The PTA is hosting a "Meet the Candidates" night, for the public to meet the candidates and ask questions. Candidates running this year are Spiros Malaspina (Incumbent), Lisa Martinez (Incumbent), Maria "Mia" Jones (Incumbent) and newcomer Walter Lyons. This will start at 7:00 PM and will be held in the school library. Three seats are up this year. The election will be held Tuesday, April 20th from 5:00 until 9:00 PM in the school gym.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
PTA MEET THE CANDIDATES NIGHT-7:00 PM TONIGHT-SCHOOL LIBRARY
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36 comments:
Once again, robo call comes in at 5:30 for something being held at 7:00 tonight. Is there any reason a call couldn't have been made yesterday so people were able to make arrangements to attend? Always the secrets, it's grown so old.
To 6:07...I can assure you that there was nothing secretive about tonight's Meet the Candidates Night sponsored by the PTA. In fact, we were hoping for a rather large showing. The meeting notice has been on this website as well as the school's website for quite some time. The meeting was also noted on the school calendar that was distributed to each schoolchild back in September 2009. A PTA volunteer copied and distributed a flyer about tonight for each school child to take home with them on Monday. In addition, each PTA member that provided us with an email address received electronic notification on Sunday night. I urge the writer to keep in mind that the PTA is managed by a group of parent and teacher volunteers and we encourage attendance at all of our meetings, including tonight's. Our organization is always grateful for volunteers with innovative ideas to encourage parental/community support and should the writer have any suggestions in this regard, I would like to extend an invitation to them to attend our May meeting. You may also contact us through the school's webpage.
Jean Gallagher
PTA, Treasurer
Mrs. Gallagher, the implication was not intended that the PTA was hiding anything, it was intended that the superintendent was once again playing games. The robo call for the emergency budget meeting was not made until 3:00 in the afternoon the day of the meeting and not publicized anywhere. The robo call for the Meet the Candidates was not received until 5:30 yesterday afternoon. With children having baseball practice and parents needing someone to watch their children, one would think this was intentional on HIS part.
Why is not the entire community being invited to these meetings? Taxpayer money is being spent to hold them. They're not supposed to be invitation only affairs.
The entire community is invited, however the robo calls from the school just go out to the parents of children in the school because that's the information they have. There would be no way for the school to contact everyone in the community that way. It was announced on the school website, as well as this site. Maybe the township could put it on their website next year.
"The entire community is invited, however the robo calls from the school just go out to the parents of children in the school because that's the information they have."
How convenient. How about calling the Press about the meeting and listing it on the school bulletin board outside the school?
What happened to personal responsibility? Pick up a newspaper or watch the news for a second. You haven't seen anything in regards to education in New Jersey and what's going on? No one is going to hold your hand and make sure you get involved. It's just like anything else, if people really cared, the information is out there. It's your job to become informed about the candidates. There were several taxpayers without children at the meeting last night, they obviously made it a priority even though they didn't receive a call or a PTA flyer. Administrators have enough to do right now trying to make a budget work with more cuts and bad news that comes every day. Obviously you read this site and the information was on here for several days before this event. Get over yourself and stop blaming others for YOUR lack of participation.
RE: 11:20 AM poster. Since you were there, care to give a synopsis of how it went and what was discussed?
I received a copy of the Mullica School News that goes to all the residents.Not a word who was running for the board, not even their names, let alone what they stand for or why they are running.Don't tell me its not a big secret.
Mr. Lyons made it clear that he had closed his mind to the potential of school mergers, something that we cannot necessarily afford to just dismiss. He also indicated privately that he supports tax cuts for the top income earners which leaves the rest of us to subsidize the elite class. This is the same thinking that led the governor to steal the reserves from school boards such as Mullica's, costing all of us more money. Unfortunately, Mr. Lyons sounds like someone more interested in cutting school services and building a brick wall around Mullica's schools instead of proactively looking for ways to share services.
Larry used to say it is not a choice of good or bad, but a choice of bad or worse. Sorry Wally, you now represent worse and you're not going to get this taxpayer's vote.
And for all of you teachers and support staff out there who live in Mullica, this is the man that will look to decimate Mullica's school. Kiss more jobs goodbye with this guy.
I think that it is clear that we need to re-elect LISA MARTINEZ, MIA JONES, and DR SPIROS MALASPINA, to the Mullica Township Board of Education. They are experienced, committed and care about our kids and the community. Lisa and Mia are also graduates of Mullica Township School and all three have or will have children in the school. Who better to understand what the school means to us. The newcomer was asked what he could contribute to the Board that was different from what the current board members were providing and he did not have an answer to that. The current board members are doing a great job so why would he want to run now, against them. Could he not wait until Frank Kelly is running. Frank is the ONLY board member to be censured by the state because he did not take the required training in the time given. The fact that he was retired and had all the time in the world and still did not attend training says something about how seriously he took the job.
To 11:51 am...Bios for all the board candidates were included on the flyer sent home by the PTA announcing Meet the Candidates night. Not sure why they were not included on the newsletter this year but I don't think the info was much of a secret. To the following poster...I don't quite understand your reasoning regarding Mr.Lyons. Why would a man who has four children in the school district (per his bio) want to "decimate the school system"? That's quite an attack on someone that you just met--unless this is personal?
8:07 PM- It was an ethics violation where he missed 7 training in one year.
http://www.state.nj.us/education/legal/commissioner/349-97.pdf
How are members of the community who do not have children in the school system supposed to see the bios? They aren't on the school's website, they don't have children to bring the bios home, but you expect them to vote for three people without any information except sample ballot?
