Editorial: Seriously? This again?

It was a reasonably civilized race, at least by local standards. Only a hundred or so lawn signs disappeared (both sides reported losses, for the record), and there was only one attempt at an eleventh hour legal filing intended to invalidate the voting.

But as soon as the results were made public late Tuesday night, one rocket scientist — an attorney, actually — announced that she intended to challenge the result. She did the same thing last year and that suit was thrown out. The overwhelming likelihood is that this year’s suit, if indeed it is filed, will meet the same fate and deservedly so. But the school district spent money to defend last year’s frivolous suit, as it does to defend all the frivolous lawsuits brought against it in the past year or two by people who apparently cannot abide by the results of democratic elections — and the district would have to do so again. That’s right, your tax dollars at work. And critics somehow call the board irresponsible?

Actually, it’s not so much that the chronic litigants can’t accept lawful election results. It’s that they seem to be unaware or uncaring about the reality of demographics. For better or for worse, Orthodox Jews are a majority in the Lawrence School District. Clearly, for some, that fact is for the worse, but to most residents, it’s just a fact — much the same as, say, the fact that the moon waxes and wanes, or that pressing the gas harder makes your car go faster. But those chronic litigants might as well try to sue the laws of physics to a standstill. (If they really cared about kids in public schools then what goes up wouldn’t always come down, and oxygen wouldn’t accelerate combustion, right?)

It’s tiresome, it’s damaging to the entire community, and it would be nice if it would stop. It would be nice if the good name of an entire community, in fact made up of many nice people of all religious streams and persuasions, didn’t have to be tainted by hateful, delusional fiction put forth by a handful of hateful, delusional people. It would be nice if one, or even many of the nice people, approached the chronic litigants and politely suggested that they just shut up. Told them what is obvious to many, if not most, other people: namely, that the board, in general, is doing right by everyone, and looking out for the best interests of everyone’s kids.

We say this without fear of appearing anti-democratic. Of course everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. In fact, that’s the entirety of our point. Yet, the message from the chronic litigants is that Orthodox Jews should be quiet, pay their taxes, and be grateful for what they get. And they certainly should never try to exert any influence. And if they are quiet, and if they pay their taxes, and if they don’t make waves, then we’ll all get along just fine. Think about it: it’s like a mugging or a stickup.

There is a solution for people who absolutely can’t abide by the status quo. It’s a solution that’s entirely democratic with strong shades of capitalism: move.