A New School Year, The Common Core, and Getting THE EDGE.

Well, the weather is still warm, but the mindset that is summer is ending and we are beginning another school year. Children on the journey of educational experience are leaving the port that they arrived at last June and are heading to a new destination. Little ones are entering kindergarten at Harley and you can predict bus stops will be a backdrop of numerous photo opportunities and tears – (Moms and Dads likely to have most of the tears.) Children in the James Boyd School will find a new Principal, Pam Fine, when they return, and while we will fondly remember Mrs. McCabe’s warmth and always-cordial style, Ms. Fine will hit the ground running and bring a new and positive energy to the building. She has already impressed many with her acumen as an educator at the August BOE meeting with her command of identifying effective literacy strategies. Last year’s 5th graders are moving down the road to the Elwood Middle School, which will probably be a completely new adventure for most of them, and some middle school kids are crossing the campus to John Glenn High School, which carries the moniker of just “GLENN”…
Glenn, like the little engine, is the little high school that could. Somehow, in the face of multiple challenges, this relatively small high school of barely 800 students seems to give our young people a competitive edge. The kudos for this success needs to be spread around to include dedicated staff, students with exceptional character and spirit, and parents that take a very active and passionate role in assuring high school is a successful educational experience for our young people.
Glenn students are creative, competitive, learners that find a way to succeed. Glenn graduates creative individuals, accomplished in visual arts and music. Performances are nothing short of amazing. The music and voices jump off the Glenn stage and seem to find their way right into your soul. Glenn is also a breeding ground for competitive, accomplished athletes and championship athletic teams that are renowned throughout Long Island and are a great source of community pride. Furthermore, this competitiveness not only exists in the athletic arena, the Glenn student is accomplished academically, as evidenced by more than 85% of the graduating class heading off to four-year, baccalaureate college programs; many headed to universities that are among the most prestigious in the country.
The Elwood School District has a tradition of great accomplishments; nonetheless, accomplishments are always a snapshot taken in the past, and we must refrain from looking back too often when we need to move forward. Constantly looking in the rearview mirror when you are driving forward puts you at great risk of encountering devastating consequences. We must look forward and continue to provide our children with an edge that will help them create, compete, and learn.
Undoubtedly, Elwood Schools excel in many areas, but to use the words of New York’s Commissioner of Education, John B. King Jr., “We can always do better.” We also have areas identified as growth opportunities for our academic program, especially in light of the greatly anticipated Common Core Standards that will assuredly invigorate the curriculum and garner positive results. However, the transition to this new paradigm will challenge school staff, students, and parents in Elwood – in New York State, and the rest of the USA.
“Common Core State Standards” have multiple goals and strategies that ultimately lead to one profoundly important objective of raising student achievement for the sake of providing America’s children, our children, with a competitive edge in a global economy, and “for the future of our democracy.” -John B. King Jr..
In addition to new curriculum standards, carefully designed assessments are a key component of the Common Core. The assessments, a tool to collect data, not create a box score to determine winners and losers, will drive instruction and the evaluative process, which in turn leads to fruitful professional development. Superintendent Scordo and Assistant Superintendent, Maryann Lewellyn, have drilled deeply into understanding the goals of the Common Core, and we are fortunate to have such dedicated educators and skilled administrators lead our schools into this new exemplar for English language literacy and math. Both Mr. Scordo and Mrs. Llewellyn will be presenting components of the Common Core Standards at future BOE meetings.
As a quick overview, the top design principles of the Common Core are evidenced-based and focused to align to the current standards of universities of higher education and the expectations of the 21st Century workforce. The driving force of the Common Core is college and career readiness. In other words, in the future children will transcend beyond requirements of graduating high school, and will be prepared to succeed after they enter college, and subsequently, the workforce.
The Common Core of English Language Literacy will begin to balance information literacy and literature text. Students will go beyond narrative text, and begin to comprehend and express informational text. This knowledge will also build in the disciplines - social studies, science, and the arts will share the load of reading and writing literacy with the English teacher. David Coleman, one of the architects of the Common Core described it this way: “… the significant shift in the paradigm within the Common Core of English language literacy is to read like a detective and write like an investigative reporter.”
The Common Core in math will have six goals that represent a significant improvement to the current math curriculum, with fluency, deeper understanding, and application being key components. K-12 education in the U.S. has been criticized for being a mile wide and an inch deep, while international leaders in education have a much narrower curriculum in common and drill down to achieve a much deeper comprehension of math that promotes higher order thinking skills.
The Common Core is an unfunded mandate that will raise the bar on everyone in the school community and ultimately improve education and college and career readiness. We must embrace this upgrade to education with a commitment to re-invent our strategies from an academic and economic perspective – the new Common Core strategies as well as strategies that were successful in the past that are no longer applicable in the new reality of public education. Elwood must maintain a competitive edge for our children.
I would like to embrace the “EDGE” as a local initiative that can brand the identity of the culture in Elwood and provide focus to the cultural bond that the community has with its schools. The EDGE is an acronym for Elwood’s Dedication to Great Education and can be applied as a Common Core Standards initiative unique to Elwood that also provides a full breadth of opportunities for learning, creativity, and competitiveness that result in high-level student achievement. Moreover, because of the new reality stemming from a sour economy and legislative restrictions, (not to mention political rhetoric that seems to be the only thing in abundance these days) we must re-invent ourselves utilizing greater efficiency in all that we do. No person or group should take it personally – no thin skins allowed, the bottom line is we all have to step up, raise our game, and do it selflessly.
We have a comprehensive and complex objective that is vital to achieve. Every student needs the EDGE, every teacher, administrator, staff member, parent, guardian, and taxpayer. I agree with the Commissioner of education that giving children a competitive edge to succeed and lead the next generation of Americans is vital to our economy and democracy; and, this success is greatly dependent on everyone’s involvement and Elwood’s Dedication to Great Education.

Self-righteous Indignation or Solution?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/us/12aft.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Click on link to NY Times Article above.

