They'll Vote No. We Must Vote Yes.

That didn't take long. The coalition of "no" has decided - SURPRISE, SURPRISE - to vote "no" again this year. Let's take a look at their rationale, such as it is.

No one is against teachers and administrators getting an adequate salary; but these same professionals pay very little toward their health insurance, and have extremely profitable pensions, and when the stock market is in a decline, the taxpayers make must make up the difference. 

Pensions aren't "profitable". Profit is what you get when you run a private business and take in more money than you've spent. Schools aren't private, and they're not a business. They don't make things for private profit; they provide a public service. Schools are public entities chartered to educate children and prepare them for life and/or college. That's it, and in order to accomplish that task, school districts must follow the law and retain qualified professionals to undertake the role of educating children. In order to attract qualified, educated candidates, school districts must offer something to attract people who might otherwise go to the private sector, where profit is a thing and pay is higher. 

Public school teachers in New York State are qualified, educated, certified professionals who earn a salary, benefits, and a pension. The pension is administered and regulated by New York State, and neither the teachers nor the individual school districts have any say over how they're administered. To scapegoat public schoolteacher pensions to excuse your "no" vote is ludicrous. As for health insurance, teachers  have benefits that some - but not all - in the private sector might envy. Rather than use that as a justification to punish them - to fire them through budget rejection - ask yourself why you're not entitled to similar benefits. 

Teachers also have tenure which means that teachers, who are not up to speed, cannot lose their jobs; and to make it worse, they get yearly salary increments to boost. They also work only 9 months. Teachers claim they work hard, and most of them do, but that is also the case in most other segments of the work force.

A teacher might want to look at the punctuation in the preceding paragraph. Teachers only work 9 months? Tell that to the teachers. I'm sure they'll tell you otherwise. They prepare for their curricula, syllabi, and lesson plans months in advance. They have to now stay up-to-date on what is, for many of them, a completely new way of teaching core subjects, and they're now analyzed and graded based on how their pupils do on standardized tests. 

Tenure is built into the state Education Law. That is a statute that can only be changed by the legislature in Albany with Governor assent or a veto override. After a probationary period, tenured teachers are entitled to undergo what amounts to an arbitration process before they can be fired. To suggest that they "cannot lose their jobs" is false. They can. 

The problem is that this is not the case w/ the private sector. In the private sector, tenure is absurd. If you do not perform, you lose your job, and in most cases, employees do not get yearly increments equal to teachers. Employees also pay approximately 50% or more toward their health insurance, and work 12 months, with only a few weeks’ vacation.

This is simply untrue and completely insane. People who have employment contracts have "tenure" as set forth within the terms of that contract. At-will employees can be fired or quit at will, but employers will be required to uphold the terms set forth in an employee handbook. Private sector union workers may be entitled to "tenure" insofar as a dismissal arbitration process might have been bargained-for. 

Where is it true, as a blanket statement, that private sector employees "do not get yearly increments equal to teachers"? How much did the teachers get last year? What was the average for American workers? There are as many variables in answering that as there are employers in the United States, so what we're left with is averages and statistics. Some people get raises, others don't. Some people get raises much larger than the teachers, some don't. Some people make much more than teachers do in the first place, others don't. Many people with postgraduate degrees earn far, far more than teachers - even ones in the public sector. 

As for the "race to the bottom" for benefits and vacation time, not all employees pay that much towards their health insurance. In fact, I'd wager that very few of them do. Businesses need to attract and retain employees, and they hardly do so by treating them like garbage. The same goes for school districts, who want to attract and retain excellent teachers. 

Why am I comparing both? The private sector employee benefits depend on the profits and loss of the company. The teacher benefits are carved in stone, and taxpayers pay for these increases, many of whom are on fixed incomes.

They're not carved in stone. They're written in a binding legal contract, and tax payers pay for the teachers' salaries just like they pay for potholes to be filled, the town hall to be lit, and snow to be plowed. even people on fixed incomes. 

Administrators claim these increasing taxes are for the children; but that is not the case. A perfect example was when the Clarence music department gave a presentation of suffering children because the department was understaffed; yet within a half hour, the administration was voted a pretty sizeable raise.

