Rajiv and his wife Jillian; have two children Rajiv Jr. and Sanjiv and live in Mariners Harbor. There were many occasions, he was asked by friends to move out to an area where schools are less crowded. He refused to move out and fought to help reduce overcrowding by getting more schools built in Staten Island. He feels strongly about not running from problems but taking the problems head-on and finding solutions to address them. Yes, he could have moved out in search of less overcrowded schools, to educate his children but that only solved the problem for his family and not the problems of the society in which we live. He stayed in Mariners Harbor and sent his kids to PS 22 and IS 51, the sound education provided in the schools combined with the hard work of his family paid off and both children graduated with honors and are now in the specialized schools. 

He is proud to have been able to help as President of the Community Education Council, District 31 by working with the members of the Council, principals, teachers, parents and the whole community to make the schools great in Staten Island. A new state-of- the-art, K through 8th grade school PS/IS 861 is being built in Regis Drive, Graniteville; it is scheduled to open in September 2009 and will help alleviate overcrowding at IS 51 and other elementary schools. Rajiv was elated to place the shovel to the ground along with other community and elected leaders to break ground for the school and considered this to be one of his life’s most gratifying moments. He wants to continue the fight to build more schools, make all the children get the sound education and live and enjoy the great American Life.