TESTIMONIALS FROM MONTCLAIR RESIDENTS AND PARENTS
Where's the proof for this statement: "The trend is away from elected boards"?
There are more than 500 elected school boards in New Jersey alone and there's no great movement to change to move to appointed systems.
And where's the proof for this statement: "mayor-controlled schools. . . it brings more accountability"
One of the biggest complaints against the appointed board is how profoundly unaccountable it is. Just a few examples: Asked why Superintendent Alvarez got a bonus, officials said, "Ask Alvarez." Asked by neighbors to Woodman field for a simple schedule of sporting events, the appointed board said, 'No.'
Also, if the appointed board has so much financial expertise, why have the proposed budgets been approved "as is" for the past years? Why would the appointed board approve 4.5 percent salary increases for non-union workers during the worst financial crisis our country has experienced in more than 30 years? Why was no needs assessment done before the BOE committed to building a $35 million (and counting) new school? Why do at least a dozen supervisors make over $150,000 a year without a job description?
Advocates of the appointed board have expressed one fear after another: elections will endanger the magnet school system; they'll prevent a diverse BOE. And now the latest fears: the cost of running for the board of education will deter good candidates from participating in the system; and Democracy doesn't work because it just might under the right circumstances let some extremists in the door.
Well, appointed v. elected has nothing to do with the magnet school system. Either form of government could keep or get rid of it.
African Americans don't need white mayors to appoint them to positions of power. They can run for and win such positions on their own these days. Montclair has proven that. And we can and we should work to further empower minorities in the Democratic arena.
The average cost of most BOE elections in New Jersey is well under $1,000, according to the New Jersey School Board Association spokesman Michael Yaple. Hotly contested elections can run higher. But, think about it: What does it really cost to print up a few flyers on your home computer and post them around town?
Democracy is imperfect but it's far better than the current system of cronyism. And putting another ring of insiders around the current ring of insiders is no answer.
So, let's put aside the fears and discuss why we should improve our school system and how we can do that.
The Appointed Board has given us profound mismanagement and spiraling budgets. It's left us with a minority achievement gap, a high school with a poor showing in the state ranks, and 50 percent of Advanced Placement students failing the Advanced Placement test.
Here's an idea: Let's have Liberal Montclair actually embrace Democracy and trust the People. Create a system of checks and balances. Let's dare to dream that we can do better.
Because we can do better. But it takes a village. A whole village. A whole village offered the opportunity to participate in the town's educational system through elections.
-Rorie Sherman
Letter from Andrew Gideon
Benefits of Elections
We parents and voters in Montclair have, through a good deal of
effort, earned the right to decide whether or not we'll be
permitted to decide on who represents us and our children on the
Montclair Board of Education.
Put that way, it seems to me to be an obvious choice: We should
have the right to choose. In this time of "spreading
democracy", it would seem silly to retain a system of "smoke
filled rooms" and political appointees when given the choice
between this and democracy.
But there are those in town, perhaps with their own special
interests, that decry elections. "Too political", they claim.
"Open to special interests", they warn.
These claims are, on their face, hypocritical. What is more
political than a political appointment by a politician? What
interest is more "special" than that of a lone politician?
Parents are not "a special interest".
But these people are inadvertently raising an exciting question:
What do we gain from elections?
Elections represent an opportunity for the citizens to be
presented with choices. Beyond the mere act of voting, as
crucial as it is, there is the process of education. Candidates
for a representative Board of Education will have the
opportunity to educate the voters regarding what they have to
offer for our childrens' education, and what they aspire to
achieve for our children. Members of a representative Board of
Education will have the opportunity to educate the voters as to
the details of budgetary choices being made, why this received
less funding while that received more funding. The voters will
be taught, in great detail, where our dollars are being spent to
the best effect on our childrens' educations.
We spend a lot of time speaking to our childrens' teachers, and
this micro level of involvement is clearly important. Working
with these teachers, my wife and I learn how best to facilitate
our sons' educations. And we provide insights to the teachers
that they can do the same. We make cooperative choices about
electives and other aspects of that education, all aimed at
achieving the best for our children.
In Montclair, we even have the remarkable benefit of "freedom of
choice" in deciding the school to be attended by our children.
Where is this education and collaboration at the macro level?