3% per year is not "pretty sizeable" unless you think that the work that principals and other admin employees have to do with new, complicated state mandates and oversight are worthless. 3% per year is completely within the bounds of the nationwide average for pay increases, as School Trustee Jason Lahti made clear at that same meeting. 

Paying administrators and teachers - without whom you don't have a school district - is "for the children".  Paying them a good wage with good benefits and room to grow attracts and keeps good administrators and teachers, resulting in good students. 

What can we do about it? Unfortunately, we must keep voting “no” on the budget, until they get the picture that our taxes should “go for the children” first, and that the taxpayer cannot afford to keep paying for employee luxuries which are not in line w/ the private sector; and we must vote for impartial board members who do not rubberstamp these luxuries.

Define "luxury".  A 3% raise? A 3% raise is weak. Good health benefits? The district self-administers, saving thousands. There is a shortage of teachers, but they're attracted to New York districts because the pay and benefits are fair. We could be like Kansas, which treats its teachers like McDonald's employees and is having a very hard time attracting or keeping them in the state. 

You can't keep comparing the private sector to what teachers earn because it's like comparing apples to oranges; it's like comparing Pepsi-Cola to the US Army. They serve different purposes. The schools don't make widgets, nor do they turn a profit on any manufacturing or service they provide. They are a non-profit, government entity chartered by New York State and subject to its laws. 

If you want to vote "no" just be honest about why. You hate the teachers and their remuneration, so you don't really care about how a "no" vote might affect the children. You already know that it will - 2013 showed us. 

You can bleat on and on about how the music department needs more people, but it needs those people because of the people lost in 2013, when you succeeded in pushing a "no" vote. 

You can bleat on and on about how "employee luxuries" need to be rolled back so that the district can somehow magically hire three additional music staffers at, presumably, the low, fast-food pay and benefits you demand. Good luck with that. 

Clarence schools, as set forth in the image above, has lost almost $70 million in state aid that was owed to them thanks to the withholding of foundation aid and the added insult of the Gap Elimination Adjustment, whereby the state balanced its own budget on the backs of New York's students. Instead of targeting the real culprits - Albany politicians - the "no" coalition wants to target students and teachers and threaten palpable, genuine, irreparable harm year after year. 

Just be honest about it: no one believes that you care about the students. I've known this for a fact ever since 2013 when I and many others similarly situated went out-of-pocket to undo some of the harm you did. Stop pretending and just tell the truth: you will advocate for a no vote every year, and you'll manufacture an excuse for it around your conclusion. 

Clarence School Budget 2016 - 2017

The School Budget process is well underway. If you have the time to check it out, you ought to review the video of the sessions held so far.

Here's January:


February:


and March:



The upshot of it all is that the tax cap this year is 3.11%, and the school board is proposing an increase in the tax levy of 2.99%, which is under the cap for the third consecutive year in a row.

Yet despite that fact, a tiny group of individuals manufactures controversy and crisis out of whole cloth when none exists. Last year, it was a letter from an angry teacher that fueled their campaign for a "no" vote on a budget that came in under the cap. In 2014, it was a hangover argument from the genuine crisis of 2013 and the fake issue of "sustainability".

But make no mistake. Every year since 2013 - this will now be their fourth attempt - a "no" vote on the budget is routinely demanded by the same core group of people, no matter what the circumstance. It is folly to imagine that any of it is principled. Whether it was the 2014 school board race involving a guy whose kids don't attend the district, or the simply incredible financial lecturing from a twice-bankrupted newcomer who doesn't own his home, the coalition of "no" seems to have run out of ideas and steam.

At the March meeting, shown above, part of the presentation was from the chairman of the music department, Louis Vitello. He explained how the department is short-staffed and could use one additional teacher each for choral, band, and orchestra. At that same meeting, a new contract for school administrators was approved unanimously.

Here is how the "no" people reacted:

At the board meeting on Monday, the music department gave a presentation on how they were still short staffed, and how the students were suffering from it. Within ½ an hour, the administration voted themselves a 2.95% raise for each of the next 3 years. The teachers got their raise a few months ago. Both teachers and administration contribute very little to their health insurance and their pensions are extremely profitable. Furthermore, besides a declining enrollment, taxes are still increasing. What is wrong with this picture?

Look at them. Look at them pretend to give a shit about the music department.

Do these people think we forget why the music department is short-staffed?

