Standing Up Standing Together

The following is an excerpt from the New Jersey Educators Association and centers on a rally that is scheduled in the state capitol on May 22nd. There have been a number of rallies against board of education budgets and in support of the governor's cost cutting measures. This event should be interesting and I imagine will be well attended. As the Newark Star-Ledger reports, Christie will propose 33 bills that constitute an all-out assault on public employees, and which would have a devastating impact on local programs and services in every community in New Jersey.-Dr. Petrosino

The day is Saturday, May 22. The time is noon. Join your fellow NJEA members and thousands of other New Jerseyans for the Rally to Protect New Jersey’s Families and Communities. Bring your family, your friends and your neighbors for what is expected to be one of the largest rallies in Trenton’s history. Gov. Chris Christie’s proposed budget is not only a disaster for public education, it is an all-out assault on New Jersey’s most vulnerable: school children, senior citizens, work- ing families, the poor, the disabled, and the unemployed. It is an attack on hardworking school employees and public workers.

Reporter May2010

Treasury and Education Recognize High Scoring Students in National Financial Capability Challenge

WASHINGTON — Today the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Department of Education recognized high scoring students in the National Financial Capability Challenge. The Challenge, which was unveiled in December 2009 by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, is designed to increase the financial knowledge and capability of high school aged youth across the United States. To honor the outstanding achievement of many of the participating students, Treasury and Education hosted an event at the Treasury in which select students in the top scoring bracket were recognized by Secretaries Geithner and Duncan.

While more than 76,000 high school students and 2,500 educators from across the country participated in the Challenge this spring, scores on the exam were generally low. Challenge participants scored 70 percent on average, demonstrating that students are not yet making the grade when it comes to understanding how to manage money.

“As we work to reform our financial system to better protect American families, we must also work to provide young adults the education, tools and access they need to make smart decisions for their own financial security,” said Secretary Geithner.

“I’m so proud that so many teachers turned out to help teach students the basics of personal finance,” said Secretary Duncan. “But the low scores on these test show us that, when it comes to financial literacy, we’ve got a lot more work to do to get our students where they need to be,” Duncan continued. “I hope teachers, school leaders, and local officials will work together to make financial literacy a priority in every school district in America.”

Idaho, South Dakota and Wyoming had the highest average test scores while Virginia, Iowa and Wisconsin boasted the highest student participation rates. The greatest number of participating schools and teachers came from Pennsylvania.

Full Story: CLICK HERE
National Statistics: CLICK HERE

Charter School Teacher Beats Up Child- Importance of Not Using Anecdotes to Reach Big Conclusions

Let's see if the creators of the anti-union, anti-public school movies "The Cartel" and "Waiting for Superman" decide to use this recent clip of a charter school teacher physically cornering and beating up a child in their next movie. The charter school teacher in this clip is not part of a teachers union. Moreover--- there were four or five other charter school teachers in the room while this was going on who just watched. The teacher was fired only after this video went viral and was reported on the local television network.

To be very clear--- the intent of this post is not necessarily to be negative concerning charter schools or the people involved in these institutions. I was on the Advisory Board of the first University sponsored charter school in the country and have been an advocate for a number of other charter initiatives. Rather, the video points out the problems associated when selective pieces of information are strung together to form an argument or a rationale. Of course the teacher was wrong but do we hold all charter schools accountable? In the same manner, demonizing collective bargaining or taking a sophomoric stance towards public education does not help the current dialogue. Education and education policy are complex concepts and attempts to disguise the complexity with "gotcha" techniques should be viewed from a critical perspective in my opinion.

PICTURE: St. Ann's School Yard, Hoboken, NJ (Spring, 1975)
L-R: Brian Riley, David Toscano, John Raslowsky, Benjamin Williams, Anthony Petrosino, Fred Stankiwitz, Mario Ferrara

The Cartel- Reviewed in the NY Times

The following is a review of the documentary The Cartel by New York Times critic Jeannette Catsoulis published on April 16, 2010. To be fair, not all the reviews have been negative. You can view some of the more positive reviews by clicking on the movie's website HERE. Mr. Bowdon is a Hoboken resident and was trained as a mechanical engineer before moving into news and entertainment. Clearly anti-union, anti-tenure, and pro-deregulation, the film and the message has a somewhat skewed perspective but has resonated with many New Jersey residents (including Governor Christie). -Dr. Petrosino

A mind-numbing barrage of random television clips and trash-talking heads, “The Cartel” purports to be a documentary about the American public school system. In reality, however, it’s a bludgeoning rant against a single state — New Jersey — which it presents as a closed loop of Mercedes-owning administrators, obstructive teachers’ unions and corrupt school boards.

