First let me congratulate Mr. Daniel Woska and Mrs. Virginia Reinhold for being elected to the school board. I wish them well.
It is this writer’s opinion that in the recent election process we lost two very hard-working and dedicated individuals in the form of school board members John Talty and Sharon Kight. These two folks gave their all when it came to the children and taxpayers of Brick. In today’s society, we seem to want the best of everything in the way of services and benefits while at the same time either turning a blind eye towards or our noses up at the cost.
Sports teams and big business pays a high price for that winning team or successful product and accordingly, the cost of that success is passed on to the fan or consumer. In keeping with those age old sayings “you get what you pay for” and “you have to spend money to make money,” why is it that when it comes time to investing in our children’s future by way of a good education, with a direct correlation to our community’s and nation’s future, are we so against paying for the quality we claim to want?
We say we want our children taught by the best educators while at the same time agonizing on how best to attract, retain and compensate them to the point that some of us begrudge their existence. We talk about having at their disposal the latest in technology, computers, audio-visual aids and maintaining school facilities however and in the end, failing to see to it that the annual school budget that supports those good intentions and lofty goals passes muster.
This year the school board chose to be bold. They introduced a budget proposing funding providing the compensation and tools intending that our educators and children be competitive with the full knowledge that the average taxpayer would not be thrilled with a tax increase but offering our children the best possible chance for a quality experience.
Despite the fact that they were up for election this year Mr. Talty and Mrs. Kight were aggressive advocates in support of the budget even though they understood that an increase in school related taxes might be detrimental to their own re-election. As if that wasn’t politically risky enough, Talty and Kight joined with the balance of the school board in introducing four other separate special questions for voter consideration representing key areas of concern that could not be included in the budget in accordance with state law and for which they aggressively spoke in support of.
During the months prior and right up to the day before the election, you would think that anyone running for re-election would be out campaigning. Think again. Mr. Talty and Mrs. Kight were not campaigning for themselves but rather taking the selfless political risk of venturing out into our community in an effort to meet with individuals or groups with questions or concerns about the budget and its value to our community and children.
Of the meetings that I had attended, I can say effectively that they did no more or less than give of their time to “educate” taxpayers and parents (often one in the same) about the critical needs of our school district, never once asking a single individual or group to support their re-election. Through their efforts and the efforts of many others, the voters approved the budget and all four questions.
At a time when there is such an outcry for more open and responsive government, they made a sincere and legitimate effort to educate Brick residents in order that we could make an educated decision on the budget knowing all the facts, good, bad or indifferent.
However in doing so it appears they did themselves the ultimate political injustice. By putting our children and their taxpaying parents ahead of their own personal goal (aspirations for reelection), these two very dedicated and special people came up short in the election for responding to that which we claim we want – a first class education experience from great educators in good, safe schools.
Their second costly political mistake being their efforts to provide transparency and staking out a position on the issues. The foregoing being the other things we as taxpayers and voters clamor for. I want to thank Mr. John Talty and Mrs. Sharon Kight for the effort and commitment they made to the children, parents and taxpayers of Brick during their tenure on the school board.
I also want to commend them for the leadership despite political consequence they displayed in actually doing the kinds of things newspapers and voters have been screaming about by listening to the community, offering and explaining solutions and taking a position and sticking to it. Too bad it seems we punished them for the very service above self we claim we want in our elected officials.
Thank you, John and Sharon
Dominick Marino
Brick