Candidate Profile: Eric Bailey

As the May 21 Glen Cove Board of Education election nears, candidate Eric Bailey said he hopes to be part of a necessary healing for a bright district with a stricken reputation.

"There is a lot of suffering in the community right now with everything that's going on. There's a lot of confusion, there's a lot of anxiety, and that's what we need to do something about. We need to get some sort of closure," Bailey said.

With two sons in the district, three years as a PTA liaison and member of the Glen Cove Planning Committee under his belt and a solid history of attendance at school board meetings, the career litigator said he wants to bring his experience with compromise and research to the Board.

Bailey said he's handled litigation for school districts, municipalities and large apartment complexes. Such clients mean he has had to balance many diverse opinions rather than just helping two sides meet in the middle, he said.

One of his concerns with the district is how information is shared with the community, which is vital to how residents form their opinions.

"The Board keeps asking for data, but I'd also like the public to see the data. The taxpayers should know if things are working," Bailey said.

One idea he has is to provide a glossary at each Board meeting so attendees know the meanings of the acronyms they hear.

"You can't be transparent when you're not speaking language that everyone understands," he said.

Bailey wants to see better communication on the Board's part in general, including sharing what is working and what accomplishments are made. He said present efforts are more photo opportunities than truly getting the district's positive attributes known to the public.

Having spent five years coaching CYO basketball and Glen Cove Little League, Bailey said he's seen how confidence drives players to on-field success. He wants to see that principle transferred more effectively to the district's academic programs.

Part of that, he said, is unifying a district suffering from groups at odds with each other. He said his relationships with the various groups put him in a position to do that.

Bailey said he sees support for those working in the district as an element that should not be overlooked, especially as some face allegations of testing improprieties.

"We still believe in our teachers and administrators and our school employees. I mean, it wouldn't take a lot at a school board meeting to take five minutes and get that message out, even with everything else that's going on, and the Board hasn't taken the time to do that," he said. "We need to take the time to do that."