Ms. Weingarten does not seem to address the points of needed reform; instead she only continues to define teachers as undervalued and misunderstood. While this might be true, the American Federation of Teachers “the Union” defies economic realities and has for decades. If public education in New York State was a private sector corporation, the implosion of the company would be forecasted in terms of months, not years and it has become imperative that a more centrist view among public unions, policy makers, legislators, and taxpayers must be embraced so we can ensure a competitive education for our children now and in the future. Intractable union leadership and union doctrine, not the dedicated educator inside the classroom, has become a threat to the public school system and their focus and priority is unclear, if not self-serving. Children must truly become the first priority. In my opinion the AFT would do better to focus on material reforms that will renovate public education into a citadel for children that protects learning and reflection of mind, body, and spirit to a new level rather than spewing self-righteous indignation towards any critic who has not been in front of the classroom. You don’t have to be a dentist to know that the dental health of a society is at risk if it costs $5,000 to get a cavity filled. I can only hope that progressive educators will not only step up and speak out about the sanctity of their profession, but also bring forward new ideas that accomplish the true mission of public education.

Cuomo's Tax Cap - A Message To Local Assemblymen

In my opinion and the opinion of many of my colleagues and neighbors, the Governor’s fight for a tax cap is an attempt to pander for short-term popularity among the frustrated taxpayer and has no sound economic reasoning. Any legislator that jumps on the Governor’s bandwagon will trade the education of children and long-term economic health for short-term popularity. The tax cap will eventually lead to the implosion of public school systems across NY State and Long Island, and restrict the constitutional rights of children to receive a fundamentally sound public education. Please use sound judgment and vision in your positions in Albany. Be leaders in a time when true leadership is needed.
We can agree on one thing from the May 22nd Newsday Article, “Long Island property taxes are out of control.” Nonetheless, considering the income taxes generated from hard working Long Islanders are being thrown into school programs and other earmarked initiatives in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Yonkers and other upstate communities in the form of State aid and earmarked grants, the homeowners on LI are forced to pay a continually increasing percentage of all school expenses that support the education of the children within their respective communities. It is the cost increases related to unfunded state mandates, including the pension system, combined with the continued slashing of state aid revenue that is the driving force behind increased property taxes. In Elwood, we have had little choice; our contractual obligations have been offset by painful staff cuts. Rising costs related to our collective bargaining agreements have been managed through a choice of union concessions, or a reduction of employees. Therefore, Elwood’s property tax increases over the past two years are a direct result of the increase in mandated expenses and the continued cut in State aid – period.
The messages coming out of Albany have tried to deflect the responsibility of rising property taxes on local boards and central administrators. The most common criticisms made by the Governor have been bloated reserves and the excessive salaries of chief administrators. Notwithstanding a few exceptions, the first assertion is not a fair or accurate description of school finances, and the second is, frankly, absurd. These comments are made to raise the ire of the common taxpayer who is either uninformed or less sophisticated in their understanding of governmental accounting, the value of educational leadership, or the marketplace for key employees where the talent pool is very shallow.
In Elwood, we have been audited by the NYS Comptroller’s office and received a clean bill of financial health and deemed to have appropriate internal controls with no material flaws. Furthermore, the Comptroller’s office confirmed that the reserves maintained in Elwood were not large enough to be depleted to offset rising costs. Many, school districts on Long Island have a similar financial story.
The second contention related to the salaries of school superintendents is absurd. This is not a philosophical statement; rather, it is a mathematical and purely factual assessment. We can all agree that the cumulative cost of education on Long Island (based on approved school budgets) is $10.8 billion. The cumulative cost of all superintendents among the 124 LI school districts totals approximately $35 million. Therefore, the full cost of salaries, benefits and other compensation of superintendents on Long Island represents only 1/3rd of one percent of all school spending, or (0.0033), (0.3%). Eliminating superintendents may be a popular conversation among frustrated taxpayers, but as the numbers prove, would have a negligible effect on school property taxes. Furthermore, the salary cap that has been suggested in a bill introduced by the Governor would only save 1/7th of one percent, or (0.0014), (0.14%) of all school spending on Long Island. However, it would have a tremendous impact on a school district’s ability to have experienced leaders of education and school administration taking the helm of school districts across Long Island. In the end, the Governor’s bill would have a negligible effect on property taxes, but have a significantly negative impact on educational leadership and necessary school operations. Diminishing valued service without lowering costs significantly eludes logic and should not be supported by our legislators.
Lastly, the Governor’s barrage of advertising messages on television and radio continue to make claims that the tax cap will create jobs and save our economy. In light of the fact that nearly 2,000 Long Island teachers and other school employees will be out of work even though Long Islanders overwhelmingly approved school budgets, it becomes hard to believe that a tax cap can create more jobs than it eliminates. The reduction of teachers leads to diminished educational opportunities for children. Sound economic policy that has vision is one that improves the education of children. This leaves one significant question to answer: how can a tax cap that will continually eliminate thousands of jobs from educators and diminishes quality instruction and educational opportunities from children have a short-term or long-term positive effect on the economy of Long Island or New York State?
There are many legislative reforms that can reduce costs going forward while improving the quality of education in our public schools. Look to the goals of the “Race To The Top” initiative to guide you. Please do not embrace legislation that threatens the implosion of public education on Long Island. Please avoid giving into the mobocracy that has swayed the Governor and be true leaders in a time that leadership is needed to march us out of the doldrums of a bad economy without destroying the constitutional rights of children to have a sound public education.

Our Mission Continues

A community that overcomes continuing hardships and skepticism, and embraces a full breadth of educational opportunities for children shows a great commitment to the core values and principles of a great society. I am especially proud to be part of the Elwood Community this morning.
Our mission continues, but while we may take a day to breathe a sigh of relief after a budget season filled with tension and anxiety, we must wake up tomorrow morning and take steps to bring forward the reforms and embrace changes that will keep public education vital.
There are those that will look backward into the past and long for how things used to be; nevertheless, we must ask everyone to stand up in a collaborative effort and establish new legislation, practices, and a business model that will further improve upon the education of our children while maintaining a sustainable financial model for current and future generations of children and new, committed educators.
Lastly, congratulations to two new BOE Trustees, Bill Gutekunst, and Mike LaMena, who got the calling to make a long-term commitment, step off the sidelines, and take a decisive role in the school community. Messrs Gutekunst and LaMena will bring a thoughtful, independent perspective to the Board of Education and we welcome them to the team.
On behalf of all 2,645 students of Elwood Schools – THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT.