Blithely extrapolating nationally, the writer and director, Bob Bowdon, concludes that increased financing for public schools is unlikely to raise reading scores but is almost certain to raise the luxury-car quotient in administrator parking lots. To illustrate, Mr. Bowdon rattles off a laundry list of outrages — like a missing $1 billion from a school construction budget — and provides a clumsy montage of newspaper headlines detailing administrative graft.

The evidence may be verifiable (and even depressingly familiar), but its complex underpinnings are given short shrift. Instead Mr. Bowdon, a New Jersey-based television reporter, employs an exposé-style narration lousy with ad hominems and emotional coercion. In one particularly egregious scene he parks his camera in front of a weeping child who has just failed to win a coveted spot in a charter-school lottery — another tiny victim of public school hell. Later, confronted with the president of the New Jersey Education Association, Mr. Bowdon performs the rhetorical equivalent of poking a lion with a stick and running away.

Visually horrid and intellectually unsatisfying, “The Cartel” demonstrates only that its maker has even more to learn about assembling a film than about constructing an argument.

Written and directed by Bob Bowdon; edited by Morgan Beatty, David Wittlin, Sam Wolfson and Vinnie Randazzo; music by Mr. Bowdon; produced by Mr. Bowdon and Rob Pfaltzgraff; released by Truly Indie. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. This film is not rated.

Marshall, Petrosino, and Martin (2010)- Preservice Teachers’ Conceptions and Enactments of Project-Based Instruction

The following is a paper I wrote with two of my colleagues and was recently published in the Journal of Technology and Science Education. This paper was written largely while I was Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools in the Hoboken School District and done on my own time. However, the work benefitted the district in terms of professional development and curriculum writing and revision. The acceptance rate for this journal is about 12% -Dr. Petrosino

Abstract We present results of an investigation of preservice secondary mathematics and science teachers’ conceptions of project-based instruction (PBI) and their enactments of PBI in apprentice (student) teaching. We evaluated their thinking and implementations within a composite framework based on the work of education researchers. We analyzed survey responses, both qualitatively and statistically, from three cohorts of preservice teachers both before and after apprentice teaching. In addition we interviewed and observed a subset of these future teachers. We found that in general the preservice teachers held superficial views of PBI, as compared to the researcher framework. Participants reported time and curriculum restrictions as major barriers; however, teachers for whom enactment of PBI was presented as an explicit goal, and who were given support toward that end, were more likely to enact authentic implementations, regardless of previous reservations about PBI. Without this additional scaffolding, even teachers with high affinity for PBI were unlikely to implement it authentically.

Keywords Project based instruction Preservice teachers Teacher preparation Project based learning

Marshall, Petrosino Martin (2010)

A Deal for Better Schools- Editorial in NY Times @ a new Teacher Evaluation System

The following is an editorial that was printed in the May 11, 2010 edition of the NY Times. It details briefly a new agreement between the New York Department of Education and the New York teachers union. I would anticipate seeing similar bills introduced in many states bidding for Race to the Top money. -Dr. Petrosino

When school officials and unions work together, students have a real chance to come out on top. That was clear this week when the State Education Department and New York’s teachers’ unions announced agreement on a rigorous teacher evaluation system.

The Legislature should quickly approve the deal. It would improve New York’s schools and the state’s chances in the second round of the federal Race to the Top competition for hundreds of millions of dollars in education grants.

The proposal, which resembles one developed through a similar partnership in New Haven, does away with the shoddy evaluation system under which teachers are observed briefly in the classroom and even the most ineffective ones regularly receive glowing ratings.

The new system would require more intensive monitoring and would finally take student performance into account. Teachers would eventually be measured on a 100-point scale, with 25 points based on how much students improve on the standardized state exams and 15 percent based on locally selected measures. The remaining part of the evaluation would be locally determined, consistent with state regulations, and could include such things as evaluations by a school principal, peer observations, a teacher’s ability to produce lesson plans and so on.

Teachers would be categorized as highly effective, effective, developing or ineffective. Those who need help would be given coaching. Those rated ineffective for two consecutive years could be fired through a hearing process that would take no longer than 60 days. Right now that process can drag on for more than a year.

The State Education Department deserves particular praise, as do the two union presidents, Richard Iannuzzi of New York State United Teachers and Michael Mulgrew of the United Federation of Teachers, the city’s union. They worked on this deal even though their members are angry about impending layoffs. The Legislature should move swiftly on the bill so that the state can meet the next Race to the Top application deadline. It is due on June 1.

