School gift card fiasco, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Trump's firing of government watchdogs
Children at the Auschwitz death camp in Poland when they were liberated by the Soviet Red Army in January 1945. Credit: Universal Images Group via Getty Images/Universal History Archive
Gift card mess is a sign of LI’s pitfalls
The possible firing of a school principal for allegedly stealing a gift card brings to the surface other things we do wrong on Long Island [“A principal may lose her job over missing gift,” News, Jan. 26].
First, the principal is paid over $200,000 to school 120 children in grades K-6. Similar salaries are paid to other principals who oversee way more students.
The whole case revolves around a $25 or $50 gift card. The cost to the district to fire her may be hundreds of thousands of dollars.
This has been a poorly handled matter. If the district turned the theft over to the local police and she were found to have done this, she would have been prosecuted and, if convicted, fired. This would have saved taxpayers a great deal of money.
This demonstrates the machine our educational system is running at our expense. Handling it in house, while giving the appearance of seeking justice, will probably result in her not being fired and saving her pension, yet the district can say it tried.
Furthermore, it shows clearly that we have far too many small school districts, principals and superintendents on the Island and we need to strongly consider merging these districts.
— Paul Spina Jr., Calverton
Calling in a five-alarm fire to extinguish a lit match seems highly inappropriate. Not only has the Amagansett school district seemingly wasted many dollars and time proceeding with the investigation, but should the decision favor Maria Dorr, it would not be surprising if she sued the school district for defamation of character and anything else her lawyers may deem appropriate. Perhaps the school district should have hired Inspector Clouseau and left it at that.
— Richard Peters, Merrick
I believe there is more to this story. I cannot imagine someone who makes a salary of $215,000 needs to steal a $50 gift card.
— Dick Cardozo, Westbury
A principal is suspended since 2023 over a $50 gift card. Some school administrators make more than $1,000 a day plus benefits yet can be put on paid leave during a dispute. That’s just one questionable occurrence on Long Island.
Hempstead Town is on the hook for 80,000 school bus camera tickets that weren’t approved for four districts. A man is released after being detained for decades after now being found innocent. Taxes are going through the roof. Child Protective Services didn’t act appropriately, and an 8-year-old’s death resulted.
Farmland is sought for hotel development, making it harder for farmers to exist. Elected officials celebrate the opening of housing that only the wealthy can afford. Red-light cameras haul in huge loads of money, and who knows how it has been spent.
Taxpayers wind up paying for sexual abuse by teachers after school districts covered up this behavior, with no recourse. That’s what I’ve read lately. It’s nothing short of dysfunctional. There’s got to be a better way of doing things.
— Anthony Tanzi, Mastic Beach
FDR’s 1938 meeting a stain on many nations
On Monday, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, many across the world recalled this lowest point in human history [“Thwarting Nazis’ plan at Auschwitz,” Opinion, Jan. 27]. Many are aware of Kristallnacht — the Night of Broken Glass — which occurred in November 1938.
Little or nothing, though, is written about the Evian Conference in France held four months earlier, in July. President Franklin D. Roosevelt assembled representatives from more than 30 countries to decide how many Jews each country would receive of those attempting to flee persecution from Germany and Austria. Golda Meir, an observer representing the Jewish community in Britain’s Mandatory Palestine, was there but had no vote.
The United States, which initiated the meeting, didn’t even make a significant offer, and other countries followed that cue. When the conference ended, only the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica agreed to take a significant number of Jews. It was a stain on all the other nations.
When Adolf Hitler saw how almost no other countries wanted the Jewish refugees, he likely felt even more empowered. And the rest, unfortunately, is history.
— Joel G. Cohen, Seaford
Firing watchdogs isn’t part of law and order
President Donald Trump’s statute-violating dismissal of 17 inspectors general at government agencies is just the latest illustration of a lack of respect for law and order [“President fires 17 federal watchdogs,” News, Jan. 26]. These inspectors act as a check against mismanagement and abuse of power. These are supposed to be nonpartisan roles.
No explanation was given by Trump’s office despite the provision that a 30-day notice must be given to Congress along with valid reasons for dismissal. What will Congress do about that? I object to my tax dollars being spent supporting such actions.
— Patricia Mamatos, Bay Shore
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