WITA contributions to three board members valued at $19,682

The West Islip Teachers’ Association endorsed Debbie Brown and Rich Antonello in May’s BOE election and with that endorsement came total contributions valued at $ 13,271. Brown, who received 1007 votes, and Antoniello, 922 votes, were victorious in the district's at large election over Roy Tarantola who received 888 votes. Brown and Antoniello each reported that WITA made expenditures on their behalf and with their approval in the amount of $6,635 that included 250 lawn signs, three postcard mailings to 8,080 homes per mailing, and Google Ads targeting homeowners in West Islip. The postcards also encouraged residents to support the budget. Brown’s campaign also included handouts and posters as shown in this article that were not included in WITA's itemized invoice that is on file with the New York State Department of Education. Tarantola used personal funds coupled with contributions of $150 from community members to purchase lawn signs totaling $649 while an additional community member contributed printing services for flyers valued at $2,000.

WITA also made contributions that were valued at $6,411 to Anthony Tussie in last year's election. Tussie and incumbent Ron Maginniss were victorious in 2020 as incumbent Paul Michaluk placed third and was defeated. Neither Maginniss nor Michaluk received contributions that were valued at more than $500 (they may have received zero) for the purposes of aiding their candidacy or defeating an opponent. WITA's expenditures on behalf of Tussie were for signs and postcards. There is no record of any other candidate receiving a contribution in excess of $500 going back to 2017 which includes three candidates running unopposed in 2019 and WITA's endorsement of Antoniello and Steve Gellar in 2018. The NYS Department of Education reporting threshold for campaign contributions is $500 and contributions include expenditures made by a third party on behalf of a candidate.

Political contributions from special interests are a way of life in our nation’s politics and WITA has every right to contribute as they see fit. And while passing the annual budget is certainly in the best interest of the community, not all of WITA’s interests are aligned with the community especially when the district has financial constraints under New York State’s mandated tax cap. At the end of the day, WITA has its members’ best interest in mind and not that of West Islip’s students or community.

The importance of WITA’s contributions is that salaries and benefits are the largest component of the district’s expense with WITA comprising the largest portion of that expense. Furthermore board members vote on approving district contracts including WITA’s collective bargaining agreement which is set to expire in June 2022. Since West Islip's board consists of seven members, only four members are required for a majority and three of those have received WITA contributions and a fourth, Peter McCann, is married to a teacher in the WITA.

While it was common knowledge that Brown, Antoniello, and Tussie were endorsed by WITA, neither were forthcoming during their campaign that they received WITA's financial support. Receiving campaign contributions from a special interest coupled with intentionally failing to disclose that to the community is unethical, fuels cynicism among many and is unhealthy for the integrity of the board as a whole. Perhaps candidates should be required to address the topic of contributions and potential conflict of interest in future PTA Meet the Candidate sessions.

WITA’s campaign contributions go beyond school elections as the New York State Board of Elections show that WITA has also contributed to former teacher and Common Core critic Christine Pellegrino. WITA's contributions to The Friends of Christine Pellegrino in 2017 and 2018 totaled $8,800. Pellegrino lost her reelection bid for New York State’s 9th Assembly district in 2018.