Marlboro CARES wants residents to get involved

BY TALI ISRAELI
Staff Writer

MARLBORO - Residents who want to get more involved in the local educational process have formed an organization they call Marlboro CARES.

The mission of the new group - Marlboro Committee for Active, Responsible, Educational Solutions - is to raise community awareness of the challenges facing the Marlboro K-8 school system.

"It is the objective of the organization to create an active forum so that the community can reflect on these issues and come together to offer creative solutions to the political leaders serving the community," according to the organization's Web site.

The executive committee of Marlboro CARES is made up of chairman Jon Lipton, president Mitchell Konichowsky, vice president Ann Lustig, chief technical officer Shimon Klein and treasurer David Chaiken.

According to Konichowsky, there are three pillars of the organization. The first involves what he called the political aspect of the school system. Konichowsky said this means creating a neutral forum in which elected leaders can inform the public about the budget process and listen to issues residents have.

"Tell us on neutral grounds, as our leaders, what we should do for the next five years that we haven't done in the past five years," Konichowsky said.

He said he wants to know how the elected representatives are leading their communities in solving the problems school districts face.

The second pillar of the group is to educate the community on the budget process, the issues facing the school district and the different components of the district's spending plan.

Lipton and Konichowsky said they do not believe there is enough accountability in the budget process. They said suggestions made to the Board of Education "fall on deaf ears."

"They're very set in their ways," Konichowsky said of the board members. "It's the entire mind-set of the way schools are run."

The principals of Marlboro CARES are attempting to create such a large forum of residents that elected leaders, school officials and the rest of the community will have no choice but to listen to them.

Konichowsky believes the Marlboro community is made up of individuals who, if made aware, can really make a difference. He said he wants to know what is going on in the district.

Lipton said he does not believe there is a sense of community in Marlboro. He said he believes it is an apathetic district in regard to administrative issues.

People feel disenfranchised and unable to make a difference, Konichowsky said about typically low voter turnout in the annual school budget and school board vote. The 2006 vote on the budget and board members is scheduled for April 18.

The typical taxpayer feels his taxes are going up no matter what, which means he believes his vote has no impact one way or the other, Konichowsky added.

The final pillar of the organization is creative financing. Konichowsky said the quality of education is declining and suffering, however, taxes are continuously rising. He said he believes K-8 administrators need to learn how to do more with less.

"We need to understand what it takes to make our education system better," Konichowsky said.

Lipton added, "We want to make sure our children get a quality education."

When asked how they plan to carry out the pillars of the organization, Konichowsky said in order to rally the troops, the people involved in Marlboro CARES have to stay close to the budget process, bring in more people who show an interest and attend all public meetings to get the word out and to stay informed.

They also believe that bridging the gap between senior citizens and couples who do not have children with parents and families of the school district may help educate the community.

Konichowsky said he wants the K-8 school district to offer the best education in a way that does not increase the budget year after year. He believes the way to achieve this goal is to have a motivated and concerned community, not what he said is the uninformed and apathetic community Marlboro has now.

The members of Marlboro CARES said they are attempting to connect with other school districts that are experiencing the same budget issues as Marlboro.

"Standing alone with no voice, no can hear you; link with other districts and you create a voice," Konichowsky said.

For more information visit www.marlborocares.org.