By

Ray Pinney 

The famous saying is “all roads lead to Rome” but after reading a Bacon district’s District Needs Assessment report, done as part of NJQSAC by the New Jersey Department of Education, it is apparent that, from NJDOE’s viewpoint, “all roads lead to regionalization and consolidation.”  (Bacon districts, you will remember, are the poorer rural districts that unsuccessfully sought Abbott district funding a few years ago.)

If you read this report, it appears at first glance that Maurice River, a small K-8 Cumberland County school district, is doing very well.  It scored impressively in all five areas of monitoring, Instruction and Program, Fiscal Management, Operations Management, Personnel, and Governance. This district’s scores ranged from a low of 84 percent to a high of 98 percent.  The test scores are good, the curriculum is articulated, the district’s facilities are adequate, and as the NJDOE commented, “the Department’s review of the Maurice River School District revealed a system with a dedicated and talented staff that is committed to providing quality educational services to the students of the district.” Wow!  You might think NJDOE would take the position that “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!” Think again. (more…)

By

Ray Pinney 

“It has come to be that it does not matter who is in control in Trenton, Republican or Democrat. Nothing ever changes.  They don’t have the ability or the interest to solve the problems that face the state of New Jersey. We are probably in the biggest budget crisis in this state’s history and we are fighting about driving records and who is the biggest crook or liar.  It is just shameful!”

(Chris Daggett, Independent for Governor)

Do you think that it does not matter which party controls Trenton-that nothing gets done?  Are you tired of hearing the answers to all our problems being espoused in 30 seconds?  Are you tired of partisan politics?  Do you want to vote for someone and not for the lesser of two evils?  Do you think tenure should be eliminated?  If you answered to yes to any or all of these questions then Chris Daggett says he is your candidate. (more…)

By Frank Belluscio 

The call came in just after 9.  It was my assistant’s daughter, asking for her mom, but eager to tell somebody–anybody–that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center and that they (the news people, the police) thought it was an accident…until (more…)

 By

Ray Pinney

In Greek mythology there was a giant three-headed dog, Cerberus, who guarded the gates of Hades, the dark underworld and home of the dead.  It was a great beast that was almost impossible to defeat or even get by.  In New Jersey we have our own political Cerberus. While some of you may think it is a stretch to compare the Trenton State House to the dark underworld (and others who may feel that it is insulting to Hades), I am actually going in another direction. 

New Jersey’s Cerberus is a legislative one: no bills or laws in New Jersey can get by it.  It is the guardian of almost all of New Jersey’s policy and political decisions. 

The Cerberus I invoke consists of the three most influential lawmakers in New Jersey: (more…)

By Frank Belluscio 

“Any discussion of how to reduce New Jersey’s oppressive property taxes must begin with reforming the collective bargaining process and bringing public employee salaries and benefits in line with what taxpayers can afford. That conversation needs to begin now.” – Asbury Park Press editorial (9/6/2009)

Kudos to the Asbury Park Press. Far too often, newspaper commentaries on education spending and collective bargaining in New Jersey’s public schools arrive at simplistic conclusions: Powerful teacher unions overwhelm school boards; complacent school boards let it happen; or local associations and school boards are part of the same public education establishment.

Identification of the real problems, and solutions, requires in-depth knowledge–something frequently not reflected in newspaper editorials about collective bargaining and teacher salaries.  An Asbury Park Press editorial, published over Labor Day weekend, proved to be somewhat of an exception.  While complaining that average settlement rates are not dropping fast enough, the editorial took aim at a critical part of the collective bargaining process for many school districts–impasse procedures, particularly fact-finding.  That’s an area into which the commentators from the news media seldom venture, but one which a number of local school boards have found problematic.

