The trumpet vines are even more amazing and the pool is finally blue! I swam both days of the weekend. Despite the difficulties of getting it clear this summer, I've been swimming more than usual. It's such a hot one!

My brother celebrated his birthday on Saturday. Since Elwyn owned the house, while we were having cake, my mother talked about the diaries and mentioned this announcement she noticed that he had clipped and inserted in the 1961 diary: 

WEST SHOKAN
 By Jean Henderson
    Mr and Mrs Joe Massimo, now living in Boston, became parents of a baby boy Sept. 15, this is their first child.
     Florence Giuliano surprised all by having her baby weeks ahead of time. She was born Sept. 18, 5a.m. weighing 6lbs. 7 oz. And named Dina. Florence and Dino now have two boys and two girls.
    Seven year old Janette Giuliano stated emphatically that if they couldn’t have a girl then she would rather have a raccoon. Thank heaven for small favors! The raccoon notion came because she has seen so many of them at the home of her grandparents, Mr & Mrs Mart Eckert.

Aunt Jean wrote a column for the local newspaper (as Elwyn did before her). I was going to save that birth announcement for the actual day of my 50th, but it couldn't keep.

This issue is creating quite a stir. My father said yesterday, "We haven't had a town controversy in a while. It's good to have them every so often."

Finally: we watched Another Year, a wonderful British movie, Mike Leigh's latest. Really reminded me of...someone in my own life. Enough said.

OK. Here's one of the things I have wanted to write.

In the August 26 issue, the Olive Press featured an article entitled "An Appeal to Readers." (Can't link to it because that archived issue returns an error message.) It was basically reaching out to readers to find something -- I couldn't really decipher exactly what. I think it was either investors / advertisers or volunteers to help with production, or maybe all three.

On September 8, I read a cryptic post on facebook that suggested "our hometown newspaper" was "fading away." I posted a comment about what that meant which did not elicit a response from the elusive FB group owner.

An issue or two later (can't check whether it was in the next issue because that archived issue also returns an error message) there was an announcement that the October 7 issue would be the last one.

Finally, in the October 7 issue, the demise of the paper, and its slightly older sister, is chronicled in many articles, the editorial, etc.

I take no joy in having newspapers fold, but I see the handwriting on the wall even for major dailies, so it isn't exactly a shock. The OP could be a fun read, the letters column in particular. I think over the years it did improve, particularly the web presence, when it added PDF of the full version.

But I would not be honest if I didn't mark the occasion by ruminating a bit on my feelings about the alleged "hometown newspaper." Frankly, it never could be described with those words by me or a lot of folks I know. I recall being disgusted by both the POV and incredibly sloppy errors when it debuted. It seemed to be just another snarky take on the town, but instead of the frame being a swanky cocktail party, it was in print, the assault sent directly to everyone's mailbox.

Until recently, the website was an abbreviated version (and there are many issues that return error messages sprinkled through the archives), so I can't link to this either, but I remember a photograph feature in the early issues labeled "Eyesores of Olive." The pictures were of falling down houses, barns, shed, stores - places some remembered before they started leaning, and others that had been piles of wood with nature returning for many years. It was so insulting. Those places are not eyesores, they are memories, graves, time marching on, our collective experience. That's something that the OP always insisted they were providing - the veiled suggestion being that we had not been an insightful community before their sage commentary.

Does that seem like a reckless assertion on my part? Take a look at this editorial, from the January 4, 2004 issue: "In our very first issue, we told you our agenda was about building community, and we think we’ve been pretty successful doing that. A community isn’t a bunch of people who happen to live near each other. It’s a place where people understand that part of their lives is a partnership with others who share all the positive things that give them reason to be where they are, and whatever problems are also their neighbor’s problems. We’ve frequently heard comments to the effect that many folks barely realized Olive was actually its own town before the paper came along. While there is a certain humor to that, it does tell us that something very much like what we’re doing was overdue."

I wonder who barely realized Olive was actually a town before the OP came along?

In the first issue (January 2, 2003), the editorial says: "Call us impatient, but we figure after 179 years of being a town, it's time Olive had a regular newspaper of its own." That irritated those of us who now don't mourn the OP. We had newspapers before. Granted, the Onteora Record wasn't exclusively Olive focused, but you could hardly call the OP exclusively about our town, either. It was essentially the Phoenicia Times with a different masthead, and a couple of unique articles. The majority of content was identical. The Ulster County Townsman was Shandaken based, but in many ways, it covered the spirit of the town better than the OP. Its demise was sadder. Then, in the "olden days," the Freeman had columnists that covered town highlights. Sure, it was mostly social happenings...but it reflected our character.

That same OP editorial lists a bunch of names that were unfamiliar (and a couple that were known from their association with the Woodstock Times) and then this incredible assertion: "Anyway, the point's only that while this may be the very first issue of The Olive Press, we're already up to speed, and hardly anyone knows the neighborhood or the territory better."

Really? They knew the neighborhood and territory better than people who actually lived in the town? Or were elected officials in town government? Or ran a general store for years? Or had every single family member graduate from the school district? Or had hiked every mountain? Or had been writing things about Olive for longer than any of the listed writers had even known the town existed? Huh.

Oh, I know! They knew the neighborhood and territory better than those people who barely knew Olive was a town before the OP graced us with its appearance.

The following year, in an article about the movie Wendigo, the filmmaker is quoted "I mean, in 1912 New York City phoned the mayor up here and said, 'We want to take over your towns.' The Ashokan deserves more attention than I gave it in the movie. It was incredible. They bought your house, but they gave so little to people for their homes, considering their families may have come over on the Mayflower."

Now I understand this is a quote, so maybe the reporter didn't feel the need to fact check it. I also understand the filmmaker thought he was being empathetic toward town residents. But it is so incredibly lacking in veracity that it jumps off the page in its ignorance. That isn't how the Reservoir construction played out, at all. First, Olive has never had a mayor, not now, not then, not ever. Second, in 1912, I doubt the NYC mayor could have phoned anyone in Olive, mayor or not. Third, in 1912 the Reservoir was already under construction. Negotiations had concluded years before. Fourth, I suppose there are some families who could trace ancestors back to the Mayflower, but it is such a simplistic myth; it neglects the Dutch and Palatine roots.

This article, from the April 10, 2008 issue, really left me shaking my head. In a story about the NYC-owned bridges in the town, there are numerous quotes from people recollecting when the Traver Hollow Bridge was suddenly declared unsafe and closed while a new one was built during the 1970s. From the article "Anyone who has gazed down into the rocky canyon below the Traver Hollow Bridge can readily appreciate the dimensions of the feat of racing down and back up that terrain, lugging a heavy oxygen tank. "John and I ran it from there, switching (the oxygen gear) back and forth up to the house..."