Waiting for Superman- A New Documentary and a New Genre

The film "Waiting for Superman" is another in a series of documentaries detailing the apparent failings of the current educational system. We need to be careful and thoughtful about the underlying message about such movies but it is clear that there is both an audience for this new genre as well as a chord that it is striking with a significant and non-trival portion of people. These films are largely anti-union, pro charter and often see de-regulation as an answer to the "problem" of public education. Furthermore, they often highlight a few shinning examples (self selection bias) and hold them up as examples of what "could be done"- it's a technique and it's very effective. What is not so readily depicted is that in states that have strong unions, you have the highest NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) and the latest peer reviewed research shows that students of charter schools do no better and largely do less well than peer public schools. Nonetheless, I think this is a well made documentary and can be both thought provoking as well as educational if used in a critical manner. -Dr. Petrosino.

For a nation that proudly declared it would leave no child behind, America continues to do so at alarming rates. Despite increased spending and politicians’ promises, our buckling public-education system, once the best in the world, routinely forsakes the education of millions of children.

Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim reminds us that education “statistics” have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of WAITING FOR SUPERMAN. As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying “drop-out factories” and “academic sinkholes,” methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems.

However, embracing the belief that good teachers make good schools, and ultimately questioning the role of unions in maintaining the status quo, Guggenheim offers hope by exploring innovative approaches taken by education reformers and charter schools that have—in reshaping the culture—refused to leave their students behind.

May 11- Stated Session Hoboken Board of Education

May 11 2010 - Stated Session Hoboken Board of Education

OPRA Request Denied for School Information- Interim Superintendent Actions Questioned Concerning Overstepping of Authority

The following letter is re-posted without editing or comment. It was posted in The Hoboken Reporter on May 1, 2010 and centers on the legality of a request for school information. The data referenced that was posted on 1/1/2008 was made publicly available and without request, under Superintendent Raslowsky- also known as "BC". Custodians are paid a fair and equitable wage for the numerous services they provide to the children of Hoboken. They keep the facilities safe and functional, they keep the technology and data infrastructure secure, they assist in keeping the instructional technology functioning, they keep us warm in the winter and comfortable during the warmer months, they keep our many sport facilities operational not only for the children but for the many adult recreational groups in Hoboken. The custodians are a integral and important aspect of any school district and the education of our children. No one gets "free health care"- it is a fair and negotiated benefit arrived through collective bargaining. To sarcastically state (as the letter writer below does) that these men and women do not work as hard as those in the "private sector with advanced degrees" is classist, patronizing, and ultimately misinformed and unfortunate. But, the letter DOES raise interesting issues of overstepping authority for OPRA requests. The writer is correct that such requests are a matter of law and are not at the discretion of any school district official.

You can read the entire official Open Public Records Act by clicking HERE.

Dear Editor:

In the movie “The Cartel” the Hoboken Board of Education President in 2005 Theresa Minutillo stated that some janitors earned six-figure salaries. Yes, you read it correctly, janitors earned six-figure salaries. On top of the six-figure salaries, like all other employees (including those at the “poverty” level), they get hefty longevity pay, free health care, eye, dental, prescription benefits, full pensions, long vacations and many holidays and personal and sick days.

To those naïve taxpayers trying to get ahead in the private sector with advanced degrees, hard work, and long hours in the office, you were wrong all along. The key to financial success turned out to be a janitor job in the Hoboken school system.

The employees associations routinely dispute such salaries as false rumors and misunderstandings. For example only last week the president of the Hoboken School Employees Association HSEA Joe Vitale wrote in a letter to the editor that “there has been a lot written and a lot that is misunderstood about our membership”. He further wrote that according to the HSEA salary guide the HSEA members’ salaries are “near or at the poverty level” not more than $63,124.

In order to avoid all these “misunderstandings” and to get straight to the facts I went to the Board of Education and filed an OPRA request for public records. To make sure that my request fully complied with the law, I copied the verbatim language from the provision of the OPRA statute N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10 into my request: “name, title, position, salary, payroll record, length of service, date of separation and the reason therefor, and the amount and type of any pension received”.

This was a month ago and I still have not received the requested public records. Instead I received a “courtesy” response from the Superintendent Mr. Carter with excuses why he could not comply with my request. But disclosing the requested public records is not a matter of courtesy. It is a matter of law. We, the taxpayers, are not paying the Superintendent a $187,000 salary to conceal from us public records, but to comply with the law and to disclose them. Moreover, there was no need for the Superintendent to get involved in a simple routine request for public records. The law places this responsibility on the custodian of the public records, not on the Superintendent. This raises serious questions: Why is the Superintendent getting involved? Why is he trying to conceal public records in violation of the law?

Moreover, there is no reason why this information should not be disclosed on the Board of Education web site. Currently only obsolete information dated 1/1/2008 about the salaries of only eight school system employees is available on the web side. Then the Superintendent will not have to “take time away from the education of the children” to write “courtesy” responses to requestors, and the HSEA president will not have to write letters explaining the “misunderstandings” because there will be no more “misunderstandings”.

