By

Ray Pinney

I was driving to work one day listening to a radio show game called The Nearly Impossible Question.  The question: 60 percent of men think having this makes them more attractive to women.  What is it?

As I drove, I could tell I was thinking like many of the callers, who guessed attributes like a good smile, a nice head of hair, money, nice clothes, or good biceps. Yet none of these was the correct answer. Finally, a caller got it right and I nearly drove off the road when I heard the answer – it was love handles!

When I heard this, I thought of two things. First, there is a big difference between females and males on weight gain. Second, and I don’t want to be too critical of my fellow men, but while we all put on a few pounds and we don’t necessarily need to be ashamed of this, thinking that putting on weight makes us more attractive is really almost delusional.

While many of us like to ignore our weight gain, if we want to lose weight we have to face the truth.

Over the next year, school districts will also have to face the truth on the new teacher evaluation models.  I have been to several meetings on the tenure reform law as well as the teacher evaluation models, and the hard truth is that while these changes seem very worthwhile, they will come at a cost in both time and money. It is also probably the case that any additional funding that districts may receive will not cover that cost.

If these changes are as beneficial as the pilot districts and the New Jersey Department of Education have indicated, then these proposals must become a high priority. (more…)

By

Ray Pinney

It was time for my kids to leave for their first day of school, and when I got to the front door, I stopped dead in my tracks.  Ever since my children started kindergarten, I have been driving them to school and dropping them off on my way to work. But this year my daughter is the proud possessor of a driver’s license and has the use of my old car.  I watched while she and her brother got in the car and drove to the high school by themselves.  I hadn’t thought about it much.  This summer seemed like every other summer (with me asking the kids every day if they had done their summer reading, and my son and daughter waiting until the end of the summer to do it).  Watching the kids drive off without me was a real jolt. I realized that life has changed for all of us.

I believe that the same could be said for all the school districts in New Jersey.  While we always have new wrinkles when school reopens, something was different this year.  After this summer’s enactment of the TEACH NJ law, the landmark tenure reform legislation, and the development of a new teacher evaluation process, the fabric of education for the teachers and other staff members has been altered. (more…)

By

Ray Pinney

What is good leadership worth?  We all recognize the value of a good leader, but the compensation for such a leader, whether he or she is the chief executive officer of a corporation or a superintendent of a public school district, usually comes under attack from the public at some point.  But anyone who has worked in an organization with poor leadership recognizes the value of a good one.

I have a few hard and fast rules and one of them is that almost no matter who you are—a CEO, a sports star, a Hollywood star and a school superintendent—if there is a debate over your salary in the media, you rarely win the public perception battle.  Most likely, that’s because the vast majority of the readers and listeners are making less than the public figure in question. They usually have very little sympathy for individuals making six figures or more.

While the public may grumble about the compensation given to a sports star, actor or CEO, they really have no say in the matter. It’s a different story with public employees, however.  Against the backdrop of a stagnant economy, the Christie administration adopted the salary cap regulations.  In terms of public perception, it was an easy move, generating almost no pushback.

While there are differing views on whether the cap is good or not, the real issue is this: (more…)

By

Ray Pinney

“Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed”

Abraham Lincoln.

One of my favorite hobbies is cooking.  I do most of the cooking at home from breakfast for the immediate family to an extended family dinner for twenty people. The main reason I love to cook is that I love to eat. While I love creating recipes and dishes, I often follow recipes. Sometimes this strategy is less successful than I would like, usually because halfway through the process I realize I am missing a key ingredient in the recipe. For example, once I didn’t have baking powder when I was making cornbread. It is amazing how missing a few teaspoons of one key ingredient can change the outcome. The cornbread, normally soft and fluffy, was positively brick-like.

In education reform we sometimes get caught up with a single strategy or philosophy and believe that one factor is the sole ingredient for success. We know that no single strategy can raise student achievement and close the achievement gap alone, whether that approach involves higher standards, tenure reform, merit pay, charter schools, or any of the other reform strategies.  It takes all those ingredients. But there is another key ingredient needed for successful education reform that is often overlooked: the support of the public.