Now, I can only assume the quote was either incorrect (very likely) or was intended to pull the reporter's leg and see how gullible he was (in that case, very) - because there is no way anyone ran oxygen tanks down and up the Traver Hollow. It's true that the bridge was closed to motorized traffic, even emergency vehicles. Yes, we rode the school bus from West Shokan to Boiceville by going across the reservoir in Shokan, and yes, it was a long hassle. I remember it well, the bus turned around on 28A at the bridge. I fell asleep every day on the bus (always an owl) and missed it entirely probably 2-3 times per week. But you could walk or bicycle over the bridge. I did it many times. If oxygen was needed on the opposite side, I'm sorry - it was carried across the bridge on foot. Not as fast or easy as driving it - but certainly not a mountain hike.

You could open up any issue and be greeted by a dozen howlers just like the Reservoir make believe and the bridge revisionism. Spotting them was almost a game, sort of like the scavenger hunt in Highlights magazine.

This site has a longer version of the "It's Over..." piece from the October 7 edition. What has been edited out is interesting.

This: "(A rival independent Shandaken-based newspaper, the Ulster County Townsman, died last year after half a century of publication.)

This: "Throughout their short lifespans, the Phoenicia Times and Olive Press have earned a reputation for anti-establishment leanings and lefty politics. (In 2006, a cameo appearance by Powers in a cranky New York Times column about Phoenicia propelled the paper into a brief war with the right-leaning Ulster County Townsman.)"

I guess the OP was uncomfortable about reminding readers of their disdain at that time for the Townsman.

How about this: "The two newspapers have gotten in trouble for not taking stands, too. (As every reporter finds out sooner or later, you're damned if you do, damned if you don't.) 'They were angry about the way I kept describing [the Large Parcel debate] in these flat terms that didn't take sides."

Oh yeah? I call BS. This, from a January 20, 2005 editorial, sounds like taking sides to me: "It is fundamentally unreasonable that similar properties in adjacent towns pay wildly different taxes to support the same school system."

Or this, from November 11, 2004: "Even in Olive, some of the anger and the militancy surrounding the large parcel issue is beginning to soften, as, we think, it should."

This "memoir" would not be complete without mentioning my interactions with the letters column over the years. I've created a label for my posts about those occasions. The letters column was usually quite lively. There were some serial writers, unfortunately, and they came off as obsessed nutjobs - I was careful to not become one (although it was tempting at times).

In the last issue's editorial, it says: "For our occasionally imperfect coverage and whatever errors and omissions we're managed over nearly ten years, I apologize." Is this me wearing a red dress to a funeral? I guess so. I apologize.

Last night I had so many ideas for things I wanted to post - but as often happens, other priorities crop up. (Actually those other priorities are always there, and I can happily procrastinate if the distractions are things such as picking tomatoes or going grocery shopping, but it's hard to allow nonessential writing to take precendence over my academic and administrative duties, sadly.)

Anyway - checked off a bunch of stuff, and I don't want to forget to comment on this. As you can see, the letter I mention here is the first one.

Editor's Note: We had taken the use of the "crowbar slapping" term referred to in a letter in our last issue as a metaphor designed to push the argument to a different level, and applied in a cartoonish manner (the author being a cartoonist by trade). We had not expected the term to be taken literally, and agree that such terminology is less than the civility I see in the overall discourse between these two writers.

A whole lot more defensive than then "good point" response I received via email, eh? It reminded me of this go around from a few years ago. At the time, I puzzled over why Mr. Thayer attacked me personally, and why the OP would print it unedited. A couple of weeks later, when I was in Samsonville and had access to the print edition (at the time they did not post the entire issue online as a PDF file, they only put up excerpts in HTML), I saw that Mr. Thayer regularly advertised his landscaping business in the Olive Press. So that explained why they printed his attack.

The editor's note about Mr. Murphy being a cartoonist struck me. How did they know that about him? I went through the PDF edition and saw that he is credited as the OP's cartoonist! So again, this explains why they ran the letter with the disturbing language.

Am I missing something here? I admit to not being much of a fan of the OP. I believe it is often poorly edited, sloppily researched, and that the bias is almost always anti-Olive. (And the cartoons suck.) The editorials - written by the editor and/or publisher - are truly pathetic. They are invariably stream-of-consciousness pieces, and finger-wagging in tone - admonishing us ignorant, provincial folks to suck it up and embrace whatever agenda the OP is pushing, with exhortations about what is "right." When they know they cannot reasonably push their preferred side of an issue for some reason - they meander around lamely and finally duck the issue.

Maybe that's the reality where such language is only a metaphor, and positively changes the level of discourse. (The editor's note must mean he perceives the level to have been elevated, right?) But how are threats of violence, even metaphorical ones, cartoonish? (I always hated the Road Runner cartoons, btw, and rooted for the coyote.)

I suspect it is because the OP agrees more with Murphy's politics than with Langbert's. As I wrote in my letter, I am not interested because I care a bit about the nuances of their arguments, but I do confess to feeling like snarkily saying to each of them: "hello Murphy? It's the '60s calling. We want our talking points back" and to Langbert "can the tiresome appeal to pride and make your case without the list of great books you believe only the ignorant have not read."

"Spoke" too soon!

I read this local paper (which generally is crap, although it sometimes makes a good effort and I am sympathetic to the difficulties of newspaper publishing), often am alarmed at the articles and letters, and occasionally (rarely recently) write in myself.

There are some letter writers who submit something for almost every issue.

As  I was making the dog food, I couldn't get one of the letters off my mind. I had been shocked when I initially read it, but as I often do, clicked to the next thing on my list and decided to ignore it. Didn't work.

So I came back upstairs and sent a short note to the editor:

It's not my intention to argue the merit (or lack of merit) of either position in Mr. Murphy's or Mr. Langbert's ongoing debate, but to ask the Olive Press a question. In your August 26 editorial, you state: "Look back over the pages preceding this editorial... folks are addressing local issues, occasionally angry over interpretation of facts and reading of signs. But the dialogue always returns to a central civil reality: people enjoy the dialogue."

In whose reality does slapping someone in the face with a crowbar qualify as civil?

I think because I am contemplating the semester's beginning, which means a new section of Toleration class, I couldn't just let it go.

Later: the editor responds: "I guess only when it occurs in print. good point..."


I didn't bother emailing again, but isn't that a distinction without a difference? 

This is no surprise. Nor was this, three years ago. The vote for incumbents! Vote for change! message isn't really inconsistent. It is consistently anti-Olive. (Also consistently and ironically status quo.) Well, one thing is for sure. Nothing will guarantee that Town of Olive residents won't vote for you more than an endorsement from the Olive Press!

I have been skeptical of middle school as a grade configuration for quite a while. Recently, this issue has heated up a bit more, and since the superintendent and much of the Board are now different, I again made an effort to have input. I heard back from the superintendent, which was a pleasant surprise, even though her response consisted of dismissing or ignoring my concerns. At this point, there is a community group that has organized around the idea.

