Saturday, April 4, 2015

SCHOOL CHOICE: What Extra Money?



Key words: "extra money"The State of New Jersey gives a School District $10,500 per student in School Choice Funds. As long as the students are integrated into the population of the school without adding programs designed just for them, all is well.
Problems arise when the out of district students and their parents demand to be "segregated academically", recognized as different schools, and educated in different buildings from the home district students.

Problems arise when it becomes clear that money is being drained away from the entire home district in order to support a program financially that caters to out of district students and their parents. At DMHS, the "Extended Day" and the "late bus" add extra expenditures that make the educational model far too expensive. It should be evaluated and changed. This change should have been made in 2009. The problem grows more deeply into the fabric of the school, every year the situation is not addressed.

Then we come down to the real problem. Why do School Choice parents want their children to attend a FOCUS School (a school in danger of failing)? Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that they may have a sanctioned Apartheid Education without having to deal with opposition in their own districts. School Choice has wreaked havoc in Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, NJ. Contrary to the situations described in the article, there is no extra money. There is extra apathy.

It cost over $21,000 to educate a student in Englewood last year. According to the article, the state gave Choice Districts $10,500 per student? Do the Math. Who paid the rest? The residents of Englewood paid the rest. We, the residents of Englewood are paying "extra" to have our high school segregated academically. In the northjersey.com article, the Fort Lee parent spoke of STEM. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) She chose to send her son to Bergenfield, because of the STEM education program.

We tried to convince our Board to create a STEM program at Dwight Morrow high school. School Choice Program parents and an elite few Englewood Parents screamed in opposition. It was not very pretty. They were clear that they wanted Academic Segregation and did not care about the decaying climate and culture of our high school. They are not concerned about the academic achievement of the entire high school population. Some of the parents demanded that the entire high school administration be removed for suggesting a plan that would cause them to lose their identity within our school population. It brings these words to mind...when in Rome....

In every other School in New Jersey that accepts School Choice students, there is a profit. In Englewood, there is a deficit.

One parent, who lives in Englewood Cliffs (and DMHS has been their HS 50 years or more) suggested that we were trying to play on the same basketball court as Michael Jordan. He said that we could have tea, coffee or go to after party with Michael Jordan, but never be on basketball court in his way.

The Flip side of that argument is that Scottie Pippin and other teammates helped Michael Jordan shine and become the billionaire that he is today.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Our Schools Are In Crisis: Life In the Petri Dish



Beginning March 2, 2015 children in grades 3 -11 will take a standardized online test called the PARCC. 

It is extremely important that all families understand the enormous change that is coming about in the lives of our children. Your children will be anxious and will need your love and understanding more than ever before. The information in this post is intended to provide you with the information currently available about the experiment that is the PARCC online standardized test.  

Save and read these documents thoroughly.

This is the latest OFFICIAL update on the PARCC from the NJ Department of Education. It contains comparisons between the PARCC TEST and the ones your children took in the past. (NJASK, HSPA) A letter from David Hespe, Commissioner of Education State of New Jersey.

PARCC refusal information is included from the Statewide organization.
.
If you are not refusing the Test, you must still actively participate in order to help your child do well. Please share this email with your friends and neighbors. 
  • Your children will need more rest and support during this crucial time. Help them reduce this inevitable stress. You know what makes your child feel happy and secure.
  • Experts agree that teenagers and young children need 8-10 hours of sleep in order to be well rested and ready to perform.
  • If you transport your children to school, make sure that they are on time.They should get up earlier.
  • They should eat a good breakfast with as little sugar as possible.
  • If your child eats breakfast at school and takes the bus, pay close attention to the bus schedule. Make sure that the bus gets your child to school early enough to eat a breakfast low in sugar. A hungry child will not do well on the test.
  • Understand that the young children may not know how to communicate their feelings of stress and anxiety. (Grades 3-11 will be tested online.) 
  • The test will last several days. Check the calendar.
  • Look for signs of stress and allow your children time to decompress when they come home from school. A good cup of hot chocolate or whatever makes your child feel loved and nurtured will go a long way in helping them feel more confident.
  • Random hugs and kisses will definitely ease the anxiety.
  • Please plan ahead. 
This is the link to Englewood's corrected PARCC standardizd testing schedule.  Check this calendar on the Englewood Public School District Website regularly. Contact your child's school if you have problems.
http://www.epsd.org/calendars/District-Calendar/month

UPDATED: Graduation Requirements for the classes of 2016, 2017, and 2018

A List of Refusals by County
Step by Step Refusal Information

Pearson's Test Coordinator Manual For Teachers

"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." Frederick Douglass


                             "...And how are the children?"

