Meet Norma Sarmiento, BOE 2013 Candidate

On May 21 Lindenhurst residents will not only cast their votes for or against the $145.7 million 2013-14 school budget - which includes a 1.99 percent tax levy, the use $1.1 million in reserves and the removal of 66-plus aides - the Board of Education approved on April 25, but they'll also be casting their votes in the BOE Trustee Election that day.

There are eight candidates this year - three of whom are incumbents with one incumbent running unopposed, two newcomers running against the remaining two incumbents and three running for a seat being vacated by an incumbent.

They met the public at the Meet the Candidates portion of the recent Lindenhurst Council of PTAs meeting and 2013-14 budget presentation by Superintendent Richard Nathan.

However, in an effort to keep voters informed, Lindenhurst Patch is presenting profiles of each candidate - in no particular order, using the same topics - in the days leading up to BOE Election and Budget Vote next Tuesday, May 21.

This BOE Candidate Profile focuses on newcomer Norma Sarmiento who’s running against incumbent Ed Langone, who’s running for reelection.

Here’s what Sarmiento had to say:

Qualifications/Experience: “I’ve been a resident in Lindenhurst since 1996, though I have family residing here since around 1990. I’m a mother of three. I work in the courts as a translator and also for schools, precincts, rehab centers, hospitals, lawyers, firms, etc. I’ve been a Spanish teacher, home school teacher and an ESL teacher before my job as a translator. I studied here and abroad.”

Reason for Running: “I’ve always been very involved in PTA, education and my community. Now that my children are older I think perhaps it’s a good time to be able to be a Board member and give back to the community.”

What Sets You Apart: “I don’t think it’s what sets me apart…but rather what makes me like the average community members and the will of bringing all of us together instead of putting up walls or creating the ‘us and them.’ We’re all part of the community, a diverse community where we all need and look for different things, but if we all give of ourselves and combine hard work and talents, then we can make a great person and great community. The Board should have different views and constant renewal so that it’s not a one-sided, complacent, clique-y Board, and it doesn’t get stale. I feel that just like in all the other PTA positions, government positions, etc. where for the most part two terms is the maximum, we should aim for the same for our board. In this way other points of view and different sectors of the community constantly have a chance to [share] insight and representation and renewal if things are not going well. I believe the main job of the Board is to be the link between administrators and faculty and the community. No hidden agendas, no politics, no personal issues or egos, no winning or losing, or digging heels on ‘being right,’ but rather on ‘doing right.’ Community members overseeing what the educators are doing, and informing the public and helping to stretch the money in the best way while educating the best way possible for everyone through common sense, heart and moral compass. The more perspectives we have out there, the wider the spectrum of ideas to solve problems and do business. Our world is ever-changing, and so should our Board be.”

Most Important Issue Facing the District/How to Tackle It: “The most important issue to tackle is why there’s such a separation between school faculty and community. Why do we spend so much money on lawyers to fight parents? Why do we believe we have to have that blue code of silence or united front to be strong? I once heard they do this so the parent doesn’t ‘win?’ I thought the idea is that we all are here for the parents and kids to ‘win!’ When a troubled child is turned around, a failing student passes, a handicapped child succeeds, a gifted child soars, we all win…don’t we? All children are our children, and we must work together; it takes a village to raise a child. Many of our teachers and administrators live in Lindenhurst. We mustn’t draw lines in the sand! There’s strength in unity, and when we give of ourselves to help others, we get it back two-fold. Social emotional intelligence is a great part of being able to handle all of this. When we teach kids to understand others, to work together, to be less self-centered and more community-oriented, and work toward a greater good, then they become more resilient and accepting, and better students and people. But as adults we must practice this, as well! Children learn the most through our actions, and when we think they’re not looking, it’s when they’re learning the most.”

What You Want to Accomplish/Continue as a Trustee/How to Fund It: “I hope to accomplish communication and unity among Board , faculty and community….transparency….I hope to be able to see and understand things that are done in a more up close and personal way, and then, according to what I have before me, to work with the schools, the other Board members and the community toward the best resolution possible, to have communication and be open enough to be able to include the community members as much as possible in the problems and in the solutions. As I said before the stronger the alliance among students, faculty, Board and community members, the better shot we have of helping achieve the best outcome for all. We’re all in this together. This doesn’t need funding; it needs heart, common sense, care, work and the belief that things can improve. When you’re on a good path, things fall into place. I’ve seen very poor schools do wonders when there’s an alliance of parents, students and faculty. We really can make a difference when we have true motivation and work toward it. Where there’s a will there’s a way.”

Accomplishment in Life Most Proud of and Why: “My children and my family, my community, my friends, my work, my foundation and the work I’ve done to help all children, the love and support I receive from people, and the support and love I can give to them. Why? Because in my opinion this is what’s important in life. There’s a saying that says. ‘While we try to teach children and others all about life, they teach us what life is all about.’ Everything else is details and can change in a second; our financial situations, careers, etc. evolve, may change, or not, but the people who’ve touched my life and whose lives I have touched will have that ingrained in a way that can’t be lost or taken away. It’s a tall order to educate children because they’re the future. It all starts in childhood; the best and worst of us started there.”

