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050903 School board race takes bizarre turn
BY FRANK NARDOZZI
In the immortal words of the main character in that timeless classic "Alice in Wonderland," things just seemed to get "curiouser and curiouser" this week in the contested race for a seat on the Bedford Central Board of Education.
It turns out one of the two announced candidates, Mark Santora, had signed a proclamation on the Internet calling for the end of federal, state and local involvement with education. The proclamation was posted by an organization called Alliance for Separation of School & State that believes that "government has no role in financing, operating or defining schooling, or even compelling attendance."
Furthermore, it turns out the other announced candidate, Jason Black, offered two years ago to name his then-yet unborn son according to the wishes of the highest corporate bidder in an auction on eBay and Yahoo! - the bidding to start at $500,000.
The two have since been joined by a third candidate who lent some historic significance to the race. She is Betty Negron Ramirez (see related story), who, if elected to the seat currently held by school board maverick, Joe Whelan, would reportedly be the first member of the Hispanic community to serve on the Bedford Central Board of Education.
The phone calls started coming in soon after the story ran last week in The Record-Review that Mr. Black and Mr. Santora were running.
"I think you should do a little research on Jason Black," suggested one caller. "He's the guy who offered to name his son in exchange for a corporate sponsorship a couple of years ago."
In other words, the Blacks could have named their son Nike Black, Gap Black or "Happy Meals" Black, say, in exchange for the corporate money.
Sure enough, there on the Internet, was the transcript of an interview by CNN's Stephen Frazier from July 28, 2001. He wanted to know how the unconventional naming effort had occurred to Mr. Black.
Fortune cookie
The Mount Kisco father of three replied that he and his wife were having Chinese takeout food at home one night, when his wife, Frances Schroeder, opened a fortune cookie that said something like, "You will have a new home by the end of the year."
That's when Ms. Schroeder, who was eight months pregnant at the time, allegedly burst into tears, according to a story in USA Today (July 26, 2001). How were they going to move out of their two-bedroom apartment and buy a new home on only one income? Not to mention the cost of their kids' college education.
That's when they started to think about corporate sponsorships. Companies sponsor a lot of things. Why not their third-born child? But
they wouldn't consider firearms or tobacco companies. That's where they drew the line.
Katie Couric of "The Today Show" on NBC said she thought the idea was "creepy," but the couple was determined to see it through.
Mr. Black said in an interview this week with The Record-Review that he and his wife thought it was an innovative approach to an age-old problem. He was sure that many other parents had commiserated with each other about their lack of funds in search of a solution.
Childhood diseases
But one thing that Mr. Black said had not come out before was the fact that he and his wife had been in private negotiations with a small start-up company in the life sciences that approached them about forming an affiliation. Mr. Black said the company did research in the field of childhood diseases.
"I haven't been able to talk about it because we signed an agreement with this company at the time that we weren't going to talk about it afterwards," said Mr. Black, manager of editorial operations for PricewaterhouseCoopers, an auditing firm in New York City.
"Had a deal gone through, my wife and I were planning to donate a large portion of the proceeds back to this company. And so, there really was a two-fold purpose there," he said.
But then, Mr. Black said, the deal never went through due to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. That changed everyone's priorities, he said.
"It just seemed to all of us, my wife and I and the company that we were working with, that it just wasn't the right time to do something like that. So we agreed to part company," he said.
"It was physically and mentally very difficult because we were put on the spot. We had to basically be able to speak to the fact that we had made this decision and both my wife and I were willing to do that," Mr. Black said.
When asked if he was surprised by the negative reaction he received, Mr. Black said, "No, I guess I wasn't surprised, although it was obviously diffi
cult because of the fact that, oftentimes, I think, the idea was taken out of context.
"We would get questions from reporters, not legitimate journalists, but shock jocks on the radio, who asked us, `Were you and your wife drunk when you came up with this idea?'
"My wife was pregnant at the time. So, obviously, she wasn't drinking. No. We had to be willing to put up with a certain amount of abuse. And that's not easy for anybody," Mr. Black said.
Marketing history
But from a marketing standpoint, you had to admit, even as an editor of Internet World, which Mr. Black happened to be at the time, that this was one of the biggest marketing successes - as far as getting public attention was concerned - in marketing histo
ry.
"First, for the record, I was the business editor at Internet World at the time. I was not the editor," Mr. Black said. "Second, this had nothing to do with Internet World. I think that this did get confused at times. I just want to make. that clear.
"But you're right. My wife and I had no budget to make this happen. We had an idea and we had a willingness to stick it out and to see what happened. And we put a little bit of money initially into posting the auction on the Internet. I think that, in total, we probably spent less than $100.
"So, I guess if you look at it from a return on investment point of view, if you were to try to do an equivalent media campaign on a global basis with multi-media, print, radio, TV, and Internet it would have cost you millions and millions of dollars. We did it on a shoestring. And we were in a position to offer a company global media exposure and a spotlight that they could have taken advantage of.
"For any company, the value of that media exposure on a global basis far outweighed the price tag that we were asking. And in the case of this particular company, it would have been a wonderful opportunity for them to showcase their research with regard to childhood diseases," Mr. Black said.
