Sullivan County Board of Education Merits Consideration

by: Bill Liblick

When someone looks to move into a community they want to make certain that the schools are highly regarded. Generally schools with great reputations are also in neighborhoods that are very desirable.  Perspective homeowners also consider the school taxes prior to making purchases.

Although Sullivan County schools generally pass the grade, some have better reputations than others. We need to do more to uniformly educate our youth, consolidate purchases, and find avenues to cut cost.

Often our tax dollars go more towards administrative salaries, than to educate our youth. There is something very wrong when our school districts are shelling   out an average of $130,000 per year to pay superintendents and other administrators to run schools, while our teachers, elected officials, and other governmental bureaucrats earn salaries way under $100,000 per year.

There is something very wrong when each school district has to vote if there should be driver education classes, when secondary languages are mandatory. Residents in the Monticello School District for example will be voting on allocating monies for driver education classes, because of all the recent car accidents involving teenagers.

There is something very wrong when it depends where you live in Sullivan County what the class size, standards, or curriculum will entail.

Each School District within Sullivan County has its own method of taxation. And, they are all run by their own elected school board. Our school boards are responsible for hiring their superintendents, administrators, and budgeting items.

The time has come for us to take an honest look at the educational system in Sullivan County. Perhaps we need to have a centralized Board of Education which would cut administrative costs, and spend more monies on properly educating our students. There would be across the board curriculum and standards for all of our public schools in Sullivan County.

Consolidation of purchasing and contractor services could also save taxpayers huge amounts of monies.

Yes, the Sullivan West fiasco is a big dilemma. But, perhaps a centralized Board of Education would alleviate these problems.

Although our County Legislators and other elected officials can take positions on our pubic schools in Sullivan County, they really have little say. The power lies with each local school district.

Our school boards throughout Sullivan County must sit down and discuss alternatives to make our educational system work more effectively and efficiently.

Naturally they must have one goal in mind and that is to educate all of our children.

A central Board of Education might be the direction Sullivan County should take. Perhaps we should elect a countywide superintendent of schools. Or, if we had a full-time elected County Executive, part of the responsibilities could be to oversee a Sullivan County Schools Chancellor and Board of Education.

We must all acknowledge that we need a new and increased direction when it comes to educating our youth. With illegal drug use, gangs, and lack of family structure all too rampant in Sullivan County, our schools unfortunately now have a heavier burden placed on them by society. We need more after school programs.   

We are spending too much in tax dollars to pay for superintendents and other administrators and not enough on our students for proper education. Every property owner cannot dispute that fact. There has to be a better way to run our educational system in Sullivan County. A central Board of Education is something we must explore.

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