Let's take a look.

Right now, the music department is looking to increase its staff from 17 to 20. In 2013, staff was cut from 19, which was already low compared to previous years, to 16. Why? To save a few bucks - the same rationale that resulted in lead-contaminated water in Flint.  Who cares if it hurts some kids, right? Never mind the teachers out of work. 

So, in 2013 we lost three members of the music staff, and we're trying to claw our way back to 2011 staffing levels, because enrollment in our music programs is steady. 

You know why we lost those music teachers? The 2013 "no" vote. We got Mrs. Acee back last year, but Mr. Vertoske is gone and isn't coming back. 

And look at their twisted logic, blaming the teachers and administrators for asking for raises while the music department needs people. Their thinking is: why won't the teachers and admin staff simply take less pay or crappier benefits, and then the district might be able to find money in the budget to hire these teachers back...

...where they can make less money and crappier benefits than, presumably, in other districts. 

The whole thing is a laughably ridiculous race to the bottom mentality, based on the notion that teachers and administrative staff are wildly overpaid do-nothings. 

So, tell people to vote "no", then complain that things happened as a result of that "no" vote. 

Yet after four election cycles of their bleating about "sustainability" and "clean revenue" and other catchphrases meant to capture some sort of new ways of thinking about school budgets, we've come to realize that school boards are subject to state laws, regulations, and mandates. We've come to realize that, like it or not, inflation is a thing that exists, and the cost of things will continue to go up indefinitely, infinitely, because that is how economies grow. 

During that same March meeting, the BOE voted on a plan to spend a $2 million state technology grant. Free money. Use it or lose it. One of them tried to make it seem as if this was somehow proof of the district's financial weakness. But Clarence isn't anywhere near the state's list of districts under stress. 

This same crowd advocated a "no" vote for the statewide referendum that approved the funding for this technology buy. 

So, tell people to vote "no", and when you fail, just start making stuff up. 

Those are the facts. Despite the modest increases of the last few years, the school tax rate in Clarence remains low. But it's not just that.

This spreadsheet compares the property tax rates for properties in every community and school district in Erie County for a $150,000 home. Clarence's rate is $2,747.

Compare that to places like Village of East Aurora ($3,787 including a 40% equalization rate), Orchard Park ($3,810 including a 55% equalization rate), and the Village of Williamsville ($4,426 including a 97% equalization rate) for a home of that same $150,000 value. 

The Equalization Rate for a municipality is the assessed value of the real property in a town as determined by the local assessor divided by the state's appraised value of that same real property. This ratio is stated as a percentage. At an equalization rate of 100%, assessments are at full market value.

Clarence is one of only a handful of municipalities at a 100% equalization rate, yet its overall tax burden remains among the lowest in Erie County, and its school district is in the top three.

I don't know yet what sort of cockamamie rationale this crowd is going to use as the basis for its "no"
 vote this year, but let's not let them get away with disingenuous bleating about things like the music department that they single-handedly helped bring to its knees. 

The budget proposal for 2016 - 2017 would raise the levy by 2.99%, meaning the amount of money the district needs to raise overall. Your tax rate will be effected based on a number of variables. In the end, it'll cost the owner of a home worth $300,000 an extra $84/year. PER YEAR.

Here is what affected parents and students said in 2013 when the 9.8% levy increase was defeated:

It is a shame that voters took all of their National and State tax frustrations out on the local kids in Clarence with this vote. AND shame on you parents with kids that voted against the budget as well as those of you that have already benifitted from this great school system. I know that their was a lot of you. F…ing selfish and stupid! This is the saying… Be careful what you wish for. Wait until you see what happens to the kids and the school district now. I bet you wish you could do it all over again. For $300-$400 (tax deductible) a year was this worth it.

and,

As a student of Clarence High School I almost can’t stand to see the argument that has ripped this town apart. True, I wholeheartedly support the budget because it is my education and I have worked hard recently to try and get people educated on the actual facts of the budget. As an active member in the school’s music department and an avid participant in the electives and AP courses our school offers I am extremely worried about this budget because I know if this budget doesn’t pass these classes will be cut, my high school education will be highly deprived, the prestige of the Clarence community will go down and the number of colleges that will accept me will decrease. I know that it is now to late to change your minds but I’d like to thank those of you who voted yes and ask those of you who voted no what will happen over the next few years as with out a stabilizing budget this year how will taxes and the schools be affected. Staff cuts will run rampant and our schools will be reduced to teaching only the core concepts required by the state with high class sizes and an increasingly unstable budget so taxes will continue to need to increase.

