Profiles of the Other Three Board of Education Candidates

The most recent issue of the Teaneck Suburbanite included an item providing profiles of the other three candidates for the Teaneck Board of Education. Voters will choose three candidates from the six running for office to fill three-year terms of office as well as voting on the budget for the 2009-10 school year. Click here for a consolidated article at the Suburbanite's web site with profiles of all six candidates.

Herbert Burack

Sussex Road resident Herbert Burack has lived in Teaneck for 28 years. He is a clinical pharmacist in New York City and has a bachelor’s degree from Brooklyn College and a master’s in pharmacy from St. John’s University.

Burack describes himself as an outsider trying to fix a broken system. He notes that Teaneck students are failing in almost all areas and that many are passed through the system without achieving a solid education.

He describes the system as "an economic disaster, money spent unwisely."

At PTO and BOE meetings he said he has observed that parents of all races are dissatisfied with the system.

Burack would explore making the Yeshiva system, which his own children attended, a model for Teaneck schools.

"There is an educational gap between the private and public schools, but it isn’t because of money or one group being smarter than the other. The two systems are different and I do not see why the Teaneck system cannot model itself on the private system," he said.

He acknowledges, however, that it will take hard work and first rate teachers and administrators to make the achievements of white and minority students equivalent.

Parents need to be more involved with their children, he said.

Burack also seeks to make the board more transparent and the district more inviting to parent participation.

Porfiro Rodriguez

Porfiro Rodriguez, of Ramapo Road, is seeking his first term. Rodriguez taught Spanish and social studies in New York City public schools for 19 years and for the past six years has taught Spanish in the East Ramapo Central School District.

He has a BA in political science and Spanish from SUNY at Buffalo and an MA and D.Ed. from Teachers College at Columbia University.

As the father of two pre-school age children, Rodriguez is concerned that Teaneck scored in the lower half of the state school report card.

"We need to concentrate on closing the achievement gap, but also on presenting a challenging curriculum to top performing students," he said. "All our children deserve a world class education, and we have to set high expectations."

He sees himself as contribute his expertise as a career educator to the board.

Rodriguez seeks also to improve communications between the district and the community.

He notes his disappointment by the board’s failure to provide timely progress reports. In adapting the schools to the needs of the 21st century, he emphasizes especially improving math and science instruction.

Rodriguez also proposes creating dual language programs for native English speaking children in Spanish/English and Hebrew English. He would begin instruction in the early grades with 50 percent of class time in each of two languages.

Howard Rose

Howard Rose, of Northumberland Avenue, is a 29-year township resident. He is the owner of Brier Rose Books on Cedar Lane and for more than 25 years was an administrator at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Cardozo School of Law and other academic institutions. He has a bachelor’s degree from City College and a master’s in counseling from Manhattan College. Rose serves on the planning board and the financial advisory board and is a member of the board of directors of Teaneck Comes Together. Both of his children attended the district schools, K-12.

Rose believes that his background in academic administration, which includes fiscal management, will be an asset to the board.

He favors curriculum reform but prefers to build on existing programs rather than fashion new ones.

"Instead of trying to re-invent the wheel, we should be greasing the axle of the wheel we have already in order to facilitate student instruction," he said.

The ACT Initiative is a step in the right direction, Rose said, but he seeks greater accountability, noting that for several years the board has informed residents that the results are not yet available. "Change unmeasured is change unconfirmed," he notes.

Rose also seeks to improve communications between the district and parents. "We need to spark a sustained dialog by ongoing programs that teach parents the educational skills to engage their children."