More than $1 million in federal funding for important programs is at stake. Keep the debate in the community. Inviting in the feds is against the interests of our children.
The editorial demonized those that think the Education Department DEI portal is a good thing and may have used it. In that sense the editor attacked those folks accused of "ratting out" the activities of the Croton Harmon School District. Susan accuses them of being cowardly and lacking moral strength. I guess personal attacks are taboo but anonymous group attacks are ok.
Yes that is correct. It is allowed to characterize the behavior of groups, or even of public figures like President Trump, but not specific individuals in our community with whom you are conversing on this particular comments page. That is the policy of this publication and that is what is meant by personal attacks. Following that policy is a condition of commenting in this space.
Hiding behind an anonymous post is cowardly and shows lack of moral strength. A small community isn't led by professional politicians. Local boards are run by regular people in the town. We each have a say in what goes on in our community. It's called voting! Whoever is using this DEI portal I ask you to STOP. The harm far outweighs the benefit. If you feel strongly about what's happening in our town and school let your voice be heard. Stand in your truth and let the 'powers that be' know how you feel. Don't hide with anonymous posts. It's cowardly and will hurt our schools.
“A small community isn't led by professional politicians.”
One could argue that Pugh and Simon are professional politicians, Pugh for sure. His ties to Pete Harckham and his wife Emiljana Ulaj, two professional politicians, are impacting our small town. What say you?
Thanks for your comment. Since’s Trump’s victory I have repeatedly asked his supporters in the community to write Guest Editorials spelling out why that is a good thing, and good for the community. No takers yet but I still have hope.
I say they are incumbents duly elected to their positions. I have respect for anyone willing to put their ideas and hopes for their community into the public record. Nothing anonymous about it.
I totally agree that jeopardizing funds over a few families’ concerns is unfair to the majority of families who find other, more local ways to get their voices heard. My daughter attended Croton schools K-12 and we found that she actually did have the important opportunity to hear viewpoints from a wider range of peers than one might actually assume in a small district.
Thanks for you comment. I had one subscriber cancel, a journalist from another town in the county, on the grounds that this was “propaganda, not news.” Of course it was clearly labeled as an editorial as we always do in such cases.
This editorial links these groups together the way Colin Powell linked 9/11 to Iraq, by putting them back to back without making any explicit link. Colin Powell took that shame to the grave, with a ruined reputation after a lifetime of service.
This editorial starts with that portal, puts PDE back to back, then "the N-word", then Black History Month, Trump supporters, etc., etc., in a long chain with no explicit link between any of these. The connection is as false as linking 9/11 to Iraq.
The opposition in Croton is not PDE supporters, but people like the Voice of Croton. The editorial sets up a straw man opposition with Trump supporters and "N-words".
The primary mechanisms for political expression in America are freedom of expression, lobbying the government, and voting. All of those occur far more frequently than running for office. The choice is not to run for office or shut up - you also get freedom of expression, lobbying, and voting. There are good reasons why public servants, the military, the unqualified, and others cannot run for office, and they are not "excuses".
We have a growing non-citizen community excluded from the right to lobby, vote, or run for office. Stephen Walker leads a School District that is hot on DEI but still retains 25 policies with the status of municipal bylaws that exclude non-citizens. And one that excludes based on froeign-ness and visa status. The Sport Player Agreement still requires students and parent to satisfy citizenship to participate in sport. These policies were adopted November 1994, and after 31 years the Board of Education has only just begun to dismantle this discriminatory language in their last Board meeting. Whilst Walker talks about DEI, the School District has explicitly overt discriminatory bylaws in force today. They are selective in their DEI, in supporting PRIDE and discriminating against non-citizens and foreign students.
There are 240 Economically Disadvantaged children in our schools - that is our largest marginalized group of students. Our School Board do not speak about these children and have no policy for them.
Thanks for your question. By personal attacks the policy clearly means attacking a specific person one is conversing with, eg, saying someone is stupid or out of touch etc. General remarks characterizing a particular behavior are not the same thing. I’m sorry if you don’t like the policy and its interpretation but it is not going to change.
