A Stand Up Teacher is Laid to Rest

Teachers can learn some valuable lessons from this man's obit on how to effectively respond to the bullying and bashing by today's politicians.  

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A Lotta of Pencils & Paper

Why do BOEs spend vast sums on legal fees. Shouldn't the 'Law of Supply and Demand' apply? Does every legal matter have to be handled by a Johnny Cochran priced lawyer ? 

Why do they continually hire law firms at $250 per hour and up and then cry poverty when it comes to salary increases for teachers and staff?  

Do you think politics might have something to do with it? Politics in education - Nah couldn't be!   

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"Educational Experts" are Succeeding Again ! (In Reaping Rewards for Failure)

The State has run Newark, Paterson and Jersey City schools since 1995, 1991 and 1989 respectively.

It's hard to believe, that all the "education experts" in Trenton cannot concoct not even one scheme to miraculously improve these schools after over twenty years of effort!

The lack of success in these districts tells me one of the reasons why the DOE is currently handing out reams of dictates,standards and teacher evaluation criteria to all New Jersey schools. This is designed to draw attention away from the State's failures in these state controlled districts. 

Of course another reason for the constant attack is to exact retribution against teacher's unions for not having supported "The Governor" (as he likes to call himself) and his cohorts.

Additionally, all these demands continually placed on New Jersey schools allows corporations which supply the ingredients for their implementation to extract huge amounts of money from state and local coffers. Also, the constant testing and "reforms" are being used to sully the reputation of public education so as to help bolster public support for eventually driving the entire system into private corporate hands

Teacher Evaluations Don't Add Up

http://www.mathforamerica.org/about-us/mission-and-vision


Bloomberg EDU Radio Show - Jim Simons -Math for America (click to listen)

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I was listening to Bloomberg Radio the other day. A talk show about education called EDU with Jane Williams was playing. The guest was Jim Simons of Math for America. I immediately assumed that it would be just another teacher bashing, education "reform" proponent but I decided to listen anyway.

I'm glad I did, because I think Dr. Simons and his organization made some good points. One was “They (teachers) should know their subject with sufficient depth".  Another was "Much of the current public discourse suggests teachers are untrustworthy and need ever more stringent evaluation".

Both of these statements brought to mind something about which I have written before.  In New Jersey, any person with a Supervisor's Certificate can evaluate a teacher in any area!

This means if I had a Supervisor's Certificate, I could evaluate the performance and competence of a French teacher. I can't even read a menu in a French restaurant!

This idea of allowing people without knowledge of the subject to evaluate and suggest improvement schemes extends all the way to the State DOE. Here we have commissioners and high level staff engaged in evaluating and planning many of whom, have had little or far distant teaching experience themselves. Much of their educational "expertise" was obtained in prestigious university classrooms (book learnin'). How many have taught a significant number of years in the "war zones" or even in suburban public schools rather than sophisticated private schools four all but three or four years?

The idea that education can be improved by the plans and schemes proposed by those who are ignorant of the subjects which they evaluate and the situations which teachers face daily is beyond absurdity! 

Here They Are! The Titans of Education "Reform" !

These are the people that are telling teachers what to teach, when to teach and how to teach? How many other professions would stand idly by and allow this to happen without protest?
Would we ever expect to have a Surgeon General without medical experience?
Would we ever expect to have an Attorney General without legal experience?"
Only in the world of education could this be possible!
BTW here is an excerpt from Mr. Cerf's (NJ Commissioner of Education) bio - "Mr. Cerf served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He graduated from the Broad Urban Superintendents Academy in 2004. Prior to attending law school, he spent four years as a high school history teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio."

Pre Election Current Events Quiz

                 Who said this and when did he said it ?

You Are Kidding??

I'm absolutely amazed by the ignorance of "smart" people running for public office.
Here's a guy that says, just ask your parent for college tuition money ??
Sure, "Hey Dad you got an extra $200K laying around you could give me?"
If he didn't realize the stupidity of the statement before he said it, all he had to do is look at how well that exact comment worked out for his Republican colleague, Romney.
However, to his credit he doesn't hesitate when supporting a change in federal marijuana laws.The current federal policy on marijuana use is a travesty in that it has destroyed the prospects of many young people before they even get started in life and all for no good reason.
On the other hand Mr. Booker says he wants a "national conversation" on marijuana. What the hell does he think has been going on for the past ten years??
The real reason that he wants a  "national conversation" is because he lacks the courage to make a clear statement as did Mr. Lonegan.
If he is elected to the Senate, will he require a "national conversation" on every controversial topic that is presented to him?

