ConnCAN in Norwalk: Reforms Make Sense

Would you be surprised to learn that Connecticut's top achieving public school students in our wealthiest districts score entire grade level behind Massachusetts'? Or that we are dead last in the country in terms of the results we achieve for our low-income students, while our spending per student is among the highest in the nation?

This is the sobering news that Alex Johnston, CEO of ConnCAN, a Connecticut education reform organization, shared with parents and community leaders in Norwalk last night.   He is talking to groups across the state--he was in Westport and Wilton last month--in hopes of rallying support around legislation that he believes is necessary to improve Connecticut’s schools.

Johnston, a 37-year old Rhodes scholar, focused much of his presentation on low performing schools.  He believes that in order to “fix poverty”, we must fix our public schools.  He presented powerful data illustrating that increasingly high school dropouts are barely getting by and their chances of getting married are slim.

“The first thing we have to do is admit we have a problem,” said Johnston.  “After 40 years of pouring money into education, we haven’t moved the needle on outcomes.  We need to fundamentally change the structure.”

ConnCAN focuses its work around three principals: greater school choice meaning more charter and magnets schools, greater flexibility by making it easier for qualified people to become “superstar” teachers and principals and greater accountability by assessing teacher effectiveness through student test scores.

Johnston said the Obama Administration’s $4 billion Race to the Top grant program is powerful because it finally realizes that state laws and polices are the key to reform.  To be sure, states control local boards of educations and teacher certification requirements.  Connecticut’s round one application for a $200 million Race to the Top grant was passed over by the feds.  The state’s lackluster application had 120 blanks according to Johnston.  Sixteen states made the cut,  including neighboring states, Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. Fortunately, states are given a chance to reapply for round 2 in June—a date set strategically just after the close of the legislative session in Hartford.

Currently, ConnCAN is advocating for specific legislation that will shore up Connecticut’s chances of being awarded the grant.  There is already a proposed bill in the House to create a “fast track” for principals in order to expand the talent pool to lead low performing schools.  The State Board of Education is also expected to adopt common national standards.  As of now, each state tests children based on different measures.

Johnston expects more push back, especially from the teachers unions, on legislation to assess teacher effectiveness through student test scores.  ConnCAN’s most controversial proposal is for “the money to follow the child”, which means that per pupil spending will be redistributed based on where a child goes school: in district, out of district or a charter school.   This is not the current system—school districts are given lump sums based on out-of-date data and charter schools are allotted, per pupil, a fraction of what a school district spends per pupil.  Johnston realizes that given budgetary constraints, taking money away schools systems is not going to be easy.

“I realize this proposal is going to be tough to tackle in this budget cycle.  But, our plan is to roll this out over four years.”
 
While Johnston wants to win RTTT funding, he says getting the grant is about more than the money.  “If we are to have any chance of fixing our schools, these changes and laws need to happen regardless of the money.  These reforms just make sense.”

Marks Meets Norwalk

Norwalk parents and community members heard last night from the woman who will most likely become their next superintendent. Dr. Susan Marks is the associate superintendent of human resources in Montgomery County and has 30 years of experience in that district.  Montgomery County is a much larger district, 14 times the size of Norwalk, but it has similar racial demographics.

For ninety minutes, Dr. Marks stood on her feet in front of a crowd of over 100 parents and community members.  She fielded questions about her background and what she can do to improve Norwalk’s schools.  Her meet & greet focused on closing the achievement gap and the importance of a rigorous curriculum and professional development. 

“In order to close the achievement gap we have to raise the bar for everyone” said Dr, Marks in response to questions about the disparity in test scores between white students and poor and minority students. “High expectations are at the core of this.” 

In Montgomery County, she said that they have been able to increase the number of black and Latino students taking AP and Honors classes.  “There should be no gatekeepers,” she said.

Dr. Marks said that her goal was to make all students ready for college. “Even if kids go into the military or into the trades, we have to make them college ready,” she said.  “Believe me, the people at Toyota who are fixing all the cars right now need to have a high level of knowledge.” 

In addition, Dr. Marks stressed the importance of early childhood education and said that she hoped to increase such programming throughout Norwalk.

Dr. Marks said that teachers and school leaders need to be well-trained and she hoped that the Norwalk community would invest funds in professional development once the budget pressure eased.  “Teaching is rocket science.”

When an audience member asked about the importance of parental involvement, she said it is important but that it was also important to teach parents how they can help their kids at home. “I don’t think we should use parents not being involved in schools as an excuse for kids not succeeding.  Too often in my experience people use that as an excuse,” she said.  “I didn’t drop my kids off on the first day of school.  I was working.”