Other times, the bios were in the Press of Atlantic City and the Mullica School Newsletter, this year nothing about the candidates is available.
the state would not allow bios to be published in the newsletter this year
To 11:58 - My guess is that the school, in these tough economic times, was trying to save a little money by not including them in the flyer. Why don't you pick up the phone and kindly ask the school to post the bios on their webpage? If nothing else, you could drive to the school and get a copy of them for yourself. Maybe you could have picked one up at the meeting? There, with a little effort, you could get the information you need. See also post at 11:20 AM.
"How are members of the community ... supposed to ... vote for three people without any information except sample ballot?"
They're not. This election is supposed to be a limited to a select few.
I would agree that these are hard economic times but to limit bios and robo calls to parents only shows
the contempt for the general taxpaying population of Mullica. Why should taxpayers be completely kept out of the loop. The answer obviously is to limit the vote to potential supporters only.
It would be great if Gadfly could get a copy of the PTA handout that gave the bios of the candidates and reproduce it here to help the rest of the community make an informed decision too.
It is the job of the candidates to get their information and credentials to voters, not the school or the PTA. Think about it...when somebody runs for township council, does the township send out their biography to voters, or are the candidates responsible?
If you do not know enough about the candidates, you do not need to vote for all three positions, or even one position. You can simply vote on the school budgets and not on any of the candidates if you want. Your vote STILL COUNTS.
The school doesn't want to get the info to the public because they want to control the election results.
The newspapers have a civic duty to inform the voters. The Press has failed miserably in this responsibility.
If you don't vote, you're letting someone else decide for you.
You need to become informed, no matter what, and vote, even if the information is hard to come by.
Maybe the candidates aren't that interested in getting elected.
Three positions and four people running. The only thing I've learned about Mr. Lyons has been through this site. The rest of the people are sitting back and resting on their incumbent positions. They're not worried about getting in.
At least Mr. Lyons made the effort to put his name on the ballot,if nothing else.
Anyone who is running for school board has to apply to put their name on the ballot. That goes for the incumbents as well as the challengers. The fact that the new guy did so says nothing more than that. He put his name in the hat. The incumbents have been serving for at least three years each and have put in numerous hours week after week. They are currently busy trying to negotiate with the teachers, start interviews for a new superintendent, and help maintain a positive atmosphere in a setting where the teachers are refusing to put student's work on the bulletin boards and where the teachers are wearing their t shirts again to show solidarity. The teachers have a habit of encouraging potential supporters to run against incumbents especially incumbents that show some back bone and don't give way to the MTEA demands. Never mind that some of these newbies rarely attend a meeting once they are elected. The point is to show the board that if you don't give us what we want, we will get rid of you. It is very important to support the incumbents. The incumbents are Dr. Malapinsa, Mia Jones and Lisa Martinez.
Re 9:27 pm
My understanding of the 4:08 post was that Mr. Lyons was the only person to step up and run against the incumbents. Nobody else even made the effort.
So far, Mr Lyons is an unknown person to the general public. If he manages to win,it will only be because of the anger vote against the board.
9:27 PM-I doubt any of the teachers "recruited" Mr. Lyons to run. I've heard this crap for years, anytime anyone runs that isn't an incumbent. I just think Mr. Lyons put his hat in the ring because of the budget cuts and everything that has been going on. Do I think he'll win? No, not after hearing him at "Meet the Candidates Night". However, I give him credit for getting out there. To the incumbents, CAMPAIGN. You will all be probably re-elected, but can you all at least pretend to show an interest?
Mr. Lyons will win because most of those who vote in school board elections do so because they have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo of getting high salary increases every year. Others voters will vote willy-nilly because they have no idea who they are voting for.
The writer who doesn't believe that teachers would recruit potential board members who would be favorable to their demands is very naive and doesn't understand politics.
Mr. Lyons appears to be somewhat friendly with Frank Kelly. That, to me, speaks volumes.
Lyons can sit next to Kelly on the school board when he boots Lisa Martinez off solely because she's number four on the ballot and not a favorite of the teachers.
Let me guess - teachers caused the volcanoe to erupt in Iceland, right?
If it's bad it's because of "the teachers"
If it's good it's no thanks to "the teachers"
The truth is that in successful districts like Mullica, teachers try to take all the credit. In districts with high failure in test scores etc. the teachers blame everything and everyone else except themselves. If teachers are the ones the make all the difference, than all districts should be equally successful but we know that is not the case. It takes parents that are involved, a committed Board of Education,and a a community that is involved for success. Teachers are part of that but not the magic ingredient as they so want us to believe.
Teachers have NOT caused the Iceland volcano to erupt...however, teachers are responsible for global warming.
RE 8:45 pm
If I recall correctly, a large number of the Mullica school children failed the State testing.
Some Atlantic City schools got better grades then our jewel of a school.
The Administrators gave themselves raises and the teachers are crying for even more money.
Everyone says "It's for the children"but the teachers have blackened the bulletin boards and brought their negotiation strategies into the classrooms.
The people running for the Board of Education don't even put bio's out for the public.
Then I get the school flyer praising everything. It sure looks good in print.
The guy that no one knew anything about is now on the Mullica Board of Education thanks to the work of the MTEA. The MTEA goal is to show the board who is really in charge. Give us what we want or we will vote you out. Well once again the bullies have won. I hope that you are proud MTEA.
The MTEA was not able to get the budget passed but they were able to get rid of Lisa. This will weaken the board as it tries to come to a fair contract agreement with the teachers.
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