Only on Staten Island

"New York City without Staten Island would be like the Marx Brothers without Gummo." - Anonymous

Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro dismissed his representative on the New York City Panel for Educational Policy after she refused to go along with the discredited idea of holding back third graders based on test scores.

Mr. Molinaro's replacement was Joan Correale, a lingerie shop owner who does not have a college degree. Mrs. Correale is the mother of an autistic child and she has been active in her PTA. Her commitment is laudable but she does not have the credentials needed for her new position. It was bad enough that the Mayor engineered the implementation of a policy that has already failed in New York and in cities across the nation. Now we have unqualified but compliant people setting educational policy for New York children.

It is not surprising that Molinaro would appoint a woman without a college degree. Molinaro does not have a college degree or even a high school diploma. He never attended high school at all. His education ended in the eighth grade.

I am not suggesting that junior high school dropouts should not be given the opportunity to succeed. Mr. Molinaro was elected after all. His employers, the residents of Staten Island, hired him knowing his background. It must be pointed out however, that it could happen only on Staten Island, and nowhere else in the City of New York.

Vote Theft in 2004

The outlook for a fair election in November is not good. Media misreporting of the Florida voting fiasco has led to so-called improvements in the voting process. The result may well be that more Americans are deprived of their constitutional right to vote. See my current Black Commentator column.