$140K per Hour and She'd be Underpaid !!

The cost of a college degree in the United States has increased "12 fold" over the past 30 years, far outpacing the price inflation of consumer goods, medical expenses and food.

According to Bloomberg, college tuition and fees have increased 1,120 percent since records began in 1978.

The average debt owed by New Jersey college graduates in 2012 was $29,287, according to the Project on Student Debt 2012. That’s up from an average of $27,610 in 2011 and $23,792 in 2010.

Most of New Jersey’s public colleges and universities do not pay their commencement speakers, though they often cover their travel expenses. Rutgers recently began paying speakers $30,000 to $35,000 in a bid to attract bigger names to its ceremony. The money comes from donations to the university’s foundation, not tuition or state funding, Rutgers officials said.*

Rice was scheduled to receive $35,000 for her Rutgers speech before she bowed out. (The speech was planned for 15 minutes - that's $140,000 per hour.) Kean, her replacement, has turned down the fee and Rutgers has not said if LeGrand will be paid for his remarks.

Kean University has also paid its speakers in recent years. Musician John Legend earned $25,000 in 2011 for a 15-minute speech and the performance of two songs. In 2006, Kean paid filmmaker Spike Lee $25,000 for a 10-minute graduation address (that's $150,000 per hour).

New Jersey colleges seem to want to give away over two years of tuition for a typical undergraduate student so as to have a "Big Name" commencement speaker? I think this shows the height of  arrogance and total disregard for the students who struggle to pay the exorbitant tuitions and fees these school demand.

*Should such donations be used to line the pockets of "Big Name" fifteen minute speakers? I certainly think it would be better used to help lower tuition costs if even just an iota! They say that university foundations pay the speaker fees?  Does that mean that when I get phone calls for contributions to Rutger's Foundations I  was being asked to contribute to this pompous folly.? I had no idea that might be the case!

Had I known I surely would not have contributed as I have done over the past fifteen years. The next time I am called I will be sure to ask if any of my money will be eligible for the "Big Name" speaker program? If  the answer is "yes" - I will just simply hang up the phone!

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)

***********************************************************************************

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! 

Congrats Mr. Braun!

Congrats Mr. Braun!
I could never have said it as well as you have. You have covered all the based and hit a home run.Unfortunately, in a country that elected George Bush TWICE, there are few who will listen to you. 

They have proven that they appreciate sideshow antics much more than their own best interests !

***********
Interesting info from a reader
I am a retired hedge fund trader who worked for Dean Witter Reynolds/Morgan Stanley from 1982-2009. I am writing this in response to Mr. Tom Moran’s comment….apparently he is hard to contact during normal business hours. I take exception to his statement that David Tepper* is “trying to help” the education process. David’s main focus in professional life was to make money for his customers, and make even more for himself. He is not in it “to help”. As a portfolio manager from 1987-2009, I was responsible for the managment of emerging companies and industries. Both Kaplan and Apollo Group were companies that were part of David’s spectrum. Apollo is the owner of the University of Phoenix, the world’s largest for-profit university. Kaplan is the naiton’s largest test prep company. Both companies are extremely profitable…and David has shared in that profit. Whatever plans David has for “education” has only one goal in mind….to make David even more wealthy. You failed to mention another former hedge fund director from FL who is now the state’s Superintendent of Schools…Christopher Cerf. Mr Cerf made quite a pretty penny when he was managing the Edison Group, the owners of the Edison Schools. Because Cerf’s name and background were brought up during a criminal indictment in Central Florida, he is no longer able to hold a Securities license in either FL or NY State. I do not know if there is a reciprocity agreement in NJ…apparently so, since his name does not turn up on the SEC list.

*Tepper is a prime sponsor of Better Education for Kids - B4Kids - An education "reform" organization. 

Testing Gone Wild !

I have added numerous captions to the above video.

 

And the point of all this testing and expense?

To help justify eliminating tenure thereby enabling the firing of the higher paid teachers.
To help set the stage for low employee pay when schools are finally privatized.
To justify the privatization of public education.
To justify the state takeover of urban schools.
To allow shoveling money to test creators and publishers.
To help in the attempts to eliminate collective bargaining for public employees.
To destroy what little power the teacher's unions did possess.
Just my humble opinion!

I'm Already Ready To Quit !