In this week's Olive Press, this article appears. (I am linking to the Phoenicia Times website instead, because the Olive Press continuation does not go to the rest of the story.) For a lot of reasons, I am quite sympathetic to this group's goal of not restructuring the school district. However, what strikes me about this article is the overt anti-Olive bias. I guess, given the source (Olive Press) that shouldn't be a surprise. (The anti-Olive tone does not become apparent until the second page of the story; interestingly, that is the link that does not work at the Olive Press site.)

I mean, I have in the past lamented that "Olive" is plastered across the masthead. Take a look at this editorial from 2005. Deja vu anyone? Are the unidentified people described in the current article who were at the meeting discussing "how to get people motivated to vote in towns other than Olive. Many blame apathy for low voter turnout. They explored reasons ranging from an influx of weekend homeowners, the mascot issue, the closure of West Hurley, taxes and lack of organization or community feeling" the same ones who wrote this, in the 2005 editorial?: "This has been exacerbated in recent years by the difficult tax issues raised by the Large Parcel issue, by the nostalgic loyalties brought to the forefront during the mascot debacle; by the disparity of the townships brought together under the Onteora roof."

Also interesting, I notice a definite shift in the paper's perspective. In 2005, the tone was pro-middle school (and their assumption, with no evidence, seemed to be that Olive would foolishly oppose it or insist that Bennett School remain open even if there were better ideas). Here's the excerpt that so annoyed me when it was published: "Secondly, the Middle School model — which we could only eschew completely knowing that it would then set our students apart from a shared national and state experience — suggests that mid-grade students learn best when in their own school, yet with access to the sports and classroom facilities of junior and senior high schoolers."

However, now the paper appears to be championing the anti-middle school cause. The group that opposes the middle school has membership from all the towns, but I'm guessing Olive is probably the least represented. So as long as the Olive Press can trumpet a cause they perceive to be anti-Olive, they are happy to change positions and "eschew" the middle school idea. Isn't some explanation necessary? Or is it quite simply that the staff just can't stand our town?

My latest letter is in today's Olive Press.

Today I was reading the Olive Press, and I came across this editorial. This sentence really set me off: "Secondly, the Middle School model — which we could only eschew completely knowing that it would then set our students apart from a shared national and state experience — suggests that mid-grade students learn best when in their own school, yet with access to the sports and classroom facilities of junior and senior high schoolers."

What? So I couldn't resist, and I fired off another letter to the editor on the subject. It is similar to what I wrote here, with a few changes and deletions. I sure hope it doesn't cause some jerk to attack me - although I doubt this issue is of as much interest as the large parcel.

In the recent Olive Press, I read this article, which (as usual) irritated me. (What's with the snarky remark from unidentified Woodstock and West Hurley parents and teachers that any "attempt to close Bennett School would see Olive voters ganging up on us again"?) It said that school board discussions on this issue have not been well-attended. Well, I can't routinely go to board meetings (and I am taxed without representation anyway), but I have some thoughts on the issues addressed by the article.

It alarmed me to read in the article "Combined with strong suggestions from the state and federal government that all school districts institute some form of separate Middle School facility, big changes are afoot." I am aware that special education students at the junior high were below State accountability standards (if memory serves, for two years in a row?) because they failed to make adequate progress in mathematics and English, but it surprises me that the solution to this would be establishing a separate middle school?

Onteora is already a very well-funded district. It seems to me that the creation of a middle school is a very expensive 1960s solution to the education of pre-teens and young teens, even if it is in response to declining enrollment at the elementary schools. If research is any indictor, it is also an approach that is not likely to work.

A newer idea is moving to a K-8 model. Aside from the obvious advantage of leaving grades 7 and 8 in a more nurturing, closer to home neighborhood school, it also would solve the problem of decreasing enrollments in the elementary buildings, and it would eliminate the disruption and annoyance that would no doubt be caused by shifting students and closing schools.

So I emailed the board my concerns, with this brief literature review attached:

The idea of special middle schools to serve adolescents became popular in the 1960s. Schools vary in how they define a middle student, but generally the middle grades can include grades 5 through 8. Although there is no exact definition, middle schools usually serve students in either grades 5 or 6 through grade 8. Some districts have junior high schools instead of middle schools. Junior high school most often focuses on grades 7 and 8.

The Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development published Turning Points (Report of the Task Force on Education and Youth Adolescents, New York) in 1989, which highlighted the importance of children's transition during the middle grades. It has sparked debate and additional research on the middle school years, including Great Transitions: Preparing Adolescents for a New Century (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, New York, 1995). These publications and other research pointed out that the organization and curriculum of middle and junior high schools are often inconsistent with students' intellectual, emotional, and interpersonal needs. For many young people, this change means leaving the neighborhood elementary school to be thrust into a much larger, possibly more impersonal environment some distance from home.

The Carnegie Council concluded that the middle school curriculum does not encourage critical, complex thinking. They advocated the creation of learning teams, a core academic curriculum, the elimination of tracking (sorting students according to their ability level into homogeneous classes, rather than placing them in classes containing a mixture of ability levels), and the hiring of teachers who have been specifically trained to teach in the middle grades. In 1998, the Center for Collaborative Education in Boston (CCE) began to develop a school reform design that would be based on the research and work of the preceding nine years. In 1999 the U.S. Department of Education awarded grants to seven organizations to develop models of school reform. This support, along with funding from private foundations, meant research continued on the issue. In Turning Points 2000 (Teacher's College Press, New York, 2000), Anthony Jackson and Gayle Davis examined the progress being made and the experiences of middle school teachers and administrators. Turning Points 2000 builds on the original Turning Points, with added emphasis on improving curriculum, assessment, and instruction.

The Turning Points model includes seven points for middle-grades school reform: rigorous standards and curriculum, equitable and excellent instruction, preparation and support of expert teachers, schools organized into small units and instructional teams, democratic governance, a healthy learning environment, and schools linked with parents and communities. According to the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform, in 2005, 71 schools in 13 states (California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin) were implementing the Turning Points model.
According to the National Forum to Accelerate Middle School Reform, in Illinois, there was a rise in student achievement and fewer student behavior problems, and in Massachusetts’ middle schools, the Turning Points schools had gains in the Massachusetts Educational Assessment Program.

According to the RAND corporation (Rand Education, Problems and Promise of the American Middle School, Rand Research Brief, Santa Monica, California, 2004), in spite of these reform efforts, middle schools continue to have challenges. The transitions required by a separate middle school may cause problems that affect students’ development and academic achievement. RAND recommends that states and school districts consider alternatives to the 6-8 structure.

According to Education World (Sharon Cromwell, K-8 Schools: An Idea for the New Millenium?, 1999) Colorado Education Commissioner William Moloney reported that adding two grades to K-6 schools is less costly than building new middle schools, and in Higley, Arizona, a growing town near Phoenix, the school board decided to build five new K-8 schools rather than elementary and middle or junior high schools. A school board member stated that it makes sense to keep adolescents in the elementary school setting. School officials reported that older students in K-8 schools are less likely to be influenced by negative peer pressure than they are in middle schools and junior high schools.

