P.O. Box 909 ● Trenton, NJ 08605-0909 ● Phone: 609.695.7600 ● Fax: 609.695.0413 ● Web: www.njsba.org/PI

Public Schools Must Thrive – Not Just Survive – In Troubled Times

Address to the Delegate Assembly
of the New Jersey School Boards Association
Plainsboro, NJ
May 15, 2010


Marie S. Bilik, NJSBA Executive Director

These are troubled times for schools in New Jersey.

Comparatively speaking, things were downright rosy last year. New Jersey schools fell back on a billion-dollar cushion of federal stimulus money. And in April of last year, voters went to the polls (in their usual diminutive numbers) and approved nearly three out of four school budgets.

We were in the grip of the Great Recession, and we pulled off the Great Escape.

Well, things aren’t so great anymore.

After two rounds of massive state aid cuts, virtually all school districts were forced to lay off staff. The lost jobs will number in the thousands. Students walked out of class in protest. Voters were also angry. In April, they went to the polls (in record numbers) and rejected 59 percent of school budgets in the state – the worst rejection rate that we’ve ever seen.

Through it all, school administrators, the teachers unions and the governor have all been vilified. Even a Monmouth University poll last month found that nearly one in five residents – 18 percent – blame school boards for the staff layoffs. Got 10 friends? Two of them blame you for what’s occurring.

And public discourse about education has become polarized, hostile, and downright ugly.

Now, I don’t subscribe to the notion that the side that talks the loudest – or makes the most inflammatory statements – is the side that wins the argument.

So I’m not here to add to the bombastic rhetoric. Just the opposite. I’m looking for people to lift their sights, light a candle, and lead the way.

Fortunately, I’m with the right crowd today.

Who better than school board members? There are organizations in New Jersey representing teachers, principals, supervisors and superintendents. There are coalitions representing school nurses, school librarians and school bus drivers. But you are the only ones who receive no compensation from the school district.

There are legislators and other government officials who have plenty to say about public schools, but you are the only ones without an R or D beside your name on the ballot.

There’s something that motivates you – and it’s not the pay or benefits, or the endless public accolades.

What motivates you is the desire to give a better life to the next generation. And in these troubled times, you want kids to thrive – not just survive.

Martin Luther once said …“When schools flourish, all flourishes.”

But today, New Jersey is at a crossroads. Few states have been hit harder by the economy than the Garden State. And no state has worked harder than New Jersey – or invested more – to improve its public schools. So if you were going to do a case study into how a troubled economy has affected a state’s public school system, where better than New Jersey?

The fact is that New Jersey public schools perform better than most other states. The National Assessment of Educational Progress – called the Nation’s Report Card, and perhaps the only apples-to-apples comparison of states – places New Jersey students among the top five states in mathematics, among the top two in reading, and the highest in writing.

But as long as there are students whose educational needs are not being met, we shouldn’t be satisfied with these test results.

And now – after more than a billion dollars in education cuts – we’re seeing things start to unravel.

When I think about our role as guardians of the public schools, I have a fear of failing … a fear of falling behind. I have a fear of mediocrity.

Let me ask you…

What’s the benchmark of success under No Child Left Behind? “Adequate Yearly Progress.”

What’s the word the state uses as the benchmark of the new school-funding formula? “Adequacy.”

Years ago, there was a Broadway show that was so awful, one critic said the producer had “delusions of adequacy.”

I’m sorry, but when it comes to the education of our children – “adequate” fails to inspire.

How about “Exceptional?”
How about, “Inspirational?”
How about, “Thriving?”

Let me tell you what I’m talking about. Over the past few weeks, some of our County School Boards Associations held student recognition programs to celebrate unsung heroes. In some cases the students were academically gifted, but in other cases they had overcome major obstacles, or made a difference in their community. For instance…

• A Union County girl went through a life-threatening liver transplant in the 10th grade – and she emerged by starting a Make-a-Wish club at her high school and organizing a walkathon fundraiser.


• Another girl struggled mightily with Spanish, but through self-discipline and with the constant help of her teachers, she excelled – and has since started a tutoring program for other students.


• And one of the students being honored in Ocean County had suffered through a childhood filled with taunts and ridicule, because he had a birth defect that affected his balance and made him fall down. As a teen, he had major surgery and is now described as a handsome young man who you’d never know suffered from such problems. In his freshman year, he accompanied to the prom a girl with such crippling health issues, she could barely stand to three feet tall. Yet this empathetic young man treated her with such respect, he spent the evening dancing with her on his knees so that he was her height.

Let me tell you: We’ve seen countless stories of student achievement, of citizenship, and leadership.

That’s what we should be celebrating: Thriving, not surviving.

The stakes are enormous. And now, more than ever, we need local school board leadership: Clear-headed, motivated leaders in their communities, who will serve as guardians of our children’s education.

You’re school board members. You’re tough as nails. I know … I used to be one. And for the past 17 years, I’ve proudly worked for school boards. I know where to turn for leadership.

I know I’m with the right crowd today.