts is a must if we are to ensure the best possibility for success by our students and a positive reputation as a community.

Finally, Mr. Lee's letter left me with one question: "On what do you base your allegations?" Being in attendance at almost every board of education meeting (regular, committee and budget planning), and at PTA Council meetings (where the superintendent and a board of education representative report each month) for the last five- to six-years, I can honestly say I have never heard of or seen you. True, I cannot say you've never been in attendance but, for the most part, due to unfortunate poor attendance at the large majority of these meetings, I can name everyone in the room.

I have witnessed all board members (save the one newly installed) question Mrs. Bright either directly or through her direct reports, and I have heard all board members (save the one newly installed) praise her actions and performance on various issues. And I have listened to and participated in -through the public sessions at meetings - discussions regarding all aspects of what is going within our schools - both good and bad.

In your letter you "strongly encourage the Hicksville community to do some investigating...," you suggested that three board members resign immediately, and you make mention of the next board election in May. I would like to strongly encourage you to get involved, attend meetings, ask questions (and, yes, you may not like all the answers) - in short, participate. Then formulate your opinions. Be prepared to debate issues in support of whomever you feel may come forward for election to the board (perhaps one may be you, Mr. Lee?). Rely on fact, not hearsay or innuendo. Be credible. Until then, please do not disparage our elected volunteers or this community with comments such as "this smells like Roslyn all over again." for that helps no one, especially our children.

Dolores Garger