"Smart Teachers" - A Contradiction in Terms

Just when I'm about ready to quit writing this blog another inane article about education and educational schemes appears in the paper and I can't help myself  but to comment on it !
Here the state wants only "Smart Teachers" and a GPA of 3.0  or better will insure that ?
Do we really think that a student studying Basket Weaving with a GPA or 3.0 is smarter than one studying Nuclear Engineering with a GPA of 2.9 let's say ?
How naive can you be, especially when there is a continual dearth of science and math teachers.
It looks like the state educrats in their wisdom, have  issued a blanket statement without much thought and in doing so, maybe it shows that they themselves aren't really that smart ! 
Additionally, how smart can anyone be, who would spend tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollar to obtain a job in a "profession" that is constantly humiliated, denigrated and disrespected.
What "smart" individual would enter a "profession" where job security has been eliminated and is now, more than ever, subject to political whim and expediency ?
Who would start a career where pension benefits and benefits in general are continually "reformed" (reduced).
Why would an intelligent person enter a "profession" filled with greedy and lazy people who are only in it for "summers off" as described by a plethora politicians and newspaper articles.
Who would want a job where they are held accountable for the performance of others over which they have little or no control and  where attempts at control can be seen as bullying or harassment?
Why would anyone enter employment where even the slightest accusation of impropriety by anyone, results in instantaneous suspension or dismissal, front page news and the immediate assumption of guilty. 
The way things have gone for the teaching "profession" during  the past ten years and are continuing to go, makes me think that anyone, even those with GPA of 4.0, who enter teaching, can't be that smart !!
It is truly unfortunate that politicians, with the cooperation of the media, have turned a noble profession into one of ridicule and detain ! 


 

He Is Kidding - Isn't He ?

Maybe they could go to Newark Academy  instead ! $33,300

Or maybe Pingry !     $34,714

Or Delbarton $30,200

Or Kushner Academy  $22,295

Teachers Are Threatened With the Loss of Something They No Longer Have ??

"That’s why we organize ourselves to fight for our profession"
When NJEA supported the de facto elimination of the tenure law I don't see it as "fighting for our profession".
In the 70s this kind of thing would have been met with walk outs, picket lines and strikes. Today it's met with conciliation, sappy TV ads and cowering.

I read recently that NJEA spends the most of any organization on lobbying in Trenton. It surely doesn't appear that the money is well spent if the new "Elimination of Tenure Law" is the result !

For those of you who worked in at NHS, does the name "Presuto" ring a familiar bell ???

Guess Who's Next !

"Hundreds of billions of dollars in federal contracts, grants, loans, concession agreements and property leases go to private companies that pay low wages, provide few benefits, and offer employees little opportunity to work their way into the middle class."

This is just the plan politicians have for public education going private. The whole thing is being set up by the constant degradation of teachers, attempts to end collective bargaining for public workers, elimination of tenure and unreasonable evaluation parameters. What are teacher unions doing about this? In my opinion, not much except whining ! It appears to me that the honchos in the unions might be more concerned about protecting their big salaries than really confronting the situation head on!

http://teachersdontsuck.blogspot.com/
http://freebooksbywalt.blogspot.com/

I Have a "Conflict in Understanding" !

When I was elected to the BOE, I was required to give up a little part time job videoing the high school football games (which I had done for twenty years prior) because it was considered a "conflict of interest" and an "ethics violation"?
The "conflict of interest" was not $317,000. It amounted to about $800 per year !

Christie Reelection Ads

Another trick to use public funds for a reelection campaign.
This is like when Whitman "borrowed" from the pension fund to lower taxes and thereby enhance her reelection efforts. Another use of public funds to pump up a reelection campaign.

And when McGreevy "back-doored" the pension by not requiring towns to contribute thereby lowering local taxes and again enhancing reelection chances.  

It seems they all figure out a way to use public monies to enhance their own image at the taxpayer expense.                                      

Just Another Stop on the Union Busting / Privatization Tour

*  "an American original" bully and loud mouth - is this a person that we should teach children to emulate ?
 

** "with children fidgeting in their seats" - evidently he didn't "engage" the children in the lesson very well !

*** "who he said cares more about pensions" - so no one should care when the State fails to make good on the decades old promise of a reliable pension ?

**** "consistently good grades" - as assigned by whom and on what basis ?? 

PS

Having been educated by such a poor public system how did our Governor rise to his current station ? Does he think it was all accomplished exclusively by his own efforts and his public school education played little if any part? 

Testing New Jersey Taxpayers

AND
speaking of wasteful spending of taxpayer's money, remember this one  -


AND
 Meanwhile, local BOEs are prevented from awarding life long employees any acknowledge of     their years of service upon retirement. 
So much as a "Happy Meal" at MacDonald's is now illegal !
Why?
We must be frugal with taxpayer money! 

 Well, I guess that the State's frugality depends upon for whom taxpayer money is being spent and it is certainly not you or me  !!!

How Many Lies Does It Take to Make a Man a Liar ?

Talk About Waste

I read the following replies on the local message board pertaining to the granting of school insurance contracts to companies who doled out campaign contributions. The word "waste" was used and when I thought about NJ "waste" it  raised my BP to all time highs. I just had to write my reply. I guess "waste" is a relative term but below are the postings from the Internet and my reply.
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So in our state there may just be bigger fish to fry than prosecuting the teacher's union in the court of public opinion. Of course, no one would ever get the governor to admit that at a town hall meeting would they? Along with his fake enemy Sweeney. You can't make this stuff up. In this area I'm sure Jersey is a national stand out, while still being 47th in job growth. The new Trenton, yeah OK!!!!!!!!

