November 8, 2019
Letter to the Editor in Response to “Lodi BOE president faces suspension after
calling teacher a 'greedy bastard' in blog posts”
I am writing in response to the one sided hatchet job
done on me. Noticeably missing from the article
are the following facts:
The School Ethics Commission (SEC) did NOT find
probable cause for the allegations set against me for posting about greedy
teacher union leaders on my personal blog.
The SEC made note of this to OAL Judge Elissa Mizzone Testa in its final
decision dated August 30, 2019.
Testa submitted her initial decision to the SEC in
July. The SEC remanded the case back to
Testa because she didn’t cite, explain, or demonstrate with factual evidence
that I violated any code of ethics when I posted about teacher union leaders on my personal blog. Testa was also directed to provide an
analysis of my free speech rights. Without
making the proper corrections, Testa resubmitted an almost identical decision
to the SEC just days before the November 5th Election. Why would a judge repeatedly submit decisions
with blatant lies even after being corrected on multiple occasions?
The Record article omitted the fact that the complaint
was filed by NJEA Attorney Gail Oxfeld-Kanef and is being funded with teacher
union dues. It should be noted that the
NJEA endorsed and funded a slate of candidates that ran against me in the
recent Lodi board of education election. As the NJEA was pouring thousands of
dollars into that campaign, I was running as an independent candidate spending
under $100 on my campaign.
Gail Oxfeld-Kanef and teacher union leader Debra
Kwapniewski have filed multiple complaints against me beginning in 2017 and
have been unsuccessful. The complaint
written about in this article has been before two other OAL judges before it
got to Elissa Mizzone Testa.
Since the complaint began, I have filed multiple
answers and submitted stacks of evidence including interrogatories by Debra
Kwapniewski. Testa clearly stated that
she would not consider any evidence that I submitted and that her decision
would be solely based on a hearing where I did not participate. She has completely disregarded all facts and
evidence. It was no surprise to me when
the case was remanded to her. Her
initial decision was completely baseless.
Her second decision is almost identical to the first.
The decision by Testa is nonbinding. The recommended suspension was submitted by
NJEA Attorney Gail Oxfeld-Kanef before it ended up in Testa’s decision. I am not facing suspension as the article
alleged in its title. That order would
have to come from the SEC.
I never relinquished my free speech rights when I
joined the Lodi Board of Education. My
blog always contained the disclaimer: “This blog contains my personal writings
(facts and opinions). I do not speak on behalf of any individual or
organization.” It is shocking to me how a newspaper can
print its article without addressing the issue of free speech.
I stand by all my posts
listed in the complaint. The posts are
truthful. I submitted plenty of evidence
including school budgets to show where all figures came from.
As I complete my term on
the board, I am proud of my record of lowering taxes and fighting
corruption. If the worst thing people
can say about me is that I wrote some not so nice things about self-serving
teacher union leaders and town politicians on a personal blog, I probably
should be honored.
Ryan Curioni
