“What happens when people who do not want to pay for the public schools take over the school

board?”Ira Glass, creator, This American Life

A quick guide to:the need for state oversight in East Ramapo, New

York

East Ramapo is a diverse community in which parentswho send their children to private school organized politically

to run the public school board.

The East Ramapo School Board has slashed all-day kindergarten, the arts, advanced classes, and social

workers to keep taxes low, send money to private schools for special education, and hire expensive lawyers to

defend its actions.

The board projected decreased enrollment in public schooIs, so they closed down two elementary schools and moved the kids, increasing class size. They then sold the

buildings to yeshivas—at bargain-basement prices.

In November, State Monitor Hank Greenberg found that the board is “blinded” to the needs of the entire

community and has “recklessly mismanaged” the district to “the brink of collapse.” He called for state oversight,

requiring a new law.

The interfaith Rockland Clergy for Social Justice, parents, alumni, and allies are now working to pass a bill

sponsored by our local lawmakers, allowing the state to oversee this dysfunctional system, just like Mr. Greenberg

recommended.

We need YOU and others across New York State to join a diverse coalition that is lobbying Albany, volunteering,

and donating funds to obtain strong, effective state oversight of East Ramapo: www.strongeastramapo.org