As an elected trustee of the Ringwood Board of Education, I can express my personal opinions on education here but nothing expressed should be considered to be Ringwood Board of Education opinion or policy.  These opinions are mine and mine alone and are expressed to keep Ringwood taxpayers informed about how their tax dollars are being used to educate their children.

In April, 2009, I won reelection to my 4th consecutive term for the Ringwood Board of Education.  With 11 years of experience, I hope that the Ringwood taxpayers realize the extent of my dedication to the educational system in Ringwood.  I have consistently fought for the highest quality education for the lowest possible cost.  Last spring we lost 4 top quality teachers and experienced some increase in class size.  When I went to elementary school, I had 31 or 32 fellow students in all of my classes.  I daydreamed and stared out the windows all day.  I eventually quit high school after many summers of going to summer school to make up for failed classes.  In my mid 20's I went back to school and earned my GED to start.  I followed that up with Bachelor's and Master's Degrees earning Summa Cum Laude honors for both degrees.  I'm also a member of Mensa, the High IQ Society.  I guess my teachers with the large class size failed me or at least could not devote the time to me that I undoubtedly needed.  If it wasn't for my own innate strength and capabilities, I may never have made anything of myself and I definitely would not have gone to college.  I was fortunate; I only lost a handful of years of my life.  This is why I see small class size as so important today.  We had a 2nd question on the April, 2009 ballot to help us keep the 4 teachers, but we lost the election.  We need to give our students the best chance they can have at succeeding in school, college and life.

In April, 2010 we lost the annual election again.  This time the cost to education is even greater.  After Governor Christie recommended in excess of $1,000,000 in cuts to our state aid, Mayor Taukus and the Ringwood Town Council cut another $415,000 from our budget.  This cut has the cruelest possible impact on Ringwood education.  My father used to say to me that "Ignorance is bliss."  That must be the case with the borough council.  None of our council people would have voted for this cut if they had even an inkling of the damage these cuts would cause to education in Ringwood.  Ringwood will never recover from these cuts.  Children in our educational system will suffer indefinitely because of the cuts that will be made this coming school year and next.  We've managed to hold class size relatively steady, but that won't last indefinitely.