Schools

Teachers Union Too Powerful, Says West Hempstead School Board Candidate

Bill Signorile, a 12-year-resident and father of two students, shares what has compelled him to run for the Board of Education this spring.

In the eyes of Bill Signorile, the West Hempstead teacher’s union is like “the sheriff of Nottingham” from Robin Hood, “collecting taxes and shaking people down,” he says.

That’s why the 12-year resident and father of two West Hempstead High School students has decided to run for the school board this spring, vying for the seat of Vincent Trocchia,

“I want to run to try to fix what’s broken,” he told Patch during an interview, saying he would file his paperwork in the coming weeks. “There’s too much power in the hands of the union.”

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A union man himself who worked as a New York City firefighter for 13 years, even serving on the board, before he was injured in the line of duty, Signorile says he isn’t “anti-union” nor does he want to “bash” teachers. However, he wants to see more compromise from the West Hempstead Education Association (WHEA).

In light of the staggering amount of vacant commercial properties and home foreclosures in the community, he has suggested that the teachers “give back” in some way, perhaps by taking a pay freeze for the next four to five years or even a 2 percent cut, and contribute more to their health benefits. (with the district, agreeing to forego retroactive pay increases for 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 and annual step increases, but received a 2 percent raise for 2011-2012 and 1.75 percent for 2012-2013.)

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“We’re fiscally in trouble,” he says, explaining that taxpayers in West Hempstead can’t keep pace with the school budget increases, which are mainly fueled by contractual raises and rising health care and pension costs. His taxes alone have gone up 120 percent since he moved to the area in 2000, and he fears if the trend continues, he’ll have to move out within the next five years – assuming he can sell his house, he adds.

“The ship is taking on water, we need all hands on deck and if we don’t lighten the load by throwing some things off the boat in order to get through the storm, we’ll have to throw some people overboard,” he said.

In his scenario, the victims here are residents and businesses that will no longer be able to afford to stay in West Hempstead, as well as younger teachers, who may have the most drive and earn the least but will be the first ones to go, according to the “Last-in, First-Out” policy, if the district is forced to make cuts.

Signorile also believes that for the money it spends, West Hempstead should be producing a better educational product.

“Why aren’t our kids going to Harvard and Yale and all the great schools? Why do they go to Nassau Community College and take remedial courses?” he says.

He recommends the district make teachers more accountable, awarding raises based on increased productivity and not length of service, and to punish those who are not performing.

“I would like to see more oversight, more review, more ‘look this isn’t working, you have a lot of failures in your class,'” he says. “And I’m sick and tired of hearing that [my student] watched Disney movies in class [because they had a sub.] If teachers aren’t going to make it to work, they better have lessons prepared for the next two days.”

If elected to the board, Signorile said he would scrutinize every penny and look for more ways to save, tapping into his experience working on Wall Street as a short term trader who made forecasts for hedge funds, a job he left to raise his children.

He’d push for the district to develop a five-year financial plan, add more Advanced Placement courses and foreign languages (Replacing Italian with French and German.) and change the school hours to start 30 minutes later. He said the new start time would save money on busing, citing a presentation by the district’s transportation consultant, and boost students’ performance in the classroom, because they’d be more awake.

And while he’s committed to preserving the arts and academic clubs, he’d like to keep some sports,  but thinks others could be downgraded to intramural programs to save the district money.

If changes are not made, Signorile predicts West Hempstead will find itself on a contingency budget within the next two to three years, and adds, "We need a miracle."


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