Thanks for your question. By personal attacks the policy clearly means attacking a specific person one is conversing with, eg, saying someone is stupid or out of touch etc. General remarks characterizing a particular behavior are not the same thing. I’m sorry if you don’t like the policy and it’s interpretation but it is not going to change.
This publication's policy of allowing the characterization of "public figures" but not "specific individuals within this community" contains two inherent contradictions. Firstly all our local politicians are both public figures and within this community. And secondly many of the alleged criminals that appear here, and vocal former residents, are neither public figures nor within the community, and seem to have no protection. What sort of socialist would protect local politicians but leave ordinary poor people tempted into crime, from slightly outside the Village, unprotected? When someone moves from Maple St to Mt Airy Rd, outside the Village 'community', is it now open season on them? And by moving from Yorktown to Harmon, does one gain more protection? The State Judge John A. Sarcone, lives outside the Village, in the School District, adjacent to Yorktown. Is Judge Sarcone in the community? When appointed, this publication covered the story as in the community, and then goes back to the Village alone as the scope of this publication. Which community is "this community"? And when county, state, and federal politicians move into the community do they gain protection? Remember that Donald Trump's estate is nearby at Seven Dials and arguably within our extended community. Donald Trump is a specific individual within this extended community, and supposedly protected by this publication's policies. This publication is worthy of better policies.
This publication's policies reveal themselves incrementally and ad-hoc soon after a public comment. Where would a commenter go to know the policies, and why are they applied retroactively? Are they pre-formed and hidden from commenters, or incrementally refined on the fly? And let us have policies that are stable, known, and available.
It is well settled in State Law that Board of Education Members are Public Figures, as elected politicians. The School District is legally constituted as a Municipality, the Members are its Government, and its Policies have the status of Municipal Bylaws. Imagine if one of the Board Of Education members were to appear un-anonymously in these comments. I wouldn't know which of this publication's policies would combine: public figure, community member, and commenter. I would have to wait for David Rogers to post a comment, get it deleted, and then be told what he did that got it deleted, but would be unable to see the example. What a farce.
Deciding what is and what is not a personal attack is a judgment call. Fortunately, the Chronicle, like all other publications, has an editor whose job it is to make those judgments. We do have a platform in Croton where anyone can say whatever they want, Croton Uncensored, and I recommend it for those who don’t want to submit to very occasional moderation of their comments.
I agree 100% that elections have consequences. The current president is echoing the pages of Project 2025 to make our country white and Christian. Secret portals? They are turning citizen against citizen to pursue this horrific agenda. Book banning, rewriting teacher curriculum, returning confederate names to schools!? White and christian. Make no mistake that is the end game. You are right David, when you said portal users have a perfect legal right to do so. Thank god we still have the right to free speech. But look at the intention of the portal to understand the reality of the government’s goal.
Yes, I am clear on what the portal is. I’m not sure you are clear. Seems you’re skewing the intent of eliminating DEI to fit your ideology. How is banning a book going to eliminate discrimination of race or sex. Or rewriting a curriculum to eliminate mention of LBGTQ subject matter. Eliminating blacks, Latinos and women from military training manuals makes our country weak. It’s an embarrassment. As to ‘following the law’ rest assured the majority of Americans are shocked by Project 2025s approach to reshaping the Constitution and our values. We are still free to speak our mind, raise our voice, and object to the silencing of differing opinions. If that’s liberal speak then I’m all in.
I removed the comment you are responding to because David engaged in a personal attack at the end of his argument when he said you were “out of touch.” The comments policy of this site does not allow for any kinds of personal attacks, and it is pretty strictly interpreted. It is possible to make a point without personalizing it or saying something negative about a specific person you are responding to. This is the second time I have warned David not to engage that in kind of personalization (he argued with me about it that first time) and I would appreciate it if everyone would take notice.
The editorial demonized those that think the Education Department DEI portal is a good thing and may have used it. In that sense the editor attacked those folks accused of "ratting out" the activities of the Croton Harmon School District. Susan accuses them of being cowardly and lacking moral strength. I guess personal attacks are taboo but anonymous group attacks are ok.