The district was brought to its knees. The same people promise to do it over and over again, year after year.

Please attend the next meeting of the BOE on April 4th. We need informed, affected people to be there. 

Clarence GOP sends out the LOLs

From this week's Clarence Bee,

The Clarence Republican Committee is pleased to announce the slate of candidates chosen by the members at their endorsement meeting held May 19.

They are Patrick Casilio for supervisor, Robert Geiger and Christopher Greene for councilmen, Nancy Metzger for town clerk and Robert Sillars for town justice. 

Casilio earned the committee’s endorsement for supervisor because of his integrity, work ethic, history of public service, and his commitment to always put the Town of Clarence first. 

Councilman Robert Geiger earned our endorsement for another term because of his sound judgment, his ethics, and his hard work on behalf of all of the town’s residents. 

Christopher Greene is a newcomer to the slate for councilman. His youth and enthusiasm to get things done will bring new energy to the board. 

Nancy Metzger and Robert Sillars are seeking re-election to their current positions. Their experience, leadership and sound judgment also earns our endorsement. 

Our committee believes in selecting candidates that put Clarence’s needs and best interests first. We want the best candidate for the job. We think that all of our endorsed candidates have the experience, integrity and dedication to the town that will guide us in the right direction for our future. We ask for your continuing support to elect the best candidates for the Town of Clarence.

Daniel A. Michnik
Chairman,
Clarence Republican Committee

What about current Supervisor Hartzell? You know, the guy who defeated former Supervisor (Democrat) Scott Bylewski?

The Republicans did not endorse Hartzell now - in 2015. What did they say about him in 2011?

As chairman of the Clarence Republican Committee, I am very proud that our committee unanimously endorsed David Hartzell for Clarence supervisor. His business experience, coupled with substantial volunteer work in the Clarence community, makes him uniquely qualified to serve the taxpayers and make decisions that will make our community a better place to work, live and raise a family.

His four children all graduated from Clarence High School, and one is now proudly serving our country overseas as a Navy Seal. As a fiscal conservative, he will hold the line on taxes and root out wasteful spending in town government.

As a successful businessman, he not only knows how to lead, but he knows how to listen also. His leadership is based on transparency and respect for others, and I fully expect Dave to continue these policies as Clarence supervisor. His record on the Clarence Industrial Development Agency is a pro-business, pro-growth agenda that seeks to make strategic investments in local businesses, with the ultimate goal of creating jobs. I would urge the taxpayers of Clarence to take a close look at Dave Hartzell’s private sector record and his platform and plan for Clarence. I know he will make a tremendous supervisor, creating jobs, growing local businesses and improving our quality of life. 

Dan Michnik 

Clarence Republican chairman

He was so tremendous that Michnik and his club kicked Hartzell to the curb literally the next chance they got.

It all goes to show you - don't pay attention to what Michnik tells you about his candidates. Chances are, it's all very fluid.

The Clarence Tea Party Goose Prepares to Meet Gander

In Clarence, a woman from Boston
has hatred she seems to be lost in.
While insulting kids
or making up fibs
"projection's" the word that gets tossed in.

Ellie Corcoran is a member of the Buffalo area tea party. There are two distinct wings of that group - the libertarians and the Paladino/Palinists; she is aligned with the latter.

Please note that I will not use her name any longer on Facebook. She is not able to deal with criticism of her political behavior and is now lashing out.

The Paladinoists are the worse of the two wings - completely without scruples or ideology, they are united in their fanatical and unquestioning loyalty and devotion to pretty much whatever the majority thinks in every day's WBEN online listener poll.

Regurgitated Breitbartisms rule their day.

Back in May, on the day of the school budget vote, a group of Clarence High School kids joined together to rally for a "yes" vote near the corner of Main Street and Gunnville. One older person in a car pulled up at the light and yelled at a 14 year old girl and a 15 year old boy that they were "brainwashed scumbags".

