Public needs a voice in Middletown BOE spending
Guest Column • Andy Kaiser
On June 2, I attended a public meeting with the Middletown Board of Education. I thought I was there to have some public dialogue about how the school board can use the recently granted $2.6 million in federal funds (ARRAIDEA) to better the outcomes and educational experiences for our children.

Over 500 parents and teachers were in attendance and judging from the angry tone and the disgust in some of the parents' and teachers' voices, they too think that they are being scammed. As parents and taxpayers, I think we should vote on how these funds should be spent, and not accept the school board's foregone conclusions.

Instead, we had to listen to a one-hour canned presentation from the School Superintendent Karen Bilbao on how the board apparently already decided to spend the money. Her presentation was long, boring and one-sided, evidenced by the outcalls from the audience. The board is not taking into consideration what the parents/taxpayers want for their kids. Here are a few of the issues:

The Board of Ed is pushing hard for full-day kindergarten, but they cannot start all kids at the same time, therefore benefiting some, and alienating others. Since there is no space for new classrooms, our kids will lose computer labs, art rooms, music rooms and other resource rooms.

Many of the playgrounds at Middletown schools have failed a safety inspection and need to be torn down and replaced. The playfields in town are also in desperate need of repair. The board is not considering this option. I guess that child safety and happiness, exercise and outdoor play are not on the board's agenda.

The ARRA funds need to be used on "one-time" expenditures. The expanded preschool initiatives and full-day kindergartens are not sustainable in the future without raising taxes, therefore, not "onetime" expenditures.

This issue really enraged parents when a representative from the state — on the dais to support the school board — shouted out that Middletown parents don't want to pay higher taxes. Her comment was derogatory, but she is right, school taxes are too high already!

In talking with some of the parents and teachers, many have big concerns about the school board's "integrated" classroom structures that would place multi-age students with students with disabilities and typically developing students.

Apparently these kids are being picked for the phase I kindergartens by lottery, and the one-sided evidence supporting inclusion for specialneeds

kids does not address how this affects the progress of typical and highly developed kids.

I encourage the parents to get aggressive with your school board. They are not acting in the best interests of your children and your family's economic ability to live in Middletown in the near future.

I am a parent with kids in the schools, and I simply want what is best for them.

In closing, I would be glad to be a part of the solution by bringing a businessperson's approach to the Middletown Board of Education. I may not have a background in education, but as a parent, I would always make decisions to better our children's experiences, and not be corrupted by politics and ego.

So when the superintendent is ready to step down, I would gladly do her job, fill the board with parents who have good business and educational backgrounds, that also have school-age kids in the district. I would even pass on her outrageous six-figure salary and put it towards fixing the playgrounds, as the much-needed playground repairs have not been done. Waiting for a child to get hurt to fix the problem is too late!

I would call for full public disclosure and a public vote on how taxpayer dollars are to be spent, and I would move to create a 3-, 5- and 10-year budget that would make it more likely that families do not have to move out of the township or the state.

Andy Kaiser is a resident of Middletown.