I thought of this as I read a report in NJ Spotlight that Commissioner Cerf and the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) were thinking of creating one large statewide “achievement school district” that would put all of New Jersey’s lowest performing schools under state control with the state getting unprecedented authority in these schools. My first reaction was (more…)

By

Ray Pinney

It wasn’t too long ago when I said I would never need a cell phone.  I didn’t need to have access to everyone at all times, I thought.  Now I have two cell phones and I have a hard time not glancing at my Droid every ten minutes.  I had the same reservations about Facebook and now I check that site nearly every day.  So when I think about the major reservations I have about New Jersey’s foray into virtual charter schools, I wonder if I’m just resisting new technology again?  Is the push-back against virtual charter schools just a fear of change?

I do not believe so. The reservations I and others have are definitely more than a fear of change or being unnecessarily afraid of new technology.  In fact, as anyone who reads this blog knows, I have been a user of the new technology such as blogs and podcasts for a while now.  I am not afraid of technology. I see its benefits but I am also aware of its pitfalls.

What really concerns me is that we are entering the field of virtual education with a system that was designed for brick and mortar buildings. The virtual charter schools being proposed are currently governed by the old charter school law which was drafted fifteen years ago and did not really deal with the issue of virtual education. Some might even argue that the existing law is a bit antiquated even for brick-and-mortar charter schools, but that is a separate issue.  (more…)

By

Ray Pinney

As a child one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons was Roadrunner. If you remember the cartoon, Wily E. Coyote, Roadrunner’s nemesis, was always attempting elaborate schemes to catch the Roadrunner – and the schemes usually involved something the coyote had purchased from the “Acme” company.  The plot was predicable: Roadrunner was never caught and the coyote’s plans always seemed to backfire and cause him harm.  I loved the show, despite its predictability and the fact that there was no dialogue, other than Roadrunner’s occasional “beep-beeps.”

Sometimes watching New Jersey politics seems a little like watching the Roadrunner cartoon. The outcomes seem similarly obvious and the elaborate plans to do something are fated to fail, but, as political theater, it is still entertaining to watch.  As I am watching the state budget political drama play out, it seems that the governor has laid out his plan and the Democrats in the Legislature are scrambling to come up with their own plans.  The governor, in this case, is like Roadrunner in that he is holding the upper hand.

Even though the administration’s revenue projections are coming under scrutiny, it appears that Gov. Christie may get two important victories out of this budget.  (more…)

By

Ray Pinney

The young man of 15 walked up to me. His shoulders were straight and his posture almost had a military bearing. He extended his hand and introduced himself with a firm handshake.  He asked if I wanted to know about his district’s SEALS (Students Empowered for Advocacy and Leadership Skills) program for students who are eligible for special education services.  I was impressed with his poise, and with the poise of a young lady who is also in the program, as they talked about how much better they feel being a leader and active participant in their own IEP meetings. They had gained the kind of confidence and ease with advocating for themselves that all students—not just special education student – would benefit from.

I was at the Innovations in Special Education awards ceremony and 10 New Jersey schools were being honored for having creative and effective special education programming. The awards are jointly sponsored by NJSBA and ASAH, a non-profit organization that represents private schools serving students with disabilities.

As I wandered the hotel lobby looking at the impressive array of programs that were on display, (more…)

By

Ray Pinney

One of the amazing things about the legislative and political process in New Jersey is that everyone can agree that there’s a problem, yet nothing happens to address the issue.

There is often a great deal of discussion. There is even some action when bills are proposed. But in the end, very little happens.  You might think it would be easier to come to a consensus when there’s agreement on the problem, but that’s not always the case.

I am beginning to feel that tenure reform may be one of those issues that gets a lot of discussion, but very few results.  I have observed several legislators at events and have read enough newspaper accounts to see that both Democrats and Republicans agree that the current tenure system needs to be changed – and soon.

I even heard one Democratic legislator say that she believed that the public is also very supportive of tenure reform. I agree with that legislator’s view.  I know that on two separate occasions I had the opportunity to poll parent groups using a polling device, and in those groups, most parents opposed tenure.

So if Democrats and Republicans both agree, and the general public agrees that the system needs to be changed, than why aren’t we any closer to a change than we were a year ago?  (more…)

By

Ray Pinney

My mother reaches five feet tall only in high heels – and even then it’s a stretch. Even though I’m a foot taller, I have always looked up to her. Often she was the breadwinner in the family when my father’s work was slow. She was completely devoted to her family including the extended family. Even now, when my aunts are ill, it is my mother who is always there, caring for them and helping her nieces and nephews. At 84 she is bundle of energy.