Yes that is correct. It is allowed to characterize the behavior of groups, or even of public figures like President Trump, but not specific individuals in our community with whom you are conversing on this particular comments page. That is the policy of this publication and that is what is meant by personal attacks. Following that policy is a condition of commenting in this space.
Hiding behind an anonymous post is cowardly and shows lack of moral strength. A small community isn't led by professional politicians. Local boards are run by regular people in the town. We each have a say in what goes on in our community. It's called voting! Whoever is using this DEI portal I ask you to STOP. The harm far outweighs the benefit. If you feel strongly about what's happening in our town and school let your voice be heard. Stand in your truth and let the 'powers that be' know how you feel. Don't hide with anonymous posts. It's cowardly and will hurt our schools.
“A small community isn't led by professional politicians.”
One could argue that Pugh and Simon are professional politicians, Pugh for sure. His ties to Pete Harckham and his wife Emiljana Ulaj, two professional politicians, are impacting our small town. What say you?
Thanks for your comment. Since’s Trump’s victory I have repeatedly asked his supporters in the community to write Guest Editorials spelling out why that is a good thing, and good for the community. No takers yet but I still have hope.
I say they are incumbents duly elected to their positions. I have respect for anyone willing to put their ideas and hopes for their community into the public record. Nothing anonymous about it.
I totally agree that jeopardizing funds over a few families’ concerns is unfair to the majority of families who find other, more local ways to get their voices heard. My daughter attended Croton schools K-12 and we found that she actually did have the important opportunity to hear viewpoints from a wider range of peers than one might actually assume in a small district.
Thanks for you comment. I had one subscriber cancel, a journalist from another town in the county, on the grounds that this was “propaganda, not news.” Of course it was clearly labeled as an editorial as we always do in such cases.
This editorial links these groups together the way Colin Powell linked 9/11 to Iraq, by putting them back to back without making any explicit link. Colin Powell took that shame to the grave, with a ruined reputation after a lifetime of service.
This editorial starts with that portal, puts PDE back to back, then "the N-word", then Black History Month, Trump supporters, etc., etc., in a long chain with no explicit link between any of these. The connection is as false as linking 9/11 to Iraq.
The opposition in Croton is not PDE supporters, but people like the Voice of Croton. The editorial sets up a straw man opposition with Trump supporters and "N-words".
The primary mechanisms for political expression in America are freedom of expression, lobbying the government, and voting. All of those occur far more frequently than running for office. The choice is not to run for office or shut up - you also get freedom of expression, lobbying, and voting. There are good reasons why public servants, the military, the unqualified, and others cannot run for office, and they are not "excuses".
We have a growing non-citizen community excluded from the right to lobby, vote, or run for office. Stephen Walker leads a School District that is hot on DEI but still retains 25 policies with the status of municipal bylaws that exclude non-citizens. And one that excludes based on froeign-ness and visa status. The Sport Player Agreement still requires students and parent to satisfy citizenship to participate in sport. These policies were adopted November 1994, and after 31 years the Board of Education has only just begun to dismantle this discriminatory language in their last Board meeting. Whilst Walker talks about DEI, the School District has explicitly overt discriminatory bylaws in force today. They are selective in their DEI, in supporting PRIDE and discriminating against non-citizens and foreign students.
There are 240 Economically Disadvantaged children in our schools - that is our largest marginalized group of students. Our School Board do not speak about these children and have no policy for them.
Personal anttacks are not allowed in this comment section. Please discuss issues without personalizing them.
Thanks for your question. By personal attacks the policy clearly means attacking a specific person one is conversing with, eg, saying someone is stupid or out of touch etc. General remarks characterizing a particular behavior are not the same thing. I’m sorry if you don’t like the policy and its interpretation but it is not going to change.
Isn't calling someone cowardly and lacking moral strength a personal attack?
And yet you don't delete that comment, but in fact "like" it?
Steve, I was speaking about a collective group of ppl that might have those beliefs. I would never attack a contributor online. Free speech man
✊🏼
Susan, Thank you for expressing the policy succinctly and following it.
