BY DAVE PARRO
East Aurora School Board member Russell Pietrowiak issued a scathing indictment of the district and its residents while resigning his position Monday night.
Pietrowiak said he is moving out of town because the community has not made its schools and children a priority. "My family and I have chosen to move out of this district because we do not feel that this community supports education anywhere near the manner that we feel it should," he said. "Also, I do not want to partake in the dismantling of the East Aurora School district," which he blamed mostly on East Aurora residents who have been apathetic.
Read the full text of his comments here.
Pietrowiak has not been afraid to criticize the East Aurora administration and acknowledged that the School Board has made mistakes. But he said Monday that the bottom line is that residents continually blame others rather than invest in the School District. This pretty much sums up his comments:
The sad reality is that too many of our kids are not succeeding and the community seems to be complacent or even satisfied with that. Instead of rising up and saying enough is enough, what do we need to do to change things, the vast majority of the community is either busy blaming someone else or has become apathetic.
He never mentions the failed referendums specifically, but the abysmal voter turnout and residents' unwillingness to make a financial investment in education are signs of what Pietrowiak is talking about. He also references a "myriad of issues and problems" that originate outside of the classroom but affect the learning environment. Two of the big ones are gangs and the lack of involvement on the part of Hispanic parents.
Pietrowiak tried to make a difference by getting elected, but he said he just doesn't see "any signs that lead me to believe that community support will be improving." This should be a wake-up call for residents. When board members quit and move out of the district because they see nothing but failure in the future, something is seriously wrong.
It's time for East Aurora residents to take a hard look at themselves and figure out what role they might be playing in this mess. The School District will never turn around if the indifference continues.
UPDATE (Sept. 18): Here's the Beacon story with Bob McCue's response that "you don't know Aurora." I'm not sure what town McCue lives in if he thinks Pietrowiak was off base with his comments.
Don't let the door hit you on the way out, Mr. Pietrowiak (a Commie name if I ever heard one). You are yet another lefty liberal who thinks more money is the solution to a good education.
And how dare you suggest that district employees be forced to send their children to the same school district where they work! Why should they have to put up with a substandard school district?
Next thing you know, pinkos like you, Mr. Pietrowiak, will be saying that the fact that a majority of Aurora's police officers (and Beacon employees, for that matter) live out of town is a sure sign that we're not a healthy community.
Good riddance, Mr. Pietrowiak. As Bob McCue (now there's a real Aurora name) said, you don't know Aurora.
I don't blame Mr. Pietrowiak for criticizing highly-paid administrators who choose to live outside the district. After all, school board members are required to live there--how fair is that?
And he says that "the community seems to be complacent"--that's not always been the case! I remember a couple of years ago when hundreds of community members wrote letters, called Openline, and put signs in their yards trying to convince the School Board to reconsider its decision on the H.S. band director. That was hardly an example of complacency! I'd say instead that there's quite a bit of frustration and cynicism in this community based upon how we've been disrespected & disregarded in the past few years.
I wish Mr. Pietrowiak luck in trying to sell his house in Hometown. It won't be easy finding a buyer willing to put up with the way the Bigelows do business!
Thank You Russell Pietrowiak. You are the first leader in this community to actually lay the blame where it belongs. All things good and bad start and end with the adults of a community. If the adults of the community weren't apathetic, things would change.
I've been in this community for well over a decade and the only organizing I've seen is 1)Kevin Keisershot (a few signs and one march consisting mostly of students) and 2)the protests against the referendum (A lot of signs and people complaining about a little extra cost to them for the children of the community). If the community consistently organized as they did against the referendum, most all of the schools problems would be history.
The community needs to organize for good things, not just against them. The administrators, board and teachers make thousands of decisions every day. If your excuse for not supporting your own children is you disagree with a couple of decisions made, then become part of the decision making process. If you are crying that you want others (Illinois State) to support your children when you won't yourself, get a reality check.
Again, Thank You Russell Pietrowiak. I just wish you could have stated these things while you were still a part of the district board. Hopefully this will be a wakeup call to all those who read it, and be a motivating force for change. Best of luck in Oswego.