I recently read a post on Linked In - High School Chemistry Teachers Group - it was as follows:

"Came into a teaching situation 8 weeks ago and am ready to quit already!
I was hired to teach chemistry at a local high school.
I have previous experience teaching the subject (to a student body with similar demographics)
plus a number of years of actual lab work. I had been working in this district for a year and
a half as a sub while in grad school so I thought I was familiar with the climate of the school
and that this endeavor would be something I could handle. After 8 weeks, I have discovered that
many of the students apparently have been conditioned to "not care" so they think it is ok to eat,
use cell phones, sleep etc no matter what I attempt to do to correct the problems. I've had AP's
come through and obviously the problem corrects itself momentarily but nothing permanent. I am so
frustrated with one class in particular, I nearly walked out today. I've never seen such apathy in
students in my life and am wondering if anyone has similar experience and/or suggestions as to how
to at least make it to the end of the school year. Thanks!
Lorraine"

 I sent my reply -
"The sad part is that the "educrats" that run the public schools keep telling teachers that they must
be "engaging" and "make the subject fun" in order to be a "good teacher".
I did forty years of chemistry and physics teaching and performed many exciting demonstrations such
as the dust explosion, the wax explosion, etc.
After these events I would always ask the class - "Why do you think that happened?" and the constant
reply was "Let's see it again!" and rarely an attempt to explain why.
Essentially then, the students wanted more entertainment, not more understanding !
I think children have been convinced that the teacher's job is to entertain and cajole them into
learning on a daily basis and if the teacher can't do that he is a "poor teacher" and undeserving of
their attention.
My concluding comment about this situation is "If you can use a piece of chalk and make pH as interesting
and exciting as a Rolling Stones concert you certainly shouldn't be a high school chemistry teacher, you
 should be on Broadway !
Walt"

What do you think?

An Education in "Educational Testing"

Evaluation By the Evaluated?

   

When I taught at Middlesex County College, student evaluation forms were always issued along with the final exam.

   I thought, by enlarge, the results were a fair distribution of positive and negative remarks.

(BTW - These all were anonymous evaluations and not used by the administration to grade instructors - as far as know anyway)

   One thing I liked about the form was the section asking about the student's efforts. This too, generally resulted in a fair distribution of honest responses. Often a student indicated a serious lack of effort on his part but still didn't criticize the instructor as the reason for his poor grade. I hope that the same kinds of questions  will appear every proposed student / teacher evaluation form (but I'm not confident that they will).

  And , remember, the evaluations of which I'm speaking were written by mature adults, not children!

   Now, let me get back to the editorial.

   One of the statements reads as follows:

"Kids do know what makes a good teacher. And it's not a mystery why they'd know better than trained adults...".

   Well if this is true, than -

   Why do we need well paid administrators to observe and evaluate teachers?

   Why do we need the "Educrats" at the NJDOE to tell teachers when, what and how to teach children.

   Why to we need politicians to continually pass legislation instructing teachers when, what and how to teach children?

   Let's just leave teachers to their task and then accept the children's evaluations as the  indicator of the teacher's success. We would no longer have to spend all the time and money needed by these other evaluation methods and would get a better result than that provided by "trained adults".

   And, since we are talking about evaluations of teachers by their charges, why not have teachers evaluate their administrators and supervisors?

   While we're at it, why not have local administrators evaluate the honchos at NJDOE ?

This way we could a true picture of what's going on in NJ education and in the case of the DOE, I'm not so sure that it would be a pretty picture!

   What do you think?

My First Time!

I read about the Newark teacher's settlement today in the Ledger.

One of the statements made was "implementing a system known as merit pay for the first time in New Jersey".

 I beg to differ!

Way back in 1965 when I first began teaching I worked at New Providence High School in Union County as a chemistry teacher.

At that time there was a "merit pay" system in place. I was not part of it because it only applied to tenured staff and I was a first year teacher (just out of college) but I did see how it worked.

The highest possible "score" that could be obtained by a teacher was a five which of course yielded the largest "bonus".

All teachers were evaluated and scored by their department heads, the principal, the superintendent and I seem to remember the vice principal being involved too.

The evaluations were very subjective and to me seemed whimsical.

Those in the English department rarely if ever received a rating of five from their department head. When I asked why, I was told that it was her feeling that no one was a teacher as good as she and therefore no one could ever be rated superior. (I don't really know if that was the true reason but I do know fives were rare if ever for the English staff.)

The people in the math department by contrast, were consistently rated five by their supervisor. When I asked why, I was told that he often said that he would never have hired a less than superior teacher and therefore all were given fives.

As for the superintendent I am not sure what his rating were based on. I rarely saw him in the building and never saw or heard of him observing a class. When I asked how he could possibly rate teachers without actually seeing them perform, the answer was "he knows!"

I could never really understand that answer. I must surmise it was that he had  clairvoyance or ESP going for him.

