Rebuttal From April 14th Article In Reporter

The rebuttal from candidate Paul Edelman, to be printed in Friday's edition of the Reporter, is now available on-line:

http://www.thereporteronline.com/articles/2011/04/28/opinion/doc4dba0cc2e0b9f090444564.txt

Please be aware, this is an edited version (by the Reporter) and not the original letter that was submitted.

Community Forum Scheduled For May 9, 2011

On May 9th, the members of the 1st S.T.E.P. For NPSD campaign, will host their second Community Forum.  It will open to everyone.  Unfortunately, due to capacity constraints, admissions will be limited and RSVP will be required.  The location is the Hatfield Township building at 1950 School Road.  Call 484-991-8225 to reserve your seat. 

Urgent Newspaper Article Editorial

The following is a request made to "The Reporter" newspaper in response to what I feel, was a biased article against myself and fellow candidates running for Director of the North Penn School District.

To whom it may concern, after much consideration, I have decided to request an equal and public opportunity to present a rebuttal to your article published on April 14, 2011.  I ask that the following editorial be presented unedited, in its entirety.  To be fair to all candidates, the voters, and the election process, I feel that it should be printed on the front page just as the original article.  I would appreciate any priority with its publication that you can place on my letter.

Paul Edelman

To the Readers of "The Reporter",

 

My name is Paul Edelman.  I am a candidate for School Director of the North Penn School District.  I am asking The Reporter for this space in response to the clearly biased article published on April 14th concerning the election that I am campaigning in, "School Board Members Cry Foul".

 

This campaign is being run with four other candidates: Alex Ryabin, Suzan Leonard, Ahsanur Rahman, and Carolyn Murphy.  We are campaigning together as a slate of candidates for the five open seats on the school board.  There are several misconceptions within the article.  We did not have a reasonable opportunity to respond until after the newspaper had been sent to print.

 

First, I'd like to correct the slogan of our campaign.  It is "1st S.T.E.P for NPSD" which stands for Students and Taxpayers Expect Progress.  The Reporter printed our campaign as "S.T.A.R.T."  This was an obvious mistake as the newpaper had tried to explain the anagram.

 

Next, I will speak only for myself.  I was definitely not "hand-picked" by the North Penn Education Asscociation for candidacy.  I made my decision to run for school board last year as a replacement for Theresa Prykowski, who had retired.  Ms. Charnock was hand-picked from sixteen applicants by the current school board as Ms. Prykowski's replacement.  There was never any acknowledgment that I had applied for the position until after Ms. Charnock was chosen.  It was clear that I needed to find out more about the process.  After being "steered" to a web site by the district, which was no help for me, I contacted Alan Malachowski if he would be able to give me information on the process or at least get me in the right direction.  Later on, I received an email from Alan Malachowski, the "leaked" email to the school board, which was allowed to be quoted from, but was not printed in The Reporter to prove its actual content.   It was written as fact without any proof and claimed that the incumbants were not included in a meeting to show new candidates how to run for office.  Incumbents clearly know how to run for office.  Several incumbants have been on the board for several terms.  And I will state as fact, that all people who attended the meeting, were not limited to a political party.  This was an open meeting.

 

However, what the incumbants did not divulge, was that they were sent an official questionaire from the PAC and not the NPEA, which when completed and returned, incumbants would have then been scheduled for an endorsement meeting and interview.  Not one incumbent responded, nor did Mr. Unger.  It is really simple.  If one doesn't respond, how can one expect to be interviewed?  In spite of the way the entire board treated the teachers during the last negotiations, the incumbants were given an opportunity to clear the air with them, and instead, snubbed them, yet again.  And you expect to get their support?  How does this translate into us "bargaining from both sides of the table"?  Were there other candidates who qualified by petition and did not get on the ballot(that's right, taxpayers sign the petitions for us to get on the ballots and I can assure you, I did not have one teacher in the North Penn School District sign my petition)?  How is this considered "interference" from the teachers union with the election process?  You refused them.  How is this "manipulating the election process" Mr. Sherpinsky?  Do you mean to infer that the taxpayers or rather the voters cannot make their own decisions?

 

I object to the incumbants saying that I was "hand-picked" for this candidacy.  I applied.  I got my petitions signed and notarized.  I met with the North Penn Democratic Committee of my intent to run - all before I approached the NPEA for support.  And in fact, I did not meet with the NPEA until after my petitions were official.

