Doing the Politics

The University of Texas football team hosted the Texas A & M squad the same weekend in the mid-1990's the Association for Experiential Education was in Austin making my first visit to the State capital a real blast. Yep, Austin is a college town, and holy longhorn, I felt at home with all the young adults parading along Congress, ambling up Guadalupe and careening 6th Street side to side. (A & M won, by the way.) There was a lot to experience that weekend: the history of Texas, the night-life of our host city, challenge courses in schools and experiential pedagogy in academic classes. But, the single most salient happening resonating the deepest in me then was the consistent chorus from the alternative school folks there: Do the Politics.

Collectively it was said: new private schools always need friends in public places; however, the need of friends in public places is far greater for new alternative private schools than for conventional schools; further, new alternative private schools serving special needs children require an even greater representation.

First off, as I recall the alternative school folks saying, friends are truly needed in Municipal, and even County and State, government to reduce opposition to the project by convincing other public officials that the need for the education service outweighs any prior tax revenue from the property on which the school is to occupy and from the sales the school undertakes-remember, schools are non-profit, tax exempt organizations and, especially, a school purchased property will remove it from the tax rolls. Additionally, friends could assure an intended school siting meets local land-use and zoning requirements, especially if variances are necessary.

Friends could intercede with the various commercial and residential community interests to ease any potential friction siting may create. Further, as most folks tend to be afraid of anything “alternative” and anyone labeled “special needs”, friends accepting the unconventional education philosophy and practice and the efficacy of the alternative in helping special needs children could do a great deal to demystify the school, its students and the education processes the school uses significantly lowering barriers to community acceptance. And, of course, if there is a spot of bother, friends can mediate, restoring good feelings between the community and the school. Implied in the advice of making friends in public places-at least I was hearing it-was the strong suggestion that friends would connect the school to the money folks who donate to various local charities and, of course, to the political friends. 

 

So, with the onset of summer 2004, in anticipation of initial community outreach in the very near future, I journeyed through the representative politics of my communities to find some friends for the concept, such as it was then, and me. I ended up with Lew M. Simon, Queens County Democratic

Party Leader for Part B of the 23^rd Assembly District which encompassed my Breezy Point. In Queens, District Leaders have several important duties, such as selecting County candidates for local elected offices and endorsing candidates for City & State-Wide and National offices. But, in actuality, these vote outcomes are preordained in that the County Executive Committee selects and the County Leaders do what is expected of them. The real work of District Leaders is to assure the required signatures on election petitions placing the County selected candidates on the election day ballot and fully help support County operations by attending all County fund-raisers. Lew Simon does his Leadership duties and has consistently collected the highest number of petition signatures in the County. However, he looks to be the old ward healer, interceding with City powers to help resolve individual constituent problems in exchange for their votes and other favors. 

 

The good here is that over the years he has actually helped many, including us, to resolve as much as possible City government connected problems, but the bad is that the situations on which he cares to work are calculated to garner the obligations of those he helps. He puts the favors in his pocket redeeming them at his leisure for free goods and services and for votes when he runs to maintain his Leadership and when he has sought election to the City Council. But, if he sees a situation holding no prospect of obligation, he will ignore the constituent's plea for help. If this cynicism wasn't enough, he has what I call a learned ignorance being bothered never to know anything about municipal operations other than who to call with what City government problem, which is to my mind okay as far as it goes but it rarely goes far enough, especially when dealing with community-wide problems, such as local school district issues, mass transportation, road repair, land use issues and the like. 

Indeed, he never engages in finding solutions to community-wide issues because he has no personal interest in any; rather, he favors stoking constituent grievance as much because it relieves him of any responsibility to know anything substantive as much because he believes it brings him votes when he runs for elected office. There are many other really not-too-good aspects of Mr. Simon's personality, including verbally abusing-and I mean really debasing-those working with him, those he feels are against him-which are legion in number-and everyone in City agency leadership positions. He is foul-mouthed, selfish to the extreme and immensely self-absorbed. 