The end result of all this was low morale (except for the people who routinely kissed up and got fives) and dissension.

 Additionally, I don't think that it improved instruction one iota. Most of the people I met were there doing the best possible job they could because of their professionalism and their concern for the kids, not for the "five".

This is my experience with the "merit pay" system. I realize it was a very limited experience and obtained many, many years ago but it has stuck with me and caused me to view any similar system with grave suspicion.

I certainly hope that which is implemented in Newark shows me that my suspicions are misplaced but I'm not so sure that will be true.

My honest opinion is that  the new Newark contract is just another step towards the privatization of public education. Again I hope I'm wrong!

PS

I don't know when the "merit pay" system was abandoned in New Providence or how long it lasted. I left the system in 1967.

However it must have been eliminated, otherwise its proponents surely would now be pointing to its success.

I've Got Lots of Questions??

I've got lots of questions for our editor. 

* How many principals and administrators have obtained their positions not by superior teaching abilities but instead through relatives and friends with political connections? 

** How naive can this editor be. How many people have you known who got on the "wrong side" of an administrator and then "paid the price"?

*** Since when has education become an athletic competition?

**** Compensation - yes! But also how about - low status, constant public criticism and degradation, being deluged with mandates and dictates by the DOE, being observed and critiqued by those with little or knowledge of the subject matter, seeing "pension reform" stealing their future, observing the cry of politicians to end seniority and any semblance of job security, being held responsible for a student's unwillingness to participate in the learning process, lack of meaningful discipline measures by the administration, confrontations with parents with little or no backup by administrators and last but not least, a bleak outlook for the teaching profession as whole?

I am sure that there is much more that I have failed to mention.  

Maybe you would like to fill the blanks? 

***** "a career ladder" - what does that mean and to whom will it be available?

Will it be attained primarily by those who follow the same "career path" as the administrators I mentioned in the first sentence?  

I'm Not At All Suprised - How About You?

I read this letter on the Internet and thought my readers might be interested too.


For the last couple of years THE BEAST (a.k.a our anger-management disordered Governor) has been going after the NJEA and public school teachers in general. Now one of the new things he has implemented was a brand new evaluation procedure that would evaluate tenured and non-tenured teachers twice to four times a year. The school districts were told that they had to chose one of 4 evaluation models and it had to be up and running by this year. Well in order to do that the districts have to order the specific software that goes with the particular evaluation procedure that they have chosen. Knowing that they have this deadline to beat, they have started looking at particular vendors and have made decisions on which vendors to choose. Now in the middle of trying to find these vendors and purchase this software, the Dept of Education, led by Christie's boy, Cerf, sent a letter to the districts stating that now the STATE dept wants them to buy this software from ONLY THE VENDORS THAT THE STATE RECOMMENDS. In fact there is no way around this. These districts have to pay the STATE recommended vendors or they will be out of compliance.

Now all of this makes me wonder. This is obviously coming from the BEAST so of course that thought evokes a few questions like:
1 Who are the vendors that are recommended?
2. What did the recommended vendors do to become recommended?
3. Are there any kickbacks coming from this decision?
AND
4. If so, who's getting them?

Of course the STATE DEPARTMENT led by the BEAST would probably NEVER answer any of those questions, but I will be thinking them anyway as I count off the last two years that HE will be in office.

- Teri

It Takes One to Know One!

As I told you recently, I sent an OPRA request to NJDOE for Bio information pertaining to the executive staff at NJDOE .

I wrote in my request:
“I AM REALLY INTERESTED IN THE LENGTH AND LOCATIONS OF THE TEACHING CAREERS OF THE AFOREMENTIONED”

What I received is contained below together with my comments after each bio.

What concerns me is what I have said before –

As Ross Perot once put it, when he was at Ford, and I paraphrase - "if managers are to do a good job they must once in a while go down to the factory floor and put a wheel on a car".

I find it difficult to understand how anyone without reasonable classroom experience in a public school setting can supervise and profess to tell others how teach. What do you think?




