>From Monday’s BOE Meeting Agenda:
ii. Approval: Contract with School Leadership, L.L.C., for Superintendent Search Dr. Brennan
Approval of a contract with School Leadership, L.L.C., New York, New York, to conduct the superintendent search at a fee of $8,000 plus reasonable and necessary expenses, subject to Board approval (expenses anticipated to be no more than $1,000).
>I hope to God that this is not the same lame and lazy firm they hired last time. ANyone know?
>What’s more important is that taxpayers register their preferences clearly.
We would like a more moderate-thinking, intellectual, middle-of-the road kind of guy or gal who is fixed on high academic achievement.
Is that too much to ask for? Apparently, though, we have to say so, or else we might get another extremist. That’s just the climate of education right now.
This would be a good time not to “go with the flow.”
>Let’s keep Brennan. Offer him 5years at the salary offered Brookes. He seems free of the fetters of contemporary Educators. He’s been around the faddist long enough to know that they are fads and serve no purpose other than the self agrandizement of the authors and publisher.
>We can’t keep Brennan. He makes his living being mr. fix it. He can be a big help, though, in finding a super superintendent (Bombace and Co. can’t possibly achieve that being always the victim of their last conversation).
I guess it’s too much to ask for a person with high education standards. All we seem to get are those who tout making every child a “lifelong learner.” I don’t want my child being made a lifelong learner for the simple reason that I want them to ultimately use their education to make decisions, form assessments; draw conclusions, have an opinion. Someone trained to believe in aiming for lifelong learning will always feel inadequate to those tasks. They become lifelong followers rather than leaders.
But that’s the gameplan they seem to have for our children. As an education collective, THEY HATE THE ELITE (notice no merit pay in the public school system). But as George Will said, “Get over it! There will always be an elite.”
>Wanted. Superintendent to lead school district.
Immediate work needed to be done:
– Restore home to school trust with clear expectations of the school
– Remove reform math programs TERC2 and CMP2 immediately as Administrator should be a proponent of world class practices and opponent of educational fads and failed practices.
– Restore gifted education with a dedicated budget amount for each school and document clear accelerated work goals in each school for such students.
– Restore content and academic achievement as the primary goal of our educational system across K-8.
– Revamp curriculum department to provide world class standards (capable of an A rating by an independent foundation) across all subject matters. Standards should de-emphasize pedagogy and emphasize knowledge to be learned and mastered.
Short Term Work To Be Done
– Perform an accounting of how much tutoring community has provided over the past 5 years. Of importance is the WHY behind the various tutoring and also the personal cost (time,money) spent. Offer plan of action for district to improve upon providing and meeting the needs over outside services.
– Eliminate authentic assessment and document the clear, concise, objective assessment that must be done for the students.
– Dissolve PRISM & Grant Wiggins affliations.
– Make a mission statement of Ridgewood Public Schools to be to provide an education to its children worthy of a world class ranking. And document that world class standards (This should effectively eliminate all dependence on standars from private teacher organizations, wich as NCTM)
– Must be good with large budgets but be sure budgets will now provide textbooks and workbooks to students in all grades.
– Must be able to provide oversight of curriculum and instruction group to develop acceleration flight plans for our top performing students (those that are not tested as gifted but are operating above the group). Ability grouping. Eliminate over dependence on group work; especially in those age groups where inappropriate (K-8).
– Must be willing tackle open campus issue at the High School, violence in the school and holding accountable all involved.
– Provide a strong voice in the community to ensure saftey of student environment (construction for 10+ years near a middle school should be a cause for concern by the school district and voiced by a capable leader)
– Be proactive and open and accountable. For example, provide cost of materials when the local reporter asks for it or hold accountable the department, supervisor, for the answer. Require your leadership team to return phone calls, emails, letters promptly and to follow through on answering questions to the satisfaction of the inquiring person.
And finally, recognize this is a partnership with the community but since we pay for this respect our voice as being as important as yours.
Administrator with an affection for educational fads need not apply. Administrator must value content knowledge and have demonstrated such work in prior districts. Adminisrator seeking glory or publication need not apply. Administrator will be subject to googling.
>We should look for a new BOE first, then search for a new Super.
Otherwise the guy/gal will just be another puppet to the brainless bunch that’s called the BOE.
Maybe Mr. Fix it can make it through a voter recall of the BOE.
He should help in the selection of the new Super.