Mean Spirits: Not Everyone Is Afraid To Speak Out Against the Rich Oppressors!

Letter Was mean-spirited

I read with revulsion the letter published in the July 19 edition of the Northern Valley Suburbanite signed by Raphael Benaroya, et al ("Come to School board meeting") First, I don't live in Englewood. I am not, nor am I related to any of the support staff in the Englewood schools, nor am I a member of any union. Moreover, I've never been a particularly big believer in tenure for tenure's sake.

Having said that, this letter was one of the most mean-spirited, condescending things I've read in a long time. Why does this lot, none of whom I'd wager are more than four generations out of the shtetl, think they are entitled to pontificate on the value of anyone else's labor?

Being a "brand consultant" or a hedge fund executive doesn't bestow the right on any of them to state, in a patronizing tone, that "the pendulum has swung too far." Has it occurred to this group that the reason Englewood real estate hasn't "recovered" is because it was grossly overvalued to begin with? Finally, I don't recall ever seeing in the U.S. Constitution the inalienable right to low property taxes. Any given dinner party at the Turen home, the former estate of actress Gloria Swanson, probably costs more than the average Englewood school secretary makes in six months. They should be ashamed of themselves.       Jason Paskowitz ....Tenafly

                     ***************************************************

All I can say is thank you Mr. Jason Paskowitz for saying what we could not in those words. You are more right than you know. I do not recall ever seeing Mr. Benaroya at a single board meeting. Any information that he has came from board members themselves. The information in the letter is not only condescending, it is not factual.

Read the letter that is the subject of the above comments from the Northern Valley Suburbanite: http://www.dontbankruptus.com/efast/?p=462&cpage=1#comment-230

Delta T, A Hotbed of Controversy and Litigation: Why is EPSD Signing a Contract with them?

Delta T describes itself as "a referral agency for independent "contractors of services: - a broker" that brings together independent behavioral healthcare professionals with clients who need their services." That is very odd since they depend on the services of CareerBuilder.com to supply them with applicants. So why does the Board need Delta T again? 


 Delta T employees call them a "temporary staffing agency, supplying temporary staffing relief to the mental and behavioral healthcare industry. 


 We call that a "Temp Agency" where I live.


“As corporate budgets continue to tighten, more employers are looking to classify workers as independent contractors in an effort to reduce costs, such as overtime compensation, employee benefits, payroll taxes, unemployment compensation, and workers compensation,” 


 At this juncture, we must remember that we are not a corporation. We are a public school district. Hidden within the decision to "outsource" is the desire to reclassify former Board of Education employees (paraprofessionals) as "independent contractors" so the Board of Education will no longer be responsible to:

• to fill out income tax forms (Delta T employees must file 1099 forms themselves)
• to pay social security deductions
• provide medical coverage
• provide dental coverage
• pay for lunch breaks or meal breaks
• provide rest breaks
• provide reimbursement for business related expenses
• evaluate the work of the employees
• supervise paraprofessional personnel
• communicate with workers on a day to day basis
• pay for sick days or vacation time
• pay overtime
• pay unemployment benefits
• pay worker's compensation

The million dollar question right now is to whom does this "independent contractor" report since the  Delta T agency claims to be a "referral agency?" Who, pray tell, is the responsible party here? Who is going to protect the children entrusted with "independent contractors" who are slightly less than happy with the short straw they have drawn. The Board is no doubt depending on the current paraprofessionals who have already proven themselves to apply for the jobs through Delta T because the job market is devoid of positions.

Through the smoke and mirrors the "real deal" pokes it's ugly head. The jury is still out on whether or not the employees of Delta T are "independent contractors." The class action suit that is still in litigation in the UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA is still going on. Read lines 22 - 28 on page 7 and judge for yourself whether Delta T Group is a good fit for our schools. Read what employees of Delta T have to say about this "Referral Agency."

Note that the current advertisement by Delta T (for Englewood workers) promises to get applicants whatever they need, yet they testified in legal proceedings included in this legal document page 9 lines 5 -11 that they do not train, supervise or evaluate anyone. So if they don't, who does? Do the parents of the Special Needs children of this district deserve to know this? Yes, they do.

This is an update on the Delta T federal class action case :
March 2009 http://www.nka.com/case/delta-t-group/#.UBC64ATWTJY.mailto
March 10, 2009 http://www.nka.com/news/delta-t-update/
November 9, 2009 http://www.nka.com/news/delta-t-update-2/
October 1, 2010 http://www.nka.com/news/delta-t-update-3/
December 13, 2010 http://www.nka.com/news/delta-t-update-4/

Another individual lawsuit: Delta defendant: IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/10D0134P.pdf

An Obama bill seeks to clarify the "independent contractor" controversy but this bill has not made it into law yet. Why is Englewood willing to throw our most vulnerable students into this fray of indecision and controversy? Are they invariably drawn to litigation? Haven't our tax dollars paid enough in lawsuits? Read the text of the bill introduced by President Obama in 2007 while he was still a senator. Why is the board willing to sabotage a bargaining unit that has proven itself worthy through the testimony of concerned  parents of the children nurtured by these individuals?

 Why is the Englewood Board of Education so determined to place our children in the hands of this Delta T Group that has obviously demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that they care very little about the people they call "independent contractors?" What does this say about the integrity and character of the men and women on the Board of Education? Once again, they are demonstrating that children do not come first. They are proving that they do not deserve the trust of the residents and taxpayers of Englewood. Do they have knowledge of this litigation? Is our Board of Education attracted to litigation?

Read a few of Delta T Group reviews completed by the so called "independent contractors" who work for/with them.

I have a few questions for the Board as always.

