It is always exciting when an election takes on a new aspect. But newness is not a reason to elect someone.
I have been reading Mr. Huang’s campaign paperwork and I have concluded he does not have dedication to the details, which, I believe, would be a prerequisite for anyone who oversees the education of our children.
A person enlisting our vote should have a sense of responsibility for the words he or she broadcasts, yet Mr. Huang’s campaign material has both factual and lingual errors.
He calls the place he wants to preside over the “Great Neck School,” though this is not its name. (Strictly speaking, it is Great Neck Union Free School District 7.) In addition, his press release writes a plural word as a possessive, and a possessive as a plural.
Some years ago when I was writing to someone in France, I had a bilingual fellow resident proofread for me. I considered it disrespectful to write in a language not native to me with no concern for the letter’s possible flaws.
When I was editing something to appear in Japanese, I used a conduit with knowledge of both languages. Mr. Huang had no one edit his campaign flyers.
Mr. Huang says this “Great Neck School” used to be ranked by U.S. News and World Report as No. 1 but now is No. 3, which is remarkably incorrect data.
William A. Shine Great Neck South High is ranked No. 115 in the nation and therefore one of 500 recipients of a gold medal from the magazine, which also ranks the school No. 21 in the state.
John L. Miller – Great Neck North High School is below that, as are other high schools in nearby Manhasset, Port Washington and Roslyn.
For discussion purposes, ranking is partly a product of a teacher-student ratio, so if Mr. Huang is concerned with our ranking perhaps he should advocate an increase in the school budget to hire more teachers.
In other words, ranking by a magazine is an isolated and potentially problematic measure for embarking on a discussion of the quality of the education provided by our schools.
Mr. Huang’s campaign flyer sends residents to the Department of Motor Vehicles to register to vote, an indirect route for sure. I do not know him so I cannot ask if he has some reason for having new residents avoid the board of elections.
Finally, Mr. Huang refers to the body he wishes to join as the “BOE,” a brand new branding that for the first time in 200 years eliminates the word “education” from the conversation.
I am a voter for whom ideas resonate. If Mr. Huang had presented just one idea, I’d be sifting through it, cogitating, absorbing. Instead, I cannot get past the fact that he has shown no inclination to be fastidious or meticulous with language and information. So what would he do as a school trustee?
Let him find out exactly what it is he represents and come back in the future with a cogent message. I will be glad to listen.
Rebecca Rosenblatt Gilliar
Great Neck