There is only one question and it is a YES or NO answer

Over the past day or so I have heard people talking about being undecided about how they will vote for the budget on May 17th. There are other Elwood residents out there saying that they will vote NO because they are angry. They are angry at teachers, angry at administration, or the superintendent, or the Board of Education. Angry because we needed to change our kindergarten program. Angry because gas prices are high or that they see buses going by that are not filled to capacity. Angry because they have not received a raise in two-years or work longer hours than teachers for 12-months per year. Angry because Northport’s percent of increase is less than Elwood’s.

Well, someone needs to explain how their anger justifies taking components of Elwood’s educational program away from children. Is the rationale “I’m angry, so I am going to knock down some kids????” Are you saying A TEACHER GOT A RAISE, SO TAKE AWAY THE PERFORMING ARTS PROGRAMS? A PRINCIPAL GOT A RAISE, SO CANCEL SPORTS AND FIRE MORE TEACHERS. SORRY FOLKS, I JUST DON’T GET IT. For those of you who feel justified in throwing out the baby with the bath water and just do not want to take accountability for voting no… Well, like I said, I just don’t get it and I will never subscribe to your way of thinking. This is my blog, not an official Board of Education correspondence, and I am telling you personally; if you are voting no for any other reason other than you cannot afford to provide any additional funding to education in Elwood, then in my opinion, you do not get a free pass because you are angry and frustrated.

Some people say they really cannot afford it; that I understand – I get that! I have pointed out to them how a loss of State Aid will affect their property taxes and how taxes will rise even if the budget never passes and we go to austerity. The difference between a YES and a NO vote is +2.33% on the tax levy. People get confused between the budget and the tax levy increases and some need to have it explained that there are two sets of different numbers that are not always directly related. The budget is purely about expenses and how much it will cost to implement all services to children – mandated services, academics, cultural arts, athletics and clubs, and how much it costs to run the district’s facilities and transportation. The tax levy is the expense budget less all other sources revenue - the biggest other source of revenue is state aid. We must balance the budget, so the tax levy fills the gap between our expenses and all other sources of revenue. If State aid is reduced, as it has been over two years (this current year and next) the tax levy needs to be raised to fill the gap.

There are reforms needed and we must fight for, and embrace, change in order to keep public education vital for our children. There is no greater economic initiative and attribute of a great society than a well-rounded education of a child. We must provide Elwood’s children with every opportunity to learn, to discover their creativity and competitiveness, to grow emotionally, and in character. We must get children ready for a competitive post-secondary education and a 21st Century workforce.

I have heard all of the political rhetoric, all of the anger, all of the frustration, but at the end of the day you are voting for an additional +2.33% funding for well-rounded education of our children.

There is only one issue on the table; only one question being asked on May 17th: Will you pay an average of $250 per year more for the children of Elwood Schools – Yes or No?

Sups' Salaries - Political Vs. Factual

I wanted to point out a widely discussed topic that is much more political than factual, and in my opinion, a complete deflection on the part of the Governor and legislators that points the finger of blame on non-unionized superintendents, rather than the statutes that provide protection over the evaluative process of work performance, a speedy, one-time only tenure appointment, and most importantly, bargaining leverage to the Teachers’ and Administrators' Union (NYSUT), as well as other legislative mandates, as the root cause of public education expenses that are spiraling out of control.

As reconfirmed in Newsday this morning, Long Island will approve $10.8 BILLION dollars in spending next Tuesday. The average “all in” compensation (salary and benefits) of school superintendents on LI (and Westchester for that matter) is $295,000. If you extrapolate that out for 124 districts on LI, you could come to a total estimate of school superintendents’ compensation on Long Island of $36,580,000, or (0.34%), or 1/3rd of one percent of all school spending. Moreover, this would be the amount saved if all superintendent salaries were eliminated, not lowered.

If you went to the Governor’s proposed cap, the savings this will generate on Long Island collectively is approximately (0.14%), or 1/7th of one percent of school budgets on Long Island. So, when the naïve say a material amount of money, or “a great deal of money” can be saved by lowering salaries of superintendents, they are making an assumption that has not been researched very well and has NO basis of fact.

In order to get some perspective, think of the following: teachers work 10-months per year and every school district has teachers with similar long-time seniority in education as superintendents do. These teachers make $105k - $118k, and with a couple of stipends for clubs or extra-curricular work, easily reach the $125k mark. I can tell you Elwood has a number of teachers in this category and Elwood teachers are not the highest paid on Long Island or among the eight neighboring districts in Huntington for that matter. Therefore, in considering the Governor’s proposed legislation would have an Elwood Superintendent make an all in compensation package of $155,000, I ask you ponder this question: Why would anyone take a superintendent’s job for less than $30k a year more than he/she could make as a classroom teacher?

Is this issue a political sound bit for legislators that gets a lot of mileage among the frustrated taxpayer, or is it a prudent school business policy that clearly is in the best interest of managing effective schools while also providing relief to the taxpayer?

A truly pertinent question might be - What is the value of an effective educator with CEO level experience and leadership in a school district and what is the marketplace for such an individual?

MANDATES AND THE LOSS OF AID REVENUE ARE THE DRIVING FORCE OF OUR PROPERTY TAX INCREASES

A review of cost increases for a short-list of legislated NY State mandates and the reduction in Aid over the past two years clearly indicates the unmanageable financial scenario that is driving Elwood’s school property taxes higher.

It is hard to see through all of the political dust that the demagogues in Albany are kicking up in the media with their talk of overpriced administrative bureaucracy, bloated reserves and failing schools. Obviously, Andrew (“No One Should Make More Than Me”) Cuomo has never been to Elwood. So allow me to say it again to stress the point: THE RISING COST MANDATES AND THE LOSS OF AID REVENUE ARE THE DRIVING FORCE OF OUR PROPERTY TAX INCREASES. The spread between the increase in mandates and the loss of aid revenue is above $4 million over the 2010/11 and 2011/12school years. This impacts our tax levy by 12%, which is exactly our combined tax levy increase for this year and the 2011/12 proposal.

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS
There is an overwhelming public sentiment that teachers’ contractual pay raises are driving up taxes. However, while automatic step raises combined with contractual pay hikes are a contributing factor that creates a tremendous financial strain on any school district, we have been able to offset this contractual obligation with staff cuts.