According to Programs and Practices in K-8 Schools: Do They Meet the Educational Needs of Young Adolescents? (C. Kenneth McEwin, Thomas S. Dickinson, and Michael G. Jacobson, National Middle School Association, Westerville, Ohio, 2004), Cincinnati and Cleveland, Ohio; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Memphis, Tennessee; Baltimore, Maryland and Milwaukee, Wisconsin have plans to transition students from middle schools to K-8 schools. According to the author, there is no data available yet on whether young students in K-8 schools perform better than they do in middle schools.

On a different topic...two vet visits in just over a week. First, Sam was acting very subdued, his little ears were all back - he didn't want to play, or chase Edna, or annoy Sophie, or eat! All checked out fine, and he bounced back. I guess he ate too much, too fast, and he had a stomach ache; he is a very sensitive puppy. Then today we had to take Sophie to the vet, because she has blood in her urine. She seems OK, and I have antibiotics, as well as a pill to make her pee more acid. I wouldn't be so worried if this wasn't how Rudy's troubles started, almost a year ago. So have a good thought for Sophie.

This topic comes up occasionally in my class. Students feel one of two ways, that: a) we should stop babying kids, the real world is competitive and often not tolerant of mistakes, and making a big issue of correcting in red and its impact on self-esteem is silly or b) red marks on papers are upsetting (and not appropriate at the college level, either). I sometimes see similar sentiments expressed over games such as dodgeball, played in school gym class.

When I first started teaching online, I used colored text for corrections - not red, but blue. It took an enormous amount of time to format my comments, and once I took on more teaching responsibilities - I discovered that using all caps instead is much more efficient. I'm not sure why that didn't occur to me sooner! When I evaluate paper, rather than electronic documents, I use pencil, not because of a concern for the impact of red pen - but because I can erase if necessary.

I have heard complaints from teachers and faculty, that students are accustomed to being praised for effort, rather than quality of work - and so are not comfortable with criticism. This is sometimes blamed on parents, who celebrate everything their kids do, regardless of how well they do it. Other times school is faulted, for its emphasis on self-esteem rather than skill building.

I'm not sure what is the big deal with red - it is a color I like, and the stigma seems unfair. But I still think pencil is better for grading. About dodgeball, I think it is a horrible game and I always am pleased when I read in the newspaper about a school that does not play it.

The Olive Press updated the website; my letter and Bob's, as well as a reference from another letter writer are here. And, they continue the streak of cluelessness, in this editorial. The print edition has an ad for Mr. Thayer's landscaping endeavors. I guess that explains why he reads the paper.

This is restaurant week in Albany; many downtown places participate by offering a price-fixed menu at $16.09 (the year Henry Hudson landed). Always up to a good excuse for eating out - last night, we went to Le Serre; tomorrow night, we are going to Nicole's Bistro. Last restaurant week, we went here. We wanted to go here this time, but they have no reservations!

Registration for summer and fall started at the university this week. This is a very hectic time for me, and it is very stressful for students. I remember the aggravation of getting into classes when I was a student, and having an online system hasn't improved things very much.

My letter is in the print Olive Press this week, but they have not updated the letters on the website. It is appearing here in the online Phoenicia Times, though. Bob's is there too.

Spring break is over, so it is back to campus this week. I got some evaluation done last week, but (of course) not as much as I hoped. Just over the month until the semester is over. I don't want to wish my life away - but I am looking forward to being done this year.

I got a nice note from the editor of the Olive Press. He apologised for running the letter from Alden Thayer that attacked me.

I'm so happy, two weeks off antibiotics, and Rudy is fine. There is no blood in his urine, and he is not sore. Aside from the blood, the changes in his personality were very subtle. He is a very happy dog, the kind of dog that wags his tail, even when he is asleep, if you say his name. We think he was wagging it less when he was sick, and now he is wagging it a lot again. I don't think he is going to need the invasive urine test, but we probably will drop off another sample for a regular urinalysis, just to confirm that our observation is correct, that he is all recovered.

I attribute it to the power of supplements. Once the Baytril was finished, I started giving him CoQ10, cranberry extract, and these vitamins. (He's taken salmon oil and glucosamine for the past year.)

He didn't give me any trouble at first, but now that he feels better, he leaves some of the capsules in his bowl (and Sophie knocks him out of the way as she tries to get them). He usually eats the glucosamine, but he especially hates the daily blend since it is a powder that mixes with his food, and I'm sure it ruins the taste. Even yogurt or cottage cheese don't hide it. So, now I give him the capsules in ham, cheese, or an apricot (his favorite treat) rather than directly in his bowl, and I am going to switch him to plain B vitamins - since that is why I have been giving him the daily blend.

As a result of last night's and today's Google searching - I have been thinking about how much you can find out that way. It is kind of creepy, if you really think about it.

I also wonder if the person who attacked me here is the same as the creep in the Olive Press. Both were so personal, and irrational.

Last night, Ma emailed to let me know that someone had responded to my last letter in the Olive Press. The response letter is here, scroll down.

I couldn't sleep after reading it. I couldn't believe how personally, and specifically, the writer attacked me. So, I got up and wrote a response. The paper comes out every two weeks, so it won't appear in print or at the website until then. Today I sent two additional emails on the subject to the paper, not for publication, but just to express my concern and outrage. All three follow. The letter for publication is not a nutjob manifesto. The two emails are more emotional, but I needed to vent. I don't think there could be a greater insult to me than to call me unethical.

When I Googled his name, I did learn a few other things about him than what I mention in the second email. The most interesting, he's a landscape designer. Bob joked, maybe we should call him up and ask him if he wants to mow our lawn this summer. What else would someone with that title do in Denning? So much for Yale degrees. (I can be elitist too, you see.) He's gay. He's from NJ. His partner is from Puerto Rico and writes plays. His mother died earlier this month. (That is the one thing I feel bad for him over. But it still doesn't justify attacking my character.)

Something I didn't include in the part about theft from indigenous peoples, since the letter is more important in the print edition: Click here. Go to page 2. Scroll down to "Andrew Eckert," the picture is on the right. His mother was named Betsy North. Now, do you think maybe there was some of the Algonquian-speaking people's blood in his veins? (Somehow I suspect it is more likely than Ward Churchill's claim.)

To The Editor:

Imagine my surprise, upon opening the Olive Press after its recent hiatus, to discover a letter that attacks me, and in such a personal way! Apparently this person is not even a district resident, yet he has been annoyed enough by my words to take the time to write to the Olive Press. The letter writer challenges me to answer the questions he poses honestly. Well, I'm not sure who he thinks he is, to demand an accounting, but as all who know me are aware, I am never less than perfectly truthful, and so I will oblige.