 

I have seen and heard the comments such as "conflict of interest", "bargaining on both sides", "owing the union" and the list goes on.  The decision of the NPEA to endorse the candidates for 1st S.T.E.P. For North Penn School District, is based on the answers to the questionaires that only we answered, and the following interviews.  I will speak for myself on this.  I owe no one anything.  I am campaigning to do what is best for the students, including my two young children who attend North Penn schools.  I will be respectful with the teachers and in return, I expect the same.  And just as important as those two topics are, I am willing to be responsible to taxpayers who are with, or without children.  For every reader who wishes to respond that I won't think for myself, or stand up for what is right, I will show you a dozen of my co-workers and supervisors who would testify to the exact opposite.  I do stand up.  I do think for myself.  I do what I believe is right.

 

We are not duplicitous as Mr. Sherpinsky called us.  Three of us are parents with all of our children in the North Penn School District.  The other two candidates have children that all graduated from North Penn.  The five of us have so much vested in the childrens' futures.  To say that we are owned by affiliation makes as much sense as seeing one of us in a grocery store and saying that the store endorses us because we shop there.  This makes absolutely no sense, and is not true.

 

If you would really like to get to know us - call us at 484-991-8225 or visit us at 1ststepfornpsd.blogspot.com or on Facebook searching for 1st S.T.E.P. For North Penn School District.  We all have email available, and we are all approachable.

 

In closing, I think it was very unfortunate that the school board felt the need to respond in the fashion that they did and that it was rushed to print without hearing from the other candidates.  The article printed on April 14th is just one example of how badly we need a school board that has respect for not only its teachers, staff, but its community as well.  For the incumbants to make such inflammatory comments as a result of any taxpayer's right to run for an elected office is truly an insult to everyone who chooses to run for an elected office or the voters responsible for putting a candidate into office.  The North Penn School District deserves better representation than this.

Paul Edelman

Candidate for North Penn School Director

1st S.T.E.P. for North Penn School District

We are now on Facebook!

To keep current with our campaign, Like Us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/1st-STEP-For-North-Penn-School-District/199219020118385

We, the candidates of 1st S.T.E.P. For North Penn School District firmly believe in providing the best opportunities to learn in the safest of environments, for the children of the North Penn School District.  S.T.E.P. stands for Students and Taxpayers Expect Progress.


Fiscally, we have all been made aware of how bad things are, not just for NPSD, but everywhere.  Attacking and cutting specifically one facet of the district's expenditures, teachers, is not only inefficient,  but unfair to all charged with educating our children on a daily basis.  All expenditures must be examined line by line.  New revenues must be generated by considering all options, not just limited to tax increases.  This requires a holistic approach to budget management.  We need to seek opportunities to preserve educational programs and reduce the costs around ancillary services.  And we must look at contracts for cost savings.  We need to re-negotiate contracts for better terms and/or pool contracts for reduced costs or actually re-bid contracts to find vendors with lower costs for equivalent goods and services. 


Which leads us to our physical structures which are in real need of repair and/or on-going maintanence.  Frequently, repairs are over-engineered, over-planned, and turn into substantial, costly construction projects having gone well beyond the original bids.  However, not giving proper attention and appropriate funds, our buildings and properties will fall into such disrepair, that they would end up inoperable, and unsafe.


Finally, we need to re-establish the pride and respect that was the North Penn School District.  Decisions must be made, not by courting public opinion, but by seeking factual input and support.  A school director should be visible, approachable and in touch with the community that they were elected to represent.  As elected directors to the school board, we are detemined to improve communication channels between the taxpayers, parents, and students, between the school board and the teachers and all support staff.  We feel our school board should offer a presence at school events, perhaps even hosting some.  We plan to keep in touch with the needs of our Home and School Associations, holding regular Q&A sessions.  We believe North Penn School District has so many benefits to offer to our community.


Electing our candidates:  Ahsan Rhaman, Suzan Leonard, Alex Ryabin, Carolyn Murphy, and Paul Edelman, to the North Penn School Board is not about Democratic or Republican parties.  The position of School Board Director in Pennsylvania is a non-partisan position.  It is about who will be willing to "Take the 1st S.T.E.P. for North Penn School District".  We believe, along with your support, and votes, we are that first step.


The campaign phone number is 484-991-8225.