You should know that these cuts are something we do with great difficulty. For one, teachers that provide quality instruction are the vital asset to any school and it is important that we continue to assure that the people inside of the classroom are highly skilled pedagogically, dedicated to our mission, and masters of the content they deliver to our students. Secondly, for a majority of the community a “staff cut” is a line item on a spreadsheet. However, to the members of the Board of Education a “staff cut” has a name and a face. These are people who are doing a great job with our children; they are people who we care about; who are getting married, and supporting their own families. In a small community like Elwood, a staff cut is a heart wrenching decision – one that hurts more than anyone will ever know.

You should also know, that we (the BOE) are continuing to have conversations with the various union officials that can bring about meaningful reforms and changes in our contractual obligations – and when dialogue occurs there is hope of a brighter and more manageable future.

THE CENTRAL OFFICE TEAM
The central office team of administrators that was assembled in 2009/10 is lean, and the most experienced and effective team of educators that the district ever had in the central office. Moreover, next year their collective cost of compensation and benefits to the district taxpayer will be $100,000 less than the central office team we had in the 2008/09 school year.

A DIFFICULT DECISION FOR TAXPAYERS
The Board has always been mindful to those who cannot afford much more in school taxes and are unsure how much more we can ask these people to tighten their belts so our schools can stay true to our mission. While there are signs of economic improvement, financial burdens still seem overwhelming to many. Of greatest concern is the potential of taxing senior citizens out of our community. Other than not providing a child with a competitive education, this is the next worst fear of our Board of Education. The current Board wants to explore re-energizing the bill introduced to the legislature by Senator LaValle a few years ago that would freeze school taxes for homeowners starting at 70-years of age.

We must remain diligent and find new ways to fund our schools, and reform the archaic systems and laws that will eventually lead to the implosion of public education if we do not take action on the local, state, and national level.

NEVERTHELESS, we are not going achieve our reform goals by May 17th… And, the only message that can be sent on the 17th is how much YOU (every individual and Family) are willing to fund education in Elwood during the 2011-12 school year.

A MARKETING NIGHTMARE
The Budget proposal that the Board of Education is bringing to the community (+7.98%) is, frankly, a marketing nightmare. Across Long Island we have become used to school districts being marketed in the media based on the size of their percentage of budget and tax levy increase from the previous year, and in that competition we are behind the 8-ball. At this time of year the masses rarely focus upon the educational services delivered, the success of Elwood students, diminishing state aid, or the amount of commercial property that helps hold down the tax rate, or the lack thereof… Or, how low their tax increases may have been relative to other school districts in the past.

SO, WHY IS THE BOE PROPOSING THIS BUDGET TO THE COMMUNITY WHEN WE ARE LIVING IN THESE MOST INTERESTING TIMES?
The time clock continues to wind down for children as we prepare them for college and a 21st Century workforce. There is no holding back or slowing down for a rebuilding year, or getting back a year or years… Our goal is to get children ready for life beyond John Glenn High School and we must provide them with every opportunity to learn, to discover their creativity and competitiveness, to grow socially and emotionally, and in character. We must get children where they need to be on time. We simply cannot afford to take programmatic opportunities away from children when the clock is ticking and risk not having them well rounded and ready for a competitive post secondary education when the buzzer sounds.

In this proposed budget, we have stayed true to our mission and there is something to be said about a community that overcomes continuing hardships and skepticism, and keeps their focus on the mission of their schools:

“Our mission is to provide an excellent educational experience that empowers and inspires each student to succeed academically, socially and emotionally in an evolving global society. We invite the entire Elwood community to join us on this journey.”

This budget proposal is just that – an invitation for the entire Elwood Community to join us on this journey.

Massachusetts Strips Bargaining Rights from Public Unions

Well, it most definitely has been an interesting few months. Mind you, Massachusetts passed a Tax Cap a while ago and it has not turned out well - no surprise there. You have to believe that is because a tax cap and collective bargaining can never really co-exist - except in the mind of the Democratic Assembly in Albany that is.

In part, I am empathetic to public employees and what I believe to be their right to organize and collectively bargain. Nevertheless, it has been clear over the past couple of decades that the pendulum has swung from a time when public employees needed to be protected from the abuses of management in the 50’s and 60’s, to the side of an unsustainable financial model that would eventually cause the implosion of public education. The window of opportunity and progressive change has been in front of NYSUT (and all teachers’ unions) for quite some time, but the union’s intractable mindset has made it clear that public education as we have come to know it in this country is at the beginning of the end; unless, of course, sweeping reforms and decisive action are taken. While I have mixed feelings about the action taken in Wisconsin and Massachusetts, I do not see that there was much of a choice. (see link)

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/29/massachusetts-dems-vote-to-strip-public-unions-of-bargaining-rights/

What do you think?

The Ghost of Education Yet To Come

Cannot Say It Better Than This

Mr. Obama said that revitalizing education was one of his administration’s top priorities: "...there is no better economic policy than one that produces more graduates with the skills necessary to succeed. It is the responsibility of every American — every parent, every teacher, every business leader, every public official, and yes, every student.”

The Enemy Within and the Great Society

At the risk of sounding preachy, I contend the following: the Enemy Within is the desire to focus exclusively on your own needs while expecting to be part of a great society.

The pillars of our society are the combination of a free-market economy and selflessness; both need to be in balance if we are to remain strong and work through the challenges we face today. We all need to fight against our enemy within.

In a time where solutions are needed, but not necessarily readily available, it is important to stay true to certain principles and not let the circumstances of the moment guide your decisions. For me, I believe in the words of former President Lyndon B. Johnson and believe they are something we should all consider, if not embrace.

“The Great Society is a place where every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind and to enlarge his talents. It is a place where the city of man serves not only the needs of the body and the demands of commerce, but the desire for beauty and the hunger for community. It is a place where men are more concerned with the quality of their goals than the quantity of their goods.”

