As Massapequa's school board trustee, this community entrusted me with the extraordinary responsibility of providing a superior education for the children of Massapequa. Although the last three years have at times been difficult, they have also been rewarding.

During my watch, a number of innovative educational programs were introduced, many school building improvements were accomplished, and a truly revolutionary contract settlement was negotiated with the Massapequa Federation of Teachers. To continue this momentum, I need your vote on May 10 so that we can make Massapequa the best school district on Long Island.

Despite the union bosses' mean-spirited attacks upon our community (Did you know that many responsible teachers were embarrassed by these tactics?), we remained united, achieved a fair settlement and strengthened our children's educational program by:

• The addition of two instruction days to the annual calendar

• For the first time in 30 years, teachers will be assigned to classes based on their abilities, not seniority, and

• Instruction time will be increased because teacher training seminars will occur outside classroom hours.

These educational achievements were attained without burdening the taxpayer. For the first time, we were able to check the spiraling cost of health insurance by insisting that the teacher's union agree to contribute a portion of the cost of their health insurance. All of this was accomplished while still providing our teachers a fair and equitable wage.

Although publicity has largely focused on the labor negotiations, many educational improvements have been quietly initiated. Less than satisfied with the district's reading scores, I pushed for the adoption of two new pilot reading programs, including Recipe for Reading. These programs will debut during this year's summer school session. In addition, I am proud to say that I was the board's leading proponent of our new, award-winning science research program. We are going up the ladder of success and can expect to win several national competitions.

Creating an environment conducive to learning involves more than introducing new programs and maintaining appropriate class sizes. It demands care and attention to our school buildings. As chairman of the district's Building and Grounds Committee, I was able to apply my professional experience to mitigate many of the problems caused by prior years' deferred maintenance. Much more progress needs to be made in this area, but we now have a real strategic plan to bring about the necessary improvements.

Education also involves the development of a child's body and spirit. Accordingly, I am especially pleased with the improvements we have accomplished in our extracurricular activities. For example, we restored 10 athletic teams to the Berner Junior High School, built an all-weather track (the former track was in such disrepair that our high school track team could not hold "home" track meets!), hired a physical trainer to protect and enhance the safety of our interscholastic athletes, restored funding for the district's county champion hockey team and vigorously supported the brand new academic eligibility standards. These accomplishments were achieved through hard work and determination.

Knowing that I was entrusted with the responsibility of protecting our children, how could I have done any less than hold the line? Today, I am asking for your continued support, because much more needs to be done to make Massapequa the best school district on Long Island. Allowing our school policies to be compromised by the MFT bosses or any other special interest group, will surely imperil our children's future. On May 19, vote as if your children's education depended on it. It does!