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NJ Spotlight - Dealing with Bullies Back in NJ Legislature’s Court...Little-known state council directs lawmakers to fix unfunded state mandate
NJ Spotlight - 'Hybrid' Charters Will Meld Online Lessons With Conventional Instruction…Education 'entrepreneur' to bring new type of school to two of New Jersey’s toughest cities
The Record - Kelly: Teachers turn to subtler protests over contracts
By John Mooney, January 30, 2012 in Education|Post a Comment
A little-know state council has found itself in the spotlight with its decision that New Jersey’s anti-bullying law represents an unfunded state mandate. The question now: How is the legislature going to fix the problem?
The Council on Local Mandates on Friday ruled that the new law laying out specific procedures and staffing in every school represented an unfunded requirement that is not permitted under the state constitution.
But the council gave the state a lot of latitude to address its concerns, saying the ruling would not go into effect until it filed its formal opinion in about 60 days. It all but implored Gov. Chris Christie and the legislature to take action in that time.
“It should be fixed, but that is the job of the legislature and the governor,” said John Sweeney, a former Superior Court judge who heads the panel.
Deliberations of the bipartisan, nine-member panel are more reminiscent of a local town council than a legal authority with final say. Over three hours, the council met in an otherwise quiet Statehouse and heard from lawyers for the state and representatives of the Allamuchy School District, which brought the complaint. Several times, council members bickered with each other over questioning and procedure.
In the end, the council voted 7-2 that provisions requiring anti-bullying specialists and training should have come with state funding for it to be legal. Allamuchy said the costs of such measures, including union-required stipends for the added duties, came to about $20,000 for the two-school district in Warren County.
One of the dissenting votes came from Sharon Weiner, an attorney from Morristown, who said it could be a matter for the state to simply provide some funding to help districts. A fund was created by the law to assist districts, but no money was ever appropriated for it.
“We are hoping that within 60 days the legislature gets the message that they need to provide some funding,” Weiner said.
But whether that happens or legislators find other means is the question. The chief Assembly sponsor of the new law issued a statement Friday that was critical, even dismissive, of the council and its decision.
“This rarely used, shadowy fourth branch of government voted behind closed doors to dismantle a law sponsored by two-thirds of the legislature and approved and signed into law by the governor,” said Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen).
Vainieri Huttle did not elaborate on what steps she would seek, but vowed that action was forthcoming. “Rest assured we will review the council’s decision thoroughly to find a way to make this law workable for everyone,” she said.
Others said they did not expect additional state money to be provided, at least not in the current state budget. But changes might be sought in the legislation itself to give districts some latitude and maybe provide some state resources to help in training and other provisions.
Among specific provisions that Allamuchy challenged were requirements for anti-bullying specialists and coordinators in every school and district, respectively, and for specific training for all school staff.
“I just think it needs to be clarified,” said Ilan Plawker, vice president of the State Board of Education, who has been outspoken on the issue and attended Friday’s hearing. “I really don’t think you need to change that much, just clarify how this can work.”
Plawker said also under discussion has been new language indicating that it is a constitutional right for students to be free from harassment in their schooling.
The state’s lawyers had maintained that the law was part of a “thorough and efficient” education as dictated by the constitution, and hence exempt from the council’s jurisdiction.
Whatever the remedy, Plawker also said the council’s offer of 60 days is not a wide window.
“It’s not a lot of time when you see how the legislative process works,” he said. “It will be fast and furious, if it is going to happen at all.”
NJ Spotlight - 'Hybrid' Charters Will Meld Online Lessons With Conventional Instruction…Education 'entrepreneur' to bring new type of school to two of New Jersey’s toughest cities
By John Mooney, January 30, 2012 in Education|3 Comments
A great deal was made of the Christie administration’s last round of charter school approvals, and the lack of any suburban charters on the list.
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But the urban ones that were approved are interesting in themselves, including two in Trenton and Newark that are trying a new model of education, mixing online learning with face-to-face instruction in a setting unlike any other in the state.
Or at least that’s the pitch.
