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Schools

Raich Pushes for Consolidation, Shared Services

Longtime Parsippany resident seeks more transparency, remains an Assembly candidate.

Editor's note: Patch continues its weeklong series of Board of Education candidate profiles with a look at Joseph Raich. In case you missed it, here are profiles on , ,  and .

said economics are at the root of his run for Parsippany Board of Education.

Students in Parsippany should get the most education value per dollar spent, he said.

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“We should get the biggest bang for the buck we can possibly get,” Raich said.

Raich, 64, was born in Passaic and moved to Parsippany in 1968. A limousine driver, he is a father of three sons who all worked their way through the public school system in Parsippany.

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Several years ago, Raich said he became involved in civic politics and started attending town council meetings. This led him to attend a school board meeting.

“I did not like what I saw,” he said.

In particular, he didn’t like Anthony Mancuso as the board president, nor did he agree with the contract for Superintendent LeRoy Seitz.

Raich criticized how Mancuso treats the public at school board meetings, and does not feel the board president is transparent enough.

“He seems to run it like a dictator,” Raich said.

In addition to the school board, Raich is also seeking a seat on the . 

“I see a clear line between the Board of Education and the State Legislature,” the Democrat said.

However, if elected to both seats, Raich will need to decide what position he'll maintain. A change to state law made in 2007 and put into effect in 2008 states a person elected to public office in New Jersey shall not hold simultaneously any other elective public office. The law does not apply to a second position that is made by appointment. However, both of the positions Raich is running for are through election, and not appointment.

Raich said one of the things he would do if elected to the Board of Education is make sure that the school board meetings are televised.

“You’ve got 53,000 people in Parsippany and there’s not 53,000 people sitting in the audience,” he said. “People aren’t aware of what’s going on.”

An example of an issue that Raich wants more people to be aware of is Seitz’s contract. Raich believes it’s far too much for the job the superintendent is doing.

“Since the school board is about 65 to 70 percent of your taxes in town, it’s a matter of survival,” he said.

Raich would like to see more school services consolidated with other municipalities in Morris County.

“We’re in a unique position to try and save people money,” he said. “Even in districts that aren’t interested, like the Chathams, the Mendhams and the Hardings.”

Raich noted there are more school districts in New Jersey than there are towns with schools.

Another thing he would push for is a more powerful liaison in Morris County between the school districts and the state. If the liaison’s position were “enhanced,” as Raich said, that person could push at the state level for more consolidation.

Raich said that one of his first moves, if elected, would be to ask the school board to start a committee to explore the possibility of enhancing the liaison.

“We’re doing this for the kids,” he said. “Because education is vital to the American way of life.”

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