Imagine that for a second - that you are so full of hatred and bile that you would take it upon yourself as a supposedly responsible adult to yell vicious things at schoolkids who are doing little more than using political speech to fight for their education.

Under normal circumstances, the malevolent tea party types would applaud kids who are involved in civic affairs and stand up for what they believe. That all gets chucked out the window when the involvement and stand runs counter to tea party ideology, and it makes it ok in their pathetic minds to hurl drive-by insults at kids.

Two posts to the Watchdog Facebook Page were recently pulled as allegedly being violative of Facebook's community standards. The first one, from May right after the election, was a direct response to a picture Corcoran posted to her Facebook page that directly called me out. Here it is:



Unfortunately, I don't recall what my response was, but it was made directly to her and called her out for leading a group of school opponents who casually hurl insults at students. I called her out especially because that accusation - that adjective of "brainwashed" is not some random phrase. It's been carefully and specifically cultivated by the local Clarence school destroyers to characterize anyone who disagrees with them.

Corcoran reported my response to Facebook, and Facebook deleted it.

I also posted an item to my personal page and also to the Watchdog page that read as follows:




In the preceding image, I blocked out Corcoran's name, to avoid it being deleted as "harassment" or "bullying". I think, quite frankly, that it's not "bullying" to react online to real-life bullying, and laying blame on the leader of the group that condones it.

On Tuesday, Corcoran sent me a direct message on Facebook, complaining about an image someone else had posted to the Watchdog page, and you can see my response.



Here is the missing image. It was a screen cap of one of Corcoran's own posts, and urged people to "share".

All of this was brought up back in May because Corcoran denied ever using "gluttony":



Hey! There's that word "brainwashing" again!

That post received a comment on the Watchdog site, and I replied, as follows:

Shortly thereafter, I received another notice from Facebook deleting my post - and that on Watchdog - which explained that someone had insulted two high school kids using words that Corcoran has popularized when dealing with people who disagree with her.

So, I was banned from Facebook for a 24 hours. A small price to pay for protecting Clarence schools.

Apparently, Corcoran also DM'd the person who posted the screen capture, who responded,

"I'm sorry, are you serious? These are your own words. If you think they are "inappropriate" perhaps you shouldn't have posted them in the first place. I also find it quite ironic that you are asking me to take down an image of words you posted on your PUBLIC Facebook page, yet you took a PRIVATE email correspondence from a teacher, made several hundred copies, and (illegally) stuffed them into mailboxes all around town. I'm not sure why you have decided to spend so much time and energy trying to damage the Clarence school system, but you have done real harm to my children and until you find a hobby that doesn't hurt my kids, I will continue to fight for them - using your own words, if necessary. Have a good day."

Here is Corcoran's reply:




Class!

Now, I have urged the recipient of Corcoran's vile insult to report it to Facebook, and I have reported two instances where Corcoran directly insulted me to Facebook, as well. I had contacted Facebook to appeal their banning of me and the deletions. After all, it's not like Ellie Corcoran is some random little old lady whom I was "bullying" or "harassing". On the contrary, I am engaging in political speech in direct opposition to the lies and distortion that she has to use on a regular basis in order to advance her cause.

Any suggestion that she is some innocent victim is absolutely laughable. Remember this exchange?








Here is, ultimately, Ellie Corcoran in all her glory:



I have never once published a false word about Corcoran or her cohorts. I don't frankly care what she thinks about me or anyone else. I can tell you, however, that I would never stoop so low as to call a student relation of hers "brainwashed", nor would I call her "stupid", "fat", or "ugly". That's what she does, because she cannot argue her way out of a paper bag. Her political activism as a tea partier in WNY - such as it is - is pockmarked with failure. Sergio Rodriguez. Kathy Weppner. Joe Lombardo. Jacob Kerksiek. Rich Worling. Clarence school budgets 2014 & 2015. Lenny Roberto. Why anyone takes her seriously is beyond me.

But she cries victim and whines to Facebook when people react to her own bullying tactics. She's the one who calls kids "brainwashed". She's the one who calls people "fat", "ugly", and "stupid". She's the one who distorts and lies about the school budget in Clarence, and she engaged voluntarily in a political battle, but can't even remotely stand the heat. She purposefully published a private correspondence without permission and used it as a campaign tool. These are people who appear at candidate forums with pictures of the candidates they oppose crossed out in red marker, but then whine to Facebook when they receive blowback.

