A diverse group of individuals has come together to form a new organization called Students & Taxpayers First (STF). The group aims to help educate the public regarding Long Island school board candidates who put taxpayers first, oppose “woke” agendas being taught in schools, improve educational standards and call for fiscal transparency in the region’s 125 school districts.
Among the many members of the group’s advisory committee are:
- Jaclyn Napolitano-Furno — former member and candidate for the Connetquot Board of Education. She will serve as president of STF.
- John Zaher — president and CEO of the Public Relations and Marketing Group (PRMG) in Patchogue. He will serve as executive director of STF.
- Andrea Vecchio — longtime president of Long Island TAX PAC.
- Lisa Azzarelli — president of Save Our Schools
- Marie-Line Lubin — a parent in the Sachem School District, who objected to what she claims was her daughter being groomed to be transgender at school without her knowledge.
- Anita MacDougall and Laurie Pandelakis — original members of Long Islanders for Education Reform.
- Steven Gillan — president and executive director of Project Civica.
- Kim Vargas and Teresa Helfinger — members of Moms for Liberty, who oppose the injection of Critical Race Theory into the New York State curriculum.
- Steve Levy — former Suffolk County executive and New York State Assemblyman.
- Irfran Faisal — an entrepreneur who is interested in more transparent schools.
STF will place a contract with school district voters on its website which school board candidates will be asked to sign. “The value of having this pledge is to allow the casual voter on a school board level to be able to quickly find out which candidates in the mix are committed to the values espoused in the pledge,” Ms. Napolitano-Furno said. “Since candidates for school board do not run on a party platform, voters are often unaware of their positions on issues. Consequently, it is usually the candidate funded and supported by the teachers unions that have the leg up.”
Those signing the pledge must promise not to accept donations or support from the teachers unions in order to maintain their independence and avoid conflicts of interest. “We want to ensure that those elected to serve on our school boards have an allegiance to the parents and taxpayers as opposed to the unions and special interests,” Ms. Vecchio said. “From there, it will be up to the voters to decide who they prefer.”
STF will not only work to save taxpayers money, but will also counter a woke agenda that has been imposed in many districts throughout the state. “When neighbors asked for my help to remove pornographic material from a school library, I thought they were exaggerating,” Mr. Levy said. “But then I saw that indeed books were being made accessible to children with graphic illustrations depicting young people performing oral sex while glorifying incestuous, detailed sex acts involving a thirteen-year-old. This is not only age-inappropriate, it is also possibly illegal. How can this be tolerated in our Long Island schools?”
“Every year, the highly financed and entrenched lobbying group that is the teachers unions can pull out a reliable group of about 1,500 voters in a district,” Ms. MacDougall said. “They are composed of teachers and spouses within those districts who can be easily mobilized and counted on the vote for the interests of the union.”
“Those candidates running without this support often find it an uphill battle to gain the traction needed to reach the public,” Ms. MacDougall said. “With our advances in technology, there’s no reason why the casual voter should not be able to find out a person‘s position on important issues through just the click of a mouse. Now, every voter will be able to have a clear choice in school board elections.”
“Over the last decade, the public education system has become more about controlled thinking versus balanced thinking,” Ms. Azzarelli said. “The Regents Board has asserted unprecedented influence over school boards. When we diminish standards and expectations, it is the children who suffer the most.”
The organization will also seek to provide resources to candidates running for school board, including assistance in developing campaigns, messaging, identifying and reaching out to voters.
“We look forward to working with candidates in this year’s upcoming school board elections to help them educate the public about what they stand for,” Mr. Zaher said. “This will help level the playing field and do what we can to make local school district elections more competitive and less controlled by self-serving special interests.”