Op-Ed: School Board Election Is A Battle For The Soul Of Clarkstown

New City NY

14 May, 2022

10:42 AM

Description

The writer, Linda Dunbar, is a Clarkstown resident. The battle for decency and inclusion is being fought across the nation and unfortunately theClarkstown Central School District is no different than anywhere else. Our future depends onyour vote. Our school board meetings have become highly combative forums that are making us a posterchild for intolerance and narrow-minded thinking. In-person meetings are polarized. Socialmedia has turned toxic. Electing the candidates who have made it clear on social media thatthey stand against having a diversity-friendly, open-minded school district will be detrimental toour district and the success of our children – the children who are bullied because of their race,ethnicities, and religions; the children who bully others and need to be engaged withconstructively; and the children who are marginalized because they are allies of children whoare targeted because of race, religion, and other inherent characteristics over which they haveno control. Electing the candidates whose positions are that we should get back to focusing on Math andEnglish or as they put it "ABCs-and 123s" are creating a false choice. They contend that we caneither do teaching academics or diversity, equity, and inclusion, but we cannot do both. Because they do not want diversity, equity, and inclusion in our district. Our school district isperfectly capable of doing more than one thing at a time, especially things that arecomplementary and overlapping. We need board members who will make our school board workable and our school districtdesirable. We need a tone from the top of our school district that is open, calm, curious, andcollaborative. Candidates who understand that a sophisticated school district can do more thanone thing at a time. Candidates who understand that educating children is about more thanmath and English. That emotional intelligence and cultural competency are skills that are indemand and called out on job descriptions today. That employers, customers, and patientsexpect to work with people who understand perspectives other than their own. The good news is there are two candidates this year for the two open seats who are intelligent,thoughtful, know the district, and can do more than one thing at a time. John Maltbie is an attorney who is Director of Intellectual Property at a global company and iswell-versed in budgets, staff management, and contracts. He also teaches at Fordham LawSchool. He is a longtime PTA member and a parent of a student in the district. Dr. Brian Montes has a Ph.D in Cultural Anthropology and is a professor at John Jay College ofCriminal Justice. He knows what our students need to survive and thrive in college. He is aparent of 4 children, including 2 Clarkstown North grads as well as two students currentlyattending school in the district. We have choices to make. Let's choose candidates who will listen, collaborate, deliberate, andcenter our children in the education they and the district deserve. What an amazing school district we could be.