Letters to the Editor, Dec. 28, 2006

Just tell me why
To the editor:
   
Sometime in the wee hours of Christmas morning, someone stole the letter "O" from the Christmas display, "JOY," on the front lawn of the Methodist Church on Blackwell Avenue in Hopewell.
   This display was the proud creation and the result of the hard work of our church members. It also was being made available to the public as a fundraiser for the church with a value of $100. In the center of the letter "O" was a nativity scene, and rising off the top of it was the Christmas star.
   I cannot imagine why anyone would find it necessary to destroy a tribute to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you spot this red letter, "O," please call me at 466-2709, or the Hopewell Township Police at 737-3100.
Barry Davison
Hopewell Township
Board did respond
To the editor:
   
I am writing this letter in response to Jim Wulf’s letter to the editor, published in the Dec. 14 Hopewell Valley News.
   Mr. Wulf’s letter of complaint alleged that he has been ignored by the Board of Education and the administration in response to requests he has made for information and dialog.
   In fact, the board and administration have expended a great deal of time and effort in responding to a wide variety of complaints and requests from Mr. Wulf. Mr. Wulf’s initial complaints were based on a change made to the location of the bus stop on his cul-de-sac. Subsequent to that, Mr. Wulf enlarged his scope of complaints.
   The Hopewell Valley School District values input, questions and concerns from taxpayers and residents of the district. Such input has been and will continue to be of paramount importance to us in our decision making.
   As required by the Open Public Records Act, we have responded to Mr. Wulf’s far-reaching official requests for information and data. The district administration estimates that it has expended thousands of dollars in clerk fees and part time employees in responding to these demands for school district data.
   We believe that the district has replied with courtesy and in legal compliance to each of Mr. Wulf’s very numerous requests over the past four months. The board has in addition carefully considered and responded to each of Mr. Wulf’s wide-ranging complaints and requests.
   Mr. Wulf, of course, may not be pleased that the board does not agree with each of his long list of complaints. But he can be assured that the board and administration have, rather than "ignoring" him, attempted to respond in a responsible manner.
Kim Newport,
President, Hopewell Valley
Regional Board of Education
The gift of life
To the editor:
   
On behalf of the Red Cross and our area hospitals, I encourage you to support our next community blood drive to be held Dec. 30 from 8 a.m.-1:45 p.m. in the St. James Church gym, East Delaware Avenue, Pennington.
   Donating blood during the holiday season is especially important. The need for blood never takes a holiday, and unfortunately, it is during the holiday season that donations begin to decline.
   May you find joy and peace in the knowledge that your generous spirit will offer hope and health to many hospital patients and their families.
   Warmest wishes for a joyous holiday season and a happy and healthy new year.
Anthony Persichilli, mayor
Pennington Borough
Just not true!
To the editor:
   
They say that if you repeat a lie enough times that people will begin to believe it. It seems that the people who would do away with Christmas have been successful at that (at least temporarily). They have principals, superintendents, teachers and even lawyers believing that it is illegal to celebrate a religious holiday in any way whatsoever in school. That could not be further from the truth.
   Last week the HVN quoted the school superintendent, Judith Ferguson, as saying, "This is a legal issue not a policy issue." I guess that statement was supposed to make us all back off and swallow the big lie and think that there is nothing we can do if it is the law. Robert Martinez, the school board lawyer, is quoted as saying: "It’s been in federal court that most disputes involving this issue have been resolved." What he didn’t say was what the final rulings were. The information I found at www.SayChristmas.org states that: "No court has ever ruled that the constitution demands school officials to censor Christmas carols, eliminate all references to Christmas, or silence those who celebrate Christmas."
   Why do the anti-holiday folks choose to see only one part of what the first amendment says? "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech…" That is a two-edged sword. Government cannot force people to accept and practice any particular religion nor can the government (schools) prohibit people (students or teachers) from celebrating a religious holiday.
   It seems to me that Mr. Arcurio’s "winter guidelines" have gone over to the extreme of denying teachers and students their constitutional rights. If the school board was concerned about lawsuits before the "guidelines," they should really be concerned now. I urge all parents, teachers, principals, students and school board members to visit www.SayChristmas.org click on "resources" and see for yourself how these rulings have come down in the courts. Learn what the truth is and check to see if your rights have been violated. Then let your voice be heard where it can make a difference. There will be petitions circulated to sign and be presented to the school board.
Charles Hunt
Titusville
We’re waiting!
To the editor:
   
