Newsday Staff Writers
May 18, 2006
Michael Hatten, an Orthodox Jew who won a seat on the Lawrence school board this week, can't wait to see what happens when the new panel - controlled by private school parents and advocates for the first time - takes office on July 1.
"Let's give this a chance," Hatten said of the school board election results. With the victory of Hatten and Uri Kaufman, the seven-member Lawrence school board will have four Orthodox Jewish members, reflecting the community's growing size and influence in the district. "I'm kind of excited to see what happens."
For different reasons, Jordan Robbins, a vocal and frustrated public school parent who has watched enrollment and school budgets go down for five straight years, agrees.
"They've been trying for years to get control and now they have it, so the ball's in their court now," said Robbins, a Lawrence High School alumnus who has a son in third grade, of the private school community. "Now that they're running things, it seems to me they have an obligation to get the budget passed."
The last time a budget passed in this changing and increasingly divided district of 3,400 students was in 2001 - and that was on the second try. Since then, voters have decisively rejected every budget.
At the same time, school board elections have grown more bitterly contested. Private school parents, mostly from the Orthodox Jewish community, have sought a voice on the panel, running on platforms that criticized school spending and performance.
Several groups supporting public schools cropped up in response, and last year the dynamic - and the tension - grew so intense that the district unsuccessfully asked the state to lift contingency spending restrictions, citing the "change in demographics" as the reason for budget defeats.
Avi Dubin, 25, who was born and reared in Woodmere and attended Yeshiva schools, was among those who voted against the budget on Tuesday. "For me, it's like a good deed," he said. "I'm helping the Yeshivas out." He said rabbis in the Orthodox Jewish community urged members to vote against the budget, but at least one rabbi contacted yesterday - Rabbi Shneur Wolowik of Chabad of the Five Towns in Cedarhurst - denied trying to influence the vote.
"We're paying so much taxes here," Dubin said. "The majority of the community doesn't even use the public schools." Over the past five years, enrollment has dwindled by about 8 percent, prompting the district to shut down an elementary school that will soon be sold.
Lawrence proposed a $93.1-million budget for 2006-07, an increase of 5.29 percent over the current budget. It's unclear whether the board will put that plan or a reduced plan up for a revote, or simply go straight to a contingency budget. A contingency budget would be $91.8 million.
"I'm beyond anger," said board member Pamela Greenbaum, whose daughter will graduate from Lawrence High next month. "I'm just sad. We put up a very responsible budget, but the people have obviously spoken. ... It's yours now, do what you have to do and see if you can do it better."
Hatten acknowledged yesterday that the "community is somewhat fractured" but vowed to reach out to public school families and convince them that he and Kaufman don't want to gut the district.
"I want [the district] to be great," Hatten said. "I don't want anything associated with my name that's not terrific."
May 18, 2006
Michael Hatten, an Orthodox Jew who won a seat on the Lawrence school board this week, can't wait to see what happens when the new panel - controlled by private school parents and advocates for the first time - takes office on July 1.
"Let's give this a chance," Hatten said of the school board election results. With the victory of Hatten and Uri Kaufman, the seven-member Lawrence school board will have four Orthodox Jewish members, reflecting the community's growing size and influence in the district. "I'm kind of excited to see what happens."
For different reasons, Jordan Robbins, a vocal and frustrated public school parent who has watched enrollment and school budgets go down for five straight years, agrees.
"They've been trying for years to get control and now they have it, so the ball's in their court now," said Robbins, a Lawrence High School alumnus who has a son in third grade, of the private school community. "Now that they're running things, it seems to me they have an obligation to get the budget passed."
The last time a budget passed in this changing and increasingly divided district of 3,400 students was in 2001 - and that was on the second try. Since then, voters have decisively rejected every budget.
At the same time, school board elections have grown more bitterly contested. Private school parents, mostly from the Orthodox Jewish community, have sought a voice on the panel, running on platforms that criticized school spending and performance.
Several groups supporting public schools cropped up in response, and last year the dynamic - and the tension - grew so intense that the district unsuccessfully asked the state to lift contingency spending restrictions, citing the "change in demographics" as the reason for budget defeats.
Avi Dubin, 25, who was born and reared in Woodmere and attended Yeshiva schools, was among those who voted against the budget on Tuesday. "For me, it's like a good deed," he said. "I'm helping the Yeshivas out." He said rabbis in the Orthodox Jewish community urged members to vote against the budget, but at least one rabbi contacted yesterday - Rabbi Shneur Wolowik of Chabad of the Five Towns in Cedarhurst - denied trying to influence the vote.
"We're paying so much taxes here," Dubin said. "The majority of the community doesn't even use the public schools." Over the past five years, enrollment has dwindled by about 8 percent, prompting the district to shut down an elementary school that will soon be sold.
Lawrence proposed a $93.1-million budget for 2006-07, an increase of 5.29 percent over the current budget. It's unclear whether the board will put that plan or a reduced plan up for a revote, or simply go straight to a contingency budget. A contingency budget would be $91.8 million.
"I'm beyond anger," said board member Pamela Greenbaum, whose daughter will graduate from Lawrence High next month. "I'm just sad. We put up a very responsible budget, but the people have obviously spoken. ... It's yours now, do what you have to do and see if you can do it better."
Hatten acknowledged yesterday that the "community is somewhat fractured" but vowed to reach out to public school families and convince them that he and Kaufman don't want to gut the district.
"I want [the district] to be great," Hatten said. "I don't want anything associated with my name that's not terrific."
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
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