STAFF BIOS
Christopher Cerf – Acting Commissioner
Chris Cerf was sworn in as New Jersey’s Acting Commissioner of Education on January 18, 2011 following his nomination by Governor Christie. As Acting Commissioner, he oversees 2,500 public schools, 1.4 m Commissioner Cerf is committed to closing New Jersey’s academic achievement gap while substantially raising the achievement level of all New Jersey students. He is working to make New Jersey’s education system, already one of the best-performing systems
Prior to his appointment, Commissioner Cerf was the CEO of Sangari Global Education, which offers innovative education programming to more than 500,000 students worldwide. Between 2004 and 2009, he was Deputy Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education where he oversaw organizational strategy, innovation, labor relations and all matters pertaining to recruiting, supporting, developing and evaluating the nearly 80,000 teachers and 1,450 principals who serve the nation’s largest school district. He earlier served as Associate Counsel to President Clinton and as a partner in two Washington, D.C.,

(No teaching experience indicated)

Andy Smarick -- Deputy Commissioner
Previously Andy served as Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Education and as an education aide at the White House. Prior positions also include: Chief Operating Officer for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, legislative assistant to a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and aide to members of the Maryland state legislature. Andy helped launch a college-preparatory charter school for underserved boys and girls in Annapolis, and he was a member of Maryland Governor’s Commission on Quality Education. His areas of research include school turnarounds, teacher quality, charter schools, performance pay, district reform, Catholic schools, and more. His articles have appeared in the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Education Next, National Affairs, and other outlets. He is a former White House Fellow and member of the 2010-11 class of Aspen Institute-New Schools Fellows. He earned a bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude and with honors, and a master’s degree in public management from the University of Maryland

(No K thru 12 teaching experience indicated)




David Hespe – Chief of Staff In addition to serving as Chief of Staff for the NJDOE, David serves on the Governor’s Education Transformation Task Force, which was formed to review all statutes and regulations that affect public education, and recommend a new accountability system that grants more autonomy to schools while maintaining strict accountability for student achievement, safety, and fiscal responsibility. He also serves on the College and Career Readiness Task Force, comprised of K-12 and higher education practitioners and business community representatives.
Hespe is formerly the Co-Executive Director/Vice President for STEM Education at Liberty Science Center. Prior to that position he was the Interim Superintendent for the Willingboro School District having previously served as Assistant Superintendent. He was a faculty member in the Educational Leadership Department of Rowan University and served five years as department chair prior to becoming a school administrator. Hespe also served as Commissioner of Education for the State of New Jersey from 1999 through 2001. Prior to that position, he was the First Assistant Attorney General for the State of New Jersey. He also served as Assistant Commissioner of Education. Hespe began his service in the Executive Branch of State Government as Assistant Counsel for Education and Higher Education to Governor Whitman. Hespe also served in the Legislative Branch as Associate Counsel in the Education Section of the Office of Legislative Services where he was the Committee Aid to the Assembly Education and Higher Education Committee. Prior to that position, he was in the private practice of law. Hespe received both a Juris Doctor and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University.

(No K thru 12 teaching experience indicated)



Penny MacCormack -- Chief Academic Officer/Assistant Commissioner of Standards, Assessment, and Curriculum
Penny MacCormack began her career in education as a teacher of high school science courses that included AP chemistry. A former teacher of the year, her career path has taken her through positions as dean, principal, and assistant superintendent in two urban districts – New Haven and Hartford, CT. Her latest assignment was as the Chief Academic Officer in Hartford, which is an urban district with 22,000 students and 2,100 certified staff in 50 schools. Penny is a recent graduate of the Broad Superintendents Academy and is now a Broad Fellow. She is also working on an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Hartford.

(Length of teaching experience and teaching locations – public vs private – not indicated)



Peter Shulman -- Chief Talent Officer/Assistant Commissioner of Teacher and Leader Effectiveness
Peter Shulman joined the New Jersey Department of Education as the Chief Talent Officer on November 7, 2011. Peter has experience both at large urban school districts and a state education department. His work will center on helping to strengthen policy and practice around the recruitment, evaluation, development and retention of effective teachers and school leaders. Most recently, Peter led the Teacher Leader Effectiveness Unit at the Delaware Department of Education, where he oversaw the teacher and leader effectiveness initiatives that are part of Delaware's successful bid for a Race to the Top award. Peter also served in the School District of Philadelphia and the Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida, where he served as Administrative Director in Human Resources. He holds a bachelor degree in economics from the University of Michigan and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Peter will have a range of responsibility that includes overseeing our educator effectiveness work and rollout of the new teacher evaluation system. Peter will also spearhead work with graduate schools of education to ensure that their graduates are effectively prepared to achieve the mission of preparing all students in New Jersey to graduate from high school ready for college and career.

(No K thru 12 teaching experience indicated)




Bari Anhalt Erlichson -- Chief Performance Officer/Assistant Commissioner of Data, Research, Evaluation and Reporting
In the role of Chief Performance Officer,Bari oversees school and district performance and accountability, the development of the state’s student-level, longitudinal data system, and research and evaluation efforts. A former professor at Rutgers University, Dr. Erlichson has conducted research in many topic areas, including school reform, education policy implementation, school funding, and governance. She is a co-author of the book, Multiethnic Moments: the Politics of Urban Education Reform (Temple University Press, 2006) as well as a contributor to several edited volumes and journals. Prior to joining the NJDOE, she taught fifth grade in Plainfield, New Jersey after having been a student teacher in the Newark Public Schools. Dr. Erlichson holds a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University, an M.A. in education administration and policy from the Stanford School of Education, and a B.A. from Dartmouth College.

