Residents Demand Council Rock Board President Resign Over Remarks

NEWTOWN, PA — The president of the Council Rock School Board is feeling the heat after making what some people say are "misogynistic and degrading" comments about girls at a recent school board education committee meeting.

Board President Ed Salamon made the remarks at an Oct. 27 education meeting during a discussion about test scores, the impact COVID has had on student learning and how to bridge the learning gap.

"Statistically we say that the ladies have a harder time with math. Throw that into the scenario," he said. "They don't like math," said Salamon.

In the moments leading up to the comment, Salamon had spoken about a letter he received from a parent asking what the district would be doing to bridge the learning gap created by COVID. "The whole state is 53 percent proficient. That's atrocious. We need solutions," he said.

The comments by Salamon prompted one resident, David Kenney, to post a change.org petition calling for the board president's resignation. It had received 519 signatures of support by 3 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 17.

"Mr. Salamon did knowingly make misogynistic and degrading comments in a public meeting on October 27, 2022," says the petition. "Mr. Salamon did not respond to repeated attempts via email and Facebook to garner an apology following the offensive statements on October 27. Mr Salamon to date has not knowingly responded to participants in a verified email campaign asking for a public apology. Due to this lack of prompt and respectful action and/or acknowledgement to all those he has hurt the situation is now untenable.

"As the top official (Board President), of Council Rock School District, Mr. Salamon should be expected to maintain the highest level of professionalism. It is through this inaction that he has shown a lack of remorse and/or understanding of the scope of damage public officials can have."

In a posting on his Facebook page, Salomon, of Northampton Township, said his comments at the education meeting are being "misconstrued.

"Since I was appointed to the Council Rock School Board almost four years ago, I have worked tirelessly for all of our students," he wrote. "It is a pleasure to serve the CR community and I continue to be proud of the work our staff does for the more than 10,000 students each day in our schools.

"During our April 2022 meeting, there was board discussion on the proposed STEAM elementary special and we learned that 'girls lose interest in STEM starting in 5th grade' and that 'Women hold only 27 percent of STEM jobs in the U.S. and 15 percent in computer science.' With these concerning figures, it was apparent that it was important to find a way to address this problem.

"Recently, our board reviewed the 2021 school year math PSSA scores for district students as well as trends and scores across the state. When you couple that with the pandemic learning loss, I joined with other members of our board that evening to ask the administration for their recommendations and a plan to help support our students," he wrote.

"Since the main takeaway for me in the April 2022 STEAM presentation was a need to address math and science challenges for female students, I have remained focused on that issue and my comments at the education committee meeting were meant to reflect this important background and context. I will continue to advocate for resources to help support all of our students in this critical area.

"As a father of three (two school-aged girls) I couldn’t have been happier to add the STEAM elementary curriculum to help our students get stronger in every aspect of their educational career, especially with math. That’s why I worked so hard with the Board and Administration to add that special to the elementary schedule last spring.

"Please know that I will continue, as I always have, to put kids first and work to provide the best possible education for all of our Council Rock students," he wrote.