BoardBlog

By

Ray Pinney 

In every sports competition there are winners and losers.  There are not only winners and losers, but there are fans on the losing side who second guess the players and coaches.  It is very American after a loss, especially a close loss, to blame someone for the defeat.  It is so ingrained in our culture that every city has a sports talk radio station that depends on these “Monday morning quarterbacks” for their ratings.

Besides sports, politics is the next American venue in which the blame game is played and in politics it is practiced not just by the fans, but by the players (in this case, the players are the elected officials themselves). In fact, assigning blame to others and deflecting blame from yourself is a necessary survival skill in politics.  I would go so far as to say one’s talent in this area often decides election results.

Nothing brings out the blame as much as a close loss, because in a close loss even the littlest mistake can mean the difference between victory and defeat. In the Race To The Top contest, New Jersey was very close to winning. Read the rest of this entry »

By

Ray Pinney 

Last spring I was speaking before a group of board members and I told them that their biggest challenge was not putting together a budget or negotiating a collective bargaining agreement. Their biggest challenge was motivating their staff to achieve. I believed it back then and I believe it even more now. One of the unintended consequences of wage freezes, capping salaries, reducing staff, and generally forcing change on any work staff is that employees feel devalued. 

I believe this may apply this year to the majority of school district employees - from part-time aides to the district superintendent.  Even if they are not feeling devalued, at a minimum they are probably a bit distracted from the job at hand, which is to educate our students.

Many school administrators and teachers may be distracted from their duties right now because of the negative rhetoric that has been swirling around the discussion of public education.  Read the rest of this entry »

By

Ray Pinney 

When Gov. Christie announced his plan to cap superintendent salaries, I thought of two  different conversations I had which reflect the divergent views that the public and those in the education community hold on school leadership.

One happened a few years ago when I saw a teacher I knew as I was walking around my neighborhood.  We were talking and she made a comment that startled me. “Why do we need superintendents,” she asked. “Teachers can run a school by themselves.” I went on to explain the need for school administrators to her. It  was a tough sell, mostly because  her mind was already made up and I was trying to reverse her position. I know that I didn’t change her mind that day.   

Compare this to a conversation I had with a board member which must have taken place about nine or ten years ago. Read the rest of this entry »

By

Ray Pinney 

“What we’re trying to do here is to shift the paradigm.”

Gov. Chris Christie - on his proposal to cap superintendent salaries.

If Governor Christie’s object in public education was to shift the paradigm with his proposal to cap superintendent salaries in conjunction with his 2% hard cap, then he can declare “mission accomplished!” 

High salaries and compensation for superintendents in New Jersey have been an issue for awhile. Like a volcano, New Jersey politicians and citizens blew their collective top over the retirement package of about $750,000, given to former Keansburg superintendent, Barbara A. Trzeszkowski.  (However it is worth noting that in March, the N.J. Department of Education reached a settlement with her nullifying her $556,290 severance payment. She did receive $184,000 for accrued vacation and sick time.)  Now, two years later, with reduced state aid, budgets cut to the bone, and many staff members taking pay freezes, high salaries for superintendents stood out even more.  Gov. Christie has moved quickly to rein in the salaries and cap that volcano, and he is doing it without legislative approval. (Not that he would get any resistance from legislators in the State House, since there are very few things less politically advantageous than defending high-salaried public employees.)

Back in early May, I wrote a blog entry, The argument over the cost of education. In it I noted that the real issue for the governor is that he believes the cost of education is too high and that it could be delivered at a lower cost without sacrificing quality. Read the rest of this entry »

By

Ray Pinney 

“I came to realize there is nothing in life quite so limited as being a limited partner of George.” 

John McMullen a limited partner of the Yankees with George Steinbrenner, 1979

I was driving home from work thinking about this blog post of the ten most influential New Jerseyans in education when I heard the news that Yankee owner George Steinbrenner had passed away.  Obviously this was a big story because Steinbrenner or “The Boss” (I am sure Bruce Springsteen fans may take offense), as he was called, was a larger-than-life sports figure particularly in the New York City metropolitan area.  He was a man who had a dominant personality and who left no doubt about who was in charge.  

More important for the purposes of this blog, Steinbrenner’s passing crystallized for me why I was having such a difficult time coming up with my list of ten. Like the Yankee hierarchy of the 1970’s, 1980’s, and 1990’s, a list of New Jersey’s influential educational leaders almost begins and ends with one person - Gov. Chris Christie.  Since the governor is a Met fan, I am sure he was not a huge Steinbrenner fan, but like George, Christie is the leader.