Vesselin Dittrich

picture: Interim Superintendent Peter Carter

2010 TOYOTA INTERNATIONAL TEACHER PROGRAM TO THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS

The Toyota International Teacher Program offers fully-funded, international, professional development opportunities for U.S. educators. Funded by Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., the program aims to advance environmental stewardship and global connectedness in U.S. schools and communities through creative, interdisciplinary, and solution-based teaching methods.

THE APPLICATION FOR THE 2010 TOYOTA INTERNATIONAL TEACHER PROGRAM TO THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS IS NOW ONLINE The program will travel November 20 - December 4, 2010 and the deadline to apply is May 26, 2010. Click here to apply!

Schundler and Christie Plan to Use "Merit" as a Punishment but Eliminate It as a Reward

So, Education Commissioner Bret Schundler and Governor Christie is for merit when it can be couched as a way to eliminate "bad" teachers. Education Commissioner Bret Schundler is also for merit when it can be used to eliminate tenure for teachers. Schundler and Christie are for merit when it can be used to close schools and eliminate administrators. They are even for merit when it can be used for how teachers are paid (paid less you can be sure). So, clearly, the State of New Jersey and Education Commissioner Bret Schundler know how to use "merit" as a way to punish. But how does the State of NJ REWARD merit? Well--- it hasn't quite figured that out yet.

While NJ Education Commissioner Bret Schundler tries to get the NJEA to sit down at the table and talk about merit pay and have NJ apply for RACE TO THE TOP funds- how does the state reward it's most accomplished students? Supposedly the product of the merit the teachers and administrators produced? By suspending the Bloustein scholarship program. A program completely based on MERIT. A program that was to impact 1800 students this year. A program that--- hold on to your wallets--- costs money. Yikes!

Proposed state budget cuts eliminate $1.8 million in funding for 2010 recipients of the merit-based Edward J. Bloustein Distinguished Scholar and Urban Scholars awards, a report in the Press of Atlantic City said.

Bloustein scholarships, which have recently averaged $930 per year, are rewarded to students in the top 10 percent of their classes who also achieve a minimum of 1260 (of 1600) on the SAT, according to the report. High school seniors had already been informed they were getting scholarships when they recently found out the funding was pulled, the report said.

Other programs impacted by the proposed cuts, some of which are not merit-based, include the Survivor Tuition Benefits, Teaching Fellows, N.J. World Trade Center Scholarship, and Social Services and Primary Care Practitioner Loan Redemption Programs. That's right---the N.J World Trade Center Scholarship for the children of those who perished on 9/11.

The Charter School Discussion- Hoboken High School and Hoboken Charter School

When charter schools started in the early 1990s, their supporters promised that they would unleash a new era of innovation and effectiveness. Now there are some 5,000 charter schools, which serve about 3% of the nation's students, and the Obama administration is pushing for many more.

But the promise has not been fulfilled. Most studies of charter schools acknowledge that they vary widely in quality. The only major national evaluation of charter schools was carried out by Stanford economist Margaret Raymond and funded by pro-charter foundations. Her group found that compared to regular public schools, 17% of charters got higher test scores, 46% had gains that were no different than their public counterparts, and 37% were significantly worse. Full Article here.

In a comparison of the Hoboken Charter School and Hoboken High School we find similar results. When you look at the latest data publicly available (2007- Before the current district administration, known as "BC" in Hoboken) we see the Hoboken High School significantly and statistically outperforms the Hoboken Charter School in town on every measure (Schoolwide Reading Proficiency, Schoolwide Math Proficiency, Schoolwide Combined Reading and Math Proficiency) and by every subgroup (Female, Male, White, Black, Hispanic) with the sole exception of Math Proficiency for white students.

A close look at the demographic information indicates that the Hoboken Charter School has 8 times more Pacific Islander students than Hoboken High School, 50% LESS Hispanic students, LESS black students and 3 times MORE white students than Hoboken High School. For such a small town, it is statistically highly unlikely that the population of students in the Hoboken Charter School is drawn from the same population of students that go to Hoboken High School. Nevertheless, Hoboken High School students outperform their Charter School cohorts. Perhaps it is the teachers? Perhaps it is the facilities? Perhaps it is the administration?

At a time when the common rhetoric has been anti-teacher, anti-union, anti-tenure, these results need to be looked at closely and with due diligence. The full explanation is complex and multi-factorial. Additionally, caution must ALWAYS be made when using a single indicator (such as a single test score). But, the perception that charter schools deliver more for less, is not a given locally in Hoboken or nationally across this country.

The data is included below.

HHS_HobkenCharter