Friday, February 6, 2015

HERE AND NOW: Please Move Their Seats!

I would like to officially ask 
Howard Haughton,
President of the Englewood 
School Board

that he require Glenn Garrison 
and Stephen Brown sit apart 
at school Board
meetings.

It is distracting to 
the public and disrespectful to 
the Chair for these 2
School Board Members to continue 
to have their own little meeting 
within the Public Meeting.





This behavior is in violation of the
New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act.














Mr. Haughton. Please move their seats!.... They are like 2 children in a classroom who crave
attention. The behavior is annoying and impairs one's ability to concentrate on the content of the meeting. It is also insulting since they appear to sleep through public comments.

New Jersey's Open Public Meetings Act        "The Sunshine Law"

"New Jersey’s Open Public Meetings Act, known as “The Sunshine Law,” is designed to ensure that decision-making government bodies in the state conduct their businesses in public except in specific circumstances where exclusion of the public is needed to protect the privacy of individuals, the safety of the public or the effectiveness of government in such areas as negotiations or investigations."
In other words, all of that whispering during School Board Meetings is inappropriate
bordering on illegal.

A GUIDE TO THE NEW JERSEY OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT
http://www.shamong.net/vertical/sites/%7B23FE350B-4C74-4538-8594-9B75E8AB3E35%7D/uploads/%7B6E1F1F17-C2D8-4169-BD05-13C0DAA7ED0A%7D.PDF

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

What is Autonomy?

Betty Griffin is sworn in by the Business Administrator, as is the custom in EPSD Reorganization Meetings. She is supported by her family? Whatever happened to the Press staying out of the photo? This was a photo opp for the man with the long gray hair?  He was annoying.
Full Definition of AUTONOMY
1: the quality or state of being self-governing; especially : the right of self-government
Mayor Huttle swears in Stephen Brown
2: self-directing freedom and especially moral independence
3: a self-governing state
See autonomy defined for English-language learners »
See autonomy defined for kids »
Examples of AUTONOMY
a teacher who encourages individual autonomy
The territory has been granted autonomy.
The Catalans take the matter of their language
very seriously; it is an outward indication of their
autonomy, of their distinction from the rest of Spain. —Polly Evans, It's Not About the Tapas, 2006
Mayor Huttle swears in Glenn Garrison.
[+]more
Origin of AUTONOMY (see autonomous) First Known Use: circa 1623
Related to AUTONOMY
Synonyms accord, free will, choice, self-determination, volitionwill
Antonyms dependence (also dependance), heteronomy,subjection, unfreedom+]more

Autonomy in Englewood: The most obvious sign of autonomy in Englewood is the fact that the Budget of the School Board is separate from the budget of the Municipality. The City collects our tax dollars and most of it (over 60%) goes to the School District. Even though the money comes from the same pot (taxpayers). It is separate from the money used by the Municipality to pay for other services. The School Board is supposed to function independently from the City of Englewood. The New Jersey School Boards Association trains, or is supposed to train our school board members.

In 2011, I asked our Mayor his opinion on the situation that existed when we had a Superintendent who was not approved by the state and whom our School Board was paying above the state mandated salary CAP. I told him about the Mayor of Parsippany who publicly urged the School Board to follow the law and cut the Superintendent's salary.  Our School Board Attorney was also the Board Attorney for Parsippany during this time.

Mayor Frank Huttle III assured me that the City has absolutely nothing to do with the School Board. Too my knowledge, he never publicly addressed the situation. He told me on several occasions that the School Board and the City function separately. I became really tired of hearing the word Autonomous, because that is not what I saw and it is not what I see now.

In City Council Meetings, the 3rd Ward Councilman seizes every available moment to praise our School Board as the best on the planet. No one is even allowed to complain about the school board. We have witnessed this same Councilman tell reporters what their next headlines will be where the school district is concerned. Meanwhile, our high school has been designated a Focus School (low achieving) and our test scores in Math and Literacy have been consistently falling since at least 2006. As long as northjersey.com publishes articles that show the district in a good light, these elected officials and others are totally satisfied. IMAGE is the thing.

