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Letters to Boardside: |
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From mag38_8327@yahoo.com I thought you might get a kick out of
Tassone's house he bought in Las Vegas Nevada with Roslyn's tax
dollar's He lived [there]
with his 34yr. old male stripper boyfriend.
From perry54@earthlink.net Dear Peter: From mark@jblawyer.com Look up John Taylor Gatto. He has quiet a lot to say about teaching. REPLY From Random Jottings: Thanks for the tip. John Taylor Gatto has had a remarkable career as a scriptwriter, documentary-record producer, entrepreneur, and public-school teacher. He has been both New York State and New York City Teacher of the Year, and he has been writing about education for over 15 years. He has attracted some controversy, but his Web site and his books and articles will certainly make you think. From Kevin.Drew@SFGOV.ORG Peter, Interesting musings, I'll read on. I appreciate your perspective. I'm the father of 3 kids in school out in Northern CA, watching and participating in the struggle to see my kids learn, so far so good. I grew up in Delmar, and am the product, along with my 4 siblings, of Bethlehem Central School District. One brother and one sister still live there, mildly active and always engaged with the schools.Learned about your blog from Jim Kunstler's site, an excellent read. We've just selected a new superintendent in SF, should be entertaining as SF politics always are. Glad to have access to another viewpoint on matters in my old stomping grounds. Interestingly, everything we do locally has national and international impacts thanks to Web - even if only one person reads and is moved by it. Good Luck. REPLY From Random Jottings: Kevin, thanks so much for e-mailing, and glad we could keep you in touch with your roots. Your last paragraph is spot-on. Reading the Web is a bird's-eye view of the planet. From jbloom@uamail.albany.edu Thanks so much for your e-mails, and again, I found the SUNY-Albany report on undergraduate writing fascinating. My site has only been fully operational for a few days, and yes, I do know something about my readers. According to my visitor stats I'm 28th out of 1355 sites that are being tracked. My readers are coming from all over, California, Massachusetts, New Zealand, China, from a number of colleges and universities and just plain folks who are interested in public education. As you can imagine, I'm also being read by people in my district, some happily, some not. Dear Peter Golden: First, how I found you. James Howard Kunstler's link on his home page, recommending that readers peruse it, led me to your site. Then I chose to read your current postings (Random Jottings II, June 21st-present). Within your June 29th post you mentioned the observation that there are no shortcuts to a good education, or critical thinking. . .That reminded me of something my late wife Rebecca often said: a computer is not a substitute for a good teacher. She was a pre-school/Kindergarten teacher, and while she used our Apple Macintosh LCII computer at home extensively to prepare her lessons and materials, she was insistent that a similar computer available in her classroom be used sparingly, and then only as a reward for students who completed their class work early. Her school board, along with many others, were convinced that having computers in the classroom would help students be competitive (as it was endlessly said and believed at the time), despite a 1992 MacWorld expose of computers in the classroom which clearly demonstrated otherwise. She felt it was an entertaining gadget at best. And she was very fussy about finding software for it that met her standards of what she considered good educational software. There are apparently lots of educational software programs out there, but nearly all of them she discarded for one reason or another, once she got a chance to actually sit down and run them. She found many reasons: navigational problems or too confusing to use; subjects not presented coherently; software was annoying to use (too loud or noisy, too repetitive in the wrong places, too much an emphasis on the cuteness or brand of character rather than on the lesson being taught); lessons taught by the program were not appropriate for her pedagogical needs, or were clearly the wrong lessons that a pre-K child should learn. Very few of the programs she evaluated, she felt would be useful for teaching students anything. This was over ten years ago. I wonder if the same holds true today. Regards. REPLY From Random Jottings: Dear Abrey: Thank you for your thoughts. I believe that schools should be careful in succumbing to the not uncommon illusion that a computer alone makes you more educated. However, the use of a computer, as a tool in the pursuit of skills and knowledge, is invaluable. That is the difference today from a decade ago: computers are stitched into the fabric of our society, and children must learn to use them. Yet even though a computer makes it easier to write, it doesn't make you a writer. Even though a computer makes it easier to calculate, it doesn't make you a mathematician. Teachers perform those functions, and they need to know