Gannett endorses incumbents (Yawn)

BEDFORD

Paul Alcorn

In his first three years as a member of the Ossining* Board of Education, the Rev. Paul Alcorn, the current president, has established a stride that has propelled the board forward. He should be reelected to a second term.

Alcorn is, opposed by Joseph Whelan, who ran unsuccessfully for the board last year.

Among his first term accomplishments, Alcorn cites his ability to work cohesively with other board members and the administration, restructuring the middle. school, successfully negotiating contracts with district employees and supporting the administration's  recruitment and hiring efforts.

If elected, Whelan said, he would work to make the board more independent Whelan criticized board members for being too closely aligned with district administrators.

We fail to see how an intention to alienate the district from the administrators would be productive. Instead, we prefer Alcorn's track record and continued goal to work with the administration, while acknowledging and addressing differences of opinion.

What has us most stymied about Whelan's positions is his take on the states new, stringent academic standards. Whelan, an accountant and a college teacher for nearly 30 years, said he was concerned by the "one-size-fits-all' approach of the standards and wondered whether such all encompassing standards were even necessary.

"It's a myth that if a child doesn't t go to college that he won't make it," Whelan said. It is astonishing that Whelan so casually dismisses the importance of a thorough education through high school, whether or not a student is bound for college..

Alcorn, who is pastor of the Bedford Presbyterian Church, said he looked for ward to helping -students meet the standards. Currently, Alcorn said, - about 60 percent of Bedford's high school graduates receive a Regents' diploma, a number he expects to increase under the new plan. his proposal that the board examine a five or six-year high school plan for those who may need more dim four years to complete high school shows his Alcorn's determination to meet the needs of all children in the district.

Dorothy Fallon, currently vice president of the board, is running unopposed for election to her seat.

* This is a mistake the GANNETT proofreaders made which I kept as the original.