School trustees seek Faso meeting
Board says education issues need attention
KINGSTON, N.Y. » School trustees are disappointed that U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, did not address education issues during a recent public forum in the town of Esopus, and want the congressman to meet with district leaders to answer questions that were not addressed there.
At a Board of Education meeting last week, Trustee Suzanne Jordan said there were four board members at the Esopus forum, but none of their questions were among the 20 chosen during the 90-minute event.
“There was not one question regarding education, which was a bit of a disappointment,” Jordan said. “There’s a lot to worry about.”
Board members at the Esopus session on Aug. 31 also included Robin Jacobowitz, James Shaugnessy and Nora Scherer.
Jordan said board members wanted answers on changing federal mandates, food standards, teacher training, and why there is a threat to remove Medicaid money that provides needed services for some students.
“If he cuts Medicaid, these kids are not going to get the service they require,” she said.
Jordan suggested the Ulster County School Boards Association try to organize a meeting with Faso that includes several districts. “He likes to meet with smaller constituent groups, and I thought maybe he would be willing to set up a meeting
with people interested in education,” she said.
Faso spokesman John Lange said via email that a meeting could be arranged, but more information would be needed.
“I think we would need to get a better understanding from the group about what exactly they’re looking for before answering that,” he wrote. “We can’t just agree to host forums by hearing about them through thirdparties, and that we really know nothing about — they are big productions that require
a lot of planning in addition to being a massive use of staff resources and an expense to taxpayers (such as for) security. If the group is just looking for a meeting with a number of teachers and/or education professionals, the congressman takes meetings like that all the time and would be happy to.”
Lange said it is unfair to criticize the absence of an education discussion at the Esopus forum because Faso had no control over who was selected to ask questions.
“Neither Congressman Faso or his staff had any hand in selecting the questions asked,” he wrote. “We could not nor should we have controlled those who chose to attend the event and submit questions. We also were not going to tell Move Forward or (moderator Gerald) Benjamin the questions they should select. It is true that almost all, if not all, questions were asked from a representative of the left or far left, and they chose to ask questions about the (Breitbart financial supporters
Bob and Rebekah Mercer), booking a podcast interview, and many other issues key to the Democratic cause and in line with that party’s talking points.”
Benjamin, a Republican who endorsed Faso in 2016, is director and associate vice president for Regional Engagement for the Benjamin Center at SUNY Paltz, where Jacobowitz serves as director of education projects. He said the topics were chosen based on the amount of controversy they generated in public.
“The questions were signed and I didn’t even notice a question from Robin,” he said.
“The way I did it ... was to choose what I though were questions about the most controversial and current issues of the day,” Benjamin said. “Therefore, I thought my selection process was biased against softball supportive questions, which was actually a complaint that I got from people who supported the congressman, that the questions weren’t selected from them.”