Postwar Political Factions

As East Meadow began transforming into a modern district in April 1948, the growth of its school system provided a breeding ground for partisan interference and ideological influence. These issues were largely “us” vs. “them” disputes related to control, patronage, religion, and money. Groups were largely divided by socioeconomic factors.

The factions that dominated the East Meadow political scene for two decades were known as the Independent Taxpayers of East Meadow (ITEM) and the Committee for Better Schools. ITEM, which incorporated as an official organization in September 1962, grew out of the Protective League membership from the 1940s and 1950s. The Protective League’s chairman in the 1950s was attorney (and later Senator) Edward J. Speno. ITEM was headed by John E. Curry. The Committee for Better Schools grew out of a group known as The Coalition, a looser organization established in 1954 as the Good Government Group (GGG). On paper, these were committees comprised of concerned citizens who wanted to control the educational system. Each was headed by a chairman who held meetings and put up a slate of candidates each year. Leaders’ children, now senior citizens, spoke of meetings taking place in their living rooms and basements.

ITEM was not known for its independence. A local activist, heavily involved with school efforts in the 1960s, recalled that “ITEM enjoyed a symbiotic relationship with the Republican Party.” The organization was supported by the East Meadow Republican Club and furthered conservative social viewpoints, worked to reduce taxes by tightly controlling or limiting school physical and programmatic expansion efforts, and chose school leaders who were sympathetic with their causes.

Principals and superintendents, often businessmen first and educators second, were chosen by school boards that were controlled year after year by the Protective League and ITEM. They rewarded loyalty to the cause by naming school buildings after their standard bearers (e.g., Edward McCleary).

The Committee for Better Schools was not officially supported by any particular political party, but its members were known as the liberals in the community. The “Coalition” members supported school budgets that raised funds for additional classrooms and progressive school programs. They spoke in favor of local artistic and educational pursuits that were controversial in postwar suburbia. The group’s membership tended to reflect the makeup of East Meadow’s most heavily Jewish neighborhoods and drew significantly from the Barnum Woods, Prospect, and Salisbury areas of the district. The Committee for Better Schools accused ITEM of putting religious and political interests before educational ones but could not garner enough support to take a majority of trustee seats. Catholics, who initially faced discrimination when moving to East Meadow, found themselves migrating to ITEM over religious and social issues. By the 1970s, the divide seemed tribal: music vs. football. Gifted programs for the “Cadillac crowd” vs. tax breaks for hardworking laborers.

In 1952, school board’s majority faction, under W. Tresper Clarke’s guidance, was accused by three taxpayers and the board’s Coalition minority of wasting public funds to illegally and improperly hire John H. Borrie as the school’s general and project attorney. At the time, the district was in the middle of a $12 million expansion project and Borrie’s opponents alleged that the board majority granted a contract giving the lawyer excessive funds for the length of the project – up to ten years, even though 1,600 residents signed a petition voicing opposition to the contract. The minority faction wanted to hire a lawyer yearly and pay that person a flat retainer plus a fee for extra work performed, rather than the arrangement that had been in place, which paid the attorney 0.5% of the planned work plus a flat fee per year. In 1952, that salary’s base was $60,000 – the equivalent of about $584,000 today! Clarke was challenged in the state’s Department of Education in Albany, but was found to ultimately have the authority to enter into a contract with the attorney of his choice. Borrie would stay on in this role for many years, representing the district when it was the respondent in its most famous case, East Meadow Association v. Board of Education (1966). In that case, to be covered in a future column, the district was sued for preventing Pete Seeger from performing at W. Tresper Clarke High School based on his political views. (The district lost and Seeger went on to perform the following year.)

The issue of school prayer was first raised in 1949 by several local districts. At that time, W. Tresper Clarke, incoming Board president, chose to adopt a “wait and see” approach to the decision. A local rabbi spoke against the proposal and several local reverends spoke in favor of it. In 1953, the Protective League, headed by George McVey, sought to “improve the moral and spiritual welfare of the children” by encouraging prayer each day. McVey was opposed by Coalition leader Coleman O. Parsons. By May, the school board majority created a media blitz accusing Dr. Parsons of being a Communist. A separate article will detail East Meadow’s 1953 Red Scare. The events surrounding that election caused the creation of the GGG the following year. The Supreme Court’s 1962 Engel v. Vitale decision to prohibit school-sponsored prayer rendered East Meadow’s decision moot. Nevertheless, ITEM-backed trustees refused to change the policy manual and had school leaders recite, “We will now commence a moment of silence to enable those individuals who wish to ask God’s blessing on this day’s activities to do so in accordance with their own beliefs.” These daily moments continued until 1983!

In 1954, the newly-formed GGG accused trustees W. Tresper Clarke and Forrest T. Willits of “raiding our pocketbooks, disgraceful partisan politics, tricky and cynical real estate deals and plain garden variety stupidity.” Parsons had earlier accused the board majority of keeping students on double- and triple-session classes instead of quickly addressing overcrowding. Clarke decried the charges as “ridiculous” but Nassau County District Attorney Frank A. Gulotta opened an investigation into corruption and the Coalition members offered evidence. The case was short-lived, but Mr. Willits decided to finish up his term and not run again, citing personal business. Mr. Clarke completed his term and moved away from East Meadow. Mr. McVey stepped down from the Board in 1958 and was immediately hired by his friends to become the district’s Assistant Superintendent.

© Scott Eckers

Dr. Scott Eckers is the author of East Meadow (in Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series). He is a trustee on the East Meadow Board of Education and serves as a teacher and administrator in a nearby school district. He is also an entertainer and recording artist.