They tell you it's about the "taxpayer", but it's not.

It's about demonizing and vilifying teachers and students. I told you this as early as March, when they started battling a budget that didn't even exist.

What this all boils down to is sore losers being crybabies. We'll see how consistent Facebook is in enforcing its standards.

Thank you to Clarence Voters and the Kids who Rallied

Although the budget vote was ridiculously close, the board election was a blowout for the pro-school candidates, and for that we give thanks.

But.

On Tuesday, students rallied in support of their schools - in support of their education, and yes - in support of their teachers. During that rally, someone passing by in a car took the time to slow down, roll down a window, and yell at a 14 year-old girl and boy that they are "brainwashed scumbags".

Let me tell you what I think of that - are you paying attention, Ellie Corcoran? You, who claimed up and down how evil all of the parents and students are, while maintaining this phony sheen of decency?

Whoever would take the time to roll down a window and call a high school freshman a "brainwashed scumbag" is the lowest form of scum. If you want to ignore the kids, go right ahead. Indeed, that is what a reasonable adult would do if they disagreed with them or what they were doing.

But to take the time and effort to yell an epithet at a kid ranks among the most cowardly and pathetic thing an adult could do.

Let me share with you something I found on the internet - never mind who wrote it or where I found it. It was posted in direct response to yesterday's drubbing.

It appears that there are still plenty of people who are not bamboozled by the Clarence Teachers Ass. as indicated by the votes. I'm sure they will continue to stack the deck, slander and vilify anyone who opposes their kingdom. I am sure they feel righteous in what they are doing because that is what they have been brainwashed and conditioned to do.

To use the term "brainwashed" in a conclusory way - without any evidence - to describe a political foe is just lazy. No one was slandered by anyone, and no one is brainwashed. Just because someone doesn't see the world the way you have it skewed in you mind doesn't make them "brainwashed." Likewise, if someone takes a position counter to yours, it doesn't mean they've been "bamboozled". Again - lazy, conclusory name-calling is the mark of someone who pays scant attention and doesn't have the wherewithal to consider other points of view. 

The idea they are teaching children yet conduct themselves in a manner that suggests "win by any means", even if they have to exploit children and intimidate people is a sad state of affairs. 

Whose child was "exploited"? By whom was that child "exploited"? In what way were people "intimidated"? Did anyone call any of the school opponents a "brainwashed scumbag" yesterday? No. Clean your own damn house before you start bitching about other people's. 

They have forgotten for whom and why the school board exists. 

Um - the students. 

For them it is another domain they have claimed and will do anything in their power to hold on to. Unfortunately they don't realize the impact they are having on the tax paying residence of this community and the other community's around Erie County. 

*Residents. The taxpaying residents of Clarence are doing just fine, with their comparatively ultra-low taxes and excellent school system. I could go through the data and the fact that the author of this whinging diatribe pays less now in actual dollars in school taxes than he did in 2006, but there's no point. There is no rational argument that people like this will ever listen to or consider. None.

Unfortunately many folks will be forced to sell their homes and move to other places to sustain. I find it very disheartening that people that claim to have all this compassion and caring for children can be so ambivalent toward the tax paying citizens, all for their own greed. Please don't feel a need to respond to this, this is merely my opinion... I hope I can still keep that!

Greed. That's what this is about - the greedy, subhuman, brainwashing, horrible teachers. They are the root of all evil in this person's mind. They exploit children and are politically ruthless. Right? Getting rich on the government teat, with their "salary" and "benefits" and "pension" and "summers off".

Class warfare is all that is. Jealousy. "It's not fair" as the cry of the aggrieved tea party collectivist, ignorant of the inherent irony.

No one is "ambivalent toward the tax paying citizens" - least of all the teachers who, if you'll recall, also pay taxes. If they live in Clarence, their taxes are significantly lower than in other places. The taxpayer in Clarence has very little indeed to complain about if you compare it to similarly situated communities. No, we're not like Mississippi or Alabama, and thank God for that. Our schools actually function - especially Clarence.

No, I don't get a teacher's pension, but I don't sit here whining about it, and I don't try to fail school budgets over it. After all, it's state law - you can fail every fricking budget from now until eternity,  but it would have no effect on how pensions are statutorily set up.