Where is the collective input of the parents applied to any
choice? With a Board of Education responsible only to the
Mayor, what real interaction can we parents have at the macro
level?
An elected Board of Education offers a chance for parents to
make choices at this macro level. It motivates the candidates
and members of the Board of Education to keep parents educated
and informed and involved at that macro level.
A final point often made in defense of the current political
appointee system is that our schools are good enough, and we
shouldn't risk making any changes. One reason poster to a
community mailing list described our schools as "not lousy".
My wife and I don't aspire to "decent" or "good enough" or "not
lousy". Why shouldn't all of us parents be demanding excellence
of our schools?
A Board of Education that is responsible to the voters - to the
parents - offers one more tool whereby we can achieve that
excellent education for our children.
We parents and voters in Montclair have, through a good deal of
effort, earned the right to decide whether or not we'll be
permitted to decide on who represents us and our children on the
Montclair Board of Education.
Put that way, it seems to me to be an obvious choice: We should
have the right to choose. In this time of "spreading
democracy", it would seem silly to retain a system of "smoke
filled rooms" and political appointees when given the choice
between this and democracy.
But there are those in town, perhaps with their own special
interests, that decry elections. "Too political", they claim.
"Open to special interests", they warn.
These claims are, on their face, hypocritical. What is more
political than a political appointment by a politician? What
interest is more "special" than that of a lone politician?
Parents are not "a special interest".
But these people are inadvertently raising an exciting question:
What do we gain from elections?
Elections represent an opportunity for the citizens to be
presented with choices. Beyond the mere act of voting, as
crucial as it is, there is the process of education. Candidates
for a representative Board of Education will have the
opportunity to educate the voters regarding what they have to
offer for our childrens' education, and what they aspire to
achieve for our children. Members of a representative Board of
Education will have the opportunity to educate the voters as to
the details of budgetary choices being made, why this received
less funding while that received more funding. The voters will
be taught, in great detail, where our dollars are being spent to
the best effect on our childrens' educations.
We spend a lot of time speaking to our childrens' teachers, and
this micro level of involvement is clearly important. Working
with these teachers, my wife and I learn how best to facilitate
our sons' educations. And we provide insights to the teachers
that they can do the same. We make cooperative choices about
electives and other aspects of that education, all aimed at
achieving the best for our children.
In Montclair, we even have the remarkable benefit of "freedom of
choice" in deciding the school to be attended by our children.
Where is this education and collaboration at the macro level?
Where is the collective input of the parents applied to any
choice? With a Board of Education responsible only to the
Mayor, what real interaction can we parents have at the macro
level?
An elected Board of Education offers a chance for parents to
make choices at this macro level. It motivates the candidates
and members of the Board of Education to keep parents educated
and informed and involved at that macro level.
A final point often made in defense of the current political
appointee system is that our schools are good enough, and we
shouldn't risk making any changes. One reason poster to a
community mailing list described our schools as "not lousy".
My wife and I don't aspire to "decent" or "good enough" or "not
lousy". Why shouldn't all of us parents be demanding excellence
of our schools?
A Board of Education that is responsible to the voters - to the
parents - offers one more tool whereby we can achieve that
excellent education for our children.
Letter to the Editor - Ofira Bondorowsky
I was shocked to read so many inaccuracies in Jonathan Alter's letter “How to get accountability for BOE” (Oct. 8th edition). He suggested that President Obama indiscriminately supports the notion of mayoral control for boards of education, that “there's a direct correlation between cities with mayoral control and both higher test scores and more fiscal discipline,” and that “the same applies to towns.”
I've never heard President Obama suggest our children would be better off if mayors across the country controlled school boards.
There's no empirical evidence that students in towns with appointed boards outperform their elected board counterparts. Studies correlating increased scores with mayoral control are rooted in very large, urban cities, like NYC. And experts say much of that improvement is attributable to increases in school funding that magically appear when the mayor takes charge. You cannot generalize those findings to suburban towns. Montclair is not NYC.
Supporters of a democratically elected board also LOVE OUR MAGNET SCHOOL SYSTEM! We can't imagine a Montclair without magnet schools! We want a board that's responsive to the community. And the community LOVES MAGNET SCHOOLS.
