Focus on Education

My interest in blogging here on Patch is primarily going to be Arts and Education. Today I’d like to talk about the issues surrounding the BOE election next week, especially since two candidates have picked up the mantle “focus on education.” This is an unusually intense election. I hesitate to (yet again) wade into controversial waters and talk about it, but let me try in a way that will allow some differences between the 5 candidates to be illustrated, at least from my point of view.

What does “Focus on Education” mean, anyway?

Two candidates (Dwyer and Cahill) have made the argument to voters that the school board needs to take a strong stand against Town Hall with regards to housing and crime. There are legitimate arguments to be made that the Town, County and State have not always been the most responsible partners for us in School District #3. But many voters, myself included, feel that this agenda has not always served us well and has been somewhat counterproductive to their stated goals. The impact to our schools has been dramatic: Overcrowded schools, staff and service reductions that could have been avoided with better fiscal planning, (we lost approximately 95 teachers last week, some retired, but mostly fired, and cutting full day kindergarten will certainly impact the quality of our educational output), schools in desperate need of repair and improvement while our most modern school (Jack Abrams) stands empty. Dwyer intends to continue his policies of “holding Town Hall accountable” and Cahill has embraced this approach as well.

If you are a voter who believes in an activist board that inserts its rights in the areas of housing and crime, then Cahill and Dwyer are good candidates for you. I am not being critical of anyone who holds this viewpoint; these are perfectly legitimate positions to take. I just feel, as many voters do, that this approach LACKS a “focus on education.”

Jen Hebert and Adam Spector have taken a different approach to their candidacies, and I‘ll be voting for them because of it. With so many pressing issues that directly affect our children’s education (Overcrowding, Staff Reductions, Kindergarten, Cost Control), I feel it is imperative that the District redirects its attention inward to address the problems we face today and in the next 2 years. In the past year alone, our district has paid way too much on lawyer and architect fees…yet we laid off a catastrophic number of teachers and eliminated our district’s prized full-day kindergarten program. An inward focus on the challenges students face within our school walls is required now. Teachers are being stretched like never before. Class sizes hover around 28-32 students in classrooms that can barely accommodate them. These conditions will impact our students for years to come with no end in sight.

Mrs. Hebert and I, along with nearly 30 other parents, educators, administrators and community members, spent several months in hearings on a “Long Term Planning Committee.” The deep dive into the challenges facing our buildings was an eye opener for many of us. Each building was analyzed in terms of existing space versus needed space, improvements and repairs, and the dramatic costs of such construction. We also analyzed various grade configurations and their educational value to students. The BOE commissioned an architectural firm to facilitate the hearings at a cost of approximately $60,000. Six months after the hearings were concluded, and at this writing, the BOE has refused to allow the Committee to present their findings. Maybe it is because the outcome was a vote of 15-1 to allow Jack Abrams to be opened as a 4-5th grade school. Of the 17 voting members that were present: (teachers and administrators were not allowed to vote) one person voted to close the school permanently, one person voted for two options, and fifteen people voted to open it. The configuration was arrived after careful analysis of educational needs, going from dozens of possible configurations until we whittled them down to three. The financials revealed that keeping the school closed would cost the district anywhere from 10 to 20 million dollars to compensate for lost classroom space. Mr. Dwyer and Mr. Cahill do not want that information on the public’s mind before the election. I think it is pretty important and I am happy to give the headline here. Voters should insist this report be presented publicly; after all, you paid $60K for it with your school tax dollars.

Some other reasons we should “Focus on Education”

Unlike in years past, the BOE failed to set any goals for this past school year (see http://hufsd.edu/leadership/board/boe_goals.html ). This is a pretty dramatic illustration of the need to get the board to refocus.

Incoming Kindergarten parents have still not been notified how the ½ day Kindergarten program will be implemented: morning versus afternoon session, determination criteria, transportation provisions, etc. In a raucous argument at the last BOE meeting, Mr. Dwyer refused to allow JAI to even be considered for leasing by the YMCA to accommodate parents who CHOOSE to use the building for day care services, despite sports teams using it regularly. It should be noted that it was the only formal BOE discussion of the school’s fate since September 2010.

The BOE hired attorneys to fight Single Bedroom Senior Housing at Gateway Gardens. Many people applauded this use of dollars, and I understand their argument. I disagree with it. See my editorial about it

The BOE hired a security analyst at the cost of around $8,800 to review district security issues. No final report was ever provided. Yet, the Chief of Police stood before the Board to assure them that crime had actually gone DOWN in the area around JAI during the last year. One trustee, John Paci (who has agreed with Dwyer and Cahill on many issues)  used an expletive to refer to a police report after the police had left the meeting. He explained that he knew the data to be false because of information he received from the DA’s office, but has never provided that information. I’d have preferred an open exchange while the police were still present in the meeting.

Believe me, folks, I don’t even want to talk about this kind of stuff. This may even be my point. I am extremely focused, in my professional life, on working with educators to reform delivery methods of curriculum using digital gaming and books, and on finding more modern and efficient ways to implement the coming “Core Curriculum” that will be a new national standard. I give great credit to Mr. Dwyer’s point at “MEET THE CANDIDATES” night last week, when he stated that money is desperately needed to train teachers on Smart Boards. Our students are savvier on computers than their instructors. We need to close these gaps. But we can’t seem to move forward with the current board majority, and the current focus on issues other than education.

I have not mentioned Susan Tully, who is also a candidate, because frankly I know the least about her positions. She seems sharp and capable, but gave me the impression of a “newcomer,” and this is a time when we need some folks with some real experience and knowledge of our schools, curriculum, and district.

I am a proud and vocal supporter of Adam Spector and Jen Hebert. Please vote for them this Tuesday, May 17th, at Huntington High School. And if you prefer the other candidates, please know that I respect your vote, and I respect all our candidates and trustees for their service to our community.