I cannot agree more with the editor’s comments in Editor’s Notebook Dec. 14! Teachers should have more respect for themselves and their profession than take a day off to march on Trenton. I have teachers in my family and was a teacher myself, so I sort of understand their position. Greed and "don’t ask me to give up one penny" attitudes are what drives people to do things against their better judgment. Teachers’ unions, the NJEA, use powerful, persuasive methods to incite their members to act in unison. Politicians are so afraid of powerful groups who may not vote for them in the next election, that they bend over backwards to please them . . . and to do so, the politicians raise our taxes to save their own jobs! "Keep the unions happy and we’ll get re-elected." Disgraceful!
   Had I remained in the teaching profession, my salary would be well over $80,000/year for eight months’ work. And, had I gone into administration, my salary would be well over $125,000! Would I have been worth that much? How would I have been evaluated? How are teachers evaluated now? Are they more productive each year or do they just get a set increase negotiated by tough negotiators? In the business world, as the editor pointed out, workers are not guaranteed a set pay increase each year, along with benefits, paid health insurance, secure pension and other perks. Please don’t misunderstand me . . . teachers are not the only group lacking professionalism. They are being discussed here because of their ‘march on Trenton’ when it was not even necessary, based on Gov. Jon Corzine’s letters to the Legislature. However, that’s another topic of disillusionment and disgust!
   Property tax relief, as promised by the governor, had better come early in 2007. All that’s needed is for the legislators, being led by our governor, to stop worrying about their own jobs and benefits and to start doing what their electorate is demanding of them. Do the job we voted you into office to do and no less! Cut spending and reduce property taxes by at least 20 percent for all. Ah, but this takes sacrifice and courage. If there’s one politician in Trenton who will be courageous enough to stand up and state what he/she will sacrifice and challenge the other legislators to stand up and state what each one will sacrifice, perhaps it will snowball and we’ll have results instead of excuses.
   Let’s challenge Gov. Corzine to be the courageous person who will stand up and state what he will personally sacrifice toward the goal of less spending . . . and then insist others follow with their sacrifices. Maybe then, we’ll have property tax relief that is meaningful . . . and a balanced budget, too. We’re all waiting for the governor’s and the legislators’ New Year’s resolutions as to what they will sacrifice to save New Jersey.
Maryann J. Perkins
Hopewell Township
Bland, gray world
To the editor:
   
I recently moved to Hopewell. Before I moved here I had the impression it was a free-spirited, light-hearted town. A few months of reading the paper and hearing how the schools are run has made me see otherwise!
   I feel sorry for the children growing up here. Almost every week you hear about some new thing they aren’t allowed to do. Heaven forbid the high-school children should have some parties together and blow off a little steam. And now the elementary students are forbidden to enjoy the holiday fun at school that we all enjoyed when we were young?!
   It’s a scary path we’re headed down when the Scrooge-like "recommendations" of a school board attorney are translated into fixed law by which all students must abide. Hopewell is beginning to remind me of the town in that movie "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" with the sad-eyed children living in a bland, gray world devoid of toys and games. Ooops… I mentioned Santa Claus. Is that forbidden too?
Mary Daniels
Hopewell Township
Back to dark ages?
To the editor:
   
I would like to take this opportunity to express my overwhelming dismay and sadness, generated by the "Holiday celebration rules" article in HVN of Dec. 21.
   Principal Bruce Arcurio’s "guidelines letter" is quoted as stating "Separation of church and state was instituted in our country because the founders of our country saw the difficulty in making decisions for all when religion is part of the equation."
   Separation of church and state was not instituted by our founding fathers. It does not appear anywhere in the U.S. Constitution. It does not appear anywhere in the Bill of Rights. It is not found anywhere in any foundational document. The only place where the so-called "wall of separation" was mentioned was in a letter written by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists in 1801 when he responded to their concerns about state involvement in religion. Jefferson’s letter had nothing to say about limiting public religious expression, but dealt with government’s interference on the public expression of faith. (The first amendment states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"). The ACLU, its allies, and other groups hostile to religious freedom, have distorted the intent of Jefferson’s phrase, and would have us believe otherwise.
   The article also quotes the school board attorney: "It’s mainly federal case law upon which my recommendations to the school board was based." I don’t know which cases he is talking about, but I will say that all the cases I have followed have been resolved in favor of allowing student Bible clubs, and singing Christmas songs at "holiday" concerts that take place right before "holiday break." We are allowed (and encouraged) to call it Christmas break. We are allowed (and encouraged) to wish people a Merry Christmas, or a Happy Chanukah. Surveys show that 96 percent of all Americans celebrate Christmas. Yet, due to political correctness, misinformation, and even the threat of lawsuits from the ACLU and its allies, religious expression at Christmastime is increasingly absent from the public square. Slowly, this holy day is being turned into a secular "solstice season." We should not allow our "culture" to become so politically correct (?) that we are back to the dark ages.
   I would recommend that everyone, especially our school board attorney, read the information found at www.saychristmas.org/docs/christmas_info_letter_2006.pdf — which is a summary of the Constitutional Rights of Students, Teachers, and Public Schools to Seasonal Religious Expression.
   So, Merry Christmas to all my Christian friends, and Happy Chanukah to all my Jewish friends.
Weezie Huntington
Hopewell Township
First shot fired
To the editor:
   
