Month: July 2014
Journal News: ER School Board Rehires Law Firm
East Ramapo rehires controversial law firm

SPRING VALLEY – A year after vowing to cut ties with the law firm whose associate unleashed a string of vulgar insults at parent activists, East Ramapo school officials voted Tuesday night to renew the firm’s contract.
Journal News: East Ramapo Kids Cannot Wait
View: East Ramapo’s children cannot wait
That something is wrong in East Ramapo cannot be doubted. The district spent over $3 million last year on legal fees alone and budgeted the same amount to be spent this year. Board members should put aside hurt feelings and allow the state-appointed fiscal monitor to provide a data-driven, objective fiscal picture.
Re “East Ramapo monitor: Board president says state gave in to bigots,” June 14 article:
East Ramapo School Board President Yehuda Weissmandl’s comments that the appointment of a state fiscal monitor was capitulation to “bigots” is dead wrong and very unhelpful to a district that needs unity instead of divisiveness.
The Jewish Week: East Ramapo Schools under State Supervision
Chasidic school board president calls appointment of fiscal monitor ‘hateful bigotry’; activists hope for transparency.
Tensions in a Rockland County public school district ratcheted up another notch last week after the state appointed a fiscal monitor to oversee a school board composed primarily of Orthodox Jews that manages a public school system where nearly all the students are black or Latino.
mobile.com: Cuomo May Face Opposition from Ultra-Orthodox
Published Friday, June 20, 2014
New York’s Andrew Cuomo Faces Unexpected Opposition From Ultra-Orthodox
Governor’s E. Ramapo Push Is Latest Clash WIth Community
By Josh Nathan-Kazis

Unlikely Opposition: Gov. Andrew Cuomo looks to be cruising to reelection in the fall. Could ultra-Orthodox opposition jolt his plans for a coronation?
As New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo steams toward what’s expected to be an easy re-election this fall, he may face opposition from an unexpected corner.