With Berkeley Heights elections coming up in just a few weeks on Nov 8, I have been following the Berkeley Heights Board of Education. Recently it has been a chaotic and dysfunctional mess. The majority of the Board members have had ethics complaints filed against them from numerous parents. In addition, Pam Stanley, being funded by the Berkeley Heights Board of Education filed a complaint against another board member who she disagrees with politically and the Berkeley Heights schools who need to defend the other BOE member are left to fund both sides of this very costly legal battle.
This election seems to be a perfect time to reset and vote to refocus the Board of Education on what is important rather than a continuation of petty and sometimes downright nasty politics. We need to look forward to a period where the Board of Education members can disagree with each other but still act civilly and look past their differences in order to conduct business where the schools, the children, the parents and the taxpayer are all represented and prioritized above petty politics and egos.
This being said, here are a few items that I feel the Board of Education Candidates should focus on:
-A strong academic foundation in ELA, math, science and history without divisive political and social agendas
-Closing the gap on the learning loss created by Murphy’s mandates in 2020 and 2021
-Resisting overreach of government officials, teachers unions, and bureaucrats seeking to interfere with parents rights and authority over their school aged children
-Protecting the innocence of our children by rejecting the introduction of age inappropriate sexual content in the classroom
-Protecting parental authority to choose health and wellness interventions for their children
-Opening the lines of communication, improve transparency and encourage collaboration between parents and the board of education
After looking into all the candidates, I believe that three candidates’ campaigns best represent the six points above. The candidates that I believe meet the above criteria are: Dipti Khanna (1a), Natasha Joly (7a), and Sai Akiri (7b) .
This Nov 8th, I will be voting the edges, Columns 1 & 7 for Dipti Khanna (1a), Natasha Joly (7a), and Sai Akiri (7b). If you agree with the points I have made above, I would ask that you do the same.
Sincerely,
Edmund Tom Maciejewski