January 7, 2015 - The Englewood School  Board is Re-Organized
Those of you who did not attend the Reorganization of the Englewood Public School Board missed a rare show of unity and might from City Officials. The Bully Factor was alive and well and in the House. The Meeting was partially turned over to Frank Huttle III, who swore in the candidates that he supported. He invited the Board of Education to dinner so he could "Pay To Play." Very interesting. Howard Haughton explained at the end of the meeting that the Candidates had been given a choice as to whom they wanted to swear them in. Why were they given a choice? He explained that it was not illegal for the Mayor to swear in Board Members. It is not illegal, but is it appropriate? Are we beginning a new tradition with no pretense of separation of City and School Board?
Did Stephen and Glenn decline the services of the Business Administrator in training
in order to help the Mayor kick off his campaign for re-election? So who is the boss?  Who is on First? I am confused. The Superintendent did not speak. The Business Administrator's resignation becomes effective June 30, 2015.
Eugene Skurnick continued to make sure that we Peons understood whom he supports. The Press were so annoying in blocking shots of the action from the audience that I started taking photos of Mr. Skurnick taking photos. 
The Third Ward Kitchen Cabinet/SEEK was in attendance. The Former Mayor Sondra Greenberg, The Gadfly, Suze Gamrin, the Liberals of old have dropped in number, but not in arrogance. The Mayor offered the Board of Education dinner and promised that they will not speak of school business. As if. At the same time he suggested that he is the one who will save the EPSD by finding a Superintendent. Keep in mind that hiring a Superintendent is the most important job of a School Board.
Eugene Skurnick once suggested that we old ones talk too much about what we want and that the young ones should make more of the decisions.
Okay, so why must we listen to him ramble on in a soliloquy about how Education used to be when his children attended school in Englewood? Change has come over the years. No manner of wishing will take things back to the way they used to be. These are the good old days and we must make the best of them for all of the children, not just the ones they want to teach.
The school District has changed. Our grandchildren will not be able to meet the challenges of a global society because key elected officials keep their fingers in the mix instead of allowing the professionals that we pay to do their jobs. 
SEEK Board Members STILL prevent 2 of their fellow Board Members from fulfilling their oath. For over a year we have been watching these Board Members sit out of Closed Session. 
The problems facing the Englewood Public School District will not be solved by the interference of Assemblymen or Mayors. The situation will not improve because the local publications sanitize the news. 
Our children are not being prepared as well as children from other school districts and that is a fact. At some point neglect becomes sabotage. Failure did not begin in 2013. Education and Children have not been a priority in this School District for many years. As a matter of fact, scores have been continually dropping since the referendum. No amount of wishing, turning a blind eye or head sticking in sand will change that. We are waiting with Baited Breath for Glenn Garrison, Stephen Brown and Henry Pruitt to do something really creative and positive that will increase the test scores of our children. They have all been in control for over a decade.

We the People want all of our elected Board Members to Participate fully. 
We will not be hushed.
Looking for Real Autonomy.

Student Participation in the Statewide Assessment Program

Frequently asked questions about Common Core State Standards

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

A Cry In The Wilderness

The most disturbing thing about this year's School Board Election is not that Stephen Brown and Glenn Garrison want more chances to rob the children of Englewood of their chances to compete in a global economy.
On May 25, 1961, renowned documentary 
photographer
Bruce Davidson joined a group of
Freedom Riders traveling by bus

 from Alabama to Mississippi
The most disturbing thing is the fact that Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson continues to allow his office to be used by the KITCHEN CABINET. They are not the only ones who voted for him. Some of us also voted for him.
Mr. Johnson, was that a COLD READING on that ROBO CALL? Did you even READ that pack of lies before you put it out there for all of us to hear. You are disgracing the office for which you were elected. You should cease at this very moment to allow your office to be used to spread such lies.
You are willing to sacrifice the SEEK colleagues who remain on the School Board and who have been making all of the decisions of which you speak. Smells like desperation to me.
I post at lot, yes, and some say I expose dirty laundry. Well, dirty laundry needs washing and hanging out to dry in the cold winter wind. Where is your documentation? Mine is included in the posts.
I am fighting to expose the lies that hold the children of Englewood hostage and while Academic Achievement drops through the floor.
I am fighting to redirect the taxpayer dollar towards the Academic Achievement of ALL Englewood Children.
What exactly are YOU doing?

                                 "....And how are the children?"