Mr. Thayer wonders if I support compensating indigenous peoples (since he freely labels himself "clueless" he will not mind my pointing out that "Native American" is not the preferred term) for lands that were "stolen" by Olive natives, with roots that go back generations? His question makes two assumptions that must be scientifically solved before a thoughtful response can be mounted; first, that there were indigenous people settled in what has been known since 1823 as the Town of Olive; second, if the first assumption is correct (if it is not, this next part is a non-issue) that all of those Olive natives I referenced do not descend from indigenous peoples. How does Mr. Thayer know this? Because he judges based on surnames that sound European? What about matrilineal genealogy?

He then wonders if I support reparations? This question is not as easy to address as his assumptions about Olive's history and residents, but it is one that I have spent a great deal of time studying (not because of Mr. Thayer's letter, however; at the risk of infuriating him once again due to mentioning my advanced degree, I cover the subject in one of my classes). There are persuasive viewpoints on both sides of the reparations issue and I am not sure exactly where I stand. (Or at least I don't care to fully elaborate in a letter to the editor that is already too long; there are a lot of variables to sort out, such as who exactly would be the beneficiaries, who would do the paying, who would administer it, and how to figure out the amount to be paid.) Specific programs, including affirmative action and underrepresented student fellowships, while not precisely reparations, are efforts in our society to address this past injustice. So there is some precedent for taking historical "theft" into account when deciding contemporary "fairness." On the subject of eternity, the jury is still out.

Next, he describes the situation in the Tri-Valley district, but even given the advanced degree that so irritates Mr. Thayer, I was left scratching my head. In the first place, the comparison between districts is flawed. In the OCS district and in the county, it is Olive that does not have the votes, and we have been told that in no uncertain terms by our elected representatives.

Then, according to the NYS Education Department, in 2002-03 Tri-Valley spent $8,614 per student for general education and $19,607 per student for special education. Onteora spent $9,106 per student for regular education and $26,567 per student for special education. Both are considered "Average Need/Resource Category" schools, and both districts spent more than did similar schools ($7,111 per student for general education and $17,042 per student for special education). Also, both were above the Statewide average ($7,595 per student for general education and $17,818 per student for special education). Even if Neversink pays nothing and Denning pays it all, there is no way the disparity between towns in Tri-Valley could be what Mr. Thayer asserts ($33,500 per student).

At first I was not sure why he wasted his time writing an attack letter so specifically directed at me, instead of a more productive endeavor - you know, maybe getting involved in his own town and school, or looking at the beautiful view outside of the window or something. I wondered if he could be one of the Olive Press editorial writers? No, the name did not seem familiar, and although it could be disguised, it is doubtful one of the local journalists would be so personally vindictive. Then I decided that it is because of his extreme hostility toward his neighbors in Neversink due to his taxes and their not implementing the large parcel, coupled with an irrational jealousy over my having the nerve to "show off" my doctoral degree by (gasp) putting the letters after my name. If that upset him, oh well. I was a first-generation college student, and it took me 22 long years to walk across that stage and receive my PhD. I don't "flaunt" it most of the time, but if I want to advertise it on occasion, that's my right. There are a large number of folks in Olive who are pretty d-mn proud of me for earning it, I am still unspoiled enough that I consider it to be a significant achievement, and if that ain't humble enough to suit Mr. Thayer, that's his problem.

Certainly the most personally offensive thing he wrote was to question my ethics. That's a laugh. Now there's the mark of a sore loser - when all else fails, suggest that someone who disagrees with you is immoral, evil, a bad person. Upset the game board, make all the pieces fall to the floor, and run away. Why stop at unethical - why not call me a commie too? (How about "coy commie?;" then he could even use alliteration.) I don't know who Alden Thayer is - frankly, I don't care who he is - he may even be a she - but one thing is for sure. Them's fighting words. Is that plain spoken enough?

Mr. Thayer may scoff, but it does sadden me that some of our neighbors are so resentful. We never knew before the large parcel ripped open these old wounds. (However, it does make it much easier to justify voting with our dollars…what I mean is, don't shop outside of Olive.) In the end, I have concluded that if he is sparing the good people of Neversink his poison pen, I guess I am happy to be of service.

This morning's first email:

This is not a letter to the editor - it is not for publication. I am writing because I am concerned about a recent letter you printed in the current issue of the Olive Press and I wonder if you have any guidelines for what you are willing to publish, or if you include disclaimers.

The letter was signed by Alden Thayer and it attacks me in a rather personal manner. My mother (a pillar of the community, and one of the Olive natives whose family lost land that Mr. Thayer so disdains) was very upset, and emailed me late last night to alert me, so I visited your website and read it. Try as I might, even after taking a sleeping pill, I could not sleep after reading it, and so I got up and wrote a response (I used the "Contact the Olive Press" link on your website which directed it to the Phoenicia Times email address rather than this one that is listed with your masthead, I think). Probably I would not have bothered if I had been able to sleep on it - but I'm not sorry I did. It isn't a post in some obscure online forum - it is printed in a paper that is distributed free of charge to everyone in Olive. Now, the many people who know me and my family certainly won't think less of me because of Mr. Thayer's pointed attack - they will just think he is an AH because (this might be uppity) I am a nice person in an upstanding family.

I even received personal notes and thank you cards, and people called and emailed me and my parents with gratitude when I wrote my original (very long) letter to you on the large parcel subject some time ago. Many people who knew me as a kid said that I had captured exactly the way they feel about the Reservoir and Olive, but could not put into words. They wrote notes that said how proud they are of me for my accomplishments. That might be corny to some people but it wasn't to me. The sincerity of the folks in Olive is what has made me the person I am. They could have given me no greater compliment than to say that my writing expressed the way they feel. That is my goal as a writer.

I really don't care if Mr. Thayer questions me about the rights of indigenous peoples or reparations for slavery, and I also believe that he is entitled to disagree with me on the large parcel issue. It is a free country. On the other hand, I think taking a swipe at my level of education is a pretty cheap shot, but I write that off to jealousy from someone who always wanted to get a PhD but for some reason was unable to earn one - failing the dissertation defense or being unable to write one at all, not getting accepted to a graduate program, or having life circumstances such as raising a family or something of that nature intervene (and instead of making peace with it, always having regrets as a result). I do wonder if he would have so personally attacked me if I was a man, but that is beside the point.

What concerns me is that he calls me unethical. I pride myself on living according to my beliefs and not being a hypocrite. I opposed the construction of a Target that resulted in tearing down the historic Defreest Church House in Rensselaer County. We lost that one (as we may lose the large parcel battle, as our ancestors lost the valley), and the sad day the wrecking ball decimated that gem I vowed to never set foot in any Target - that was two years ago and I have not. I don't believe in extreme consumption, and so I do not drive, I grow organic produce, I recycle everything, and I do not buy something new unless what I have is totally shot (the homeless shelter would not even take my furniture). My tiny capital district house is in a working class neighborhood, and I have no interest in moving to a McMansion in Saratoga County like so many others. I hold my university students to a very high standard, and I am not afraid to take the time, or the professional risks, and report all instances of cheating and plagiarism to the university level.