The person making the pitch is Ben Rayer, a self-described education “entrepreneur” out of Philadelphia who won approval to bring the new model to two of New Jersey’s toughest cities.
Newark Preparatory Charter School and Trenton Preparatory Charter School follow what some call part of the “hybrid” model of schooling that combines the online with more recognizable classroom approaches. Rayer said in an interview this weekend that it’s not all that radical.
‘We are trying to take the best of both worlds, and take the things that are out there today and are successful,” he said. “All we are doing is taking the effective practices that have been used, and applying today’s tools to make that work.”
Rayer is no newcomer to charters. He is the former president and chief operating officer of Mastery Charter Schools, the Philadelphia-based network that has largely won praise for its work in improving some of that city’s lowest-performing schools.
Rayer left Mastery, which mainly uses traditional classrooms and methods, in 2008 for a stint in the Philadelphia public schools. Despite his experience, his plans for Newark and Trenton will likely stir up some debate in New Jersey.
Online learning continues to be an unproven phenomenon in many critics’ eyes, and one most often connected with private for-profit interests. The effectiveness of its teaching have already drawn questions in two other charter schools approved for next fall, which would be almost entirely online.
Rayer, founder of Touchstone Education, a charter management organization (CMO), does not hide that he hopes to take his model national. He has already drawn impressive sums from some big names in education reform.
One is the Charter School Growth Fund in Colorado, which is putting up more than $3.6 million for Rayer’s CMO. The fund is headed by Kevin Hall, the former president of the Broad Foundation, a big force in education reform circles.
Rayer’s dual involvement with both the CMO and as a founder of the schools drew some questions from New Jersey’s Office of Charter Schools' staff in reviewing the application. The agency stressed in its initial review that the school must ultimately select a CMO through a public bidding process. An addendum said that such a process would be followed.
But it’s not just the technology that’s different. The school’s application said the model is based on personalized learning, with each child on a course of study customized to his or her level. They would just as commonly study in workstations, much like an office setting, Rayer said, where they work online and teachers would come to them as they need help.
The approach is detailed in the application:
· Online learning is used as the basis for developing basic skills and concepts in all curricular areas.
· Mini lessons are used to introduce new content and (state curriculum) standards for instructional units.
· Seminars provide personalized instruction and intervention and the application and synthesis of learning.
· Finally, demonstration allows for the evidence of standards mastery through problem solving, writing, and presentations. Students work on different subjects at their own pace and advance through mastery of the subject matter as determined by daily informal assessments.”
It would be a longer school day and longer school year, although Fridays would be a shorter schedule for students, as teachers use the time to go over data to plan and reflect on their lessons. The so-called Data Analysis Days are a trademark of the Mastery Charter Schools in Philadelphia.
Teachers would be divided into their own tracks as well, with master teachers, senior teachers, and associate teachers. Rayer even asked in his application for a waiver from the state’s tenure laws, allowing him more freedom for hiring and firing teachers. The bid was turned down as something not allowed under New Jersey statute.
Another waiver request is still pending, he said, that would allow multiple schools under the same charter, even if not in adjoining communities. Although he received separate approvals for both Trenton and Newark, Rayer would prefer they be one charter, which would give him more flexibility to add schools.
There is some uncertainty about the Trenton campus, at least for next fall, he said. If it opens, the application says it would be located off Jersey Street in Trenton, amid a complex of state and county offices and warehouses.
The Newark opening next fall is more certain, Rayer said, with a location still to be finalized but expected to be in the downtown area of the city. He said the national headlines of the Newark’s school reform efforts drew him to the city, including the $100 million Facebook gift and Gov. Chris Christie’s appointment of a new superintendent, Cami Anderson.
“The excitement around reform is very interesting to us,” he said. “We want to be in a place that wants to see change.”
And Rayer said the money helped, too, with considerable foundation support in the city right now.
“This will allow us to experiment to see what the real model would look like,” he said. “What has been proposed is something that really hasn’t been done elsewhere.”
The Record - Kelly: Teachers turn to subtler protests over contracts
Sunday, January 29, 2012 Last updated: Monday January 30, 2012, 9:13 AM
By MIKE KELLY
RECORD COLUMNIST
As protests go, this one did not seem like much.
