Bethpage-Tribune_1972-02-17

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Island Trees Serving Beth page - Plainview - Island Trees - Plainedge - Seaford Old Bethpage
VOL. 6 No. 15 Thursday, February 17,1972 10c per copy
Photos - In - The-NewsEducation Commissioner Is Focus
Of Community, Political Drives
Legislators Oppose New Powers
r n p r b . ta*o, who has
proclaimed the week beginning Feb. 16 as Lithuanian
Independence Week, accepts Lithuanian flag which
will be flown outside the Executive Building that week
from Anicetas Simutis, Consul General of Lithuania.
Looking on (rear) are Kestutis K. Miklas of Plainview
(1), chairman of week's observances, and Jonas
Ulenas, also of Plainview, member of executive board
of Lithuanian-American Committee. Miklas is a
member of the Bethpage School Board.
KIWANIS KEEPS GROWING: Standing with Beth-page
Kiwanis President Henry Rockhill (c.) are Bob
Kwaitkowski (r.) and Mike Doyle, son of the late
William Doyle, a charter member of the Club. Rockhill
inducted the two men into "our fast-growing club" at a
recent meeting. •;_,„„Hr^<
IRS Man To Advise Senior Citizens
Next Wednesday, Feb. 23, at
1:30 p.m., a staff member of the
Internal Revenue Service will
give a speech at the Knights of
Columbus, 519 Central Avenue,
Bethpage.
There are many Senior Citizens
who may not be filling out Form
1040 to their own best interest,
explains Catherine Winters of the
Bethpage Senior Citizens, but
there is no reason for anyone to
pay to have this form filled out by
an outsider.
The IRS man will explain all
rights clearly, she adds. For
example:
Do you know all your allowable
exemptions?
Should you use the standard
deduction or itemize your
deductions?
Can you deduct amounts paid
for medical or dental expenses
(not covered by insurance)?
Can you enter the cost of
nursing duties?
Are you allowed ' to deduct
expenses for transportation to
(Continued on Pflgtf Hi
Nassau County's 12 Republican
state legislators pledged last
week to vigorously oppose
recommendations in the
Fleischmann Commission Report
that called for new laws to give
the State Education Com­missioner
major new powers and
to allow consolidation of school
districts and the busing of
children across school district
lines for any purpose.
The delegation of seven
assemblymen -and five senators
also opposed the proposal in the
Commission's report which
called for five areas in Nassau to
be used as "Target Districts" to
implement the Commission's
proposed desegregation plan.
The five areas are Elmont, Great
Neck, Hempstead, Lawrence and
Uniondale.
"We cannot and shall not be a
party to any legislative proposals
which could eventually lead to
the complete destruction of our
present school systems and
which would remove control of
these schools from the local level
and place it in the hands of a
super-educational czar," said
Assemblyman Joseph M.
Margiotta, (Uniondale),
spokesman for the powerful
delegation.
Members of the delegation are
Senators John D. Caemmerer
(East Williston); John Dunne
(Garden City); Ralph Marino
(East Norwich); Norman Levy
(Long Beach) and George
Murphy (Seaford). In addition to
Margiotta, the Assemblymen are
George Farrell (Floral Park);
Majority Leader John Kingston
(Westbury); Milton Jonas (North
Merrick); Joseph Reilly (Glen
Cove); Phil Healey
(Massapequa) and Martin
Ginsberg (Plainview).
Hit Busing and Tax Limit
"We cannot possibly accept any
proposal which would alter any
school district boundaries
without voter consent or requires
that students in any school
district in Nassau County, or
anywhere else, be forced to
receive an education in any other
district in the state or county in
order to implement any program
regardless of its nature," said the
Uniondale lawmaker.
"We shall oppose any attempts
to legislate away our con­stituents'
rights to determine the
boundaries of their community
school districts," he said.
"Historically the members of
the Nassau Republican
delegation have been committed
to voting for legislation to con­tinue
quality education in our
local school systems. Our con­stituents
have always been
willing to sacrifice in order to
achieve quality education for
their children. We shall not be a
party to a proposal that says
those school districts which are
willing to pay more for education
shall not be allowed to do it. We
shall not be a party to a proposal
that calls for the elimination of
the tracking of brighter students
in the name of equal education
for all students," Margiotta said.
Historically the members of
this delegation have been op­posed
also to any plans to con­solidate
school districts without
voter, approval and to bus school
children for any purpose, he
noted.
"As far back as 1968, Nassau
Republican legislators publicly
opposed plans by the Education
Department and the Board of
Regents to introduce legislation
which would in any way deprive
the citizens of Nassau County of
deciding for themselves what the
school district boundaries shall
be for their communities," he
said.
"Then, as now, these proposals.
were opposed by the delegation
(Continued on Prtgf 8)
FACT Joins Island Tfeef
In Election Campaign
Louise Bergeron,
chairman of FACT (For
All Concerned Taxpayers)
reported last week that
they will be directing the
petition drive in Bethpage
which calls for the election
of the State Commissioner
of Education.
Mrs. Bergeron stated
that FACT would be
working in conjunction
with the United Nassau-
Suffolk Educational
Council (UNSEC) which,
in turn, will act in coopera­tion
with a state-wide
coordinating committee
entitled "Join Your Neigh­bors"
(JYN).
Mrs. Joan Cable of Beth­page,
chairman of UN-SEC,
argued that "with
the tremendous rise in
education costs and the
recent introduction of
educational edicts harmful
to local schools and
parental influence over
their own children, New
York must have a Com­missioner
of Education
who is directly account­able
to the people for his
actions."
Said Mrs. Bergeron:
"We have had for too
long to bear under the
actions of the office of
Commissioner of Educa­tion,
mandates...that have
had a dramatic and
unacceptable effect within
the educational system
today. One man rules, one
man judges, one man
interprets...and is ac­countable
to no one.
"The time has come
where the people of this
state have every right to
evaluate the product of the
system (their children)
and to have a voice in
selecting the person to
whom this charge is
placed," she added.
JYN was founded last
year by Island Trees
residents upset by the
removal of James Tucci
from the district's library
board. They have since
traveled throughout the
state, investigating
similar complaints against
the Commissioner and ini­tiating
the present petition
drive.
FACT is one of several
civic /political groups in
Bethpage.
Under the terms of the
petition, the State Legisla­ture
would be compelled to
offer a referendum in the
1972 election which would
make the Commissioner
subject to the same legal
requirements as the
Governor. The first
election would be held in
1973.
Petitions and in­formation
about the drive
may be obtained from
"Join Your Neighbors,
Inc.", P.O. Box 131, Levit-town,
N.Y., 11756, or by
calling OV 1-5805.