where computers fit into their classrooms. True, you can't just hand out computers to students and say, "Have fun." But you can build a sound program that utilizes technology, and that is what I'd like to see done. Dear Mr. Golden, My wife and I, who live in East Berne, were delighted to read of your efforts in the public education arena (and it is that) in last week's Enterprise and today's Times Union. "Dronoid" is a masterful neologism for a mind set that extends far beyond the school systems. REPLY From Random Jottings: Dear VPorlier: I'm happy you sent your thoughts along, and I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, there has been some confusion about that word of mine, "Dronoid." It has nothing to do with someone's point of view or how they vote on a particular matter, but rather how they reach their conclusions. Do they give the issue a lot of thought? Do they evaluate all sides of the argument? Do they have personal or political motives for their views or do they keep the best interests of students and the community in mind? Do they consider the facts or just state an opinion? (The late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan often used the quote: "You're entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.") To me, Dronoid is the flip side of the pejorative "Micromanager," an insult that you will often hear from people who want to avoid looking at an issue too closely and debating its merits. Thanks for being in touch, and for giving me a chance to clear up the confusion. From Jerry@allthelaw.com Hi Peter: Congratulations for perhaps being the 1st school board
member to have a "blog" in NY. Additional accolades for
promoting the utility of conflict in a sea of consensus-seeking
eukaryotes. I'm Jerry Moore and since 1999 I've run a discussion board
covering Scotia-Glenville, state, national and international education
issues. . . . The home page for my discussion board is at REPLY From Random Jottings: Dear Jerry: Nice of you to contact me and to send along your congratulations. Perhaps I'm the first board member to put up a blog, but it would be wonderful if I wasn't the last. I am Jim Hartnett, a
taxpaying resident of Bethlehem, and the Guilderland School District.
I became aware of your blog from the TU article. REPLY From Random Jottings: Dear Jim: Your kind words are much appreciated, but I did want to address your comment regarding the teachers union. At times, the union has been an easy target for the frightening growth of our property taxes. The truth is that the union is merely doing its job by advocating for its membership. Unions are also part of the debate that should be going on between boards and administrators. If all three groups perform as I believe they should, and the people in the community come out to vote in May, then the system should work. If not, the system breaks down. It is true: Teachers unions are quite organized, but the candidates they support in school-board elections have to run against challengers. Sometimes the challengers win. Of course, I've heard things I don't agree with from union reps, but they're entitled to their opinion. And how much the union spends on school-board races across the state is an interesting question, but I don't have the answer. As to whether candidates change their positions to get this support is another good question, but again, I haven't fully explored this issue. Even if they do, the community can come out and vote against them. Which brings me to my final point. School boards are part of the Jeffersonian ideal. If people vote, they will get the candidates they want. If they stay home, that is not the fault of the union. In the end, the answer boils down to personal responsibility and whether the community as a whole is willing to hold up its end of the democratic bargain. Thanks so much for your e-mail. Have a great summer and do check back from time to time. Peter: REPLY From Random Jottings: Dear gregb: I'm so grateful that you wrote. I was hoping that NYS School Board Association e-mailing education stories around our state would spread the word about blogging. So far, so good. I'm beginning to hear from people, and I look forward to reading their blogs. From Rudycalling.com
Dear Rudycalling: Thanks so much for being in touch. You are correct: there are many costs that drive budgets, but the contracts are made by school boards, and the overall budget is voted on by the community. Again, whatever side you're on, it is important to vote. You change things by putting candidates who agree with you on the board and by your vote on the budget. I know this disappoints some people, who in some ways have given up, but I offer some advice that his sustained me, and others. Better to light one candle than curse the darkness.
First, let me express my gratitude for your blog. This is really needed. That you write well is a fabulous bonus.
Second, I want to comment on so many things you said in your blog, but will confine myself to one. That was your view stated in a response to an email on teacher unions’ influence. As I understand it you feel the system can work since a community that votes can get the board it wants, even one not supported by the unions.