The upshot of it is this - if you want be involved, do it. If you want to change the way public education is funded or regulated, go for it. Want to change the testing scheme? Knock yourself out. I might even help you.

But if you attempt time and time again to fail school budgets and fuck with my kids' education in order to make some impossible point, or for anything less than school board malpractice, then you're punishing children over your own political agenda.

That, my friends, is untenable.

VOTE YES. VOTE MICHAEL FUCHS AND DENNIS PRIORE

Today is Tuesday, and the polls are open until 9pm. It is more critical than ever before that you vote YES, and that you vote for the only candidates who are acceptable for the Clarence school board.

MICHAEL FUCHS and 

DENNIS PRIORE

Our "MD" slate. 

Michael Fuchs is an incumbent and has served the district and its students and faculty well. He is against unsustainable cuts to educational opportunity for our kids, and wants to restore the district to its former excellence. He has worked for Rich Products for well over a decade, handling the finances of a huge local corporation. He has the skills, education, experience, and integrity to continue serving us well for the next 3 years. 

Dennis Priore is a longtime resident of Clarence and a former principal and school administrator. As a recent retiree, he has time, knowledge, experience, education, and skills to marshal in order to serve our district. He knows how budgets and union negotiations are made, and he has pledged to balance the needs of the students with the expectations of taxpayers.  

Michael & Dennis are the only candidates running for school board who are homeowners and school taxpayers. 

Michael & Dennis are the only candidates running for school board who are on the right side of this ongoing battle, and they won't let the students be further harmed by financial shenanigans or disastrous tea party austerity. 

As if that wasn't enough, let's take a look at one of their opponent's closing argument. It perfectly distills all of the reasons why he is an unacceptable and noxious candidate for a school board. Uneducated, inexperienced, with absolutely no credentials or resume, this person is all bluster and no substance. 

Let's examine. (All [sic]). 

Here are your CTA Endorsed Candidates for this election. The teachers union likes to say that they are "supporting our students" or “fighting for the children”. It's just as absurd to say the Iron Workers fight for steel, the UAW fights for cars and the Operating Engineers fight for heavy equipment. The unions exist solely for the benefit of their members and their own interest. The school board exists to represent the people of this town. The CTA does not need representation on the school board. They have things like the Triborough Amendment in place to stack the deck against students and taxpayers. If you think that the endorsement of these candidates by the CTA shows that these candidates put students and taxpayers first, you are sadly mistaken. 

It takes a special brand of malevolent cynicism to conclude that the teachers are full of shit when they say they're fighting for the children whom they teach. It takes an even more special type of ignorant, noxious attitude to assume that teachers are just in it for greed. 

Here's the thing that Joe doesn't understand - mostly because he evidently never so much as received an associate's degree after high school (his resume is a closely guarded secret he won't reveal) - teachers didn't attend 4 years of college and then an additional few years of postgraduate study to obtain their M.S. and teaching certificate in order to get rich. 

If they wanted to get rich, they could have gotten an MBA and traded commodities, or become entrepreneurs. Instead, they joined a noble profession for which Joe Lombardo has no respect. 

None. 

Some punk kid decides he doesn't like unions or teachers, (or teachers' unions), so he just accuses them all of being greedy pigs at the public trough, driving around in their Bentleys on their $60,000 median salaries, right? They couldn't possibly be in it for the love of teaching or the thrill of educating and molding young minds, because that sort of notion is not one that Lombardo has any concept of. 

An ironworker may be proud of the work that he or she does - constructing the skeletons of large buildings, and their union helps to ensure that they're paid a fair wage and receive decent benefits for their labor. A UAW member is proud of the product that he or she helps to manufacture, and wants to make sure that they're paid a fair wage and receive fair benefits for their labor. 

A teacher is proud of the work that he or she does - educating the next generation of Americans. Educating the kids who will heal Joe Lombardo when he's sick; who will represent him in court; who will manage or create the company he patronizes; who will entertain him on stage or screen; who will score a touchdown or hit a home run. You denigrate teachers, you denigrate the very foundation of our society. 

The veracity of unions in our schools is really taking its toll on student opportunities and taxpayer’s wallets.

