Bethpage-Tribune_1970-05-07

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Island Trees Serving Bethpage - Plainview - Island Trees - Plainedge - Seaford
Vttl. 4 No. 29
Old Bethpage
Thursday, May 7, 1970 10c per copy
. M a y it. w o b Mother.' Day - - • a day let apart from
other days to the year - - -a time to remember Mama.
Ifce "Mama" of yesterday would certainly be shaken and
m,aMui4 fcf the t a n of events fa oar great Country today. Hie
"Mama" whose roots began to a foreign burnt and whose tongue still
spoke with a trace of the mother land would be shocked to witness the
of her beloved "America" defying authority, rebelling
toss, tearing and descecrating the flag and
to tUkmt sad eiatieUlea. Tms would be very difficult for
tooaierstamt
I remember spoke of loyalty, decency, kindness and
was uncomplicated--- simple in her tastes and
paved the way for todays'children.
' ' * now and then? Where has
•a? Has unsupervised "per'
,,., ..*_„.....«_»«»••»--- has our advanced technology
rsnfaii d —i i aaVli i • ••<! niailr thrm frirfnt nf urtnifn' anted' F-Trrr
•todrrgartea they hear - - - phrases - - - nacksar bomb - - population
The
Headttses glare at them • "?il l l | l l r ^ P P I I l p l l ' | l • • lMl|H•l•^I^B,'
tWfterr - - - todfseaver - - - everything is harried op . . . the whole
process is a rash from cradle to the grave. This is progress, my
friends? No "Mama" bad the time to mend a birds' wing, and
sing a song at bedtime - - • Mama could relate stories about the "old
country" hi "broken English" yes, but never with a "broken
Spirit". Mama was proud - - - proud to be an American and the Flag
had a place of honor in her home and heart---
Are we Mothers of Today • • • Earning the right to be honored on
•Mothers Day" - - - Think about it? Remember the hand that
rocks the cradle..-rules the world!
Human Relations Club
Meets With Board
Representatives of the Beth-page
High School Human
Relations Club met with the
Board of Education for nearly
two hours Tuesday night (May 5)
in the Administration building
(Stewart and Cherry Ave.).
They came to hear the Board's
reasons for vetoing a limited
exchange program between
Wyandanch and Bethpage high
schools. The Club had initiated
the idea for the program.
While the Board and
representatives talked, some 35
student supporters staged a mild
sympathy sit-in outside in the
ball.
Later, Board president Joseph
Dawson reported that the Board
had agreed to publicize the exact
nature of the abortive project.
This would be done to counter the
community's misunderstanding
of the program's limited scope,
he explained.
According to Judy Mitchell,
president of the Club, he Board
was "sympathetic", but did not
make any committment to press
for the project in the future.
Dawson agreed that no com­mittment
had been made. He
pointed out, however, that the
proposal might be re-introduced
sometime in the future, although
definitely not this year.
The publicity will include in­formation
in the next district
newsletter.
Miss Mitchell reported she was
"optimistic" after the meeting.
She stated she would wait for the
next educational bulleting before
making a final judgement of the
Board's sincerity.
Other representatives were not
so hopeful. Said Karen Kulp,
vice-president of the Club, "I'm
not too optimistic that anything
will be done."
Miss Kulp argued that the
meeting was not necessary to get
the promise of information in the
newsletter. Contending that little
had been accomplished, she
conceded that "we seemed to be
communicating, which is good, I
guess."
After-the closed meeting, the
Board held a brief public session
to fix budget and election
procedures.
Important dates to remember
are:
May 26: Deadline, for filing
petitions for School Board can­didacy.
Signatures from 25
district residents are needed to
enter one of three School Board
and one Library Board contests.
Petitions may be picked up from
the district clerk.
May 27: First pie-budget
hearing. Originally scheduled for
May 28, this dale was changed
because of a music festival in the
High School auditorium the same
night.
Wednesday, June 3:
Registration for School Board
and budget votes, from 2 to 9 p.m.
Residents who have voted in
annual meetings since 1969, need
A teachers' strike was averted
in Bethpage Monday, but the
president of the teachers' union
warned that this might only mean
the strike would be postponed
until next week.
Meanwhile, the district's
professional negotiator assailed
the union chief for "bargaining in
the newspapers" and held but
hope that a settlement would be
reached without a strike.
According to union President
Jack Murphy, the teachers voted
May 4 not to strike the following
week. Unable to give the exact
tally, he agreed that a reported
117-70 no-vote was "probably
close" to the right figure.
Murphy explained that-the vote
was against a formal strike,
complete with picket lines. Thus,
it did. not preclude an informal
"siefc-ottt" May 11.