(Length of K thru 12 teaching experience not indicated)




David Corso – Assistant Commissioner of Administration and Finance
Dave has been an employee of the Department of Education since 1992 and has served in several positions in the department. Dave was the Director of Administration and Human Resources from July 2002 until his appointment to Assistant Commissioner in July 2011. He was also the Director of Human Resources for 4 years and the Manager of the Bureau of Management Services for 7 years. In addition, he serves as the Department’s Ethics Liaison Officer, the Employee Relations Coordinator and the Emergency Management Coordinator. Dave began his state service in 1986 as a Budget and Program Analyst with the Department of Treasury, Office of Management and Budget. He then became Chief Fiscal and Administrative Officer at the Department of Insurance in 1990. He has over 25 years of public sector experience. Dave holds a B.S. in Business Management from St. Francis University in Loretto, PA and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Rutgers University. He has the following certificates: Certificate of Eligibility - School Business Administrator, Certified Public Manager, and Supervisory Management.

(No K thru 12 teaching experience indicated)



Barbara Gantwerk – Assistant Commissioner of Programs and Operations
Barbara Gantwerk began her work as a speech pathologist in Tel Aviv Israel where she worked at a treatment center for children with disabilities and established the first citywide screening program for speech and language disorders and taught at the University of Tel Aviv. Upon returning to the United States, she worked as a speech pathologist with children with disabilities. She began her career with the New Jersey State Department of Education in 1979 as the state consultant for speech and language services, and in 1994 she was appointed state director of the Office of Special Education, a position she held for 11 years. In 2006, Ms. Gantwerk was appointed to the position of Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Student Services. She is responsible for state and federal programs serving the needs of the student populations most at risk for educational problems. This includes: students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, homeless, migrant and Limited English Proficient students. Additionally, sh
e is responsible for student health services, school climate issues such as harassment intimidation and bullying and oversees the Katzenbach State School for the Deaf.

(No K thru 12 teaching experience indicated)

An Unmeritorious System

I was going to write on another subject today but I happened to see a discussion of merit pay and tenure on News 12 – “12 In Our Schools” and immediately decided to change my topic.
I have had very limited experience with merit pay during my forty years of teaching however, very early in my career (back in the sixties) I did work in a district that used the merit system. I have always remembered the way in which it operated primarily because it was so absurd.
The system evaluated teachers on a one to five rating (five = best and one = poor I don't know if anyone ever got a zero?). Ratings were given by four administrators, the department chairman, the principal, the vice principal and the superintendent.
The rating from the department chairman was often a function of which department you happened to work. If you were in the math department the chairman's philosophy was “I would never hire a poor teacher” – everybody was five. If you were in the English department, well “Nobody was as gifted a teacher as the chairman”– everybody got less than a five.
The principal ruled with an iron hand and although I didn’t know his philosophy on merit ratings, I did know that the vice principal (a timid little man) always, somehow gave the same exact ratings as the principal.
The superintendent was rarely seen in the building. When I asked how he could possibly give a legitimate merit rating when he had never seen the teaching of many of those whom he rated, the answer was “He knows!”. I guess you had to have faith in his omnipotence.
That was the merit system as I experienced it. Not too good, from my standpoint anyway. I'm sure there are better systems (and probably some worse) but I certainly found it to be unfair, arbitrary, divisive and intimidating. Needless to say, I left that system at my first opportunity.
There is another interesting point about the evaluation system, not only at the school I have just mentioned but state wide. It is that a supervisor has the authority to evaluate any teacher in any area as long as he has proper certification. This means that if I had a certificate and was a chemistry teacher I could evaluate a French teacher. I don't even know how to say “French” in French! How could I possibly know if the teacher was even teaching the correct information much less teaching it well? I find this incredible but these are the rules that are currently in place.
In an article, “Up Pay for Math, Science Teachers, Christie Says – Governor: Give gym instructors less cash” in the Ledger the Governor indicates that he feels that gym teachers are less valuable than science teachers. I am mindful of the fact that many ex gym teachers become principals and supervisors. It is they who then become authorized to evaluate the math and science teachers!
The more I hear about “Educational Reform” the “curiouser and curiouser” it becomes?