One parent described Norwalk as “system of schools” not a “school system” and asked how Dr. Mark would address that problem.  She replied that she will make the time to bring school leaders together both along grade levels and high school clusters. 

She reassured the audience that she would be in the schools “a lot” and that school leaders should not be sitting in their offices.  “Learning happens in the classroom.”

Dr. Marks described her style as collaborative, especially with the unions.  She highlighted her experience creating a peer evaluation process for teachers and administrators with union involvement.  She also said that she is problem solver: “Two things I hate are complaining and drama,” she said.  “If you have a problem, come to me with two suggestions.”

Dr. Marks seemed ambivalent on Race to the Top funding and said that Maryland did not apply for Race to the Top during phase 1. She does not believe that teachers should be evaluated on test scores alone.  One of the goals of Race to the Top is to link student test scores with teacher performance.

 “My goal has always been to be a superintendent,” she said early in the meeting. ” I want to work with people, roll up our sleeves and work together. At the end of the meeting she said: “My goal is for Norwalk to be proud of its schools again, every child deserves that.”

Dr. Marks said she plans to move to Norwalk if she gets the job. She has two daughters, 25 and 18.  Her husband is a popular middle school teacher in Montgomery County.

After the meeting, parents mulled around the room sharing their first impressions of the candidate.

“I’m optimistic but also cautious,” said Sherelle Harris. “ I’m taking a wait and see approach. We’ve had so many false starts in Norwalk.”

Trish Massucco said that she was impressed by Dr. Marks, especially with her focus on professional development.  “We need to help teachers, sometimes they just get in a rut.”

Greg Burnett, a former BOE member, was not as positive.  “I didn’t see any fire.  Norwalk needs a turnaround not baby steps.  I didn’t hear about a plan for drastic change and personal accountability. ”

Did you attend the event?  What did you think?

YourCT.com videotaped the entire event.


Dr. Susan Marks Meets Norwalk Residents from jackie lightfield on Vimeo.

A Conversation with Susan Marks, Superintendent Finalist

Last week, the BOE announced that Susan Marks an Associate Superintendent in Montgomery County, Maryland has been selected as the finalist for Norwalk's vacant Superintendent position
.
Dr. Marks will be visiting Norwalk today to meet with the Norwalk Community.

I had the chance to speak with Dr. Marks by phone on Friday evening.

NorwalkNet: What have been your top three accomplishments in Montgomery County?

Dr. Susan Marks: I’ve been here for a while. I certainly think that I bring a lot to the table. Some of my accomplishments that I would highlight would be being a Community Superintendent. My main job was to oversee the instructional program, supervise all the school based administrators and deal with all of the facility issues and the community issues. Each community superintendent has 4 high schools and all the elementary  and middle schools feeding into that high school.

The schools in the area that I supervised had demographics that are very similar to Norwalk’s. We made lots of progress in terms of results when I was Community Superintendent. We increased our students who are in AP and honors classes and are having good results on SAT, as well meeting state benchmarks.

Another accomplishment I want to highlight is that I lead and participated in the development of three professional growth systems that we worked collaboratively with our unions. The professional growth systems are the way we would support and evaluate employees. At the basis of every school system are the people. You have to have people who have high standards and get a lot of support and professional development in their capacity and these systems support that.

NorwalkNet: One of the recurring issues in Norwalk is the  Achievement Gap. What specific things do you bring to the table in trying to close the achievement gap?

Dr. Marks: I think one of the biggest things is to look at  is the expectations that people have of children, and what they can learn and that they should be learning at high levels.  I have just started to look at Norwalk's data and the results and am trying to it break down.  In Montgomery County, we have tried to make sure we have high standards for every child and that every child has access. One of the things that we have looked at is increasing the number of students that we have in AP and honors. In Montgomery County we have increased the numbers of Latino and African American students in AP and Honors considerably over the last 10 years. When you have high standards for all students it really helps to close that achievement gap because your raising the bar for everybody.

NorwalkNet: Isn’t there a counter argument though that too many kids are being pushed into these types of programs and the rate of passing has gone down?

Dr. Marks: What we have been able to do in Montgomery County through a lot of hard work, and I’ve been right in the middle of it, is as we’ve increased the participation of students we’ve been able to keep the outcomes at that high level.  That takes a lot of work. It takes providing children with the correct support to be able to be successful. It’s important to have ways to assess children and to make sure that assessments are giving us good understanding of what children know and are able to do. We can then provide the interventions that might be needed to make sure that the children can access the rigorous curriculum.

