opinion

View: Fix East Ramapo by merging districts

Arguments have been made that the private school Orthodox Jewish community cannot understand or simply does not care for black and Latino students in the public schools. Accusations of "interloping" against non-East Ramapo Rocklanders have been flying around for a time, while those Rocklanders argue that they are concerned for the students of East Ramapo.

In the East Ramapo school district, 75 percent of students attend private schools, compared to 5 percent in most districts across New York. This causes East Ramapo to lose out in foundation aid from the state. Some in the non-East Ramapo Rockland community have argued that district taxpayers should more easily approve budgets even when they include hefty tax hikes simply to make up for the foundation aid issue. Others claim that the Orthodox "voting bloc" has an outsized influence on election outcomes and it is therefore not fair.

All of these issues and arguments can be resolved if the more than 66,200 students from public and private schools across Rockland County are melded into one big school district. This district would indeed be one of the largest in the state, but it will still be a fraction of the size of the New York City School District, which has more than 1.2 million students in the public and private sector combined.

The created Rockland County Central School District would probably be only 39.6 percent private, thus bringing the formula more in line with other districts across the state. And while the formula would still be off, all of Rockland would then be invested to press Albany for more funds, as Yonkers in unity has done this and last year.

Popping off inflammatory tweets and wild Facebook posts under the mantle of "caring" for East Ramapo is an opportunist's way of having a voice in a publicity-generating issue. But paying taxes that would help all students of Rockland; having your voting power diluted through the many more voters who will now have a say on your child's school budget and your property tax is the real (put-up or shut-up) test.

With one Rockland school district, some neighborhoods would see a reduction in school taxes while others would see an increase. But what would we not do for the children of Rockland?

The board for the Rockland County Central School District would be elected from a countywide pool of votes. Or, more practically, the Rockland Legislature could draw up a nine-seat ward system to represent each neighborhood, based on the percentage students they represent. East Ramapo, for example, would at this time have 44 percent of students in a countywide school district, and would hold a minority of the nine board members. This would assure "the bloc" would have a voice on the board while permitting the majority of the board to care for the minority students in the East Ramapo sector in ways the Orthodox are accused of not being able or willing to care. Portions of what is currently East Ramapo can be restricted into neighboring sectors to assure that the East Ramapo sector — already the largest district in the county — does not have an outsized representation on the board.

Every five years, the County Legislature could be tasked to redistrict the school ward map, based on population changes. But ultimately this system would permit all of Rockland County to be in it together, rather than at each others' throats based on partisan, ethnic and religious lines.

The Rockland delegation of the state Legislature could have this legislation passed and the governor could sign it by early 2016. The County Legislature can draft and vote on the ward map — to be certified by the State Education Commissioner and state Comptroller — months later. Then by May 2016 when all of us in Rockland vote for our respective school board and budget, we will also vote to elect board members for the countywide school board. The board will then have time to work on all the logistics that will culminate in a budget and tax rate proposal presented in May 2017 to take affect for the 2017-2018 school year.

Easing into a countywide school district for the 2017-2018 school year will need temporary funding from the state and a smoothing of some rough edges. For example, since all members of the initial board get elected at the same time, how does one rotate each third of the board in the first few elections? Would all of Rockland be run by one big administration, or would each ward be semi-autonomous, with a countywide chancellor, elected by the board, similar to what is done in New York City?

But all these questions are small potatoes compared to the large gain that will derive from a countywide district.

Yossi Gestetner, a Spring Valley resident, is co-founder of the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council; Benny Polatseck is a Spring Valley resident.