Thanks for your question. By personal attacks the policy clearly means attacking a specific person one is conversing with, eg, saying someone is stupid or out of touch etc. General remarks characterizing a particular behavior are not the same thing. I’m sorry if you don’t like the policy and it’s interpretation but it is not going to change.
This publication's policy of allowing the characterization of "public figures" but not "specific individuals within this community" contains two inherent contradictions. Firstly all our local politicians are both public figures and within this community. And secondly many of the alleged criminals that appear here, and vocal former residents, are neither public figures nor within the community, and seem to have no protection. What sort of socialist would protect local politicians but leave ordinary poor people tempted into crime, from slightly outside the Village, unprotected? When someone moves from Maple St to Mt Airy Rd, outside the Village 'community', is it now open season on them? And by moving from Yorktown to Harmon, does one gain more protection? The State Judge John A. Sarcone, lives outside the Village, in the School District, adjacent to Yorktown. Is Judge Sarcone in the community? When appointed, this publication covered the story as in the community, and then goes back to the Village alone as the scope of this publication. Which community is "this community"? And when county, state, and federal politicians move into the community do they gain protection? Remember that Donald Trump's estate is nearby at Seven Dials and arguably within our extended community. Donald Trump is a specific individual within this extended community, and supposedly protected by this publication's policies. This publication is worthy of better policies.
This publication's policies reveal themselves incrementally and ad-hoc soon after a public comment. Where would a commenter go to know the policies, and why are they applied retroactively? Are they pre-formed and hidden from commenters, or incrementally refined on the fly? And let us have policies that are stable, known, and available.
It is well settled in State Law that Board of Education Members are Public Figures, as elected politicians. The School District is legally constituted as a Municipality, the Members are its Government, and its Policies have the status of Municipal Bylaws. Imagine if one of the Board Of Education members were to appear un-anonymously in these comments. I wouldn't know which of this publication's policies would combine: public figure, community member, and commenter. I would have to wait for David Rogers to post a comment, get it deleted, and then be told what he did that got it deleted, but would be unable to see the example. What a farce.
The Chronical policy definitely needs some work. Indicating that someone is "out of touch" should not be deemed a personal attack.
Deciding what is and what is not a personal attack is a judgment call. Fortunately, the Chronicle, like all other publications, has an editor whose job it is to make those judgments. We do have a platform in Croton where anyone can say whatever they want, Croton Uncensored, and I recommend it for those who don’t want to submit to very occasional moderation of their comments.
I agree 100% that elections have consequences. The current president is echoing the pages of Project 2025 to make our country white and Christian. Secret portals? They are turning citizen against citizen to pursue this horrific agenda. Book banning, rewriting teacher curriculum, returning confederate names to schools!? White and christian. Make no mistake that is the end game. You are right David, when you said portal users have a perfect legal right to do so. Thank god we still have the right to free speech. But look at the intention of the portal to understand the reality of the government’s goal.
Wow!!
Wow what Miss Nancy?
Yes, I am clear on what the portal is. I’m not sure you are clear. Seems you’re skewing the intent of eliminating DEI to fit your ideology. How is banning a book going to eliminate discrimination of race or sex. Or rewriting a curriculum to eliminate mention of LBGTQ subject matter. Eliminating blacks, Latinos and women from military training manuals makes our country weak. It’s an embarrassment. As to ‘following the law’ rest assured the majority of Americans are shocked by Project 2025s approach to reshaping the Constitution and our values. We are still free to speak our mind, raise our voice, and object to the silencing of differing opinions. If that’s liberal speak then I’m all in.
I removed the comment you are responding to because David engaged in a personal attack at the end of his argument when he said you were “out of touch.” The comments policy of this site does not allow for any kinds of personal attacks, and it is pretty strictly interpreted. It is possible to make a point without personalizing it or saying something negative about a specific person you are responding to. This is the second time I have warned David not to engage that in kind of personalization (he argued with me about it that first time) and I would appreciate it if everyone would take notice.