The Consequences Of

Misinformation

To the Editor:

Recently a young voter wrote: “An Uninformed Vote Is A Wasted Vote.”

While that’s true, it’s actually more sinister, because an uninformed vote results in bad management. Our recent election for the new school addition was an example of just such a vote.

Voters who read the school propaganda were presented with false and misleading facts. Truthful answers and relevant questions weren’t presented to the public.

Two very important questions were avoided.

a) How many actual overcrowded students were there?

b) What would the cumulative tax increase be over the next six years? Will it double our property taxes?

The false and misleading propaganda put out as factual by school supporters was never corrected by the other town’s boards that are supposed to also function as a system of checks and balances for good management.

False: 1) NEASC would pull our school accreditation because of overcrowding. The truth is NEASC is a political organization of high school principals and superintendents, not a state regulatory agency.

False: 2) Without NEASC approval our students would have more difficulty getting into college. I spoke with Charles Phillips of New York (former assistant director of admissions at West Point and currently chairman on a New York school board) about these issues. The truth is, admissions officers look at:

1) High school rank. They know students in the upper one third are capable of doing college level work.

2) SAT’s

3) What your teachers say

4) The student’s leadership positions

5) Grades (Because there usually are five different levels of classes and kids get A’s and B’s at every level, grades alone don’t tell much. Also, too many teachers use grade inflation to be liked.)

Another election manipulation. [First Selectman Joe] Borst allowed the schools to use the school emergency phone system (paid for with taxpayer money) to notify only school parents (a select group), to come out and vote. This violates election rules. The vote is supposed to happen on a level playing field based on facts. He’ll get away with this unless someone files a complaint with the State Election Commission.

Additionally, when I talked with parents about the overcrowding issue, I received all kinds of answers. People were confused. Some thought the high school was overcrowded by 400 students. Some quoted school information that said we were 166 students overcrowded. But really we were 123 students overcrowded. At 20 students per classroom that means six classrooms would remedy the overcrowding. And 12 classrooms would probably handle future growth. But what we voted on building was equal to 30-some classrooms, plus installing astroturf, a million-dollar deal that has to be replaced every 18 years and is also known to have lead contamination problems. This, too, was never adequately discussed.

[Board of Education Chair] Elaine McClure didn’t function to provide balance between the town and schools for the best education the majority could afford. She instead acted as the schools’ empire builder and union organizer. Unfortunately, with the rising fuel costs and resultant inflation of every cost the probable overrun of this addition will run another $8 million. And we have not got to the center school roof that has to be addressed next year.

America’s financial crisis is a result of two things: regulators failing to regulate and everyone, federal, state, towns, and individuals, writing checks with their mouth that their wallets cannot cover. If every US town overspends $10 million annually because of uninformed voting we will add greatly to our financial woes.

Daniel Kormanik

85 Great Ring Road, Sandy Hook                   July 28, 2008