Growing Tired of the Extremist

There has been a great many articles in Newsday and the NY Times on the Governor’s budget, the slashing of funding to education and the possibility of thousands of school employees losing jobs after June 2011. Politicians and frustrated taxpayers seemingly have become more focused on costs, and less focused on the principles and government funded services that built our great nation. I have a difficult time understanding how laying off thousands of teachers, administrators, and custodians, etc, will help our economy, but it seems to be the result of a strategy to balance NYS’s budget while not raising taxes. There is a lot to be frustrated about; spending is outpacing inflation, there has been an ever brightening spotlight on accountability in the classroom and public union contracts with provisions that are protected by legislative statutes and regulations. These provisions and laws are anachronisms from a time when abuses of management called for certain protections for educators. There is a great need for reform in public education and we have the technology to collect and analyze data that can be used to raise the level of accountability in the classroom. I think all industries and employees have seen the affects of increased technology and the raising of the bar on accountability in the work place. The days of abuses to public school employees are long gone, but would they return if reform repealed these legislated, contractual protections? I have to imagine this is the fear of our public union employees.

On the other side of the politicians and frustrated taxpayers are the employees of public schools, many of them who come to work every day, year after year and never think of himself or herself as a public union employee. They think of themselves as teachers, or administrators of a public school system. Most of them do their jobs with great dedication and an abundance of enthusiasm for their mission – educating the children in their classrooms.

School employees are also taxpayers, have obligations to their families, and feel the same financial difficulties of rising taxes, college tuition, gas, and utilities – just like everyone else. Moreover, the fact that they may have a job, even if you do not, should not be held against them. There has also been a great focus on a retirement system that is breaking the back of the taxpayer, another anachronism that needs further reform. Nevertheless, all the money that the taxpayer is putting into the futures of school employees does not pay their mortgage, or their taxes, utilities, or their grocery bill next month. While the money is significant and meaningful, I can understand how it may be difficult to feel the value of something that is perhaps a couple of decades into your future, especially when your bills are mounting today.

I have to imagine it is tough to be a teacher these days. Teachers and administrators have a critical job that affects the future of our children, their community, and the nation that our children will lead in the new age, global economy. It cannot be easy to see animosity building against an honorable profession that means so much to so many. The screams for shared sacrifice may be economically driven and the need of certain reforms are certainly necessary to raise the level of performance to best enable a competitive education for our children, but if you are a teacher, it must sound and feel like someone saying “I do not care about you and you are doing a lousy job with our kids.” Now, I do not know about you, but if someone said that to me, I do not think I would jump up and say I am willing to do my part for the cause. I would probably say something to the contrary and throw in a few expletives along the way.

Personally, I am growing tired of the extremist. For the people who would willingly decimate our public education services and sees little value in a competitive education for children, especially someone else’s children in order to lower taxes, shame on you. And, to those die hard union advocates that preach education, but will allow public education to implode because they are unwilling to embrace the changes that will align their profession to the global economic landscape and higher levels of accountability to children, not to mention sacrificing brilliant young educators, their colleagues, that will be losing their jobs - shame on you too!

Mr. Governor, Stop Deflecting and Start Creating Some Meaningful Reforms and Mandate Relief

In today’s NY Times Governor Cuomo took at shot at school district superintendents’ compensation; and while it is an easy shot to take to strike up the ire of the general populace, don’t be fooled. This is a political deflection that is meant to put blame for high taxes on non-union, hard working leaders of education instead of a Governor that has turned his back on the education of the middle class in New York State. The Governor does not want to go after the unions or all of the protections union employees are granted under legislation and their protective body, the Public Employee Review Board (“PERB”), nor does he want to alienate legislators that he needs to approve his budget – a budget that will remove $1.1 million dollars of State Aid revenue from Elwood next year. The Governor has also rushed into a tax cap that has not been thought through thoroughly and does not provide the necessary exemptions and mandate relief. It is a tax cap that protects big business and large municipal school districts more than the families and homeowners on Long Island. These are the same legislators that have kowtowed to public unions for decades and filled the system up with more unfunded mandates than progressive reforms. These are the same legislators that significantly lowered employee contributions to their defined-benefit pensions in the laws of 2000 when the economy was good, and are now asking the taxpayer to step up and pay a backbreaking 11.5% - 15% of salaries as a contribution to the pension plans of school employees. These are also the same legislators that gave us the Tenure laws, the Triborough Law, and the Taylor Law that makes it almost impossible to gain leverage in a collective bargaining negotiation with public unions so we can remove the contract provisions that are vestiges of the 1950s and 1960s that should no longer apply to the business of educating children in the 21st Century. Laws that have allowed the public unions to hold our children hostage in any collective bargaining contract negotiation, employee evaluation, and necessary disciplinary actions. Now, allow me to stop my rant on the Governor and his cronies in Albany for a moment and give you some facts.

There are 121 school districts of various size and configurations on Long Island with an overall educational product and results that are among the best in the state, if not the country. The cumulative budget for these school districts collectively is $10,667,516,176, as reported in Newsday within the past week. Now, let’s imagine that each school district on Long Island employs a superintendent with a salary package of $300,000 per year on average. By the way, superintendents have individual contracts with school districts and are NOT protected by unions or are eligible for tenure. So let’s do the math: if you have 121 superintendents earning $300k per year that is $36,300,000, or 0.34% of the cumulative budgets of all schools on Long Island. If we eliminated every superintendent on Long Island, our collective cost of education would be lowered by 1/3rd of one percentage point. I do not believe that is the type of cost reduction that we are looking for; especially when you realize the value of a strong superintendent of schools. By the way, the Governor’s proposed budget reduces $250 million of state aid revenue to all Long Island schools, so it makes sense that he would look to deflect the financial devastation he is proposing to LI education somewhere other than his office or his pals in the senate and assembly.

The superintendent is the Chief Executive Officer of a school district. They are responsible for everything and to every resident in a school district. They need to assure instructional quality in the classrooms, they need to craft and provide the best educational product possible on a budget that becomes leaner every year versus the expenses that are only partially within local control. They focus on the curriculum, finances, personnel, policy, and student issues on a daily basis. A superintendent has a position of leadership of which a strong school system cannot survive without. If I learned one thing in my years as a member of the Board of Education it was this: there is no single component of a school system that is more meaningful to the success of the system and its benefits to children and community than a strong, experienced leader in the superintendent’s office. The value of an effective superintendent of schools is, as the saying goes, “Priceless.” I am sure there will be plenty of people that would like to debate my last statement, and it would be my pleasure to engage you in that debate. Because if you think that a school district can be productive and efficient by just turning it over to the teachers in the individual classrooms or a building principal (no matter how dedicated and talented they are) you are grossly mistaken.