To call me unethical equates me with scum like the jerks at Enron or even Martha Stewart. I was not unethical as a kid in high school when I lived in West Shokan and I am not unethical as a professor. It has nothing to do with my doctoral degree, it has to do with my moral compass, my upbringing, the fabric of my soul. I firmly believe in doing what is right. In fact I teach courses on Social Morality, Social Responsibility, and in the fall I will teach a course on Tolerance. It has been my life's effort to mentor and energize future K-12 teachers to be models, in the academic and the moral senses, for their students.

Maybe people today watch too many cable television shows where shouting is entertainment and they don't know the difference between TV and real life. But I would never individually attack another letter writer in your paper, and why he singles me out of the dozen letters in every issue that you print about the large parcel frankly scares me. I have wracked my brain about why he would choose me - did I know him in high school? (No, and that doesn't make sense anyway because I was a nobody in high school, not in a clique, apart from strong academics, I was not the darling of OCS - not at all someone others worried about, much less disliked). Does my family know him? Not that I know of. Was he a student of mine (which would be strange, as I am pretty popular with students) who didn't do well or was caught cheating or something? No, and I am sure, as I have only been teaching 5 years and I still remember all my students.

Could he have encountered me somewhere in the community and taken a dislike for some reason? Well, I sort of hide at my house in Samsonville when I am there on weekends, I just want to be with nature, get away, and see my family so that is doubtful. I do go to Olive Day but I don't have a booth or anything, I am a trustee and volunteer for the Historical Society, I take turns with my mother volunteering once a month so the museum in the Olive Free Library can be open, and I am secretary for the Mt. Pleasant Rural Cemetery (I wonder if as the result of the large parcel, we should dig everyone up (for some of them, again) and move them from Shandaken to Olive? hmmm now there's an idea) but I have never had anything but positive interactions in any of those organizations. I simply don't know anyone by that name. I don't think I even know anyone in his town. So his attack springs solely from my letter that you printed that objected to the tone of your editorial? Is Mr. Thayer somehow connected to your newspaper? That seems hard to believe. It is puzzling.

I am not a public official, I am not a member of your staff, I am a private individual and Mr. Thayer's so directly insulting my character is libel - or if it seems too trivial to rise to that level, then it borders on it. In the olden days (which if Mr. Thayer actually knew me, he would know those times are quite real to me), his remarks about my integrity would have earned him a slap in the face and a challenge to a duel.

Thank you.

This morning's second email:

An addendum to my earlier perplexed missive, this is also not intended for publication.

I couldn't take wondering whether Alden Thayer will be lurking in the woods near my house this weekend, or making crank calls to me or my parents, so I finally Googled his name and now the reasons for his irrational libel become clear. He's the head of Denning's planning board, and a weekender or fairly recent NYC-metro transplant. Probably hates locals and spends all his free time in Woodstock grooving with the other Olive haters. Maybe didn't know West Shokan's taxes were so much lower when he bought a place on the other side of Peekamoose and has been furious ever since.

His partner is a Yalie, we all know that means silk purse, while SUNY grads like me are cut from a burlap bag. Probably Mr. Thayer is not a big supporter of public education in general. That one of the rednecks had the nerve to go get a PhD and then write letters where she brags about it! What an outrage! I'll show her. She must be an ignorant racist to champion the rights of the folks in her hometown (witness his reference to White theft from so-called Native Americans and reparations for slavery).

Well, one thing he is right about. He is among the clueless I criticized, he may look at it, but he does not "see" the Reservoir at all, and he never will. He can't, he is small and it is big. It is beyond his comprehension. So I guess that sums up why he took my general letter as a personal affront. Well, I have a long memory. I'd advise Mr. Thayer to refrain from writing any more attacks on my character - if he does I am going to call the police over his harassment. I am not afraid of bullies.

Thanks, I feel better already.

My January 28 entry is on this week's Carnival of Education. I'm not sure that it is my best post, but it is OK. It had to be on education and less than a month old when submitted.

Update to yesterday's post: a perfect illustration of #5 in my post from 2/28 about reflections on three years of blogging. Another commenter suggested I would like it better in a communist country! For wanting folks in my hometown to pay less taxes and be listened to by politicians when they speak out! Funny! I have a feeling it is someone local, that when they represent themselves as being from out of town they are not being truthful - I mean, either a teacher in the district or someone from one of the other towns, because of how personal and direct the reference to me is, also for mentioning having my house taken away for nonpayment. Now, I only mentioned my intentions in the Olive Press, who else reads that? Of course I suppose they could have read it here, but then if they were reading this I suspect they would attack me in the comments.

One thing is alarming, though. I mentioned it yesterday, but it bears repeating. It's scary how much hostility there is in the other towns toward Olive. We never knew how much our neighbors hated us. Well, it strengthens my resolve to boycott businesses that are not in Olive when I am in Samsonville for the weekend. It is a challenge, since there are not many businesses in Olive to patronize (hey, that's the point of our frustration with the taxes), but I vow to continue to not spend a dime elsewhere.

My second letter about the Large Parcel is in the Olive Press.

The Olive Press has an editorial today that infuriated me. So I sent them the following letter to the editor:

To the Editor:
Your January 20 editorial so irritated me, that it is difficult for me to excerpt only a few sentences for comment, but here goes:

So let’s start with school taxes, and from the position that with respect to the large parcel bill, nobody’s got a corner on truth, justice, and the American way here. Olive has solid arguments about its unique situation and the historical price it’s paid for the reservoir that the other towns haven’t. However. It is fundamentally unreasonable that similar properties in adjacent towns pay wildly different taxes to support the same school system.

As I recall (and it can only be based on memory, as your online archives are all linked to the November 11, 2004 edition), in 2003 before the Onteora school board voted to hold off and wait a year then eventually adopt the large parcel, an Olive Press editorial expressed essentially the same sentiment, except perhaps the part about Olive having solid arguments. (I guess the reaction from Olive residents did influence your editorial position, if only just a little.) But I remember my irritation at that time at reading in one of your editorials that folks in Olive knew that paying lower taxes than the other towns in the district was unfair and inequitable, and probably should end.

I don't know your background, or who those friends of yours are, but my friends and family believe no such thing. Those of us privileged enough to be Olive natives, with roots that go back for generations, understand that the "historical price" you mention certainly does give us "a corner on truth, justice and the American way" on this particular issue. I write this not to insult town residents who were born elsewhere, and moved here later. It has been my experience that some who find their way to our town take a first look at the grave site (also known as the Ashokan Reservoir) and it speaks to them, too. They completely understand what you describe as our "unique situation." Sadly, there are others who cannot feel it, and they are clueless. It saddens me that one of the clueless is penning the editorials for the purportedly local newspaper.