The other thing is to make sure that there are no gate keepers. So many kids tell me, and I go out to talk to kids a lot, that people who have high expectations for them and want them to work hard make them rise to the occasion. I’m working on a project right now on how we select teachers. I had some focus groups with kids and we asked “What makes a great teacher?” and none them said, “Someone who is too easy.” They said, “A teacher who expects me to learn, who will really work with me and won’t give up on me.” So I think those are really important things to consider.

NorwalkNet: Norwalk, like almost every other district in the country, is dealing with its budget. This year’s budget seems tougher than last year’s and who knows what next year’s is going to be. You’re coming to a relativley small district with a smaller budget,without the kind of resources a big district can bring to the table. What are your thoughts on that?

Dr. Marks: I don’t think we spend that much more per child than Norwalk, but most of our money is tied up in people and that’s the way it should be. I think that the budget next year is going to be tough, and I think what we need to do is look at the short term and what do we need to do to tighten our belt, but try not to take resources away from the schools as much as we can. We also have to have a plan for when things ease and there is more revenue.  I’ve had to cut my budget here and we’re still cutting and it’s bad for every school system.

NorwalkNet: One of the things we in Norwalk have become much more aware of are issues of openness and transparency,  can you address this concern?

Dr. Marks: I work very very closely in ensuring that all stake holders are involved in what is done. I really always tell people about how we are going to make decisions. I have no secrets. When I was working directly with schools I was always out in the schools and went to athletic events, the plays, and the recognitions, community meetings and cluster meetings. Even as the Associate Superintendent I hold all my principal advisory meetings in schools and get my staff out there. You have to understand that this is a very big county. I don’t know everybody and everybody doesn’t know me, but I believe a superintendent is a 24/7 job along with school board. You got to get out there.

Because there may be some concern about an outside person or someone not knowing Norwalk, what I would do if I was fortunate to get the position would be to meet with people and get to know them, and have them get to know me and begin to build that trust where we’re pushing up our sleeves up together and working to resolve some of the issues of the school system.

For every school age child in Norwalk,  I would like to see that their parents view Norwalk Public School as an option for them. The way you make that happen is you get results and that people see that students learning at high levels

NorwalkNet: Can you confirm that you are moving to Norwalk?

Yes would move to Norwalk because I think it’s important for the Superintendent to live in the area that they are supervising.

This interview has been edited.

Updated: Dr. Susan Marks, Finalist for Superintendent

The Norwalk BOE announced the selection of a finalist for superintendent today. Dr. Susan Marks is currently the Associate Superintendent for Human Resources in the Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, MD. Before that, she was a Community Superintendent for five years in Montgomery County where she led the instructional programs in 30 schools. She has also served the Montgomery County Public Schools as Chief Information Officer, and as Principal of two elementary schools. Dr. Marks received her Ed.D from the University of Maryland.
Dr. Marks will be visiting the Norwalk Public Schools early next week.

Parents and community members are invited to meet her on Monday March 8 from 7-9 p.m. in the Community Room at City Hall.

Norwalk is not the first district that Dr. Marks has applied to be Superintendent. At the end of February she was one of three finalists for the position of Superintendent of Schools in Newton, MA. She attended an all-day visit to Newton schools on February 26, including a publicly held interview session with Newton's School Committee.

According to an article in the Newton Tab, Dr. Marks told the Newton SC that she is known in the Montgomery school system as a "utility player." "When the superintendent needed something done, (he) called on Susan."

While Dr. Marks tried to accentuate her strengths and accomplishments to the Newton SC she also, in response to a question, noted areas in which she did not succeed:

While many members asked Marks about her point on view on policy issues like the importance of classroom technology or how she would start funding the repair or replacement of aging school buildings, board member Matt Hills pointedly asked Marks to give an example of when she made a decision “and you blew it.”

Marks said as a community superintendent, she worked with a school panel that interviewed candidates for a principal’s position. That panel – made up of parents and school staff – supported one candidate, but Marks favored another candidate because she had a “preconceived notion of what the school needed.”

“I hired the other principal. I should have listened to my committee. And it was not a good match for the school. I tried to support that principal, it went on for a couple of years, and we did use our evaluation system to remove the principal,” she told Hills.

Interviewed by the Newton edition of the Boston Globe, Dr. Marks said, "I’m committed to technical education but also to ensuring that all students are prepared to go to college...The ideal is that no student who wishes to attend college needs to take a single remedial course."


Ultimately the Newton SC decided to choose one of the other candidates.

Here is a link to her resume:

And here is the press release from the BOE.
   Press 001

ConnCAN to Discuss Race to the Top on Tuesday

I've had the opportunity to hear Alex Johnston of ConnCAN, a statewide educational reform advocacy group, speak a couple of times. He is a very powerful speaker and always makes me realize that state and national legislation have a big impact our children's classroom. Mr. Nast, our interim superintendent, sits on the New Haven Board of Education with Alex and suggested at Tuesday night's board meeting that parents and teaching staff attend this event.

