>I’m Lovin’ Our Board of Education Right Now
June 5, 2008 ·
I attended the June 3rd Washington Township Board of Education meeting and I was very pleased. You should be pleased because unlike other Board of Eds in towns like Ridgewood NJ, your BOE listened to the concerned parents and are going to review our K-8 math curriculum. To recap here’s what they talked about on Tuesday:
The Education Committee reported that they supported a review of our math curriculum to examine what’s working, what’s not, and offer improvements
They are forming a committee in the summer to review the math curriculum
They are writing a letter back to the community that basically will say “we heard you” and here’s what we are going to do (I’m guessing because I didn’t actually get to read the letter).
I spoke with several board members before and after the meeting and every one was very supportive of listening to our concerns and evaluating the curriculum. That also includes Interim Superintendent John Sakala who I had a one on one meeting with last Friday. I also spoke with Board President Michelle Skurchak and she was very supportive and seemed happy to help. Here’s what appeared in the May 13th minutes that hinted at board action:
Members of the public commented on the Everyday Math program; equal time should be given to science and social studies in addition to math; request for an update on the gifted and talented program; grouping of students in Middle School classes; and board member e-mail addresses and answering of e-mail in a timely manner. Mr. Sakala commented that the board hears the concerns about Everyday Math and that time is needed to look into the matter. The meeting was closed to the public at 8:37 p.m. “
I stood up and addressed the board after they outlined their plan . So I don’t bore you anymore, here’s a quick synopsis:
I thanked the BOE for listening to the parents who raised concerns
I handed a copy of the petition (without your emails) to Interim Superintendent John Sakala
I volunteered to be on the evaluation committee and offered to help recruit more people
Right now perhaps some of you supporters are not satisfied with just a review and wanted an outright recall. Obviously as the person that started this noise you may be upset with me, but please don’t be. This is a great solution for our community.
There are plenty of parents who believe that Everyday Math works for their kids and are happy with the program. There are obviously a lot of you that want it removed. We could all just dig our heels in and have this town become a casualty in the math wars like Ridgewood or we can all work together and come up with the best solution that is right for our town.
Right now our Board of Education did they right thing and it is my hope that changes will be made to the curriculum. I have some ideas that I’d like to see implemented, but until then the best thing you can do is raise your hand and volunteer for the committee when our Board of Education is ready.
Thanks again for your support. It meant a lot to me to know that there were/are so many supporters out there. As one board member said to me, “it isn’t easy to be a lightning rod” and he is correct. However, running into you at baseball games, restaurants, town events, and etc provided me with a huge boost to keep going. Please don’t stop now, because we still have some work to do.
Peace,
Eric