One of the things I admire about her most is the lesson she taught me about education and female leadership. My mother grew up in an Italian immigrant family and was raised during the Great Depression and the World War II era.  Education, especially for females, was not valued as much as work was. Yet after high school graduation my mother told her father that she was going to nursing school. Of course, he said no.  My mother then stood up to her dad (Pops as they used to call him) and refused to back down, something none of her brothers or sisters ever did.  In a battle of strong wills, my mother won and my grandfather backed down.  One of my aunts told us years later how proud she was of my mother for standing up to Pops.

I bring this up because that battle over education between a father and a daughter more than 60 years ago has impacted my whole life. The educational opportunity that she demanded helped raise a family, and maybe more importantly, showed her own kids the strength of female leadership and the role of woman in society.  It was a small battle in the gender war, one witnessed by only a few people but an important one to me and my family.

I’m glad to say that there probably aren’t many girls in our schools today who see those kinds of limits on their career and life because of their gender.  Female leadership is plentiful in our public schools from the classroom to the administrative office to Boards of Education. In New Jersey about half of school board members are female. (The national average is 44 percent, according to NSBA.)  In the State House and in the halls of Congress in Washington, the number of female leaders is significantly lower: 28 percent in New Jersey’s State legislature and 17 percent in Congress.

Current board members are like my mother – modeling positive leadership as well as the importance of community service to a generation of children. Most of the female board members I have worked with over the years have a passion for public education which began because they were mothers of public school students.

Our male board members also are modeling positive leadership qualities and community service to the next generation.  But as Mother’s Day approaches, I wanted to point out how much our society has changed in one lifetime.  I also want to point out that, like my mother, small private acts of courage and leadership can have ripple effects for future generations.

Looking back both my parents were very involved in their community. It was expected that you vote, participate in local elections, volunteer at school, in the community and in church. Yet it was my mother who fought the stereotypes and stood up to someone she loved, a much harder endeavor than standing up to someone you don’t like.  It was my mother who through her actions, not just empty words, broke some stereotypes. Because she was quiet I did not always see her strength as a boy.

Right now we have many parents serving on boards of education who, like my parents, juggle work responsibilities, their kids’ school, sports and music schedules, and their board duties. I know there are times that it may seem as if you have overextended yourself. Your family may even question why you go to your meetings.

It’s at those hectic, over-scheduled times that I want you to remember that your service as a school board member sets an example for all the children in your community and that your leadership may impact and inspire your own children, even if they don’t realize it for years to come.

I would like to wish all of you who are both board members and mothers a happy Mother’s Day and to thank you for your service to your school district and your support for public education.

By

Ray Pinney

I was at the top of the stairs when I heard my daughter wail, “What do they think? We don’t have enough stress as students and we should take more stupid tests!” It was the kind of rant that only a teenage daughter can produce but luckily, this time it was not directed at her father. Instead it was directed at the New Jersey Department of Education and even Gov. Chris Christie because both are proposing more testing of high school students.  I will admit I may have contributed to provoking the rant when I placed the morning newspaper on the kitchen table with the headline “Jersey proposes more high school exams” right in the spot where she enjoys her morning tea before she heads off to school. 

I knew that this would get a rise out of her.  She is a high school junior who is spending much of her time taking tests. She’s taking the SATs, the ACT, the HSPA test and some AP exams. I agree that sometimes it seems that she spends an extraordinary amount of time either preparing for the tests or taking the tests.  

Yet in the 20 minutes it takes to consume a bowl of cereal and some eggs we discussed state standardized testing. My daughter argued that testing is a waste of time. I tried to give her the administration’s point of view. I have to admit it was interesting to get a student’s perspective instead of discussing it with another adult who hasn’t taken a standardized test in years. While I believe her view is necessarily limited by her own narrow experience, it is also a view that should not be casually dismissed, since, as an adult, I am not experiencing the testing first hand.  In fact, I sometimes wonder how well I would do if I took these tests now — and I must admit I’m not anxious to find out!

Before I expand on her arguments, I should briefly review the administration’s proposal (more…)