After three long, difficult years in Massapequa due to contract negotiations, it is definitely time for the healing process to begin. This will not be possible if Mr. Thompson does not stop the innuendoes and half truths he keeps putting in the local newspapers. Mr. Thompson is an elected member of the same board of education that he continues to undercut. When people have to work wondering when the next "bullet" will be fired, nothing productive gets accomplished. Normally, the people involved are all adults, and they are expected to be able to take care of themselves. In this case, the people making the decisions and doing the work are adults, but the people that they directly impact on are children, and this cannot be tolerated. When people ask questions or have concerns, it does not mean that they are against something. It means that they want some information and subject outline before they jump in with both feet. The community, especially the children, depend on them to work in that manner. It is the board of education's responsibility to ask the questions and get the answers they need to make the best possible decisions for the children of Massapequa.

I attend almost every planning session and board of education meeting, and I have never heard anyone on the board say that they were against the remedial "pilot" program drafted by Ms. Russo, the director of special education for the Massapequa School District. Education has always been the job of our professional teaching staff, and for Mr. Thompson to infer that anyone is stopping them from teaching is ridiculous. They are in the classrooms all day, and they are not being watched over or monitored during that time. As far as his remark that allowing the teachers to be in charge of education would move almost all of the children into the mainstream that is contradictory to all of the findings and research done by education specialists. All children learn at different levels, paces and have much different abilities. Mr. Thompson implies that the reason many of the children need remediation is because certain board of education members or central administrators asked questions before giving a resounding, "yes." This is ludicrous!!! Also, our school district does not follow NYS guidelines for remediation. The state says that any child below the 23rd percentile must receive services. The Massapequa school district remediates any child below the 49th percentile. They want all children to be the best that they can be! For Mr. Thompson to allow this community to believe that our children are being used as "pawns," in some kind of power game is completely false and misleading.

For the school district, board of education, administrators, teachers, parents, community and most importantly, children to function to the best of their ability, we must establish a solid working relationship built on cooperation, understanding and trust. Many people had hoped that those things would start to be rebuilt, now that the district is on more solid ground. Please Mr. Thompson, stop the game playing and do the job you were elected to do, which is policy making to guarantee the best education for the children of Massapequa. Before policy can be adopted, it must be looked at, researched and analyzed to make sure that it works. The community expects it, and the children deserve it!

Kathy Sullivan