Accomplishment in the Community Most Proud of and Why: “I’ve been a Girls Scout leader, a Boy Scout leader, PTA chair and co-chair of many committees throughout the years, as well as a PTA Board member, a religion teacher, the co-founder of Love, Laugh n Learn, an educational not- profit organization, and the first owner of Let’s Bounce and Party, through which I held seminars about social emotional intelligence. It was a venue of fun for countless amounts of children , and had the help of many, many teenagers there. I’m a neighbor, counselor and driver of many, many, kids. I drove around in my van for Sandy relief. I’m a parent advocate for the schools at meetings, a home tutor to many children who weren’t able to go to school. I’ve received the Outstanding Girl Scout leader award, and the New York State Congress of Parents and Teachers honorary life member award.”

How You’ve Given Back to the Community:“I believe I’ve given back to the community through the accomplishments that I mentioned in my last answer, and I hope to continue giving back as a Board member, if elected, or as I have been doing all of my life.”

How Will You Continue to Balance Preserving Program, Jobs and Reserves with the Reality of the Tax Cap and with How the Tax Rolls May Be Affected by Hurricane Sandy? How Would You Be Able to Provide Some Tax Relief Next Year?
“I don’t know enough about the actual numbers and possibilities or options the Board and administrators handle. All I can tell you is I will do the best I can with what I have, I will look thoroughly into all that’s going on and will do the best I can to do what’s best for the children, and the community and the finance, as I’m sure is the case of anyone on the Board. I’ll work hard to learn as much as I can and to get as much information, and listen and get informed, and include the community to hear what they have to say ,as well as to hear what the administrators and teachers have to say. The idea is to use the least amount of money to do the best job possible. We shall see what can be done toward that.”

What's Your Take on the 2013-14 Budget, the Use of Reserves, the Tax Levy and the Upcoming Budget Vote? If You Were on the Board, What, If Anything, Would You’ve Done Differently Prior to Adoption and Why?
"From what I understood the reserves this year were higher than last year even though they used part of it to keep the numbers down. I think all of the information regarding that wasn’t totally clear, just like there’s a discrepancy in the amount of aides they needed to cut to make this budget work. It’s never a good idea to use reserves, but it’s also not a good idea to cut programs or raise taxes, but something will usually have to give. As I said before I truly believe there’s not enough transparency to be able to give an educated answer from the outside, and there are no blanket solutions to anything. It’s a case-by-case, year-by-year thing. I trust that the people in our schools and Board are honest, and are doing what they believe is best, but when there are such vague and ambiguous changing numbers, I truly don’t think I or anyone who wasn’t involved in the process truly knows if there was another way of resolving this. All I can say is sometimes when you’re used to doing business in a certain way, it’s hard to do it differently, and there are usually many ways of doing things. When you change the way you look at things the things, you look at change.”

What's Your Take on the Continuing Contract Negotiations, Particularly with TAL? What Do You Think Needs to Be Done at This Point? Why?
“Teachers have a very tall order and have a very difficult job, and we must support them just like they must support the community and work toward the greater good. There’s a lot of pressure on them and a lot of pressure on the community, but if we work as a whole, then things will work out for all. It’s not ‘us and them.’ As I’ve said before we’re all in this together; brainstorming and working together is the answer to any negotiation and not the digging of heels or going to the table with prejudices or preconceptions.”

What’s Your Take on the New State Exams? For or Against? Why?
"Against the state exams as the indicator of success…why? Einstein said, ‘If you measure the ability of a fish to climb a tree, he will feel he is unworthy or dumb.’ As educators we must remember there are multiple intelligences, there are other factors that should be measured in a teacher and student. Another quote by Einstein is, ‘Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.’ When you’re so worried about the numerical value of the outcome, you lose the journey and experience of the task at hand, of the learning process. Not every child will learn the same things in the same amount of time just like children don’t learn to walk or talk at the same rate. I’m not a Board member, and I’ve been actively working to change this; my foundation is one way to do it, and writing to those in charge of education. I’ve worked with Alfie Kohn and Kirsten Olson and Hofstra University regarding the high-stakes testing. We need to find the way for them to have the love of learning , the motivation to learn, teach them where to get information, how to get information, how to be prepared for college , writing skills, reading skills, social emotional literacy, so they can apply the skills they learn in the world. But if we’re pressured every year to do things inside a box, then we waste so much instruction time, so much valuable connections to learning by just doing busy work and practice tests, it doesn’t work. Teachers can’t be the best they can be, and neither can the children.”

What’s Your Take on Unfunded Mandates? What’s the Top Mandate You’d Like to Change? How So and Why? How Would You Work with the Rest of the Board to Get Legislators to Listen and Enact That/Those Change(s)?
“Unfunded mandates are unfair and ludicrous. I’d like to change the testing system, and I’d work with the Board and with the legislators and the rest of the community as I have been doing for years, and as I have explained in my previous answer.”

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