In making its case, the Press arrived at several conclusions, including the following:

“Who’s to blame [for the slow drop in settlement rates]? For the most part, the state, not local school boards.  Even if school boards wanted to play hardball, their hands are tied by a collective bargaining process that renders them virtually powerless. ”

NJSBA strongly disagrees with the writer that local school boards are powerless in the collective bargaining process.  (The writer also fails to mention the significant progress school boards have made in controlling health benefit costs through the bargaining process.) However, to his credit, the editorial writer brings to light aspects of the collective bargaining process in need of reform–as well as the need for a more even balance of power at the bargaining table.  The September 6 editorial is definitely worth a read.

By Frank Belluscio

Forget the H1N1 flu.  According to some people, the biggest threat to our children’s well-being this fall will come on Tuesday (9/8) in the form of a Webcast speech to the nation’s schoolchildren by President Obama. That’s right. Fringe lunacy has risen to a new level–not in NJ (at least according to a report posted on nj.com/news)–but certainly in other locales.

Don’t get me wrong.  If President “W” had arranged a similar PR tactic four years ago, I’m certain that the howls from the far left would have been as loud, as accusatory and as illogical.

Yesterday, President Obama’s upcoming speech dominated messages on a listserv for the communications officers of the state school boards associations. My colleagues report that the speech is generating controversy in parts of their states.  Here are some examples:

From Ohio–A Web site is making available the following message for parents’ use: “To Whom it May Concern: When it comes to teaching my child about personal responsibility and life goals, I have determined that I am a far better teacher of those objectives than a President who has chosen to surround himself with known anarchists and terrorists.  Therefore, <insert child’s name> will be at home on Sept 8th in order not to be corrupted by the propaganda that will be shown in his class room.”

From Maryland–A member of the state’s legislature sent the following message to his constituents: “According to the office of the Baltimore County Superintendent of Schools, if you do not want your child to participate, you need only notify the school principal, and your child will have an alternate activity available during the address.  However, rather than stigmatize my child by having him pulled out of class, I would just keep him home that day (I do have two children in public school).”

From Tennessee–According to a newspaper story, a superintendent indicates that “about half of the callers have wanted to opt out of children watching the speech while the other half want their children to be able to see it.”  A memo issued to parents stated that “students will be given the opportunity to listen to the speech in their schools, provided their parents or guardians give permission in writing for them to do so.”

From Kentucky–A newspaper reported, “Fayette County Superintendent said his district got about 50 calls, mostly from parents who were misinformed by radio hosts who ‘have blown this thing out of proportion.’  One (host) had everyone believing that the president was going to talk to elementary kids about his health care agenda.  Once people got the correct information, most seemed to be fine.”

And from our colleagues at the Arizona School Boards Association, located in a state with its share of parents opposed to the Obama speech, comes a voice of reason–and indeed a sentiment shared among the various states’ school boards organizations:

“ASBA believes that accountability for meeting fair standards that encourage high student achievement and responsible and informed citizenship is the common responsibility of the elected school district governing board, staff members, parents, the students themselves and the community at large.  Though we strongly encourage our school district members to participate in this non-partisan, non-political educational event, we also believe that the choice to participate must be a local one.”

Amen! 2009 is neither a presidential nor a Congressional election year. Tuesday’s Webcast is a function of the Office of the President as the leader of the country and not as the leader of the Democratic party.

As a local school board member, how do you feel about the president’s planned speech to the nation’s schoolchildren?  Are your district’s schools planning to show the Webcast on Tuesday?

By

Ray Pinney 

New Jersey politics was the furthest thing on my mind when I was on vacation. I was in the north woods and I had no computer, e-mail or TV. I had limited newspaper access, and even my cell phone service was spotty.  It was completely relaxing.  Even when I got back to New Jersey, I avoided the TV and newspaper for a day because I was enjoying the serenity and was afraid that my mind and body could not handle the transition to reality.  I did sneak a peek to make sure that I did not miss anything really big, but all I saw was that an assemblyman was indicted and that the two main gubernatorial candidates were slugging away at each other with news breaking that Chris Christie was pulled over for a traffic violation.  Yawn, just another average week.

Finally I said to myself “serenity does not pay the bills” and it is time to get back to work.  So on my way to work,  I turned on the radio station NJ 101.5FM to see if they were discussing anything important.  (more…)