Thank heavens we live in America Mr. Governor - a place that still embraces a free-market economy as part and parcel of our democracy. Please focus on reforms and mandate relief that will really make a positive difference in public education. Remember this as you pass through Albany on your way to bidding on that big White House on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, and stop deflecting blame on the true leaders of education who should not be considered the epicenter of our problems so you can gain popularity for your obtuse political agenda.

As Usual - Newsday Loves To Create Drama

Quote from Newsday 12/18/1010: “...Stephen V. Waldenburg Jr., president of the Northport-East Northport school board, said he would consider every option in an effort to provide his students the best education at the most reasonable cost. ‘I think we may be interested to hear what they've got in mind," he said. "It never hurts to listen. I can't say what will come out of it. It would need to be beneficial to the Northport district.’...”

Ohh Newsday and Mr. Waldenberg, the Elwood BOE has nothing specific in mind; we are simply looking at the grim news coming out of Albany and asking ourselves what would it look like if we consolidated with a neighboring school district from both an educational and financial perspective. We want to explore every possible solution to protect our children’s opportunity to have a competitive 21st Century education. Elwood residents have an abundance of pride in our school community - academically, athletically, and artistically. Our children are well served and there is little doubt that many residents have a continued desire to take care of our own. Nevertheless, the current economic conditions and the intent of our new Governor to take away the will of the people and impose a tax cap have us exploring every possible solution to maintain the principles of education that we hold sacrosanct in Elwood. In other words, the only thing we have in mind is an exploration of possibilities to be considered as a community.

EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITIES

If you have not heard already, there is a loud buzz in the Elwood community about the merger, or as the NY State Education Department refers to it, “consolidation” of the Elwood School District with one of the neighboring, contiguous districts in Huntington Township. As usual, the rumors seem to take on a life of their own filled with political gaming, exaggerations, and partial facts that can completely distort the real story. So, as a member of the Elwood Board of Education I can give you some plain perspective and a little insight to my thinking, and the thinking of the Board and Superintendent on the reality of the situation.

First, my initial reaction is that I have NO desire to merge the Elwood School District with any of the potential candidates; i.e., Harborfields, Northport, Commack, Half Hollow Hills, or South Huntington. Furthermore, while it has not yet been discussed in detail by the members of the BOE, I would be surprised if any of my BOE colleagues had a strong desire to consolidate. The Superintendent made it clear in a statement during the December 2nd BOE Work Session that this has nothing to do with the desire to consolidate districts; rather, it is an exploration to educate the Board and Elwood community on the process of school district consolidation.

It is necessary to explore big ideas and to make sure that we move into the future prepared for anything rather than scrambling in a reactionary, impetuous fashion if the financial crisis worsens and the constituency of Elwood is no longer able to support education over the long-term as we have always done in the past. The fact is that the will of the people to support our schools may be taken away by state legislation. The legal process that currently exists gives communities the final say on funding their public schools, but now there is an inclination in our state government that it must mandate and control the will of the people. (This outrages me on many levels, but I will save that opinion piece for another time.)

The BOE supported Superintendent Scordo’s thinking that the current fiscal crisis for public education is not ending anytime soon. The looming combination of further reductions of state aid funding along with a tax cap that has been promised by the new Governor can bring apocalyptic results to public education, to an Elwood education, as we know it. The Board simply wants to be knowledgeable of all alternatives as we look into the future. I would hope that regardless of your personal stand on taxes, education, and community, that you would want the Board of Education to explore and be knowledgeable of every possible alternative that will allow us to hold onto educational opportunities that offer our children a competitive K-12 education in an abysmal financial situation. This is our collective mission, our pledge, to the children of Elwood.

District consolidation is one “big idea”, but is it the right idea for Elwood? Does it provide superior educational opportunities to children while achieving greater financial efficiencies and lower tax rates in the future? Would one of our neighboring districts even be interested in consolidation? How do you merge unions and collective bargaining agreements? What does the State Education Department look for in a feasibility study? These questions must be answered and approval must be sought by multiple Boards, the State Education Department, and the voting constituency of both districts before any merger can take place.

In case you want to know where I stand on this personally, I can tell you that without the necessary information on the process and a review of all the facts, I will keep an open mind. Nevertheless, I do not currently believe that district consolidation is something I would want to embrace. I strongly believe there is an intangible value in a school / community environment with a specific identity, a specific culture, a sense of heritage and pride that profoundly affects children. However, this is just one opinion of many and it is the collective decision of two school communities that make the ultimate decision.

To begin the education process, the entire community has been / will be invited to a panel discussion that will take place on January 6th to hear from, and dialogue with, State Ed experts on the subject, Elwood administrators and the Board, and possibly administrators from neighboring districts, on the details and process of district consolidation.

While few things can be considered certain, I can guarantee you this: we will learn together and decide our future collectively, as a community.

Sound School Facilities @ The Cost of a Venti Caffe Misto

I have been approached a number of times over the past week about the building repairs and improvements referendum that will be left up to the voters to approve on December 9th. As we experienced last May, no one should expect that this is a done deal and that people will naturally see the value of keeping our school buildings in good condition, secure, and maintaining a healthy environment for approximately 3,000 students and staff members that basically live and learn in these buildings 10+ months of every year. So it is important to come out and vote.

The District website and communications will provide you with most of the details on the project; but I wanted to give you just quick overview of the proposition.

The district wants to utilize the balance of the “EXCEL” funds that were appropriated to the Elwood School District a few years ago. EXCEL funding was provided to every school district in New York State and can be used, along with building Aid to fund certain projects. There are no salaries or staffing as part of this proposition, only building, technology and security projects can qualify to utilize the EXCEL aid from NY State. Furthermore, even though this aid has already been allocated to Elwood, under regulations, every school district must bring these “improvements” to district voters via a bond referendum… In other words, the community must approve the project and a bond, and then the State gives you the aid to pay off the bond.

