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To: Residents of Lawrence School DistrictAt the Meet the Candidates event which took place on May 2, 2005 in the Lawrence Middle School, and was moderated by the League of Women Voters (and sponsored by the Lawrence Central Council PTA), Stanley Kopilow, who is running for a seat on the District 15 School Board, was asked by the moderator, "What would you do in the event that the budget was voted down." Kopilow's immediate response was, "YOU MEAN AFTER I TOOK A SHOTGUN TO A CERTAIN GROUP?" - obviously referring to the Orthodox Jewish community in the Five Towns, which has been successful at defeating the school budget in previous years.
Stanley Kopilow has indicated that he will stop at nothing to supress any voters or groups oppposed to his election, and he has resorted to making virulently offensive and divisive comments to achieve this goal. Stanley Kopilow's poor character and hateful statements have indicated without a doubt that he is unfit for public office.
AS RESIDENTS OF SCHOOL DISTRICT 15, WE CONDEMN STANLEY KOPILOW'S HATEFUL RHETORIC AND DEMAND THAT HE WITHDRAW HIS CANDIDACY FOR THE SCHOOL BOARD.Sincerely,
The Undersigned
posted by Michael at 11:16 PM
4 Comments:
Yeah, I posted about this over at my place. I'm not sure which is worse, the fact that he said it, or the fact that everyone is ignoring the comment!
The fact is that kids in lawrence are loosing their funding for after school activities (all) so that the "public money supply" can go to bussing the children of orthodox families to yeshivas in brooklyn. It is so rediculous and i cannot beleive this is being allowed. Forget about one stupid comment and focus on this issue at hand. Public money is for the public and if Orthodox families decide not to send their children to public schools that is thier choice and their money. They should not take the public money supply
Rich,
You cannot "beleive [sic] this is being allowed," What, free speech and the response of a concerned community to the comments of a bigot? This is America, land of the free and home of the brave, where free speech is guaranteed by the 1st ammendment of the United States Constitution.
Judging by the record of other districts across the state, money that has been appropriated for education can be used much more efficiently than it is currently being spent and perhaps putting a stop to these budget increases once and for all, the district administrators will be forced to finally get a better handle on how they spend their funds.
Now, to focus on the issue at hand as you requested: If the Orthodox families pay into the "public money supply" why don't they deserve to have a say of how it's spent or get their fair use of it? Why do they need to support budget and tax increase after budget and tax increase only to get slandered by prospective board members? And, to my knowledge, the money is not spent to bus Orthodox children to yeshivos in Brooklyn but rather to bus them at all, and after normal public school hours.
The opposing candidate made a statement about how he was going to crush our school district. How rediculous is that statement. In no way am i supporting a "biggot" and if you feel that way dont vote for him, but the budget is a seperate issue and it needs to pass. I happen to know Stan Kopilow and his statement although sounding horrible as it did is not how he is. He may have a hard sense of humor and made a comment at the wrong time but he is just passionate at keeping our district alive. Trust me, he is the last person who would act accordingly to the comment.
We have enough issues already when it comes to education, and now we are bringing the problem close to home. Even if you dont care about the children who are attending the public schools, property value in a community drops enormously when there is no school close by. Then the entire area diminishes as a whole.
Reguarding your statement about the private school money, catholic private schools do not get a cent from the public money supply. Yes they are paying the money out in thier taxes but so are we, and not only did the opposing candidates talk about raising the taxes but they want to reduce the public school budget at the same time. There is something that this country has held firmly too - a concept of seperation of church and state. If catholic parents send their kids to catholic school they do not receive funding, just as well as jewish orthodox sending their kids away. People in areas of inwood and cedarhurst monitarily have no choice but to send their kids to public schools and it is an outrage that people under that sort of fiscal situation are forced to consider alternative schooling so their children can become educated.
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