 

I was willing to put up with all of this-until November, 2013-for the access to folks in City government and in local party politics he provided who might befriend my school project and me. From the very beginning he said for me to forget about the school; and over the years he did not lift a finger to be a friend of the school project keeping to his uncaring sentiment to forget the project entirely. However, working with him allowed me enormous access to the Queens Borough President's office and the City's Department of Education, especially when I was looking to go the State Charter School route with Rockaway College. 

 

However, the most beneficial introduction was to our then City Councilman, Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. The more Mr. Simon took me around to the many community meetings, the more the City Councilman and I talked with each other; over time the many conversations became a base for a friendship good enough for me to begin a quiet approach to Twice-Exceptionality and the total lack of education service for these children. The piecemeal approach of mini-conversations at meetings became insufficient for him, so very early in 2008 the City Councilman asked me to write a paper outlining the issues and recommending solutions. This I delivered to him May 8^th. While I mentioned that neither Federal or New York State Education Law excluded direct education service to twice-exceptional children if a school district wishes to identify these youngsters and provide appropriate service to them, the complete absence of it throughout the State, including New York City, and the absence of any indication of a single thought to even say these children exist strongly made the point that only changes in State law could remedy the situation. I called for State legislation recognizing the existence of Twice-Exceptional pupils and for ordering the State Department of Education to insist each local district devise identification schemes and appropriate programs. He accepted the paper, understood the issues and agreed with the recommendations. But as City Councilman he said he could do little more than pass it on to our local State representatives. He did.

And then he ran to unseat the incumbent State Senator later that year. He won and in early 2009, he said for me to write the legislation working with his Legislative Director to polish the language. The new State Senator did not have a definite time-line; so I took my time. Indeed, I wanted to get it right. I put together a kind of advisory writing committee which would steer me in getting it right. The folks responding to my requests could not have been more expert and more generous in sharing their expertise, time and advice. On the ad hoc group were Melissa Sornik, Lois Baldwin, Kris Berman, Wendy Eisner, Susan Baum, Christy Folsom and Miriam Cherkes-Julkowski.

Working with Frank Scaduto, Senator Addabbo's Legislative Director, the bill was finished. It does what we wanted to do: recognizes Twice-Exceptional children as a distinct category of pupil requiring teaching/learning different from the mainstream and according to Twice-Exceptional characteristics, instructs the State Department of Education to insist local school districts and to help local school districts to establish identification procedures and appropriate education programs, and establishes a State-Wide advisory council supervising it all.

The Senate bill and its Assembly companion were originally introduced into the State Legislature in 2010, re-introduced in 2011, and reintroduced in 2013 as S1875 and A1522. Unfortunately, the economic state of New York placed barriers in the way of the accomplishing State mandates in mainstream education no less than those of special education. As Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan, Chair of the Assembly Education Committee, has said to me on more than one occasion: there isn't enough money to fund regular education...And you want me to create a mandate and funding for yet another special group?! Late last year, 2013, State Senator Addabbo modified the language of these bills to include funding for regular education. Frankly, I went a little crazy as I saw the changes as yet another way to screw the Twice-Exceptional while seeming to be doing right by them. But, Sen. Addabbo calmed me down by saying the inclusion of regular education funding in the bills was an inducement for Assemblywoman Nolan to look favorably on the bill. Having been told by the Education Committee Chair that she was very disinclined to agree with the sentiments in the bill, I have to wonder if even these inducements will work. But, our good State Senator and his legislative colleagues co-sponsoring the bills continue to work to get them considered and passed into Law.

In the end, Doing the Politics accomplished little on the ground. Yes, there is the legislation, but it remains stuck...going no where fast. And, yes, the access to the powers that be in the Queens Borough President's office and, more especially, in the City's Department of Education ultimately enabled me to intimately understand the processes, procedures and personalities in the City's drive to re-structure its schooling. And the access to local civic leaders and elected officials provided me insights into the issues, politics and governance of municipalities, and, particularly, of our local area. But, the expected connections, especially, with the money folks, to facilitate organizing and fund-raising my Rockaway College just did not happen.