This presentation is being organized by a local chapter of a non-profit, National Executive Service Corps. Similar presentation were held in Westport and Wilton recently.

***
Connecticut's Race to the Top--Ensuring a Quality Education for All Children
Tuesday, March 9th, 7:30 pm
Community Room, Norwalk Town Hall
125 East Avenue, Norwalk


Would you be surprised to learn that Connecticut is dead last in the country...50th out of 50...in terms of the results we achieve for our low-income students, while our spending per student is among the highest
Join us as we learn from Alex Johnston, CEO of the Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now (ConnCAN), about:
• The state of public education in Connecticut, and where we rank,
• The exciting new opportunity offered by the Federal "Race to the Top" funding program -- $200 million at stake -- and how it could affect Norwalk’s schools.
• What we can do together to improve public education for ALL children.
• This is urgent: Our State Legislature will be voting on Race to Top exactly one week after meeting (March 15th)

Our children get one chance at an education; what can we do to give them the best shot?
Turn Out and Make Your Voice Heard

Alex Johnston is Chief Executive Officer of ConnCAN. As ConnCAN’s first employee, Alex launched what is now regarded as one of the nation’s leading state-level education reform organizations. In the five years since, he has led ConnCAN’s effort to advocate for state policies that will ensure every Connecticut child has access to a great public school. In 2009, ConnCAN achieved three major legislative victories through its ‘Mind the Gaps’ campaign: overhauling the state’s teacher certification rules, opening up stores of longitudinal student achievement data to the public and securing $8 million of funding for the expansion of high-performing public charter schools in the midst of an $8 billion state budget deficit.

Before helping to found ConnCAN, Alex Johnston directed operations at the New Haven Housing Authority, working as a member of the management team tasked with turning the agency around from the brink of receivership. A graduate of Harvard University, Alex received a D. Phil. in politics from Oxford’s Lincoln College on a Rhodes Scholarship, where he studied the impact of government funding on nonprofit service providers. Alex serves on the state commission charged with developing Connecticut’s P-20 data system, is a member of the National Charter School Resource Center Advisory Board and sits on the New Haven Board of Education.

Finalist Sup Selected, Social Workers Cry Foul, Website Launched

At Tuesday night's BOE meeting Vice-Chair Jack Chiaramonte announced that a finalist has been chosen for the Superintendent position. Mr. Chiaramonte would not reveal the candidate's name or background because the other applicants have not been informed that a finalist has been selected. He said that the name will be announced in the next couple of days.

Mr. Chiaramonte said that the candidate is going to visit Norwalk early next week and that a parent forum will take place in the coming days. The BOE is also in the process of scheduling a site visit to the candidate’s school district. “Now, we want the candidate to meet the Norwalk community.” said Chiaramonte.

Norwalk has been without a full time Superintendent since last June when Dr. Sal Corda resigned after the BOE declined to renew his contract. The Board placed Dr. William Papallo, a retired administrator as interim Superintendent, but he stayed only until this month. Another interim Superintent, Dr. Michael Nast is filling the vacancy, most likely until the end of the school year.

During the public comments, several social workers spoke about not receiving adequate pay. They said that currently social workers are being paid on a Masters only level (30 credits). This was not always the practice. Norwalk requires social workers to obtain a Masters in Social Work (which requires 60 credits) entitling them to a higher starting pay. Like almost all districts in CT, Norwalk social workers used to be paid according to this higher pay scale. They blamed the HR Director for making the decision unilaterally to change the level to 30 credits, and said that it goes against the NFT contract. Some social workers are paid under the old pay scale, creating inequity among co-workers

Mr. Nast presented a strategy for hiring the many vacant, soon to be vacant, and interim positions in Central Office. The district is currently interviewing for the director of Health Services position and the Math Specialist position. They are beginning the process for the director of Pupil Personnel. He said that he will get the new superintendent involved in the hiring process, even if the person is not going to start until the summer.

"I would want to be involved in hiring my team," he said.

Mr. Nast also added that he was worried about the quality of the pool of candidates given the impending budget cuts.

Also at the meeting, Robert Polselli, the Director of IT, presented the BOE the district's new web site (which launched officially yesterday) that his team built. He stressed that the website is a dynamic tool for the entire district, on which hundreds of people will be able to post documents. It will continually be improved and updated.

Check back later today for an updated version of this story.