It is amazing how fast things change.  Read the rest of this entry »

 By 

Ray Pinney 

I was once told by some math whiz that all mathematics computations are relative - that 2 + 2 does not necessarily equal 4.  This was a concept that I didn’t even bother to try to understand.  

I guess should have, because then maybe the calculations that go on in the State House in  Trenton might make sense to me. For example, consider the political negotiations over the dueling property tax cap proposals of 2.5 percent from Gov. Christie and 2.9 percent from the Democrats.  Wouldn’t it seem that if two parties were looking to come to a compromise between 2.5 and 2.9, then the logical one would be 2.7?  Not in New Jersey politics, where the compromise between 2.5 and 2.9 is 2!

I am not arguing the merits or flaws of any of these proposals, but am observing that the workings of Trenton do not always follow a logical pattern.   Read the rest of this entry »

By

Ray Pinney

Have you ever been invited to a July 4 or other holiday party that you didn’t want to attend? Maybe you didn’t like the host.

Right now there 70 legislators, all Democrats, who wish they could think of some way to not spend the July 4 weekend with Gov. Christie. Christie has invited all the legislators back in session for July 1 and 2, and possibly the entire weekend, to pass his Cap 2.5 amendment so it can appear on the ballot in the November general election. This is a command performance; New Jersey’s governor has the authority to compel lawmakers to hold a special session.

Rumor has it Christie has even planned a reading of Declaration of Independence, although sources have indicated that he has inserted a subliminal message in the text in order to get his proposal passed.  See if you can find the change in the excerpt below. Read the rest of this entry »

By

Ray Pinney

I once knew a woman (the aunt of a good friend).  I will call Aunt Violet.  She was a lovely woman with the kindest of hearts.  At the holiday meals she hosted, she insisted on making trays of lasagna. Her heart was full of good intentions and joy while her guests were full of heartburn and indigestion. I have to confess I was astounded at just how bad this lasagna tasted. What was her secret ingredient, I wondered?  Something imported by that Italian meat company, Purina?  Believe me, I exaggerate only slightly. 

The funny thing is, while I was completely shocked by how bad it was, her regular guests were not surprised.  Since I was a guest and didn’t know any better, I had taken a double helping while the others, who had been guests before, took small portions and snickered as I took my portion. Twenty five years later I am still haunted by that meal. What was surprising to me was that Aunt Violet thought her lasagna was “to die for!” (come to think of it, she may have been right) because no one ever told her the truth. Oh, some guests took small portions using excuses like they were on a diet or they had just eaten, but no one told her the truth. I know I certainly didn’t.

Now Aunt Violet never was elected to the New Jersey Legislature but she had the makings of a Garden State lawmaker.  Read the rest of this entry »

NJSBA President Ray Wiss submitted letters to the editors of the Record and Star-Ledger in response to a misleading article about the Association’s headquarters renovation project, which appeared in both papers on June 20. Read Mr. Wiss’ letter to the Record at the following link: http://www.njsba.org/press_releases/letter-to-editor-record20100621.html.

By

Ray Pinney 

There are three things that you should know about Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan.  In an School Leader interview I had with the new chair of the Assembly Education Committee it was apparent that he was passionate about three things; public education, the legislative process, and his opposition to Gov. Chris Christie. 

It doesn’t take much to see that Assemblyman Diegnan is passionate about education.  From watching the new chair of the Assembly Education Committee at the committee meetings and at other events I knew that he viewed education as the great equalizer in society. I had heard him wax poetically about his childhood growing up in an immigrant family. How his father, who was a milkman, worked extraordinary long hours so that his children could have a better life. That better life was in large part achieved due to education. So I was not surprised that in his office he proudly displays an old black and white photo of his dad standing in front of the milk truck. To Diegnan, that picture represents not just his roots but the importance of public education as much as any diploma. 

He is also a man who seems to genuinely like all of his colleagues in the Legislature.  Even though he is a Democrat that collegiality extends to the Republican aisle, too. “I can honestly say there is not one person on the Republican side of the aisle I do not have respect for,” Diegnan told me. Diegnan believes that government is about bringing people together, not dividing them. “Dividing people never leads to positive results,” he said. This is a man who is friendly and courteous to most everyone. Throughout our conversation for a School Leader article the new chair talked about working collegially with almost all of the Republicans, with one notable exception. Who is that one? Gov. Chris Christie.  Read the rest of this entry »