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.  (more…)

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.  (more…)

By

Ray Pinney

I was sitting in an office with a few staff members from my son’s school when I realized that the weeks of stress and strain involving my son were getting to me. Tears started to well in my eyes. Emotions that I can’t even explain prevented me from being strong and the tears just began to flow. I don’t know how many of you have had to deal with situations in which just hanging on to your ability to function took enormous effort, because someone close to you was in trouble, but I know I am not the only one.

Let me back up. Weeks ago my life was on cruise control when all of sudden, through a complicated and confusing series of events (which even now I do not understand), my eighth-grade son’s direction in life was completely derailed.  My wife and I used all our parenting skills to help get our son back on track, but it was to no avail. I had always thought that if my wife and I worked together and showed our kids our love for them, we could get through anything.  I was wrong, however, and maybe the reason I was emotional was because I realized that love was not enough.  It was a difficult concept for me to come to grips with, but only someone other than his parents could help my son.  (more…)

By Frank Belluscio

On May 18, long before the state’s other education organizations weighed in — and long before last week’s ill-fated “compromise” between the Department of Education and the state teachers union — the New Jersey School Boards Association endorsed the state’s prospective Race to the Top application.

The Association urged local school boards to seriously consider signing memoranda of agreement to participate, based to large extent on aspects that were later eliminated or weakened under the May 27 compromise with the NJEA.

From the May 18 letter of endorsement by Marie S. Bilik, NJSBA executive director:

“The proposals reflected in the round two application…would serve to open doors to educational opportunity for disadvantaged students, advance student achievement by providing additional teacher compensation based on classroom performance, build an accurate and useful database of student achievement, and give local school officials the ability to retain the best teachers by making needed changes in the state’s tenure and seniority system.”

Yesterday afternoon (6/1) turned into a period of high drama on the Internet, as the state announced it was submitting an application based on its original plans.  What followed were news reports describing two situations (select one):

(a)  After reviewing the application over the weekend, state Department of Education officials determined that the NJEA compromises jeopardized New Jersey’s chances to receive the grant; or

(b)  The governor decided to veto the compromise based on political concerns.

Not unexpected were statements from the NJEA accusing the governor of reneging on the deal and from the Senate and Assembly Democrats saying that the governor took his cue from conservative radio commentators and, in the process, severely undermined New Jersey’s chances of winning RTTT grant funds.

What’s left now is a conceptually stronger application, but one which political controversy might sink.  Let’s hope that the U.S. Department of Education evaluators don’t read news websites before making decisions on grant applications.  What’s at stake here is $400 million and a lot more.