New NPS Website and The Khan Academy

The new NPS website launched today!  Bob Polselli, IT Director, will be presenting the new website to the BOE at tomorrow night's meeting.  I'm thrilled to not have the blue screen anymore.  What do you think of this new version?

More technology--I introduced my kids to the a very interesting web service.  The Khan Academy has 1000+ videos on YouTube covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, chemistry, biology and finance. The videos have been recorded by Salman Khan, a former hedge fund manager. My elementary school kids have seen several of the math videos and really like them.

Each video is about 8 minutes long and covers a single concept. Mr. Khan is never seen on camera. He uses a computer chalkboard to give examples as he explains each topic.  He begins with very simple concepts and gradually builds to advanced ones.

During an interview with NPR in December, Mr. Khan explained that he began the project three years ago as a way to tutor his niece in math. She lived in New Orleans while he was living in Boston. He just kept recording different topics and found that he had a following on YouTube.

Mr. Khan has quit his job and now records YouTube videos full time. His videos are watched around the world and Microsoft awarded him an Innovation in Education award.

P.S. My youngest son's name is Salman too!

Kimmel Weighs In On Budget

This is a guest blog by Bruce Kimmel.  Mr. Kimmel served on the Board of Education from August 2005-February 2009.  Before that, he was on the Common Council from 1997-August 2005, serving as Finance Chair for part of that time. Mr.Kimmel is a fourth grade teacher in a New York City public school.


In early January, the Board of Education and members of the public listened to a presentation of the Superintendent’s recommended operating budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year. The recommendation, which totaled roughly $155 million, amounted to a 3.4% increase in spending over the current budget. The next evening, the Board approved the Superintendent’s request without changing anything, even though two members, Ms. Haynie and Mr. Colarossi, raised a number of questions and urged more discussion before sending the budget to the Board of Estimate and the Common Council. 

It is important to note that during the weeks before the Board endorsed the budget request (the vote was 7 to 2, with Haynie and Colarossi voting no) they had been urged by the Mayor and other city officials to craft a budget with a zero percent increase. The reason, of course, was the tough economic times that have reduced the city’s revenues and have forced other city departments to come in with near-zero percent increases. The Board rationalized its quick endorsement of a 3.4% increase by announcing that they would immediately get to work cutting the budget, that they wanted to “get the ball rolling,” even though the Council and the BET probably had no intention of altering their budget deliberation timelines. I have been told that the Board has yet to begin what is called the “reconciliation process.” Which makes perfect sense because a budget can’t be reconciled until a spending limit is imposed.
 
The Board’s approval of the Superintendent’s request with very little debate placed an unfair burden on the Council, whose job is to set a total spending cap for the city, and the BET, whose job is to decide exactly how much the BOE should receive for the next fiscal year. Thus, the cuts that the Board will undoubtedly have make in the coming months can easily be attributed to the “draconian” decisions of the other city agencies. This is called shirking one’s responsibility as an elected official.
 
Members of the Board and BOE administrators have recently been pointing out that the 3.4% spending increase is a “status quo” budget; by that they mean all of the increase can be attributed to contractual obligations related to salaries and benefits. They also have said that it would take about $5 million in additional cuts to reduce the budget to current levels, which would be the zero increase city officials have requested. In general terms, they have predicted gloom and doom for the next school year if they are forced to make the additional cuts. In fact, they make it seem next to impossible to make such extensive cuts without seriously harming the school system.

Some members of the public and city officials have urged the unions in the school system to open up and renegotiate their contracts, assuming that this will lead to substantial savings. This is complicated under Connecticut law; unions cannot be forced to renegotiate anything that already has the force of law behind it. I should mention, however, that the Norwalk Federation of Teachers has renegotiated its contracts with the BOE several times in recent years and the city has benefited to the tune of several million dollars in savings. Also, the most recent contract between the BOE and the NFT had a net increase of zero because the union agreed to reductions in health care costs. Putting aside this complex and often controversial issue, let’s look at the alternative: finding savings in the budget itself.         

I’ve had a chance to look over the BOE budget and have come up with a series of proposals that could reduce spending. I have not had the opportunity to discuss the actual impact of these proposals or their exact costs; thus, I have estimated based on past experience as a member of both the Common Council and the Board of Education. The proposals, I believe, do not directly impact what goes on in the classroom, but they may indeed cause modifications in some teaching and school-based procurement practices. Below are my proposals, which, I should stress, are meant to generate discussion. There are many factors to consider, which I am not in a position to address, before positions are actually eliminated.  

