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June 12, 2007 VORMATH.INFO
Open Letter.
The mothers at VORMATH.INFO are deeply saddened that we need to provide the following public statement.
We have represented our families, our town, and ourselves in a respectful manner in this discourse on math curricula.
This Tuesday, we learned of Dr. Martin Brooks’ decision to withdraw as Ridgewood Public Schools’ next Superintendent. Dr. Brooks cited personal reasons. To speculate as to the nature of those personal reasons would be disrespectful .
For us, it has always been about the math.
We would like to see a more rigorous and mainstream math program in our schools. We believe in our fundamental right to express respectful public comment at Board of Education meetings, to create and sign a petition, and to speak freely to the press.
We have read through curriculum reviews and state standards because this is an intellectual debate. We have articulated to the best of our ability our personal experiences as well as the information we have found in support of our position.
We are an example of Ridgewood’s community and its values.
Chick here to sign the petition
https://vormath.info/WordPress1/
>Thank you. I have watched how you conduct yourselves at BOE meetings,and noticed how you have taken pains NOT to malign teachers or administrators. Instead, you have thanked your teachers. And, you have always kept the focus on the fuzzy math issues, rather than on personalities.
For people whoe insist on communicating rumors about about “inappropriate” behavior at BOE meetings, I challenge you to provide evidence of such “inappropriate” behavior.
It shouldn’t be that hard. After all, the tapes of BOE meetings are in the library and freely available for public view.
>I applaud all your efforts. It takes away from personal time with family and friends to undertake the tremendous amount of research and preparation you ladies have done.
We can’t all be as outspoken and many of us don’t want to invite criticism for our views.
Thank you for taking the time out of your life to help our children receive the best education possible.
That’s what we pay for. Our schools and our village will be the better for it.
>Thank you.
>Thank you so much – I wish I had your guts – I totally respect you
>Parents I talk to don’t think you’re disrespectful.
Mostly they didn’t know about the math and are wanting to know more about it.
You have provided a lot of information. The BOE has an odd response. Why are the angry when you brought things to their attention that they weren’t aware of?
I don’t have confidence in the them. They seem just to want things to be on a one way street.
They are our representatives and yet they don’t want to listen to parents who speak out.
For every one of you there are hundreds of us.
Lead on.
>The VORMath folks acted more than appropriately. One need only go to “You Tube” and view the clips there to know that any resentment or anger comes from the BOE/Administration because they were bested by this intellegent, well-informed, and hardworking group of parents.
I thank you for all of your research. I know people who have not been exposed to TERC are now standing up and taking notice thanks to you.
>Give me a break!
All you have to do is go to the beyondterc message board to see how inappropriate some of these “housewives” have been. Also, just ask the people who know them. Ask the parents from their schools and the school who have to deal with them day in and day out. They are far from professional when caught off guard and don’t have time to think about how to respond.
You state that the BOE and administrators put themselves out there and should suck it up. Well these “housewives” have also put themselves out there and need to suck it up when people stand up to them. When people do stand up to them they are very inappropriate.
But, they are so honest I am sure they will be more than happy to admit their mistakes.
This has been going on for far longer than this blog site. They were the first bullies.
>Some towns are just too precious to allow for dissenting views.
This town allows for freedom of speech, thank goodness. I hope it never changes.
Keep up the good work.
>I have to laugh that the BOE felt terrorised by some “housewives” hehehehehehehehhehehe
BTW the phone calls are police business if they are real and you should file a complaint
>thanks Dan I was going to say we have a very able police department in Ridgewood they should be able to handle some mean spirited phone calls
>A commenter said : “They are far from professional when caught off guard and don’t have time to think about how to respond.”
Has that ever happened to you? Have you ever said the wrong thing? If not, then maybe you’ve never stood for anything important. It’s when you reach outside your comfort zone and take risks that one’s error rate goes up a bit.
Everybody makes mistakes. Do you think this is easy? It’s not.
Cutting a little slack on all sides would be nice.
I, for one, certainly understand those moms who don’t want to make waves. It’s such a touchy thing when it comes to our kids.
But I’m also grateful for those with more chutzpah than I have, who are willing to stick up for what they believe. I admire that.
Do I expect them to be perfect? No.
>To 3:33: Yes, you are right. This has been going on long enough. Parents have been trying to get the administration at Travell and the Board of Ed to pay attention to Travell’s crummy test performance for years. You bet people, lots of people, are sick and tired.
>Jumping in from another district, I’m impressed as heck by what these parents have pulled off.
I also think it’s essential for the school board to take down the “not reflective of Ridgewood’s supportive community and its values” statement. Ridgewood is back in the market for a superintendent, and that market is a seller’s market, not a buyer’s. (True here in NY state, at least. Perhaps it’s different there due to different law?)
Regardless of the law, any candidate seeing that statement is going to think twice about interviewing. The fact that the board would make unsupported public accusations against parents (“anonymous phone calls”) is extremely damaging – to the board and the district, not to the parents.
I know this from painful experience. Two of our children attended a charter school that lost its ability to hire a director because of politics involving the board of the foundation that created and funded the school.
Some rank and file parents were involved as well (including my husband and me), but the problem for job candidates was the “official” parents, not the rank and file.
The Beyond TERC list – an exceedingly tame & highly educated bunch of people, btw – isn’t going to be a problem for a professional.
An openly emotional and wounded school board will be.
>There’s real progress going on here.