In reading the HVN of Dec. 21, I see that the local school officials have just given me another reason for rejecting all future requests for more of my hard-earned money, such as budgets, referendums, busing funds, etc.
   Here are just a couple of examples as to why and I am positive that there are many more people in this Valley who feel the same as I do. I used to attend nearly every board meeting and even served on a couple of committees, but the last time I attended such a meeting was near the end of David Thomas’ tenure. I felt it was a waste of my time because the school board members gave very little consideration to what the public said.
   A — I recall one meeting that I attended in which there were some comments made about many of our citizens being on fixed incomes and could not afford to live here due to the high taxes. This was also stated in a letter I read in November 1993 by Robert M. Rhodes of Hopewell Township, who was referring to "future bond issues." I do not specifically recall which meeting I had attended where one of the board members, at a public meeting, stated that "if anyone could not afford to live here, they should move out."
   B — In the "letters section" of the Hopewell Valley News of March 10, 1994, Kenneth Anderson of Titusville, in an article, "Angry Shareholders," said: "The time has come for the board to regard taxpayers as shareholders in the business they (the board) administer and to realize that angry shareholders are not above removing management that is providing less than full value."
   C — In a "letter to editor" in the Hopewell Valley News of Sept. 9, 2004 in which I referred to the great conversation I had with a board member, Steven Wood. At a "Birthday Breakfast" in November 2003, I told him that as "shareholder," I felt that we the public were not being kept informed as to the status of the numerous referendums we had supported. He agreed and said he would bring it up at the next meeting. I have no reason to think he did not follow through, although that is a distinct possibility. However, I never heard from anyone and that prompted my writing nearly a two-page letter to the then superintendent, Nick Lorenzetti, with a copy to the editor in September 2004. I had asked that when we had budgets and referendums overlapping each other, the public deserved to be kept informed on the progress of each project and then a "final" report to the shareholders that would show: total amount approved by the taxpayers; total amount bonded unless that was the same as total approved; total amount spent; and if the project was underfunded – where did the balance come from; or if there was a surplus, was it returned to the taxpayers or was it spent on "the nice things to have" part of the budgeting process? I also advised him to please not have a staff member call me with the information, but to publish it for the benefit of the public.
   Sometime in early 2005, I received a call from the school district’s "PR person" asking what I wanted to know. We had quite a lengthy conversation which ended in her telling me she would try to have something in the next periodic district newsletter, "The Valley View." If she did, I certainly did not recognize it in any subsequent newsletter. So, three years later, I still do not know any more about my suggestion than I did when I spoke to Mr. Wood in November 2003.
   D — I agree wholeheartedly with what Jim Wulf said in his letter to the Hopewell Valley News on Dec. 14, 2006. He also quoted Judith Ferguson as saying, "we seem to have lost the ability or willingness to debate issues openly, logically and civilly."
   And now the last "straw that broke the camel’s back" is here in this Valley: What I have been warning many people I’ve spoken to for so many years has finally hit us. The cover story in the Hopewell Valley News, Dec. 21, and several letters to the editor concerning "holiday celebration, etc." I sure do hope that the staff writer does not lose his job because he said "holiday" instead of "winter." First of all I cannot celebrate anything unless I know what the "holiday" is all about so that I can celebrate it; and why would I want to celebrate "winter"? Who celebrates the long, dreary nights, freezing weather, snowdrifts, icy roads, high heating costs, etc., etc.?
   I have reread the story and letters several times and I just cannot understand why something so important to such a vast majority of our population, as the elimination of anything that might look, appear, smell, imply, possibly misunderstood in any way as referring to an event that occurred over 2,000 years ago is coming from an elementary school principal instead of the schools superintendent? I am sure that when the U.S. Congress declared Dec. 25 as a federal holiday they must have said why. They just did not say "we declare this day as a holiday" period! And if any of you in the school system, government and judiciary at all levels do not think we should celebrate Dec. 25 for what happened over 2000 years ago in Bethlehem, then I expect all of you to show up for work as usual because you are all saying that it is not a holiday. Do you have off from work so you can celebrate the first day of spring, summer or fall? Why is it that we should only celebrate "winter" and winter began Dec. 22?
   This battle is just beginning! Your school attorney is wrong! Principal Bruce Arcurio is wrong! Is it possible that we have a member of the ACLU imbedded in our school system? Even President Bill Clinton once said "we have the right of religion – not the right from religion!" All of you who accept this garbage have just "fired the shot that was heard around the world."
   I applaud each person who wrote a letter in the Dec. 21 issue of Hopewell Valley News and especially the young sophomore lady who has given me a glimmer of hope for the future.
Sevy Di Cocco
Hopewell Township