In Rochelle Park, teachers protested the pace of contract talks by limiting student artwork displayed on bulletin boards.
But when it comes to teachers and their contracts, these are different times
When teachers at Midland School in Rochelle Park wanted to demonstrate their concern that contract negotiations with the school district had stalled, they did not pick up picket signs or call in sick.
They merely stopped hanging as much student work as they once did on bulletin boards.
Instead of smothering the elementary school's hallways with student papers, drawings and other classroom achievements, teachers hung just six examples of students' work on each bulletin board.
"It's a statement that they are trying to make," said Bert Ammerman, Rochelle Park's interim school superintendent. "They put up six pieces of student work on every bulletin board. In a normal situation, you might have 13 or 15."
The protest, while small and nuanced, underscores the larger issue of tension between teachers and administrators that continues to simmer in many districts in the wake of Governor Christie's controversial crusade for school reform.
But the Rochelle Park incident also exposed a new level of impatience with the kinds of low-grade teacher protests that parents and administrators might have overlooked, excused or even defended only a few years ago.
The teachers had initially covered the bulletin boards with black construction paper and a single message: "Pride in Education." Then, in the afternoon before a recent school board meeting, they suddenly posted a token amount of student work on each board.
Several parents were so incensed at the bulletin board protest that they complained to the school board that night. Educators say it may be the first time in New Jersey history that teachers were criticized before a school board for not displaying enough student work.
"The kids' work should have been on the board for everyone to see," one mother said, adding that she did not want to leave the impression that "teachers aren't doing a good job in the classroom."
Another mother said: "I feel when my 8-year-old son
comes home from school and says, 'Oh, mom, all my artwork is off the board and everything's in black,' it's a little disappointing as a parent. This should be a happy environment."
Rochelle Park teachers declined to comment.
In Ridgewood, teachers embroiled in contract talks refused to volunteer to play in a recent charity basketball game to raise funds for a new student-safety plan for the village that included upgraded crosswalks, new signs and improved traffic patterns.
A Ridgewood teachers union spokesman said contract negotiations had reached a critical fact-finding stage and that teachers were "not able to volunteer their time" for the basketball game, which was sponsored by the Ridgewood Federated Home School Association. The spokeswoman said teachers instead had to "focus on gathering the data for the fact-finding process to settle the contract."
The union donated $500 to the home school association, but it hardly seemed to soothe bad feelings. With no teachers to fill out the team roster against the Harlem Wizards basketball team, the school district assembled a squad of parents and administrators.
In Clifton, yet another subtle job action took place recently.
At a PTA meeting, a parent asked for a Spanish translation of materials that were being distributed — and then suggested that a teacher might volunteer to translate.
A school administrator pooh-poohed the idea. He explained that he did not feel comfortable asking teachers for any extra work — even for a good cause – while contract negotiations were still unsettled.
Teachers in 156 school districts across the state are working under the terms of expired contracts, according to statistics from the New Jersey School Boards Association. The majority — 119 — are districts where the teachers' contracts expired last June. But teachers in 34 districts are working under contracts that expired in June 2010, and teachers in five other districts are working under contracts that expired in June 2009.
A spokesman for the school boards association, Frank Belluscio, said the recent protests are relatively modest compared to past years. For example, he said, there have been no reports of teachers refusing to write college recommendations for high school seniors.
Instead, he said, the recent low-grade job actions by teachers ranged from not attending back-to-school nights and working only during contractually prescribed hours to declining to volunteer for school-related activities and not posting student work on bulletin boards.
In Rochelle Park, the token posting did little to alleviate criticism from parents. And the criticism did little to dissuade teachers from engaging in another form of low-level protest.
Instead of coming to their classrooms early, Rochelle Park teachers arrive at 8:10 a.m., the precise time their workday is supposed to begin.
One day recently, school officials said, the teachers parked their cars on neighboring streets, leaving the lot empty.
Parents did not protest. They called the school with a different concern after seeing the empty lot: Was school closed for the day?
Email: kellym@northjersey.com Blog: northjersey.com/kelly