That won’t fly in reasoned discussion in Olive, to say nothing of outside Olive. Unfortunately there is no way to compensate for what happened to our native civilizations, nor has anyone thought up, so far, just compensation for the armed robbery of most of the Town of Olive by New York City in the early 20th century. It’s done. The best we can hope for is fair tax remuneration from them.

Reasoned discussion? According to whom? I believe "outside Olive" are the two most telling words in this stunning quote from the "Olive Press." Maybe in the interest of really representing the town whose name you plaster across your publication, you should seek occasional input from some folks who are actually "inside Olive."

Gina Giuliano, PhD
Castleton & Samsonville, NY

I received two responses to my letter. One was from the newly-elected school board member who was the only one to vote "no" on the large parcel. The other was from another tax payer in the district, asking me to serve on a committee of some sort. I'm not big on committees, and it is a little hard when you spend all weekdays and some weekends 75 miles away, but I am willing to help in whatever way I am able. My letter is in this week's Olive Press.

9/26 Update: When I got to Samsonville on Friday night, I read the Olive Press, and discovered that the town clerk (isn't she great?) had put in an ad with all the school board members' contact information (this wasn't available on the school website). So, I sent this to the entire board.

Today, I sent this letter to the Governor, Commissioner of Education, Chancellor of the Board of Regents, three senators, three assembly members, the school board president, and the local paper:

I am writing to you to about my concerns over the “large parcel law” that was passed last year by the State Legislature. I realize this is a long letter and I appreciate the time you or more likely, your staff members are devoting to reading it.

How ironic that a reservoir picture appears on the school's homepage. [The italics sentence was only in the letter to the school board president.] When the large parcel bill was passed, we learned that the new law would include NYC reservoirs, and if the school district decided to adopt it, it would cause a huge increase in taxes in the Town of Olive, the town that contains most of the Ashokan Reservoir lands. Olive is in Ulster County, and is a member of the Onteora School District, along with the Towns of Woodstock, Shandaken, Hurley, and small parts of Lexington and Marbletown.

The School Board conducted a couple of public hearings that were well-attended; the majority of folks in attendance, besides elected officials from the various towns, were from the Town of Olive, and of course all were opposed to adopting the large parcel bill. However, the school board decided to adopt the bill this year, and when the school tax invoices arrived, Olive residents were hit with a 56% increase. To someone who attended those meetings, is a graduate of Onteora High School and has roots that go back to 1790 in the Town of Olive, it comes as no surprise that the school board adopted the large parcel provision. It was clear from the demeanor of the board at the public hearings that their minds were made up, the public hearing were for show only. It seemed to me they regarded the Olive residents who attended the hearings as ignorant, non-elite, and rather scary. At the same time, they believed the large parcel somehow corrects “inequity” between the towns – oddly, given the situation, between expensive, erudite Woodstock and cheap, low brow Olive.

I am an education professor, and these issues are not unfamiliar to me. Equity is much in fashion in education circles. Rumor has it that NYC and the problems of school aid equity created most of the State budget delay. It is a term bantered around when discussing resource distributions between suburbs, cities and rural areas; upstate and downstate; poor schools and rich schools; the list goes on and on. I always wonder when I hear these discussions how far one should push the concept. It is nice in idealistic terms to strive toward equity -- all in the education field see it as a worthy goal -- though it is somewhat hard to achieve in a capitalist society – but does it extend to equity from student to student within the school? Does Olive have fair representation on the athletics teams? Are Olive kids equally represented in advanced classes? On the cheerleading squad? On grading distributions? On receiving graduation awards? I’m only going from anecdotal evidence – I guess if I FOILED I could find out for sure (I suspect the Board will never voluntarily give out the data) -- but from my experience, the answer is “probably not.”

Olive is my hometown, and nearly all of my family lives there, and has lived there, for generations. For 100 years Olive has given water to New York City. Our ancestral lands were stolen from us to make way for the Ashokan Reservoir. Today, we live with that beautiful artificial lake; it is both a blessing and a curse. First, we still mourn, in vivid memories passed down from generation to generation, the loss of our lands and the decimation of our history. It is the breathtaking and bittersweet watery grave of our past. Second, there has been less development in Olive than there might have been had the Esopus Valley been left alone, to take its natural course of growth. To be sure, we enjoy the pristine environment that the Reservoir and its land restrictions have protected. At the same time, this has prohibited much business from locating in the town, and although the Reservoir has created some employment, it has taken away many more jobs. As a result there is not as big a tax base as our neighbors have. Third, we confront, on a daily basis, closed roads and detours, because of threats to the watershed in the aftermath of 9/11/01.

These inconveniences are hardly a new thing. Never a morning person, I still remember the long detour of my high school bus that happened more than 25 years ago. That time it was for a more benign reason than terrorism, though it was still a dangerous situation. The Traver Hollow Bridge on NYC's Route 28A, which links the hamlets of West Shokan and Boiceville, had to be closed because pieces were falling off, something that was discovered after a school bus went over it. My three mile trip transformed into 20 miles. Several times our bus was sent back home, because we left West Shokan so early, and arrived at the school after the determination was made to close due to snow. New York City was in dire financial circumstances at that time, so once again no one in power cared about the rural folks in the Town of Olive. It took three years and a lawsuit by local community members before the bridge was rebuilt and my short bus ride was restored.

I have a house in Samsonville in the Town of Olive, built on land my parents gave me. It is a weekend residence, as I must live in the Capital District to find appropriate professional employment. Obviously, I am a fortunate person, and the absurd tax increase will not bankrupt me, although I still must dip into hard-earned savings to pay for it (and with the recent increase, my school tax bill for Onteora is now more than three times as large as in Castleton, where I'm proud to say my district is Schodack Central Schools in Rensselaer County). But I know many Olive residents who are not weekenders like me (albeit a hometown weekender). They may not be writing to you as I am, but I want to be their voice. There are senior citizens on fixed incomes. There are couples with mediocre jobs struggling to raise families. There are old timers who are land rich but cash poor who face astronomical tax increases. Why should they have to move entirely or sell some of their land to developers (and non-native weekenders) to pay for the outrageous school taxes? Is not intact land in rural areas something worth preserving? Don't local people deserve to stay in their hometown? Do Town of Olive residents have to take another indignity because they are host to a NYC reservoir? Why does the biggest beneficiary, Woodstock, or any of the other towns deserve to benefit from having the reservoir in the district? What have residents of their towns given up as a result of its presence? What was the legislature thinking when they passed this unfair law, and allowed a biased school board to make this important decision?

I have not addressed the other issue, which is not really related but adds to the indignity of this enormous tax increase. In 2001-02, on average OCS spent 23% more per student than did all NYS public schools ($15,090 to $12,265). In 2002-03, an article in the Kingston Daily Freeman reports that OCS spent $15,538.15 per student. District Business Administrator Snyder is quoted: "We are the second largest geographic school district in the state and you have neighborhood schools, which means they are spread out." He doesn't directly state that as being the cause of the high costs, but the article follows his statement by reporting that Onteora's costs for transportation are $1,090 per student, which is the highest in the county. Even in the unlikely event that OCS has transportation costs of $1,090 and other districts have a cost of zero, that still leaves more than half of the difference in expenditure unexplained.

