Herald Endorsement

Valley Stream District 13: Chiachiere, Evans

Posted

The last few years have been tough on local school districts, with new financial restrictions, the implementation of Common Core, new state assessments and teacher evaluation systems, and no shortage of criticism directed at the educational system.

In District 13, we believe the Board of Education has done a good job of meeting these challenges, coming through with budgets that meet the tax cap, preparing teachers for the new standards and keeping programs such as art and music intact. A series of workshops this year to help parents better understand the new curriculum so they can work with their children at home shows forward thinking by district officials.

This year, there are three seats up for election on the Board of Education. President Sean Douglas is running unopposed for his second full term. Frank Chiachiere is being challenged by Patrick Heaney, and Debra Evans faces opposition from Patricia Farrell. Heaney and Farrell both ran last year as well.

In the Chiachiere-Heaney race, our endorsement goes to the veteran trustee. Chiachiere has served admirably for 21 years, and his experience as a teacher and school administrator makes him a valuable asset to the board. He thinks philosophically about education, and makes decisions based on the long-range interests of the school district.

Chiachiere takes part in the intergenerational reading program at Willow Road School, reading to the children once a month.

We liked Heaney last year, and so did the public, as he fell short of winning a board seat by only 23 votes. He favors an at-large election system for the board, in which voters would pick their top two or three from a pool of candidates rather than on a seat-by-seat basis, and we like that idea, too. Heaney is not wrong when he says that school boards should have new people with new ideas. But there is also something to be said for experience and institutional knowledge, and that is what Chiachiere brings.

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