• When will Carlisle's contract be brought into compliance with state law? 
• What happened to the 5.8 million dollars from the sale of Liberty School? 
• Is the Englewood Public School District being sanctioned by the state of New Jersey, because they refuse to comply with the CAP on Superintendent salary? 
• Why is Dr. Carlisle's salary more important than the achievement and safety of our children? 
• Why is the Englewood School District still building an office building in a flood hazard area and calling it a shed?
• When will the children come first in this town?

Delta T Refugees: You might end up needing this guy before long. Delta T is making this lawyer famous.

Our Schools Are In Crisis: An Equal Education for All is Under Attack!

Join the Residents of Englewood in a walk

For a THOROUGH and EFFICIENT EDUCATION for ALL CHILDREN.

Thursday, July 26, 2012 – 6:00 pm

Put on your comfortable shoes and meet us at the Liberty Pole/Monument in the center of town at the junction of Palisade Avenue, Bennett Rd. and Lafayette. Join us in a conversation about achievement & the futures of our children. Walk with us and talk with us. Attend the Board meeting at Grieco School with us. Stand with us and help our voices be heard. We must begin to speak of the real problems that cripple the Englewood Public School District. It is a problem concerning more than jobs. Speak with us. We need you to help us find ways to deal with the very real problems listed below.

• No Curriculum
• No Attendance officer
• No Parent Conferences in Dwight Morrow High School
• No Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction or anything else. We need an Assistant Superintendent. We lost a Superintendent while in office.
• No Test score Report from qualified personnel
• No Concern for the Apartheid Educational Practices
• No Rigor in classrooms district wide
• No High Expectations of teachers and administrators for ALL CHILDREN
• The systemic tracking of children from 3^rd Grade through 12^th
• Mismanagement of funds by the Board of Education
• The failure of the Board of Education to evaluate and redesign failing Educational Models. Non-compliance to the Open Public Meeting Act
• Poor record keeping, especially for Special Education Students
• Hiring practices that reek of favoritism
• Adherence to the laws of the State of New Jersey regarding hiring, certification, facilities, governance, and instruction
• Violation of the civil rights of women and students
• The failure to protect our children from predators!
• High cost of education to the taxpayers of Englewood

The selling of Public Education to private industry by both our Board of Education and the State of New Jersey is not acceptable.

             How are the children? Not well, it seems.

Our Schools Are In Crisis: Give Back To The Taxpayers

To: The Englewood School Board

      Englewood Teachers Association

Stephen Brown (President of School Board) has publicly asked for suggestions from the Community on how to solve this problem. Mr. Brown, your training at the New Jersey School Boards Association should have prepared you for this situation. 

Local School Board - Responsibility

The local school board establishes 'policies' for the running of the local schooldistrict consistent with the "Statues" and "Regulations" applicable to all public schools.

Governance - The Law

• District board policies promoting student achievement
• ƒ District board training, disclosure and operation
• ƒ Ethics compliance
• ƒ District board policies, procedures and by-laws
• ƒ Standard school board practices
• ƒ Annual evaluative process
• ƒ District board/administration collaboration
• ƒ District board budget priorities
• ƒ District board communications

Englewood School Board members: you have clearly lost your way. Your training is flawed or you have not been very good students. It is time for you to find your way back to the responsibility of policy makers. This must be done for the sake of all children in the district, including your own.

Perfect Attendance incentive - Eliminate incentives. There is a supposed deficit. 

Incentives come in time of FEAST not FAMON.

Tuition reimbursement   should be suspended for an agreed upon time across the board for everyone, no exceptions. Settle the ones pending and freeze it.

AYP incentives for Superintendent should be suspended indefinitely. It should be reinstated when there is a clear improvement in the achievement of Englewood students, overtime, district wide.

Extended day - Policy should be created to bring this item in line with the state wide norm, which is approximately 6 hours and 55 minutes. This should be done across the board also.

There are many ways that the district may save taxpayers money. This includes the above "give backs to the taxpayers" that may not be considered as such by the teachers.

New School Board Members should have gotten this very important Training for Districts Entering Negotiations before voting on anything concerning employee salaries and benefits. That is called negotiating in good faith, Howard and Molly.

This is not the Board of EMPLOYMENT, it is the Board of EDUCATION!

                              How are the children?

Englewood Residents and all Concerned Citizens

Englewood Residents and All Concerned Citizens: 


Just in case you thought you were dealing with persons of integrity, take a look at this advertisement. Secretaries and Paraprofessionals are fighting for their very lives. They are under the mistaken assumption that they are in a fair fight and that the vote to accept contracts and to actually conduct a vote and ratify by resolution in a public session is something that will happen. Face it people, you have underestimated the chicanery of the people who hold the lives and education of your children in balance. Without following the laws of the state of New Jersey, the Board of Education in Englewood has already advertised your jobs. The Board of Education of Englewood is holding itself above the laws. They are making and acting on decisions made in closed session. They are making a mockery of the Open Public Meetings Act. We have a litany of other ways in which this and other laws have been broken. Is anyone listening?


Loretta Weinberg 
Governor Chris Christie
Acting Commissioner Cerf
Gordon M. Johnson 
Valerie Vainieri Huttle 
Mayor Frank Huttle III
Senator W. Lesniak, 
Senator Ronald I. Rice, 
Pascrell, 
Rothman, 
Michael Wildes, 
New Jersey State Naacp, 
American Civil Liberties Union, 
Clergy Council, 
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, 
Urban League 
and all other persons who claim to care should weigh in on this situation. For whom were the laws of the State of New Jersey written?


Delta T is already advertising the positions in question: https://acrobat.com/#d=WMisp47OwLM*v4Dl1Z6fvw

OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT...


Is a practice such as this coming soon to your town?