We have a good district, but our kids deserve a GREAT one. An achievement gap persists for minority subgroups and students with special needs. Our high school is far below where it ought to be given the money we eagerly invest. Nearly 50% of students taking the AP Test don't pass!
Our appointed board has failed our best and brightest students. Yet there’s no one to hold accountable when our mayors serve only one term, and appointed BOE members are untouchable. The fact is any school district in NJ worth comparing Montclair to has an elected BOE. It’s time we did too. Vote “YES” Nov. 3 on the Elect the Board referendum.
Ofira Bondorowsky
122 Christopher Street
Montclair, NJ
I've never heard President Obama suggest our children would be better off if mayors across the country controlled school boards.
There's no empirical evidence that students in towns with appointed boards outperform their elected board counterparts. Studies correlating increased scores with mayoral control are rooted in very large, urban cities, like NYC. And experts say much of that improvement is attributable to increases in school funding that magically appear when the mayor takes charge. You cannot generalize those findings to suburban towns. Montclair is not NYC.
Supporters of a democratically elected board also LOVE OUR MAGNET SCHOOL SYSTEM! We can't imagine a Montclair without magnet schools! We want a board that's responsive to the community. And the community LOVES MAGNET SCHOOLS.
We have a good district, but our kids deserve a GREAT one. An achievement gap persists for minority subgroups and students with special needs. Our high school is far below where it ought to be given the money we eagerly invest. Nearly 50% of students taking the AP Test don't pass!
Our appointed board has failed our best and brightest students. Yet there’s no one to hold accountable when our mayors serve only one term, and appointed BOE members are untouchable. The fact is any school district in NJ worth comparing Montclair to has an elected BOE. It’s time we did too. Vote “YES” Nov. 3 on the Elect the Board referendum.
Ofira Bondorowsky
122 Christopher Street
Montclair, NJ
Letter from Rorie Sherman
Where's the proof for this statement: "The trend is away from elected boards"?
There are more than 500 elected school boards in New Jersey alone and there's no great movement to change to move to appointed systems.
And where's the proof for this statement: "mayor-controlled schools. . . it brings more accountability"
One of the biggest complaints against the appointed board is how profoundly unaccountable it is. Just a few examples: Asked why Superintendent Alvarez got a bonus, officials said, "Ask Alvarez." Asked by neighbors to Woodman field for a simple schedule of sporting events, the appointed board said, 'No.'
Also, if the appointed board has so much financial expertise, why have the proposed budgets been approved "as is" for the past years? Why would the appointed board approve 4.5 percent salary increases for non-union workers during the worst financial crisis our country has experienced in more than 30 years? Why was no needs assessment done before the BOE committed to building a $35 million (and counting) new school? Why do at least a dozen supervisors make over $150,000 a year without a job description?
Advocates of the appointed board have expressed one fear after another: elections will endanger the magnet school system; they'll prevent a diverse BOE. And now the latest fears: the cost of running for the board of education will deter good candidates from participating in the system; and Democracy doesn't work because it just might under the right circumstances let some extremists in the door.
Well, appointed v. elected has nothing to do with the magnet school system. Either form of government could keep or get rid of it.
African Americans don't need white mayors to appoint them to positions of power. They can run for and win such positions on their own these days. Montclair has proven that. And we can and we should work to further empower minorities in the Democratic arena.
The average cost of most BOE elections in New Jersey is well under $1,000, according to the New Jersey School Board Association spokesman Michael Yaple. Hotly contested elections can run higher. But, think about it: What does it really cost to print up a few flyers on your home computer and post them around town?
Democracy is imperfect but it's far better than the current system of cronyism. And putting another ring of insiders around the current ring of insiders is no answer.
So, let's put aside the fears and discuss why we should improve our school system and how we can do that.
The Appointed Board has given us profound mismanagement and spiraling budgets. It's left us with a minority achievement gap, a high school with a poor showing in the state ranks, and 50 percent of Advanced Placement students failing the Advanced Placement test.
Here's an idea: Let's have Liberal Montclair actually embrace Democracy and trust the People. Create a system of checks and balances. Let's dare to dream that we can do better.
Because we can do better. But it takes a village. A whole village. A whole village offered the opportunity to participate in the town's educational system through elections.
-Rorie Sherman