The Board’s budget proposal projects a net increase in enrollment next year of 60 students. I have assumed that any additional increases in enrollment will not be in clusters but will be evenly distributed across the system, thus allowing for the removal of the 7 reserve teachers from the budget for a savings of about $500,000. (I calculated each teacher’s salary plus benefits to be about $70,000.) If there is a need for additional teachers in the coming months, I believe the Board should discuss this with the Mayor and the BET, and should initiate the process for a special appropriation or another type of transfer of funds.

Regarding the chart on page 9 of the budget: I would freeze at current levels the accounts for Professional and Technical Services, Property Services, Other Services, Supplies and Materials, and Other Objects for a savings of $1, 603, 328. Another possibility that may have to be discussed is to reduce four of these accounts (excluding Other Objects, which is not that large) – which range from $10.5 million to about $2 million – by $150,000 for an additional savings of $600,000. We are thus talking about a potential savings of around $2.2 million from these particular accounts.

I believe the state legislature has indicated that it is not necessary to implement the new suspension system; thus, the in-school suspension officer request can be cut for a savings of $119,070.

Regarding the Human Resources Department: It is projected to have 1 assistant director, 1 executive secretary, 1 administrative secretary, and 1 “team leader” for security. I would consider eliminating this last position for a possible savings of $70,000 (salary plus benefits).

Regarding the Department for Curriculum and Instruction: It is proposed to increase Reserve Class Size Aides from zero to 2. I would remove that item for an estimated savings of about $60,000. More importantly, I would propose having the 4 projected instructional specialists report directly to the director of the department and remove the Director of Elementary Education position for an estimated savings of about $150,000 (salary plus benefits).

Regarding the Department of Pupil Personnel Services: I believe we could live without an assistant director position (savings of $150,000) and we could probably remove 1 of the 3 assistant supervisor positions (savings $120,000).
 
Regarding the Finance Department: Eliminate the Grants Bookkeeper (savings of $70,000).

Regarding the Information Technology Department: Perhaps we can make it without an assistant director (savings of $150,000).

Regarding the Facilities Department: Remove 1 of the two coordinators of maintenance/custodians (savings of $150,000) and eliminate 1 of the 6 mechanics (savings of $100,000).

Regarding the Transportation Department: Eliminate the mail clerk position (savings $60,000)
 
The above list delineates possible savings of roughly $4 million. I also suggest that discussions begin immediately on possible adjustments in our health insurance projections based on current trends. In past years, such discussions have reduced these projections considerably.

I realize that this outline might be considered draconian, and that it might anger a number of folks who work in the school system. But it is only meant to be an outline for a discussion among Board members, and between Board members and Central Office staff, as well as between the BOE and the public. 


This post reflects the views of the author and not of NorwalkNet. 

PTO Council Letter Asks for Transparency & Collaboration on Budget

This is letter from the PTO Council to the Board of Education and BET Chairman.

Dear - Central Office / BOE & BOE Finance Committee / BET Chairman,

As you prepare to discuss and decrease the educational budget by millions of dollars, frustration is rising among parents, teachers and other school employees. Cuts of this magnitude will be difficult to implement without a significant impact on our children. It's time to begin working together in new ways. We need to articulate the value of the public schools in ways that the public can understand.

Now, more than ever, the school system must be more forthcoming than in past years with detailed information to help the public understand the budget. This should be a collaborative effort.  It is unacceptable, unjust, and irresponsible to have schools pinned against each other and parents fighting at the last minute. This particular cycle cannot continue. Parents can not advocate for the system if they do not know what they are fighting for - last minute announcements are no longer acceptable.  We understand that the dramatic downturn in the economy will force a reduction in the amount of funds available to school, but transparency is key for the community to fully understand the resources and measures that will be cut to decrease the budget.

In the spirit of working together, we are asking the following:

- Based on the outcome of the Common council meeting, what are the next steps in re-evaluating the budget? 

- How is information being shared or channeled to parents?

- What options are being reviewed?

- Parent Forum

The effects of this revised budget must be known and parents should be part of the decision making process throughout the revision. We are recommending a parent forum to educate parents on the budget before the Board of Estimate & Taxation meeting on March 24th. This forum should explain the budget, line by line. It is important that the community understand the flexible vs. the contractually obligated portions of the budget.

We look forward to working with you on this very important initiative.

The PTO Council

PTO Council of Norwalk

www.PTOCouncil.org


info@PTOCouncil.org


This post reflects the views of the author and not of NorwalkNet. 

Council Sets Budget Cap: No Increase for BOE

The Norwalk Common Council voted last night for a $281 million budget cap--a 1% increase-- that will result in the BOE looking for millions in savings next school year.

The word went out in January from City Hall that departments were expected to submit zero increase budgets. However the BOE under former interim Superintendent Bill Papallo submitted a budget of $155 million – a 3.4% increase from last year’s expenditure.  The bulk of the additional money in the BOE’s proposal was to meet contractual obligations with teachers and administrators for benefits, pensions, and increased pay. No additional programming or staff were included in the "status quo" budget.

