Campbell board should rethink superintendent's job

Campbell board should rethink superintendent's job
EDITOR:
Campbell Board of Education members need to rethink their position immediately. The members of the board are voted in by the citizens of Campbell to serve their best interests, and the best interests of their students. Three of the board members have made it known, by voting at the April 20 Board meeting and during an interview published in the April 21 edition of The Vindicator, that they will not renew the contract of superintendent James Ciccolelli. Not renewing Mr. Ciccolelli's contract neither serves the citizens of Campbell, nor serves the best interests of our students.
Not one of the three board members who did not, or publicly stated they will not, vote to renew Mr. Ciccolelli's contract gave a valid reason for not doing so.
I can, however, present several valid reasons why we should retain James Ciccolelli as superintendent. Here are just a few:
Mr. Ciccolelli's record in his 11-year tenure as superintendent has been stellar. He lobbied longer and harder than anyone else to get the bond issue passed for the construction of our new schools. That bond passed by the highest margin in the state of Ohio.
Mr. Ciccolelli has been instrumental in getting the renovation of our football stadium and track started.
Under Mr. Ciccolelli's guidance, Campbell is near the top 10 percent of schools in Ohio in technology.
Mr. Ciccolelli revamped our curriculum to meet state standards, and implemented programs to restructure our educational process.
Mr. Ciccolelli is a well respected school leader throughout Mahoning County.
Most important of all, Mr. Ciccolelli has an excellent rapport with staff, teachers, and parents.
As a parent and citizen of Campbell, I urge the school board to rethink its position and do what is right for our students: Retain James Ciccolelli as superintendent.
DIANNE McMASTERS
Campbell
With Bush administration,numbers just don't add up
EDITOR:
The Bush administration has been playing with the books when it claims that the cost of living has gone up only 2 percent. How can that be so? People claimed that when Jimmy Carter was president, it was too high. The cost of living was 15 percent then. But -- and I stress the word but -- it was a true cost of living. Carter didn't lie about it, whereas Bush has been. The president and his staff seem to be pretty good at lying. Anybody can see with their own eyes, just by looking around, that the price for most items has skyrocketed between 40 to 80 percent!
The interest I got previously on my certificates of deposit in the bank would help ease the pain. But now you can get only about 11/2 percent from an investment like this. Compare that with 6 percent to 8 percent I got four years ago. Inflation was even down during this period. Many retirees depend on the interest of certificates of deposit to get by. Some of us received $2,000 to $4,000 a year from the certificates. Now retirees receive only $200 to $400 from these types of investments. That is a lot of money to lose when you are on a fixed income.
The dollar is the lowest it has been in 12 years. How is this country going to pay down the deficit when our money has dropped in value so much?
We have to go to the polls this November and make a clean sweep in the White House and Congress. This president is the biggest liar the White House has ever had. He would make Bill Clinton look like a saint when you find out what the drug bill that was passed by this administration will cost. Retirees would be better off without it. I buy all my drugs out of Canada and save about 80 percent. They are exactly the same as you would get in the United States.
FRANK GUTIERREZ
Youngstown