July 30, 1999

What's in a Name?

A Spelling Mix-up Delays a Controversial Candidate's Inauguration onto the School Board

When Israel Framovitz unfolded The New York Times on June 29, he was pleasantly surprised to see his name on a list of school-board election winners. But when the Board of Education swore in the 32 newly elected community school boards on July 1, it did not invite Framovitz to take the oath. So, a month into his three-year term, he is not actually a board member.

Framovitz had been a candidate on a write-in slate for Community School District 14, serving the Williamsburg and Greenpoint sections of Brooklyn. The Board of Education "wanted to disqualify me because of one letter," said Framovitz, referring to the spelling error on the write-in ballots that kept him from joining the board: voters wrote in his name as Framowitz--with a w.

"The spelling doesn't mean anything," he said. "It's just a transliteration from the Yiddish. So I spell it with a v, some of my children spell it with a w, who cares?" Framovitz confirmed that after a long, frustrating and confusing conflict over the spelling of his name, a resolution had been achieved and that the Board of Education will swear him in soon.

The embattled Brooklyn district has seen such confusion before. Its share of troubles over the years date back to the reign of the late William "Wild Bill" Rogers. As superintendent for 20 years, he abolished scholarship programs, erected a wall in a public school to separate Hasidic girls from other students and named P.S. 380 after his hero, John Wayne. In the most recent scandal in the district, a Brooklyn rabbi siphoned off $6 million in public funds to a private yeshiva over a 20-year period. On April 9, Rabbi Hertz Frankel pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges. And the investigation into the scandal led Schools Chancellor Rudy Crew to dismiss four members of District 14's old school board for "malfeasance."

One of the dismissed board members, Juan Martinez, filed suit against the Board of Education and election officials challenging the June 29 election results. While the Board of Elections has denied Martinez's request to count write-in votes for him, the complications of the lawsuit and the discarding of the numerous write-in ballots delayed the release of the election results, said Naomi R. Bernstein, director of communications for the Board of Elections.

"This is a lame-duck district," said Mildred Tudy, chairperson of the education committee for Community Board 1, serving Williamsburg and Greenpoint. "We've had problem after problem because of something entrenched in the system--racism."

In a public school district whose students are 90.3 percent nonwhite, but whose board members historically have been predominately white, charges of racism abound. Claims of an unfair Hasidic influence on the board exacerbate the conflict. Of the nine spots on the board, Hasids--who historically do not even enroll their children in public school for religious reasons--occupy three.

Community voices have asked for larger representation of blacks and Hispanics on the board, Tudy said, but "There is such apathy. No one wants to run for the board because they just don't think it's worth their time." Tudy, who is black, has run in two past school board elections but did not win either time. In one election, more than 15 years ago, she was told that write-in votes for her were not counted. Naomi Bernstein of the Board of Elections said she could not obtain information from that long ago to verify Tudy's claim.

"People of color in this community have no voice," Tudy said. "We feel so disillusioned by the system that it's almost like there is no point in being a part of it." This is the heart of the problem of the lack of minority presence on the school board and in the election process, Tudy said.

"People in our community mobilize for every election," Framovitz said. "When there are vacancies to be filled, they should not be left empty."

His strong support resulted in a whopping 1,831 first-round votes. The next highest first-round vote getter was Anthony Bamonte, who received 526. A "get out the vote" movement by many campaigners this year resulted in a decent percentage of voters turning out at the polls in District 14, Bernstein said. The district had a 6-percent turnout compared to around 2.5 percent citywide. Framovitz ran on a slate of three write-in candidates, said Bernstein; the other two were Naftali Ausch and Aron Lefkowitz, who were also elected.

"They got people to write them in on the ballots in a specific order," Bernstein said. "So there seemed to be a concerted effort by voters to get these three particular people on the board."

"I am an active man in the community," Framovitz said. "I think there was a grass-roots movement to get me on the board--evidently a lot of people think I can do the job." Framovitz is also a member of Community Board 1 and has lived in Williamsburg for over 25 years.

One of Framovitz's running mates, Naftali Ausch, said that their campaign concentrated on the Hasidic community of Williamsburg. It included advertisements in local newspapers, letters written to residents, slogans blaring from audio speakers mounted on vans and finally leaflets handed out near polling sites that indicated voting instructions and the candidates' names. It was on this leaflet that Framovitz's name was misspelled, resulting in the ballot confusion that has delayed him from joining the board.

Ausch, an insurance broker, acknowledged that school boards lack significant power but still hopes for some good to come from his service. While other communities may be apathetic when it comes to civic duties, said Ausch, his community--the Hasidim--does not let the opportunity for doing good slip by.

"The School Board can be influential," Ausch said, in matters such as the selection of a district superintendent. Beyond that, Ausch said. "A good school makes a good person and a good person is one who will not pick up a gun and commit a crime."

Framovitz aired similar sentiments. "We're in the business of making good doctors, lawyers and accountants," Framovitz said. He hopes to help everyone's children, and being on the public school board will achieve that, even if his own children attend private schools. "I pay taxes just like anyone else," he said. "Why shouldn't it be that some public money gets spent on private schools?" He strongly supports school vouchers because they improve education for more children and bring money to parochial schools.

"I don't know what I will ultimately succeed in doing," Framovitz said. "But I have to get my feet wet first." ###

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