That is not a sentence that has any reasonable meaning in the English language. Which taxpayer's wallet? "Veracity" means truthfulness. 

It’s such a blatant and rampant problem that even polar opposites such as Governor Cuomo and myself, recognize what’s going on. http://www.nydailynews.com/…/andrew-cuomo-rips-teacher-unio… Don’t be mislead by two candidates and a group of people who have established that they stand with an industry that collects $220 million annually to perpetuate and expand a gluttonous and overly generous contract in the name of education. 

Here's the question they'll never, ever answer:

How much do you think is a fair salary for a teacher? What do you think are fair benefits for a teacher? How would you - as a school board member - make changes to the state laws governing teacher pensions? How would you work around the Triborough Amendment and beat the teachers into submitting to your austerity wage cuts and slashing of benefits? 

85% of Clarence teachers are ranked as "highly effective" by the state. 

On what insane lunatic planet does someone institute punitive wage and salary cuts against a workforce that regularly exceeds expectations? Shall we have an army of the worst teachers who can't get a job anywhere else come and educate our kids for $10/hour and no benefits? 

It’s been shown time in and time out, that they put themselves ahead of everyone else, while sacrificing opportunities for students. 

I'll say it this way: Joe Lombardo must not have ever talked to a teacher and actually asked them what their job entails. He assumes they show up at 8, leave at 3, take summers off on the Cote d'Azure, and spend the rest of their time making sure their BMWs gleam in the sunlight. I'll say it this way, too: Joe Lombardo doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about. 

School districts have lost all bargaining power because entrenched politicians are paid off to write laws where the union will always come out the winner. 

And as a school board member, you'll do what about that, precisely? Start a coup? 

As a taxpayer, a resident, a parent or a student, you only have two choices in this election tomorrow.

That's right. MICHAEL FUCHS and DENNIS PRIORE. The only two candidates who are campaigning on a platform of stronger schools, rather than demonizing the very teachers who help make our district what it is today. 

MICHAEL FUCHS and DENNIS PRIORE are the only candidates who don't refer to teachers as "gluttonous," or use the pronoun "they" to describe these educators who repeatedly and consistently go above and beyond for our kids. 

MICHAEL FUCHS and DENNIS PRIORE are the only candidates who aren't pitting "us" against "them".  Literally - read Joe's thing again. It's all resentment, class warfare, and visceral hatred of teachers, and the notion that they be remunerated fairly. 

MICHAEL FUCHS and DENNIS PRIORE aren't afraid to put their resumes out there for the public to review and assess. 

The "J" in "J&J" stands for "joke". 

Vote Michael & Dennis.  You have until 9pm to do the right thing .

Lombardo Attacks Priore

Poor Joey Lombardo. He took the time to access the wifi in mommy and daddy's house to excrete this:

Obviously, this kid is still smarting from how poorly he came across during the candidate forum earlier this week.

Coming from a kid who doesn't pay property or school taxes, perhaps Joe knows a thing or two about "gravy trains".

Dennis Priore was on the job educating kids for 36 years - since the 1970s; long before this kid was born. (They get all ornery when you accuse them of not supporting teachers; why, Joey's so fiscally responsible that he suggested the district should have bonded the restoration of 11 positions with a one-shot bit of borrowing. That's right - taking on debt with no state aid to fund teacher salaries - even Jason Lahti thought that was a ridiculous waste of breath.) A less fiscally prudent idea I've yet to hear.

In fact, it's barely an idea - it's a mouthnoise.

Anyone who thinks Dennis Priore doesn't deserve the retirement and pension he worked his adult life to earn is devastatingly wrong, and the notion offends even conservative sensibilities.

But since the person attacking a retiree's pension is some kid still dependent on mom and dad for the roof over his head, that displays a shocking lack of knowledge, intelligence, and seriousness wholly unbecoming of a public official.

Furthermore, Dennis Priore does a lot more than "squat". He volunteers his time with the Clarence Youth Bureau. He volunteers his time with his church, and with CSEF. (did Lombardo give so much as a cent to CSEF? No.)

Priore volunteers for non-profits like the Clarence PTO and the Choral Boosters. Dennis has earned our respect, he's earned his pension, and he gives back to the community.

All Joe Lombardo does is bitch and whine, mostly about taxes he doesn't even pay. Shame on him.