I liked the suggestion from a Board of Ed member at the last meeting that there’s no reason why our school district can’t exceed New Jersey standards. TERC only meets, but doesn’t exceed.
Thinking of it that way is a great start. In spite of this glitch with the superintendent, and the board’s embarassment over thir mistake, there’s real progress as we saw at last Monday’s board meeting. The BOE is really listening, and starting to get ideas for how to run with this.
I heard that this Monday night they’re going to propose a focus group. Hey, whatever is the democratic process, I’ll go with it.
As long as they’re truly democratic, which I believe they will be, at least we’re now finally on the right path.
For anyone who did not watch the BOE meeting, the Board members were very forthcoming in their willingness to study the issue, and Bombace apologized for their appearance of not having listened sooner.
>This comment is for “sick and tired.”
I was just wondering if you would share with us all what exactly it is that you’re sick and tired of?
I’m wondering if you’re looking for a venue in which to be heard. Please, share with us all. Who are you angry with? Why?
Have you done your homework? Did you know this is a national issue, not just a local one? And it’s an intellectual one, not an emotional one?
Did you know that dozens of school districts all across the U.S. have gotten rid of TERC and Everyday Math because it’s so bad?
Are you mad at them for getting rid of bad math?
I suggest doing some research first before you speak. When your kid hits middle school, you might be eating your words. Or maybe you’ll just tell yourself your kid wasn’t very good in math anyway.
>i checked out the beyondterc message board and don’t see any smoking gun there. just a straightforward discussion.
i’m tired of baseless accusations against this dedicated, reasonable group of moms.
the next time someone uses the word “inappropriate” then they should at least be specific: what exactly do they call “inappropriate”? free speech? the right to sign a petition?
i HAVE seen inappropriate behavior, but it wasn’t these moms; it was the blogger who suggested we put a flaming cross on a resident’s lawn.
thank you, moms, for helping our kids. you can’t worry about what people say. in fact, the more effective you are, the more enemies you are likely to have.
>Catherine Johnson, 5:22, not from Ridgewood at all, made one of the most insightful comments viewed thus far on this blog. The Board of Ed’s behavior is damaging to this community. Every potential employee of the Board of Ed will read the Board’s statement on their website as well as this blog and recognize the Board’s statement as an inappropriate attack on the parents. To point the finger of blame for an unsubstantiated felonious act in the direction of dissenting parents is simply a disgrace. Any and all candidates will be shocked by the defensive, angry tone that the Board has used. Members of the Board of Ed is this your unanimous voice? It sounds like the voice of your angry leader.
>The Board of Ed’s behavior is damaging to this community. Every potential employee of the Board of Ed will read the Board’s statement on their website as well as this blog and recognize the Board’s statement as an inappropriate attack on the parents. To point the finger of blame for an unsubstantiated felonious act in the direction of dissenting parents is simply a disgrace.
Catherine again.
Our own board, which suffered a painful defeat on a fields bond last December, put out a graceful statement that could serve as a model for service to the community.
Here’s the opening line:
As I am sure you are all aware, the final result of the December 20 vote on the Fields Improvement bond referendum was 845 against and 798 for. As everyone had predicted, the election was close and number of votes high. The referendum was the topic of discussion in all corners of our community. There was a spirited debate as the proposition and its merits were debated in the bagel store, on our fields, at the IEF Gala and on-line. In the end, there were many reluctant “no” votes, but there were also many “yes” votes with reservations.
The fields vote could have been very bitter, and I know at least two of the board members took it terribly hard as they had a right to do. It was a blow.
But they kept it together. That is essential.
It’s not good for the district to have a Brooks-was-run-out-of-town statement up on a school website.
Beyond TERC has nothing of that nature. The list has lots of venting & plenty of humor.
It has no suggestions that certain people have made threatening phone calls. It’s unthinkable that such a thing would appear; I expect that it would be removed if it did.
The school website is the official face of the district. That statement has to go.
The board president will have to go, too, I would think.
>Thank you for putting up that lovely example of grace in the face of defeat. Apparently none of the “no” voters were demonized. How refreshing.
>Woe unto you hypocrite, pharissee!!!
>The Reform Math supporters should take a real look at the American Institutes for Research report titled “What the United States Can Learn from Singapore’s World Class Mathematics System.” The U.S. students are woefully behind in the field of mathematics. The U.S. Department of Education’s report titled “The Implementation of Singapore Mathematics in a
Regional School District in Massachusetts 2000-2006 clearly describes their success using the Singapore Math curriculum.
It’s time for the parents to hold the School Boards of this country and teachers accountable. Reform Math is not the way to go.
macinpa
>Thank you for putting up that lovely example of grace in the face of defeat. Apparently none of the “no” voters were demonized. How refreshing.
It was amazing, and I give the Board a lot of credit — the Board and the citizens of Irvington.
Years ago, when I was teaching writing for the Johns Hopkins program, my boss told me that “the person at the top sets the tone.”
I’d never heard that before, and I’ve never forgotten it since.
Our school board set the tone.
Probably in part due to their conciliatory message to the community, a new fields bond will almost certainly be voted in.
If you don’t mind, I feel I should clarify my earlier comment about the charter school situation we were involved in. In that case my husband and I were allies of the school director the “founder parents” were attempting — successfully — to oust.
We’ve been on all sides of these things!
(And we don’t win nearly as often as we’d like.)
>”Can’t we all just…get along””