The district has project estimates that will provide $1,468,000 in repairs and improvements to all of our buildings (collectively); however, the total future contribution by the Elwood taxpayers will be only a fraction of this amount (approximately 6.5%, or $96,050, including interest). Moreover, some of this $96,050 (approximately $30k) will be paid by the taxpayers in the near future, but the balance will be spread over the life of the bond. (The State dictates the term of the bond and that is yet to be determined.) Nonetheless, one can reasonably say that $66,050 spread over time among all residential and commercial properties in the district will have a negligible impact on the property taxes of the Elwood homeowner. In total, the cost of this project on your future tax bill will have a grand total of approximately $10 - $30 dollars (depending on your specific property’s assessed value) spread over a number of years. So, as far as your school taxes are concerned, this referendum, if approved, can provide needed repairs and improvements to our school facilities (The house needs to be kept in good repair) and it will literally impact your annual property tax bill in a similar amount to buying a Venti Caffé Misto at Starbucks.

Remember, the comments and views expressed on this blog are solely the opinion of Dan Ciccone and not necessarily shared by the Elwood Board of Education.

Moments That Define Character

Our Long Island Champion John Glenn Girls Volleyball team played smart and with great heart in Glenn Falls, but did not grab the trophy. The John Glenn Knights Football team started slow, but finished in dominating fashion to become the Suffolk County Champions and the only undefeated team in Suffolk County. They face the only other undefeated team on LI, The Seaford Vikings, next Saturday in LaValle Stadium for the Long Island Championship. In life, the moments of victory and disappointment are always only seconds apart, but how you face both define character. It is the character of our John Glenn teams that fill the entire community with great pride. Go Glenn!

Remembering The Glory

Today our Long Island champion John Glenn High School Ladies Volleyball Team, the Spiders, play for a NY State Championship, and the John Glenn Football Knights play for a Suffolk County Championship. In 20 years from now these young women and men will not remember the grade they got on their report card, but they will hold the glory of this day in their hearts and minds forever! Go Glenn!

THE ENEMY WITHIN

On Thursday May 20th, about 400 - 500 residents that live within the Elwood School District attended a special meeting of the Board Of Education to hear and participate in a discussion about the next steps of the school district’s budget process for the 2010 / 2011 school year.

The audience was mixed with some very familiar faces of regulars including PTA members, teachers and administrators, but there were also many unfamiliar faces. Considering BOE meetings usually have no more than 20 – 50 people in attendance, if that many, you could imagine that there were many unfamiliar faces in the crowd, and frankly, I thought the BOE would be getting an earful about taxes being too high and an overall outcry for more cuts. However, the vast majority of the people in attendance this night were advocating for the Board to make few cuts to program or staff and became fearful of what the future may bring when they realized the cuts that must be considered to bring the tax increase lower by just a few percent. They were passionate and energized, and reacting to the now very real prospect of going to a contingency or “austerity” budget this year.

The austerity budget is set by law at a rate commensurate with the CPI of December 2009. For the 2010 / 2011 school year an austerity budget would actually be a slight decrease from the prior year’s budget; nevertheless, it would still bring forward a tax increase of +1.36% because of a reduction in revenue from NY State Aid, interest, Etc. Therefore, the school district would have mandated and contractual increases of expenses next year that the BOE would have to support within the financial constraints of a lower budget and less revenue.

Pressure is mounting for the BOE to make a decision and it is being lobbied from three different interests. There is pressure coming from people that represent the majority of voters from last Tuesday’s election to stop spending and keep taxes from escalating; others are saying to put the same budget up that failed by 148 votes. The more practical and risk adverse advocates that want to keep our schools competitive and strong realize there must be some additional reductions to the tax levy in order to ensure a successful outcome of a second election. They realize that economic frustrations, displaced anger, and complacency can easily send the school district into the abyss of austerity, which would require draconian cuts that would result in a sea change in Elwood Schools. Nevertheless, even among the more practical and risk adverse, there is debate about what cuts to make. Some people believe in holding onto extra-class programs – i.e. sports and music programs, and the annual school plays, while others are lobbying for holding onto to staff so that class sizes do not rise and create an environment that can diminish the quality of instruction.

The leadership of the BOE and central administration of the school district are accountable to make the decision of what budget will be put in front of the constituency of Elwood and are up to the task.

The voting constituency of Elwood will make the decision on whether we increase funding to our schools or go to an austerity budget. The election will take place on June 15th, 2010. The ultimate decision in this democratic process of the community voting to fund their own schools is up to YOU, the voter. The BOE is accountable for the budget, but you, the voter, are accountable for the outcome of the election that will fund Elwood Schools - its academic and elective programs, and the extra-class programs….

The outcome of our collective accountability will shape our schools, and will affect your financial resources, your home values now and in the future, and the education of your children and your neighbor’s children, so it is no wonder that these are emotionally charged decisions.

The other night a Dad who did not vote on Tuesday and is now exercised and anxious about his children’s school program came up to me and said, “Dan, I am not clear on where you stand on the issue, you seem to walking on the political line.” My response was direct. I shot back at him and said, “Where do I stand? I am the one who voted to make cuts that would remove people I care about from their employment. I am the one who was heartbroken because I voted to limit the Cultural Arts program that pushed down on the spirit of children who have a passion and talent for the arts. My colleagues and I are the people who spent days and hours going over how we can keep class size down and ensure the quality of instruction in our classrooms. We anguished between raising taxes and providing extra-class programs that speak to the passions within all of our children, and the development of their self-expression and sense of camaraderie, and their connection with their school community that lasts a lifetime; because these are the elements of our program that build the character of a child and of a Nation… And, without this level of character, academic proficiency is squandered. I am part of a team of Board members that put a budget and tax increase forward that was among the highest in both Suffolk and Nassau Counties and got verbally abused and beat up for it. Now, I want to know, WHERE WERE YOU on Tuesday May 18th ?”

Please do not sit on the sidelines, get into the game. Come to the BOE meetings or communicate with the Superintendent of Schools in the central office to get first hand facts and clarify any uncertainties with pertinent questions. Get answers directly from the source.

Ignorance, misinformation, and political manipulation of facts are the enemy. And, our enemy’s allies are complacency and apathy - the enemy within.

TAKE THE TIME TO REFLECT AND PLEASE, THINK RESPONSIBLY BEFORE YOU VOTE.

