The past month was a busy one for the Port Washington School District, with Emily Beys re-elected to the Board of Education and Deborah Abramson-Brooks elected to her first term. I want to congratulate these two determined candidates for running strong, successful campaigns, and it is time for us to rally around all our board members as they take on the very important and difficult task of overseeing our school district.
As you probably know, I was also a candidate in this election. Although I am disappointed I lost, I remain an obstinate optimist and will now find other ways in which I can support our children’s education. Of course, every campaign is much more than just one person, and I want to thank those of you who worked hard handing out fliers on my behalf, attended “meet the candidate events,” and encouraged friends and family to come out and vote.
There are, of course, more changes underway in Port besides board elections — by July we will have a new superintendent, Dr. Michael Hynes. Hynes is currently the superintendent of the Patchogue-Medford school district, is a strong proponent of whole child education, supports the opt-out movement, and is a critic of the Regents tests. Although Port is mainly an “opt-in” district, with about 75 percent of children taking standardized tests, there is an active group of parents, including our soon-to-be trustee Deborah Abramson-Brooks, advocating for whole child education and the rights of parents to opt-out of standardized exams.
Not surprisingly, the supporters of whole child education and opt-out are very excited by the arrival of Hynes, and they clearly expect brighter skies ahead for our children’s education. Others, by contrast, see dark skies ahead and are concerned that a de-emphasis on standardized testing will result in poorer academic outcomes. The best example of this is a piece written by Judith Sloan, published in the May 31 issue of this paper.
In my opinion, we should welcome Hynes and give him the opportunity to succeed. If his term as superintendent goes poorly, we all lose, particularly our children. This, however, should not be interpreted as a blank check. I will form my opinion of him once he arrives in Port and has time to produce results, and in the meantime, I encourage all parents to speak up so that he can develop a vision that fits our needs and the needs of our children.
What does worry me are the deepening divides within our community. The piece written by Sloan was also posted online, and although I should not be surprised in this age of online bullying, several readers posted comments that attacked her personally, and some of the most negative were from people who do not even live in our town. Call me old-fashioned, but I believe we must strive to respect others who have different opinions.
The hiring of Hynes will almost certainly bring these disagreements even more out in the open, and we have to find a way to develop common ground. Hynes has a difficult job ahead of him as he must lead these discussions to a fruitful consensus, but we all have a part to play. Now, more than ever, is the time to start attending Board of Education meetings to join a challenging discussion that will chart the path of our children’s education for years to come.
Jonathan Geisler
Port Washington
