Deciding to challenge Mrs. Berkowitz for a seat on the Great Neck Board of Education was not a decision I took lightly. When making the choice to run, I thought long and hard about my experience leading public institutions over the past two decades and my daily understanding of what it means to be a parent with school-age children in our public schools and how that would contribute to this moment.
My decision was inspired by what Mr. Ashkenase did 40 years ago, when as a parent himself, he started a movement in this community. He called on others to act for the benefit of informing, engaging and motivating residents across the peninsula. He launched Great Neck Forward because he believed in the power of public education and, thankfully, he also believed in the responsibility of not staying silent. Forty years later here we are sharing that same burden and obligation. I believe that the greatest testament to Mr. Ashkenase’s legacy is to place a new generation of pro-public-school parent advocates on the Board of Education. I am one of those parents.
I am deeply passionate about our collective responsibility to advance society and protect the institutions that are core to our well-being, such as Great Neck’s public schools. I remain committed to ensuring that we explore what resources are available to support the needs of our children, readying them for a future none of us can yet imagine. I believe that we must invest in our teachers and in our facilities. We must be responsive, agile and communicative. We must move beyond the dysfunction of dated ideas and bureaucratic ways. As a community, we must be empowered to restore our trust in those guiding our schools and keep our property values in mind as decisions are made.
We can learn from what was accomplished 40 years ago and strive not only for a reinvigorated Great Neck School District, but to revitalize the Board of Education under new leadership.
We need a Board of Education that is committed to transparency in its decision-making. Which leads me to ask why has Mrs. Berkowitz refused to make a public announcement that she has renewed the superintendent’s contract?
We need to have faith in the way the Board of Education budgets the district. Which leads me to ask why does Mrs. Berkowitz continue to refuse to provide any long-term financial projections or attempt to inform the public about what such projections would suggest?
We need a Board of Education that actively pursues transparency in how curricula are reviewed and enhanced for the benefit of ensuring our children are future-ready. Which leads me to ask why does Mrs. Berkowitz continue to refuse to provide statistics about how Great Neck Schools compare to peer districts?
We need a Board of Education that is aspirational and community-minded. We need a Board of Education that can trend-spot and actively identify and deliver new strategies around the future of public education. We need a Board of Education where all members rise above the divisiveness of identity politics whenever they feel challenged or questioned. We need a Board of Education that has children enrolled in Great Neck Public Schools.
Just as this community did 40 years ago, it is time for Great Neck to move forward once again. It is time for a new generation of Great Neck parents to lead our schools forward because our children and our school system simply can’t afford any other alternative.
Michael S. Glickman
Great Neck