TAKE TIME FOR REFLECTION AND THINKING RESPONSIBLY

The Superintendent of Schools, Central Office Administrators, and the Board of Education have publically discussed the budget in terms of line items and various accounting codes and you heard us talk on and on about fund balance… You have also been bombarded with messages in the media and around town about the increases in other school districts, the Superintendent’s compensation package, and teacher givebacks - not to mention the demand for reforms in public education and the NY State Retirement Systems. Nevertheless, I can tell you with great certainty, that none of these important issues will be affected by your vote next Tuesday.

I will not give you any argument about the needs for some reform. The long-time systems and structures of public education such as a defined-benefit pension plan with relatively little contributions, issues of accountability in the classroom, and to a degree, the curriculum itself, are anachronisms of the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s and need to be updated to meet that needs of a 21st Century education and future economic realities.

The Board of Education signed a Memorandum of Understanding last fall with the NYSED to embrace these reforms to improve public education… President Obama, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and New York State Education Department Commissioner David Steiner are committed to the changes that highlight the “Race to the Top” initiatives, and have already put words into action… The Elwood Board of Education unanimously embrace the necessary reforms proposed in the Race to the Top initiative and will do everything within our authority to see that these reforms are implemented for the good of public education and the certainty of value in the taxpayers’ investment in their neighborhood schools.

The school district is obligated by law to support mandated and contractual expenses, so they must, and will, be supported regardless whether or not the budget passes or fails. It is understandable that you may believe that the mandated expenses need to be reformed, and that could make for a spirited debate with valid arguments coming from a variety of perspectives; but none of these reforms are on the ballot for Tuesday’s election… If you want to make sure these changes to public education go forward, or if you feel it necessary to make a political statement at the polls, I can assure you that November is the time to make that statement, not May18th.

So, now that I told you what you are not voting for, let me engage you for a moment more to tell you what we are voting for…

On May 18th, the choice that you are making is simply and definitively funding your community’s schools, ELWOOD SCHOOLS, the schools where your children attend and/or your neighbors’ children attend. The funding is applied to providing programs that enrich students at many levels and provide them with opportunities to learn, explore, and grow. The funding is to keep class size at a level that is just barely acceptable after the cuts that have already been made to ensure an environment of quality instruction.

On May 18th, it does not really matter what is happening in Washington, Albany, Commack, or Northport, or any other district, your choice is only about Elwood.

So on the subject of Elwood; let’s focus for a second on our teachers and their commitment to our community… They did not wait for a public outcry from the media, or follow the lead of our neighbors to the south in Half Hollow Hills… Our teachers did not follow along; they blazed the trail for others to follow.

Last year, Elwood teachers changed the terms of their existing contract one year before it was to expire and made a long-term contractual commitment to make a greater contribution to their health insurance premiums. That commitment resulted in a 28% increase in their contribution - money that contractually would have had to come from the Elwood taxpayer in fiscal year 2009 / 2010. To put a number on it, a teacher with single coverage is paying approximately $240 more this year. Moreover, those with family coverage are paying almost $470 more this year than last - a concession in their contract that will grow at least another 14% over the next few years. This is a concession that is greater than or equal to, in many instances, the tax increase proposed to the average homeowner in Elwood. And, there is more...
Those who know me best know that I like to focus on the bottom line. So, here is the bottom line: beside the increase in health insurance, our teachers also took over $500,000 in salary that we owed them, and took it out of their pocket over this current 2009 / 2010 school year and put it in the pocket of the Elwood taxpayer in 2010, and I, for one, am very appreciative!

At Board of Education meetings you hear talk about programs and opportunities for students; on this point, I would like to give you a little perspective – perspective that at the end of the day motivates my commitment as a trustee on the Board. It is a story of one child, but there are many 100’s more that have similar stories in Elwood with a variety of talents and interests that they want to explore. This is a story about Casey Drum. Casey was just a typical student within a classic curriculum. Casey, however, did have a passion and a recognized talent in music. So Casey auditioned into the Cultural Arts Program as a high school senior, a program that we had to limit next year due to budget cuts that we had to make…. In this program, Casey began to explore her talent and take it to a new level… I am pleased to say that as a result of her work and the specific opportunities provided by the cultural arts program, Casey will be attending Molloy College next fall and has earned a music scholarship. Now I am not sure if Casey has, or had, aspirations to perform in Carnegie Hall one day, but I do know that the Casey was accepted into Molloy’s Music Therapy Program. Furthermore, beginning as early as her sophomore year, Casey will be using her education and gift of music as a therapeutic tool to rehabilitate and teach people with challenges in life, and in a multitude of settings. For instance, she will work with children with autism, with elderly people with Alzheimer's disease, accident victims, and veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder. Casey was allowed to explore her passion in a program outside of the core curriculum and will give back to those who perhaps need it most.

So in the future, when you are unaffected by our constant use of the words “program and opportunities”, think of Casey Drum and the enrichment that she received, and the gift she will give back. The enrichment for all of us that lies within our ability to fund Elwood Schools.

Unlike the decisions that government imposes on the constituency that we read about in the headlines or see on the television news about healthcare reform, or the bailouts of banks and other corporations by the U.S. Government, or a beverage tax, your annual school district election is the purest form of the democratic process in our nation and the great state of New York. The residents of the Elwood Community are the ultimate decision makers on funding educational opportunities and experiences that are offered to children in Elwood Schools – an education that is the foundation of their future and ours.

The Board of Education is accountable for the programs and instruction that are provided to all children that live within the Elwood Community, and is also responsible for the budget that has been put on the ballot; nonetheless, you, the voters, are accountable for the outcome of the election. It is up to you to choose how much the community is willing to fund our schools, and we should count our blessings that we live in a democracy that allows us to make such a choice relating to our community and the education of our children.

What comes along with this privilege of choice is a responsibility, an obligation really, to become informed and aware of the facts and the consequences of your vote.

In closing, I hope that I have given you some additional insight to the significance of your vote this Tuesday and would like end with one of my favorite quotes that I believe is appropriate to this situation:

“To doubt everything, or, to believe everything, are two equally convenient solutions; both dispense with the necessity of reflection.” - Henri Poincare

So please take the time to be informed. Take time to reflect on your personal value system, your resources, and your community. If you have questions, Mr. Scordo is available to answer any questions you may have, as are members of the Board of Education.

Now that I have said my piece, I have only one request: PLEASE THINK RESPONSIBLY BEFORE YOU VOTE!