To the editor:
Back in 2004, I was hoping to become the newest member to the Board. I was full of ideas and I thought the board members at that time were ineffective; the solutions seemed so simple.
For those of you who are currently sitting on the outside of the board room and making posts on Facebook, the solutions to our problems do seem simple. I can understand this. Words and phrases like “transparency,” “the status quo is not good enough,” and “smarter spending” are easy to toss around. But what exactly would that change look like? Are there specific plans and ideas that come along with these words and phrases?
In effecting change on a board of education, you need to speak in specifics. Vagueries may move a voter but it won’t gain them your trust. It shouldn’t.
Furthermore, you need to consider all of the stakeholders to whom you have a responsibility. First and foremost, of course, are our 3,800 students. But even that has many layers. There are six schools, 13 grades, children learn differently, children have different interests, and children need and deserve different types of support.
There are our district employees: teachers, administrators, support staff, and executive staff at the central office, all of whom have different and sometimes competing interests and concerns.
There are our residents, which include parents of students as well as residents with no children in our schools—all of whom are taxpayers.
There is our Borough Council, with whom we share the responsibility for ensuring a well-functioning greater community. The joint-use committee, on which I serve, is critical to this and I want to be able to continue in this capacity because our relations with the council are good.
There are our fellow Board members, to whom we must owe mutual respect, even when we have different concerns. We need a board that welcomes all ideas and welcomes all nine colleagues for their different views.
An effective board member needs to come to a solution that is best for the greatest number of students without adversely affecting the other stakeholders in this complex matrix.
A board member can be a leader. I have done this on many occasions. But I have never done it alone. Board members need at least 4 colleagues to support their initiatives. And all of this must be done respectfully. That is how effective government works.
I have been a board member with children in our schools and I’ve been a board member with children no longer in our schools. A board should have a mix of both. The members who do not have children in the schools are free from any bias and also are able to consider policies and positions based on a wide range of independent data affecting all students—rather than a small sample of anecdotal information provided by their own children.
To ensure that I know what’s important to you, I will continue to hold cottage parties at my home. They are announced through social media, and are never exclusive in any way. I challenge you to find anyone in this town who has ever come to my home and left not feeling they were heard.
I look forward to continuing to be your voice on the board for the next three years.
Mark Aronson
Tenafly
The writer is a Tenafly Board of Education member and a candidate in this year’s board election.