Murphy added that the 70 pro-picket
votes were "three tunes as
many pickets as last year", when
the union went out.
According to a union flyer, "the
faculty met and overwhelmingly
rejected the Board's total money
offer." Resolutions were also
passed to send an ultimatum to
the Board warning that "if after
two negotiating meetings our just
demands are not met-then we
will have a strike vote."
This strike vote would be held
May 11.
Murphy predicted a significant
shift in favor of a strike if the
May 11 vote is taken.
Later in the week, the union
president outlined the teacher
complaints. These include an
alleged low salary and fringe
benefit schedule relative to the
other 53 districts in Nassau
County.
Citing figures he believed were
compiled by the New York State
Teachers Association, Murphy
contended that "the longer you're
here, the more credits and
degrees you earn, the less you're
paid."
Murphy's figures showed that
teachers at the B.A. level receive
roughly median salaries.
However, they depicted Beth­page
teachers with graduate
credits and degrees, and with 5 to
10 years experience, as a few
hundred dollars below the
median, and generally about
$1,000 below the top
According to Murphy, meat
career teachers move beyond the
B. A. level so that the median'
standing for that category did not
affect many of them.
In some categories, Bethpage
teachers were listed very close to
the bottom. Murphy argued that
the Board's Monday offer would
have put Bethpage "smack at the
bottom" in many categories.
Asserting that the a
to reward^—
union chief can
"relatively tranned," Th» is
because moat districts wifl not
give a teacher more than 8 to Mr
years seniority credit when he
transfers from another district,
he said.
Murphy pointed out that
teachers were upset by a
"cumulative loss." Thus, he
argued, a teacher consistently
behind several hundred dollars
for several years would lose
thousands of dollars during that
time, even if the situation were
rectified by P new contract.
Murphy, als'o attacked the
district's fringe benefit program,
which he called the worst in
Nassau County. In addition to
raising the district's funding of
Health Insurancer-"basically our
only fringe benefit"-from 70
percent to 90 percent, the
teachers want a life insurance
and dental plan, and higher
sabbatical pay, he reported.
Murphy declared that the union
proposals would not make Beth­page
first in any categories, but
only "competitive."
He expressed hope that the
Board would move at least
toward a 9 percent raise, the sane
settlement it reportedly reached
with service employees.
AI DiMaria, the Board's
professional negotiator,
presented the Board's case only
after learning of Mmphy^s state­ments
to the press, a move he
criticized.
DiMaria declared that the
negotiating mechanism should be
the bargaining table, since
publicity "doesn't present a
realistic picture of what's going
on." However, he decided to
apeak since "the other side" had
already presented «•»«
specific salary scale Previously
aiidtne negotiator, teachers had
merely demanded a stn ptsce
position among the County's 54
districts.
Since the exact figures on i\-'
settlements in Nassau might v.
be available until next fall, a finai
package for Bethpage could not
be ready by budget time, nor
before' teachers left for the
summer, he argued.
DiMaria added that the Board
had responded to Monday's union
offer, and that "give and take"
bargaining was proceeding.
"There is an agreement in the
works, and soon", he declared,
noting that "now...we can
bargain intelligently." He said it
was "a reasonable expectation,
based upon recent affirmative
developments", that the set­tlement
would be reached soon
enough for inclusion in the
budget
Neighborhood Fair
May 16 the Girl Scouts of
Neighborhood VI, Bethpage, will
run their first neighborhood fair.
The fair will he held at the Beth­page
Fire House, Broadway,
from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
There will be arts and crafts for
sale which have been made by
our many troops, as well as
games for the children and a
special added attraction, a
puppet show, put on by our own
Senior Troop 22. There will be a 5
cent admission fee which in­cludes
the puppet show.
Proceeds from the fair will go
to purchase camping equipment
for use by all our Bethpage
troops. . v
not re-register.
June 8: Second pre-budget
hearing.
June 9: Budget and school
Board balloting. Polls will be
open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Formal budget hearing will
follow the voting.
GETTING THE HEART FACTS are Bethpage Community
Chairman fur the recent Heart Fund drive, Salvatore Mosca, (left)
and the Hon. Angelo D. Roncallo, (Massapeuua) Nassau County
Heart Sunday Chairman. The smiles reflect reports of progress
being made in combating man's No. 1 killer. Despite such positive
progress, much research still needs t- **e carried on. Mosca wishes to
thank all Bethpage residents for their generous support of the Heart
Sunday drive (which netted some 1950) and adds that it is not too late
to make a contribution to your local volunteer or directly to Heart
Fund headquarters, 365 Willis Ave., Mineola.