Jim Peschke For Croydon School Board Member

The following article appears in the Eagle Times.
Cathy
Spelling and grammar errors as well as typos are left as an exercise for our readers.

"As part of Croydon's Long Term Planning committee, I worked to develop the Resident Survey. The community response was tremendous, indicating that the public feels strongly about the direction Croydon should take. From this and discussions with residents, three common goals consistently crop up.

* Lower spending and better cost management.
* More parental choice in education.
* Greater transparency.




If elected, my voice would remain a minority on the school board, so I cannot make grand promises. Nevertheless, I am committed to seeing these public demands carried out and not ignored as is so often the case among government bureaucracies.

Our area agreement with Newport, due to expire in 2010, must be revisited to produce terms more favorable to Croydon.

The new agreement must NOT contain any clause forbidding Croydon from sending students to other schools. Residents demanded parental school choice by a 2-to-1 margin.

We must reevaluate participation in the SAU, as it consumes taxpayer dollars and provides no education whatsoever. Our SAU costs increased 54% last year while services were cut back.

Wish lists from the State Department of Education must be accompanied by bags of money. This is in our Constitution. Why should homeowners spend money on programs we neither need nor want?

Spending in "special education" must be scrutinized and contained. Public support for these programs should be withdrawn until they become more transparent.

Per-pupil education spending must not increase faster than the rate of inflation. No excuses.

At last year's Town Hall meeting, I proposed a modest $25k budget reduction designed to hold the line on the property tax rate. The measure was defeated, thanks in no small part to the efforts of education workers. Had the school board proposed a leaner budget, we would be paying lower taxes today.

One final comment: I believe that the duty of any school board member does not include putting the district, its employees, or the State ahead of the community. With this in mind, I ask you to support my candidacy for the Croydon school board. Jim can be reached at 603-863-7613 or email at jimpeschke@joltmail.com