"We were excited about that prospect," he said - and, of course, he and his family would have benefited, also.
So did he turn down any half-million dollar offers?
"N o, we didn't see a penny from it,'' Mr. Black said. (Just for the record, his son, who turns two in July, is named Zane Booker Black. His wife picked the name Zane, and Mr. Black picked the name Booker.)
And, no, Mr. Black wouldn't be in favor of corporate sponsorships for the school district, if he was elected to the school board. Although, he would be glad to consider grants, he said.
"I think the distinction needs to be made that this is something that my wife and I did two years ago and, yes, I am running for a seat on the board of education now, but I think that the two events are completely separate," Mr. Black said.
At the end of the interview, Mr. Black asked about his opponent, Mark Santora's support for the Alliance for
"Obviously, I have an interest in knowing what he is thinking, as his opponent," Mr. Black said. "But equally, if he genuinely believes in the goals of this organization, to me that is completely antithetical to what a representative of the board of education should be doing. I don't understand how he can do both.
"1 also don't understand how he can say to you and other members of the media, `I have no agenda here. All I want to do is serve the community' if in fact he is supporting this alliance, because that just doesn't match. His support of that alliance is an agenda in my mind.
"If you read the goals of that organization in the FAQ section (Frequently Asked Questions) of their Web site, there is a two-sentence answer that they are in favor of getting government at all levels out of the schools, including the local level.
"I do not support this organization in any way shape or form," Mr. Black said. "If Mr. Santora does, there is a real distinction there between the two of us as candidates."
The proclamation that Mr. Santora signed simply states: "I proclaim publicly that I favor ending government involvement in education." In an interview with The Record-Review this week, he acknowledged signing it.
Asked what the Alliance for Separation of School & State was all about, Mr. Santora replied, "It's a movement to reclaim the American tradition of family responsibility in education by returning to the separation of school and state."
Why is he running for a seat on a public school board if he is in favor of abolishing public schools?
"I'm not in favor of abolishing public schools," Mr. Santora replied. "I just feel that the government should be less intrusive on the local level. This September, all four of my children will be in the public school system. My wife and I chose the public school system, not because St. Patrick's lacked educational quality, but because we saw no significant difference in quality.
"If we had seen a difference, we would have placed our children in a private school. But we thought that Fox Lane and the Mount Kisco Elementary School provided an excellent educational opportunity, so private school was unnecessary"
How does he see his role as an advocate for school and government separation? And how would this role affect his sitting on a public school hoard?
"1 am not active in any organization, nor do I belong to the Alliance for Separation of School & State," Mr. Santora said. "I neither endorsed nor donated to the Allegiance for the Separation of School & State. I have not been asked to support this organization."
Parental control
He said, "I simply signed a petition that shows my support for a smaller government role on the local level and that also returns control to the parents of the students attending school.
"I am not making this an issue for my participation on the school board. If the issue comes up, my position will be less intrusion on the local level by the federal government," he said. "I feel that there is increasingly a loss of control on the local level."
Mr. Santora said that he was not opposed to the school district receiving state or federal aid, and he was not opposed to state standardized testing.
"I think some state testing is good, but I always keep in mind that it's just one element of many elements that indicate a student's progress. It should not be a litmus test to determine total scholastic aptitude. It's just one element that is used as a gauge.
"There are plenty of examples, myself included, where students don't do well on standardized tests and then go on to become very productive citizens and do extremely well after high school."
Asked if he thought there should be more private schools to give parents more choices as to where to send their children, Mr. Santora said, "I'm in favor of parents doing what they have to do to insure that they're children receive the education that they need on an individual basis."
Vouchers
Asked if he was in favor of vouchers to help parents pay for private school tuition, Mr. Santora said, "Yes, I am. I'm in favor of vouchers because I think that parents should be more in control of their children's education."
He said he was in favor of parent groups representing each school in the district and working with school administrators.
"In this particular school district, I think that we have a sizable number of parents who are interested, and who take an active role. However,- I would like to see even more participation," Mr. Santora said.
an inactive role. That doesn't mean that they are less concerned about it. They may go to the Web site and get their information, or, as many parents do, they may watch the cable rerun of school board meetings to find out what's going on - like I do," he said.
"I think it's time to start thinking outside the box. I would like to see a parent group representing each school work with the board, the teachers union and the administration to brainstorm new and innovative ways to maintain a quality education while keeping the budget in mind," he said.
Mr. Santora acknowledged that-he was even in favor of parental involvement in the review of textbooks.
"Yes, I am," he said. "I've thought a lot about this. I was in the military for 14 years until 1994. While I'm not a history major, I know a little bit about history, and I know that the people who win the wars also write the textbooks.
"Sometimes - and I'm not saying this is the case in our schools - there may be only one or two perspectives in a textbook. I think that students should be well-rounded with many different perspectives.
"It wouldn't hurt to have parents and administrators and teachers have a review hoard to look at this. This would just increase equity in cultural awareness," Mr. Santora said.