Roth, a 15-year Merrick resident, is an involved mother of two Birch Elementary School students. She serves on the Special Education PTA Executive Board. She's also active in the Merrick Jewish Center, where she serves as chairwoman of the Purim carnival.
More than that, she is an education attorney with an incredible knowledge of the schools and, quite obviously, the laws governing them. She recently opened her own education law practice in East Meadow, which primarily represents special-education students who have been denied services by their school districts. Before that, Roth was an education attorney at a Garden City firm, and prior to that she served as a legal counsel to the New York City Board of Education.
Roth began her career representing securities firms in New York City, so she also has knowledge of business, which could help in school budgeting. In all, she's been a lawyer for two decades.
Richard Goldberg is a real-estate attorney and super-involved dad who's now a trustee of Temple Beth Am in Merrick. He's extremely intelligent, holding the distinction of having graduated first in his class from the world's largest high school in the Bronx. He earned a degree from Cornell and his law degree and master's of law from NYU. But he doesn't have Roth's vast knowledge of education law.
Kaplan earned her doctorate in education administration and is a caring mother of two. She's a vice president at St. John's University in Queens. But she has lived in Merrick for only two years. We believe she needs more time to get better acquainted with the community before running for school board.
Charney owns an insurance agency in Massapequa, is incredibly active in the Chatterton PTA and is a member of the Merrick Park Home Owners Association, through which he has volunteered for several community causes. His knowledge of the insurance industry could be of great use to the Merrick board, but it doesn't trump Roth's experience as an education attorney.
The Herald's endorsement goes to Roslyn Roth for the Merrick Board of Education.
