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| Home Front: Politix | |||
| NYC principal campaigns on duty | |||
| 2006-11-06 | |||
| In a letter sent home with students the Friday before Election Day, the principal of an East Bronx public school called on parents to support the Democratic incumbent in a hotly contested state Senate race. Another official at the school used her city government email address to solicit campaign volunteers for the same candidate. In the letter, the principal of Public School 71, Lance Cooper, credits City Council Member James Vacca and state Senator Jeffrey Klein with helping the school secure new computers after several units were stolen last month. The "Dear Parents" letter also praises the two politicians for assisting "with the funding of the Science Lab, which is now operational." The letter, a scanned version of which was e-mailed to The New York Sun, reads: "With their support and intervention P.S. 71 can continue to be the excellent school that it has always been. So it is my sincere hope, that we endorse these Community Leaders when they need our support as a way of always saying thank you for always being there for P.S. 71!" Mr. Klein, a Democrat who represents portions of the Bronx and lower Westchester County, faces the Bronx Republican chairman, Joseph Savino, in tomorrow's election.
Mr. Cooper could not be reached for comment yesterday. A spokeswoman for the Department of Education, Kelly Devers, said if the letter had been sent by the principal, it would be an apparent violation of the Chancellor's Regulations. She noted that the department had not authenticated the letter, but said it was looking into the matter.
A campaign spokeswoman for Mr. Klein, Taryn Duffy, said the state senator did not know that the letter would be sent. "We have always maintained a wall of separation between his role as a New York state senator, and his campaign — and we would ask everybody else to do the same," she said. The school's parent coordinator, Renee Reilly, said the letter sounded like an expression of "sincere gratitude," and was not overtly political."Maybe it was bad timing," Ms. Reilly said. "Whether it's Christmas or Election Day, you thank people at the time of an event. You don't wait until it's politically correct to do it." Referring to Mr. Vacca and Ms. Klein, she added: "They've helped us with our science lab, and they helped us replace stolen laptops. Anybody who is going to help out children, how can you not be grateful and want to help them back?" In an e-mail sent last week from her Department of Education address, Ms. Reilly, who lives in Pelham Bay, solicited volunteers to distribute campaign literature on Mr. Klein's behalf. "Senator Jeff Klein's office contacted me looking for volunteers on ‘Election Day' to hand out flyers in front of PS71, depending on the shift you are available a meal will be provided. If you are interested please contact me and I will forward your name to the Senator. Thank you," the e-mail said. | |||
| Posted by:lotp |
| #3 Rangel said good-bye to NCLB. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2006-11-06 16:53 |
| #2 how can you not be grateful and want to help them back? Ummm...how bout cuz it's against the f*ck*ng law? |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-11-06 14:42 |
| #1 isn't that nice of her to give up her job in support of her candidate. |
| Posted by: Clkethel OHlkdj 2006-11-06 14:16 |