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Two athletic leaders to make a bid for school board
"One of the biggest issues has to do with the amount of state aid this community is receiving," said Slavin, a financial advisor with MetLife. "While our local lawmakers have done a great job of getting aid to our district, the fact is that the state's formula is unfair and penalizes all of Long Island's school districts, which have the greatest rates of success. Slavin and Lynott have done an analysis of school aid and found, they said, that Long Island gets about only 13 percent of the total educational package in Albany. The largest percentage of aid goes to New York City, which also collects 50 percent of New York State Lottery monies. Despite that, Long Islanders contribute approximately ten times what property owners in New York city contribute to their local schools, said Lynott and Slavin. "Money from Long Island is obviously going to support New York City's schools and those of Upstate New York," said Slavin. In the meantime, Long Island schools graduate 90 percent of their students, with 86 percent receiving Regents diplomas. That compares to the 80 percent who graduate statewide, and the 69 percent statewide who receive Regents diplomas. "We think it is time that the state recognizes the success we have had on Long Island, where property taxpayers have, over the years, supplemented state aid in the interest of having better schools," said Lynott. "We should not be penalized for putting money into education and doing a good job of educating students." School Board President Richard Krebs, whose seat is up in June, said he was pleased that Slavin and Lynott recognize the success of the Massapequa School district, and should be supporting him for reelection if he decides to run, because that success is due, in part, to the work of the board. "I have missed less meetings than they have attended in the 15 years I have been on the board," said Krebs of Lynott and Slavin. "If they have some expertise or good ideas they should have come to us and we would have welcomed them at any meeting." Also up for reelection is board member Christine Lupetin Perrino, the board's vice president. She said she was pleased to hear about Lynott and Slavin's interest. "The issues they are talking about are very complicated and are regional problems, not just Massapequa's," she said, adding that she recognizes the success the two have had lobbying for aid for the area's athletic organizations. "The prime function of a school board member is addressing educational issues, however, so I think they would be better suited as lobbyists for the district, and would welcome them in that capacity." While both Lynott and Slavin believe tax relief is essential both to the local and Long Island economy, they don't believe it should come by slashing the district's budget. "Our teachers and administrators are well paid, undoubtedly but it is also obvious from the results we see that they are getting the job done," said Slavin. "It would be devastating to cut and slash salaries and programs, reduce the number of teachers, increase class sizes and eliminate the all that has provided us and our children with such success." "We see this as a fight for our children's futures," said Lynott. "So we will be reaching out to Albany and Wash- ington to fix this entire system and allow us to continue to do the work that given us the best results in New York State." The two men have tagged team to bring Massapequa's athletic organizations some of the finest fields and facilities in all of New York State. They were instrumental in the purchase and development of the land for the Field of Dreams and are currently working with the Town of Oyster Bay to use a sizable portion of the Town's SeaFund monies for the construction of additional facilities in Massapequa, including an enclosed swimming pool at Marjorie Post Park. "We know how to work the halls of government and how to get public officials to listen,"said Slavin. If elected, the two said that they would also lobby to eliminate the New York State WICKS law that requires school districts and municipalities to hire a general contractor for every trade that works on a major construction project. "That has added millions of dollars to the cost of every construction project we undertake in this district," said Slavin, adding that New York City and its public schools are exempt from the WICKS law. "We think this legislation should be repealed, first because it is unfair, and second because it is a waste of taxpayers money." "We have been lobbying and working hard to do all of these things," said Krebs. "And if they had attended school board meetings, they would have known this." But Slavin and Lynott would not stop at the state. They said they would also lobby the federal government and have put together a proposal that they said would not only be good for Massapequa but for all of Long Island and the country. "Whenever you think of fighting for educational funding, you think of the state," said Lynott. "But the fact is that the federal government has a lot more money and our federal officials can be just as helpful at bringing money to their district as state officials." One concept is to convince the federal government that it is important to develop grants for math and science initiatives- and to start here in Massapequa.
"When President John F. Kennedy charged this nation to put a man on the moon, everyone rallied to that cause," said Slavin. "We think it's time that this country rally to develop programs that graduate more scientists, and engineers because they are the ones who will safeguard this nation and maintain its economy. If we don't do that, our demise come quicker than the fall of the dollar."
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