Many school administrators and union officials were present at the council meeting and spoke during the public comments section in support of the BOE’s proposed budget, but to no avail.

“There’s no way that a cut in spending will not have an impact on student achievement,” said current interim Superintendent Michael Nast. “There is a lot of anxiety in our schools right now.”

(Mr. Nast also said that the BOE was in the process of interviewing a finalist for superintendent as the meeting was going on.  Refreshing candor from our new interim!)

Bruce Mellion, President of the NFT, called zero increase on the school budget "unconscionable, unnecessary and irresponsible."

"We have always done our part," said Mr. Mellion referring to the the changes in healthcare plans and minor raise negotiated as part of the coming year's teacher contract.

Council member Laurel Lindstrom (D) said, "Our children only go through the school system once. Eliminating a school program is not the same as holding off on other things."

Council Member Nora King asked why the city was being given a 1% increase but not the schools.  Tom Hamilton, the City's Director of Finance, replied that much of the increase was related to benefits and pension contribution of which non union BOE members were a part.

Democrats on the Common Council made a motion, initiated by Council Member Calvin Hilliard (D) to meet the BOE half-way by proposing a $3 million increase to the city’s budget in order to accommodate the BOE’s needs, but the Republican majority, 9-5, shot them down.

"Let me remind you that the BOE budget is not being cut," said Council Member Nick Kydes (R).  "It is a zero increase, just like all the other city departments. This is the prudent thing to do."

“ Nobody wants to take anything away from the classroom, but there are areas to cut,” said  Council Member Joanne T. Romano (R). “You have to find a way to do it.”

Fred Wilms, Chair of the Board of Estimation and Taxation (BET), said in an interview during the break  that the BOE should start to work with its unions immediately on renegotiating contracts awarded last year. “It’s unprofessional to wait until June to look wage freezes, early retirements and furlough days,” he said.

Over the next couple of months, the BET will work with the Superintendent's office to set a formal limit on the BOE budget, due in May. A public hearing on the budget is set for March 24th.  The BOE makes up 60 percent of the city's operating budget.  

New Gig at The Daily Norwalk

I recently accepted a job as an editor and reporter for a news company called Main Street Online, which is launching local news websites around the country, including in Norwalk.  The Norwalk site is called TheDailyNorwalk.com and it is scheduled to launch in mid-April.  

My beat is schools in Norwalk and surrounding towns; I'll be covering school events, profiling interesting students, teachers and staff and covering the BOE.  

I'd love to get interesting story ideas from you.  Do you know a teacher that is using an innovative method?  A student that has a unique skill or is helping our community in a meaningful way?  Is there a special event in your school that you'd like to see get wider coverage?  Please drop me a note at norwalknet@gmail.com.    

I will continue my work with NorwalkNet on the side, focusing on issues of leadership, governance and interesting state and national educational trends.

Eight Habits Kids Should Learn

I'm back from the winter break. I hope you enjoyed time with your family. We went to San Antonio, Texas, to visit my sister and her family. I got my fill of breakfast tacos and BBQ. We even went to the rodeo! My sister called to say the weather in San Antonio was 75 degrees today. Meanwhile the weatherman here is calling for more snow later this week so the kids might be at home again.

As I get back into the the swing of things, I came across an interesting piece in "Class Struggles," the Washington Post's education blog written by Jay Mathews. In it he suggests that there are some core skills that children need to learn at school beyond the 3Rs emphasized in No Child Left Behind.

Mathews explains:

The habits of the heart are probably learned almost as much at school as at home. But which ones can we reasonably expect teachers to address? What should we look for to make certain these unmeasurable immeasurable but invaluable traits are being reinforced?

You can read his piece for a full explanation of each one but here are the 8 that he came up with. Feel free to comment on whether you agree or to add your own.

Jay's list includes:

1. Organization
2. Music
3. Teamwork
4. Exercise
5. Friendship
6. Arguing (I think he really meant debating)
7.  Thinking critically
8. Presentation

BOE Denies NASA Grievance

This story is based on notes taken by James McDonald and written by Moina Noor.

The BOE rejected tonight by a vote of 6 to 2  a grievance filed by Norwalk's Administrators' union over the hiring of Carol Marinaccio,  the new Director of Elementary Education. There was one abstention.

The incident highlights a growing division on the Board between members elected last year and long-serving Democrats and Republicans. 

