Diversity is a good thing but it is not the only thing nor is it the main thing as it needs a foundation on which to build. Muddled in the proposed New Hyde Park/Garden City Park School District's Superintendent résumé is a mention of our community but with a stronger focus on the "diversity" of our community. One would think that after 2000 plus petition signatures and more than 300 people attending an August 2007 board meeting in defense of one of our most treasured, cultural and historical traditions, that one of the main priorities in selecting a new superintendent would be someone who will take the initiative to better understand the values and overall breath of the community in which we live and that he or she will serve. Ours is a community that welcomes with open arms the friendship of people of all backgrounds (contrary to what a few agenda-driven letters here and a once-respected national New York periodical would have readers believe). But it seems the main focus consistently points toward the "diversity" of our community while we are hard-pressed to find any focus on the foundations on which this same community was built. If community leaders do not have an understanding as to how and what makes the majority of the people they represent tick, how can they (or we) expect the next superintendent to. However, there are a few that do. As diversity is not a bad thing, have we forgotten that not many years ago when our Italian, Irish, Polish, German, Spanish, etc., immigrants came to this great country (diversity) it was they that adapted to the "American" culture. They did this without ever having to give up any of the traditions of the culture they grew up in and they were free to express them. As this great nation accepted them with open arms, they became Americans, they learned to speak the language, honor the flag, and enjoy the many freedoms offered them through the blood of those who died to protect those freedoms. Today it is different. There is a new rule called "tolerance." Our American culture, traditions and core values are being put aside as a means to be "tolerant" to diversity (among other things). Why is it that today the focus has changed and we are told that we are intolerant if "we" do not adapt. What happened to people becoming "Americans" and adapting to this country's culture? Today we see product labels and store signs in multiple languages and are given multiple choices on corporate phone messages to pick the language of the day. Did we need this in the 19th and 20th century when European non-English speaking immigrants arrived on our shores and began a process of legal immigration and cultural assimilation? Today's immigrant, legal and nonlegal, is empowered with a sense of entitlement perpetuated by those who would see to it that our nation's traditions, laws and core values are trampled upon and compromised in the name of tolerance. They seek to separate the old and the new citizen by painting a false picture of communities as "intolerant" in order to achieve their goal. Our schools are funded first and foremost by the tax paying citizens that comprise the New Hyde Park/Garden City Park School District. Our ink signatures on overbearing tax bills are proof of this. The new superintendent, whoever it may be, has the responsibility to understand & protect the core values, traditions and foundations on which this community and nation was built. Our current board has the responsibility to see to it that this is a priority or they will have failed in that responsibility. We the people have a greater responsibility in doing our due diligence in choosing the right leaders to work for us, the people. It is our responsibility to choose leaders that will stand strong upon the foundation that was built for them and protect the core values and traditions that the majority of us hold dear or we will have failed in our responsibility to our children, the community in which we live, and ultimately the future of America.

Rich Wozniak