Perhaps the Teachers Union should be making a big stink about these areas of waste that directly effect their members.
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Talk about waste -
The RU football coach (Shiano- record 68-67 - salary $2M + plenty of bennies) suppose a teacher had barely half his kids pass NJ testing? I kind of think he would be labeled "ineffective, lose tenure and not be paid $2M a year)
The RU basketball coach - salary $650 and a "firing bonus" of over $400K.
The RU AD is given a "quitting bonus" of $1M.
The RU "athletic lawyer" (whatever that means) - $400K a "resigning bonus".
The new basketball coach - salary $1M per year for five years.
The women's basketball coach - $900K per year (at least she's winning).
The retired college Prez - $335,000 per year for teaching 15 hours per week.
The football stadium renovated for $102M with a capacity of 54,000 and the largest attendance ever was 47,000 five years ago.
The tuition at RU doubled over the past 10 years.
Where is the Governor in all this? Why isn't he very good at addressing these issues??
He was very good at capping school Superintendent's salaries.
He was very good at "reforming" (maybe deforming is a better word) public employee's pension and health benefits.
He was very good at losing hundreds of millions of Fed education aid due to incompetence in filling out paper work.
He was very good at handing out "no bid" contracts for the shore clean up (kind of like the insurance contract situation).
He was very good at handing out tens of millions to companies for the incessant testing of school children,
He was very good at capping the funding of public education.
He is very good at promoting tax breaks for the wealthy.
He is very good at eliminating property tax rebates for the average guy.
I thought public criticism, derision and castigation were his forte. I guess he's just lost his touch!!

AND NOW THIS!

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AND 

I spoke with someone the other day about the outrageous salaries of college coaches. He told me that the reason was that successful athletic programs brought alumni dollars to the school. He said that he had been to a Penn State football game a few years back and the alumni there were throwing money at the school hand over fist.
Well, I happened to look up some info about Penn State and it seems that they are not only number one in athletics but also number one in tuition costs for in-state students. In-state tuition is over $17K. 
Doesn't it make you wonder where all that alumni money (if it is really being donated as he claims ) is going ??
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 75%  - a  C grade with an A+ salary !! Where Gov. Big Mouth on this ??
Sorry. I'm kind of embarrassed about my careless math ! 257/(257+343) * 100% = 43%
He actually has a 43% win average. 

Another One Bites The Dust

Politicians,"educrats" and corperations will say and do whatever it takes to privatize public education. If you want to see how "privatization" improves public institutions take a look at "prison privatization"!!

Did You Know That W.C.Fields Was a Jersey Politician?

In light of these revelations, I've got an awful lot of questions and comments about the continual squandering of New Jersey monies and the antics hatched in Trenton.
*The tuition at RU has doubled over the last 10 years!! 

(Rutgers University in New Brunswick costs $13,073 in tuition in fees for state residents, now making it the eighth most expensive flagship campus. Penn State in State College, Pa., is first with an annual cost of more than $17,000.
Nationally, the average for tuition for state universities is $8,655)
*Schiano (the ex football coach) was paid over $1M a year + housing and perks!  (All this with a barely winning record of  68-67 record in 11 seasons. Let's pretend for a minute that a teacher had barely half of his students pass the NJ testing barrage over an eleven year period. What would be his reward under the new "tenure reform" laws? Don't you think he might be labeled "ineffective"? ) *RU built a giant football stadium which is rarely (if ever) filled!  (A $102 million stadium expansion project. The highest attendance home game of the season came on November 19, 2011, when 47,447 fans. Rutgers Home Attendance Declined 6.9% per Game in 2011.)
*The ex RU prez got a $335,000 a year job for teaching 15 hours a week! (The aforementioned coach's contract and stadium renovation as well as the doubling of tuition was all "accomplished" under his watch!)
*The state is spending millions on testing children over and over and over!
* RU is a State institution run by the State and  evidently not very well run but now they want  to run Camden Public Schools along with Newark, Paterson and Jersey City which also hasn't been run well by them over the past 20 years.
*The Essex County Executive gets to retire at full pension and still work at full pay.
*Why have we not heard a word out of the "Mouth That Roared" (Christie) about any of this RU situation?
**And despite all this waste, the state still has no money to properly fund the pension!

W.C. Fields was once asked what he did with all his money. His reply was "I spent most of it on wine, women and song - the rest I squandered!"
I never knew he was part of New Jersey government!!

Can Someone Please Explain This to Me ?

How can the State control the schools for twenty years and then when the district asks for control to be passed back to them the State claims the district is not performing well enough ?
If the State was in charge for twenty years and now the district is not performing well, how can that be the district's fault? I don't get it.  
Can someone please explain this to me ??
It appears to be a Catch 22 engineered by the "educrats" at NJDOE !