A group of educators, led by Rockland County Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell, traveled to Washington DC yesterday to meet with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and other key officials to discuss the upcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Members of the Rockland Education Collaborative, which is chaired by Chairwoman Cornell and Rockland Community College President Dr. Cliff Wood, presented the findings of their landmark report: Rockland’s Voices: Making the Case for Amending the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002.

The group attended private meetings with Senator Clinton and U.S. Representative Eliot Engel, and conducted a briefing for key education staffers for New York’s Congressional delegation as well as the Washington Office of Governor Eliot Spitzer and the New York State Department of Education.

In addition to Chairwoman Cornell and Dr. Wood, the group included Dr. Valencia Douglas, Superintendent of the Nyack School District; Dr. Mary Jean Marsico, Assistant Superintendent and Director of Special Education for Rockland BOCES; David Fried, former Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction in the East Ramapo School District; Dr. Ed Fuhrman, Deputy Superintendent for the Nanuet School District; Robin Brennan, President of the North Rockland Teachers’ Association; Donna Ramundo, President of the Nyack Teachers’ Association; and Kathleen Meehan Do, Chief of Staff for the Rockland Education Collaborative.

The Collaborative includes 30 members representing administrators, parents, school board members and teachers from the county’s school districts, as well as education-affiliated organizations, elected officials and others interested in the future of education in the United States. Chairwoman Cornell had extended an invitation in 2005 to all interested in having Rockland’s experiences and views considered in the national debate over reauthorization and how best to educate children.

Dear NRTA Members,

I had the honor to meet on April 12th with New York Congressman John Hall and Dick Iannuzzi, President of the New York State United Teachers to seek help in tax relief for the North Rockland community. Both New York State leaders pledged their assistance, attention and voice to the North Rockland community, the District, teachers and students.

According to the New York State BEDS data, approximately 43% of our teachers, 90% of our teaching assistants and support staff live in the North Rockland school district. Several of our North Rockland graduates return to teach and work in our District. Not only do we share the tax burden here and in other parts of the county, we are now experiencing the impact of the Mirant decision on the quality of education for our students.

Retirees are not being replaced nor are new positions being added. Our class sizes are increasing and our supplies are limited. Courses and programs we have worked hard to develop are being cut due to the austerity budget. Our salaries and benefits are in line with, and in some cases less than, surrounding districts. We are standing equally committed to our students and the North Rockland community along with our need and right to provide for our own families and loved ones.

A more subtle development may ultimately cause the rapid decline of the District we have worked so hard to build. The inability to attract and maintain the best teachers may turn out to be an unseen, insidious force at work. Our new teachers might be more likely to be actively looking for work elsewhere because job security is not assured. New graduates looking for work may not apply to North Rockland due to our budget crisis. A school district without competitive contracts or a passing budget degrades rapidly. It is a simple task to look to neighboring areas where this has happened to predict the property value decline to follow.

The North Rockland Central School District has power plants in both towns within the District: at Bowline in Haverstraw and at Lovett in Stony Point. While the utilities were regulated, the schools and towns enjoyed a host of benefits for the community.

The loss of assessments on the Mirant properties resulted in dramatic tax increases for homeowners last year and will cause a further increase this year. This unfortunate reality was not caused by nor should it negatively impact the education of our children.

The NRTA and the District are actively advocating for assistance with special State aid to help with North Rockland’s situation. In addition, there are two bills pending, A6135 in the Assembly (introduced by the late Assemblyman Zebrowski) and S2445 in the Senate (introduced by Senator Morahan). These are the bills that will reduce, phased in over five years, the financial setback that is the result of Mirant’s actions.

North Rockland is a community of hard working people from the poorest to the wealthiest. Teachers and the school support personnel continue to be a force for improvement. Whether we live or work in North Rockland, we pride ourselves on our contribution to this small place on the Earth.

The North Rockland Teachers’ Association will spend our time working towards solutions to benefit our children. As we all are aware, the rhetoric of self-promoting agents of dissension and distrust did not save anyone a dime and ultimately divided our strong community.

Gaining the ear and the commitment of help from Congressman John Hall and President Dick Iannuzzi is our positive effort to heal the community. Our goal is unity and seeking real reform and monetary relief to stop the destruction of the District we have spent our passion and energy building.

In Solidarity,

Robin Brennan