This seems to presume unions are just another voice, albeit a well organized one, in the local debate between board, administration and teachers. But I see this debate occurring within a framework set by the State. And at the state level the unions’ staggering political influence has given us a rigged framework.
For example, look at the formula for contingency budgets. It essentially says the community must increase its school spending at least about the rate of inflation. Such a law not only ratchets up spending, but also prevents correcting policies subsequently seen as expensive budget errors. It makes budget size virtually immune to local debate, unless you regard niggling over a fraction of a percent as substantive.
Even in 2006, when Guilderland actually had a budget lower than the contingency budget, being a hair less it was hardly a consequential statement. Worse, it showed how budget voting is becoming a meaningless exercise. The choice was: approve this budget or your taxes will be even higher.
In effect there is no significant community control over school budgets. This is the result of State mandated framework constraints. The odds of any school board overcoming them are miniscule, just as the teacher unions expected when lobbying for them. Dear brus: First off, how nice of you to compliment my writing. My English teachers from junior high and high school would be proud, and they should be, for they are the ones who taught me how to write, setting a standard of excellence through meticulous attention to detail. By that I mean spelling, grammar, and thinking through what exactly you wanted to say. It was good discipline, and I believe writing well--in fact, all academic excellence--is rooted in the excellence produced by applying the seat of your pants to the seat of a chair: in other words, discipline. Thomas Jefferson once referred to intellectual work as manual labor, and that has been my experience. As for your general concern about budgets being immune to local debate: That has not been my experience. I have seen budgets revised by comments made at our Citizens Budget Advisory Committee and certainly through input by the board. From what I have observed administrators put together budgets with an eye toward passing them. If it were not that way here I would tell you. I have frequently disagreed with their choices, but that doesn't mean all the employees involved in producing the budget don't undergo a fair amount of anxiety until that budget is passed. I was there during the 2006 budget, and I can say with relative certainty that had the community turned down that budget, it would not have been raised. That's not a game that this superintendent or board would play. It's too disrespectful to the community. At bottom the answer to controlling budgets is found in one place: the voting booth: In Guilderland we often have candidates with a variety of views on this subject, and you should pick the ones who agree with you, and perhaps bring a number of your neighbors along to vote. Same with the budget. You just have to vote--year in, year out. And never give up. Once again, thanks so much for writing. And do enjoy your summer.
Peter, REPLY From Random Jottings: Dear rsavage: You raise some interesting questions about parents' groups. I happen to believe they are quite valuable, and personally I would enjoying seeing a blog that outlined their concerns. The PTA serves a different function, but they, too, make an enormous contribution to our district. As for being sued by administrators and teachers: I've never heard of such a thing, though I know in our district there has been some controversy when parents come forward. I see it as a clash of opinions, and while that can get uncomfortable for all involved, I think the discussion is healthy. I would not like to see personal attacks taken at people who work at the schools: after all, they are doing the best they can. Barring any cheap shots I believe your idea is an excellent one, and I would look forward to reading the comments. I hope you have a wonderful summer.
From dmeeusen@nycap.rr.com
REPLY From Random Jottings:
Dear dmeeusen: And I say thank you for the kind words and for writing. By definition, a blog, short for Web log, is a publicly accessed journal: One of our board members seemed to be confused by the definition, believing that only an immediately interactive site is a blog. Those type of blogs require an administrator to mediate--to prevent "flaming," where anger boils and people send out cheap shots. Since I work a day job and do this for free, I wouldn't be around to perform that function. Still, if you e-mail me I will post and respond. I wholeheartedly agree with you that blogs are a new way for very busy people to be in touch. Yet blogs do represent a threat to those who would like a public process to be conducted in private, for those who don't want their thinking and votes to be scrutinized by the taxpayers who will have to fund the outcomes of their decisions. In my view, since the schools are run on public money, the decision-making process should be as clear as a perfect summer sky. Sadly, there are those who prefer the weather to be cloudy and threatening rain. You can easily tell the difference between the two groups by watching our board meetings. Enjoy your summer.
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