Such a treat! It's BOE election time again, but this year we have six candidates committed both to the best interests of our students and to see the budget passed. The existing board has worked hard to allocate scarce resources and to eliminate waste from their spending, I believe that by now the budget has eliminated any "easy" savings.

The time is now right for a change in personnel to make those hard decisions and engage in the tough negotiating that will squeeze that last 10-20 percent out of our costs and apply them directly to much-needed teachers to alleviate the overcrowding in our classrooms that has burgeoned over the last two years.

The Nine Daughters (9D) slate of Pat Foye, Peter Forman and Roger Lifson have an impressive record of executive experience and achievement that makes them uniquely qualified to negotiate with our vendors and unions. Moreover, Pat, Pete and Roger are experienced professionals in the real estate and technology industries with expertise in managing, planning, financing and executing on long-term capital improvement plans, skills vital to maintaining the investment our community has in its schools.

I urge you as members of a unique and vibrant community to vote for our budget so that we can continue to attract the young families to Port Washington necessary to maintain the cycle of renewal and growth. I also urge you to elect the 9D slate to the board of education so that our scarce resources can be applied directly to employing more teachers to reduce the crowding in our classrooms that is eroding the education and reputation that Port Washington has always enjoyed.

Richard Fox