During a special meeting held at City Hall, the BOE heard from Tony Ditrio, the President of the Norwalk Association of School Administrators (NASA) and Faye Ruotolo, Norwalk Public Schools Director of Human Resources. William Connan of the law firm Sullivan, Schoen, Campane & Connon, LLC which represents the BOE also spoke.

Mr. Ditrio, who is also a Principal at Kendall Elementary, gave a 45 minute explanation of the grievance starting with a timeline, from his perspective, of the process used by the BOE to fill the position over the past two years that it has been vacant.

According to the NASA grievance the BOE violated its contract with the Administrators’ union because present administrators are supposed to be given a preference for promotions.  According the grievance during the Central Office’s screening process a current employee, with the highest qualification, was eliminated from consideration. the BOE also violated its own Diversity Employment Plan and Commitment to Affirmative Action because the committee that was formed to interview the candidates for the position is not identified in the contract as being part of the process.  (Two Elementary Principals, an Assistant Principal and an Instructional Specialist interviewed candidates for the Director of Elementary School position).

Finally, the grievance states that Ms. Marinaccio was hired without any parent involvement, which the Board had deemed an essential part of the process the last time this position was filled.


Ms. Ruotolo countered that all the necessary central office guidelines in hiring  Ms. Marinaccio had been followed.

A question period followed in which board member Steve Colarossi asked Ms. Ruotolo about the role  of parental involvement in the screening committee.

BOE member Sue Haynie asked Ms. Ruotolo about candidate qualifications and how they played a role in the screening process.

The BOE then went into executive session to consider the arguments put forth by the the union and the administration. Board members Glenn Iaonaconne, Jack Chiarramonte, Susan Hamilton, Jody Bishop Pullan and Heidi Keyes voted against the grievance.  BOE members Steve Colarossi and Sue Haynie voted for the grievance. BOE member Erin Halsey abstained.

Problems with Teacher Training in CT, Test and Study Show

(I will not be posting stories during February break.  Have a good week and I'll start posting again on Feb. 21)

Two new reports indicate that Connecticut teachers are not making the grade. Statistics released by the State Board of Education shows that about one third of prospective teachers are not passing the new Foundations in Reading test which is now a prerequisite to getting credentialed as an elementary school teacher. Also, last month a study released by the National Council of Teachers gave Connecticut a D+ for its preparation of teachers.

The state began administering the  Foundations in Reading examination, which tests knowledge on teaching reading to children, last year because of the state's concern about lackluster reading scores among elementary school children, in particular low-income and minority students. 

Robert Frahm of the CT Mirror had an excellent story on this subject in the CT Mirror yesterday (The Connecticut Mirror is a new online newspaper,  launched last month, that has excellent investigative stories by some of CT best reporters.)

According to the article, about one in three students at teacher preparation programs in colleges and universities across the state have failed the exam.

Failure rates exceeded 40 percent at some of the state's largest teacher preparation programs, including the campuses of the Connecticut State University system.

"I'm rightly alarmed," said state Education Commissioner Mark McQuillan. "It's clear to me there hasn't been enough attention to the science" of teaching reading, he said. "You can't teach something well that you don't know."

The exam consists of 100 multiple-choice questions and two essay questions, and has been used in Massachusetts since 2002. It is teaches systematic reading methods including phonics.

When the new certification test was introduced, "there was a lot of pushback. There were a lot of people who protested," said Margie Gillis, a research scientist at Haskins Laboratories, a New Haven research institute specializing in language and literacy.

Gillis is a proponent of the test and of an approach that emphasizes skills such as phonics, vocabulary, spelling, fluency and comprehension. She said some professors may be unfamiliar with the latest methods or may disagree with their importance - a remnant of the intense, decades-old debate over how to teach beginning readers. In that debate, some educators have downplayed the skills-oriented strategy in favor of a literature-based approach.

 The disappointing results on the test are making colleges and universities in the state question their methods of teaching reading.

At Southern, Professor David Levande has been conducting review classes to help students prepare for the exam.

"The main reason they're not doing well is it's just a very rigorous test," he said. "It is taking awhile for faculty and courses to get up to speed with the objectives of the test." But, he said, "I haven't seen anything that correlates student performance on the test with their ability to teach reading in the classroom."

As reported by Danbury's News Times the National Council of Teachers study gave Connecticut a C for delivering well-prepared teachers; a B- for expanding the teaching pool; a D+ for identifying effective teachers; an F for retaining effective teachers; and a C for exiting those deemed ineffective.

The report criticizes Connecticut for awarding tenure virtually automatically, for failing to make evidence of student learning the heart of teacher evaluations, for not ensuring that elementary teachers are well prepared to teach mathematics, and for not ensuring that special education teachers have subject-matter knowledge.