For help the article turns to School Board Trustee Eisenberg. He is quoted: "I actually like where we're spending our money as opposed to where we're not spending our money. We [sic] much heavier on the instruction." So then I guess he is saying the higher costs are not from transportation? Let's return to the data. In 2002-03, according to NYS Education Department School Report Cards, per student instructional costs at OCS were $8,068 for general education and $24,906 for special education, compared to $6,649 and $15,575 at similar schools, or $6,968 and $15,712 at all public schools in NYS.

How about at three Ulster County peers? At New Paltz, they were $6,801 and $16,274; at Rondout Valley, they were $7,171 and $17,547; and at Saugerties, they were $5,945 and $15,816. So, yes, instructional costs are higher. (Duh.) But why? Is OCS better than the peers? Better than NYS Education Department-defined similar schools? Better than all public schools in NYS? Or even somehow different?

I looked quickly through comparison data to see if any numbers jumped out at me. OCS has a limited English proficiency population that is 1% of the students. This compares to .8% at Rondout Valley, 1.7% at New Paltz, .5% at Saugerties (statewide, 6.8% of students are LEP). OCS has a free-lunch eligible population of 14.4%, compared to 11.4% at Rondout Valley, 13% at New Paltz, or 13.4% at Saugerties (statewide the figure is 37.7%).

The attendance rate at OCS is 93.3%; it is 93.4% at Rondout Valley, 94% at New Paltz, or 94.5 at Saugerties (statewide: 92.3). The suspension rate at OCS is 1.7%; at Rondout Valley it is 8.4%; at New Paltz it is 6%; at Saugerties it is 3.9 percent; and statewide it is 4.7%. At OCS, 3.7% of students dropped out of school; at Rondout Valley 4% did; at New Paltz it was 1.8%; at Saugerties it was 5.4%; statewide it was 7.3%. The proportion of students classified as having disabilities was 14.6% at OCS, 11.8% statewide, 16.3% at Rondout Valley, 13.9% at New Paltz, and 9.8% at Saugerties.

Tentative conclusions I would draw from these proportions are that students at OCS and the peers are not as needy - they are much less likely to not be proficient in English, or to be economically disadvantaged, and so eligible for a free lunch, than students statewide. Also, OCS is less likely to suspend a student, and Rondout Valley and New Paltz are more likely to suspend a student than schools statewide. (Whether this is because all the students at OCS are angels or because the school tolerates inappropriate behavior is not answered by the data.)

Regardless, these numbers do not answer what might be driving the higher instructional costs. Here is another data category: in terms of a breakdown of staff, OCS had 352: 60% are teachers (211), 9% are non-teaching professionals (34) and 31% (110) paraprofessionals. For Rondout Valley, the total is 340; 64% teachers (217); 11% non-teaching professionals (36) and 87 paraprofessionals (26%). For New Paltz, the total is 261; 67% teachers (174); 11% non-teaching professionals (29) and 22% paraprofessionals (58). For Saugerties, the total is 306; 70% teachers (215); 7% non-teaching professionals (20) and 23% paraprofessionals (71). Statewide, there were 217,739 teachers (64%); 40,823 non-teaching professionals (12%); and 84,072 paraprofessionals (25%).

Assuming that paraprofessionals mean teacher's aides, a part of those higher instructional costs are coming from the larger proportion of "paraprofessionals" at OCS than at the peers or statewide. Which, I guess, is explained in this quote from the article: "Trustees also said special education costs, at $2,590 per student, include work that provides assistance in regular classrooms as part of long-term planning in the district." The problem with this quote is that the number $2,590 is wrong, by a lot. It is probably just an editing error, but who knows. The actual figure for special education costs, per student, was $24,906 in 2001-02.

Then Pupil Personnel Director Boyce is quoted: "The consultant teachers and teaching assistants offer support to the students without disabilities. They maintain a high level of instruction." No facts are given in the article to support the district's and Ms. Boyce's assertions, and unfortunately, I have only anecdotal evidence with which to evaluate the information. But, based on conversations with regular education students in the school, and also from my educational background, I think this is stretching the truth. Sure, having one or two or a few extra adults in the classroom probably helps the teacher, that's a no brainer. But how much regular education students actually get out of aides that are hired to help students with disabilities is debatable.

And, sadly, how this justifies OCS spending $9,331 per student more on special education than at similar schools in the state remains unanswered. Simply put, this is a very out-of-touch school board and administration. The district dealt with two divisive issues recently: closing the West Hurley Elementary School and the large parcel law, given those decisions and these figures, is it any wonder that the school budget was voted down twice this year, and one incumbent board member was resoundingly defeated?

I attended town meetings, and I apprehensively watched the events as they unfolded in the newspaper. I cannot register my disapproval by voting on the OCS budget or in the school board election, since my legal residence is Castleton (is that taxation without representation?), but I am not willing to sit by and watch while Olive's land is stolen once again. No one has the right to take money from the pockets of Olive residents and call it redistribution or equity. In my world that's called theft, and by any definition it is a crime. I am left with no choice but to refuse to pay my Onteora school tax bill this year.

Sincerely,

Gina Giuliano, PhD
37 Green Avenue
Castleton, NY 12033
518-732-7659
and
20 Jomar Lane
Olive Bridge, NY 12461
845-657-7232
howzerdo@aol.com

I am steamed. The incompetent jerks on the school board screwed us. It isn't really a surprise, I guess. I hoped some elected official would be smart enough to do something to help, but I should have known better.

Interesting, just yesterday this article was in the paper. What a Loser! (Yes, with a capital L.) These two unrelated incidents really capture the outrage I feel.

I am working away on syllabi for next semester, but I'll get back to this issue very soon. I'm simply not going to let this happen without doing something. How unjust, if Olive residents lost land once because of NYC's eminent domain for the Ashokan Reservoir, and then lose it again, because enormous tax hikes force land sales.

Tax bills arrive in September. They shouldn't be surprised if they get less money than expected from Olive residents in the return mail. I propose we pay the amount that was billed last year, and reject the absurd 53% increase. Although the board probably will continue in their clueless state, sniffling, "I don't know what they think they are accomplishing, it's the children who suffer" as the crumbling edifice goes down in flames. (Feuled by the gym teacher from hell you think?) I am going to organize this revolt. The email address is olivetaxrevolt@aol.com

Update: We are on our way. Bob contacted the Albany television stations to let them know of the story. I am designing an ad for the Olive Press. We plan to do a webpage, with sample letters to officials, that other residents can copy, informing them of our intention to revolt.

Update 2: the "draft" webpage is up: Olive School Tax Revolt '04.