As a resident of Syosset for nearly 12 years, a father of five young children, an attorney and a former aerospace engineer, I, Russell Slanover, am writing to announce that I am running for the Syosset Central School District's Board of Education this year along with Ronald Goldstein, an educator, and Suresh Joshi, a physician, under the banner "Restore An Independent Voice for the Parents, Students and Taxpayers of Syosset and Woodbury". Our objective is just that. In general, we are supportive of the Syosset schools and recognize the high caliber of its students and the efforts made by the teachers of the district to deliver a high quality education. However, there are a number of concerns which parents have with the school system which have not been addressed: curriculum issues relating to whole language/phonics, special education issues, responsiveness to individual parental concerns and overall openness/inclusiveness issues, among others. In general there is a concern that the current board of education is too insular.

Under the education law, the board of education has the sole power and the duty to manage and control the affairs of the school district. Such law provides that no district superintendent or other employee of the board of education is eligible to be a candidate for trustee. Clearly, the state legislature wanted boards of education not to be controlled by or unduly influenced by school personnel. The trustees are meant to be fiduciaries acting solely as representatives of the parents and residents of the district. The bylaws of our board of education recognize that one of its major functions lies in its legislative powers over all educational matters of the district. The legislative function in a democracy is one in which competing ideas are raised and their merits debated in an open forum so as to address the concerns of the community and to improve the operation of the system through the infusion of new ideas from multiple sources.

One is struck in reviewing the minutes of the board of education for the past three years, that, with the exception of one contested vote out of several hundred and three token votes cast by the board's president, no incumbent board member has ever cast an opposing vote on any matter set before them by the school administration. Every other vote has been unanimous. Such a record gives little confidence that any of those up for re-election will ever show any independence or be willing to support ideas independently raised by parents or the public. Does it serve the interests of the individual voters of Syosset and Woodbury to have a board of education that has essentially voted as a single block for the past three years? Does it defeat the very purpose of having a legislature?

Ron, Suresh and I pledge to be independent-minded, to critically evaluate the matters before us, and most of all to listen to and to represent all of the people of Syosset and Woodbury. We believe that the quality of our children's education would be enhanced if the people were given a greater voice in the operation of the system. We ask for your support on May 19. Please vote for us on lines 4, 5 and 6. Thank you.