Welcome!

Welcome to Laurie Goodman's blog. I use this space to share news and opinions about education and schools in Ridgewood, the state of New Jersey and the nation, in addition to other issues I'm personally interested in. I invite you to share your thoughts, feelings, questions or opinions, too, by posting comments on any blog entry. Please observe basic courtesy -- keep your comments focused on issues, no personal attacks or bullying, please. Contact me directly at: lauriegood@mac.com

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Come out to see Jamboree!

It's that time of year again...your chance to come out to see over 100 Ridgewood High School parents sing, dance, show off their talent (some), make fools of themselves (others) and give remarkably of themselves (everyone) for the benefit of our students.

The shows are February 4th and 5th at 8:00 p.m. and February 6th at 7:00 p.m. at Ben Franklin Middle School Auditorium.

This is Jamboree's 64th year, and the theme is "And the Winner Is..."

All proceeds from Jamboree go to the Jamboree Scholarship program. The scholarships are distributed in the spring to deserving RHS students.

Tickets for reserved seats are available online at the Jamboree website (click here) or tickets may be available at the door. Parking is a challenge, so carpool to the shows!

(And yes, the Board of Ed will again have a small cameo in the performance...as further enticement to get you to come haha.)

Friday, January 29, 2010

Lessons on hope during hard times

The respected historian Howard Zinn closed his autobiography, You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train, with these words:

To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places -- and there are so many -- where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.

And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.


(Thank you to the website Rethinking Schools for the reminder.)

I'd also like to point out that Zinn stated one of my favorite quotes: Dissent is the highest form of patriotism. Smart man.

Howard Zinn passed away January 27 at age 87. Full obituary here.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

School Boards

Did I mention that the Governor declared January to be School Board Recognition Month in New Jersey? I'm just sayin'.

That reminds me...I need to update you on our mandatory membership (and paying dues to) the New Jersey School Boards Association. Seems there is actually some interest in removing the "mandatory" part of that relationship. That would be a good thing. More to follow...

Teaching empathy, or supporting our students' natural empathy

Instead of writing again about Trenton, and budgets and that kind of stuff, tonight I wished I could write about something going on in our schools on a daily basis. Something positive. A slice of the wonderful life that our students enjoy, for the most part. So much of my job as a member of the Board of Education revolves around those issues of finance and administration, if I go a few days without setting foot in a school, I start to get a little tunnel-vision. Frankly, it can be depressing (especially this budget-time-of-year). I need to re-orient my thinking and bring it down to the classroom level, to remember why I'm here. So...as I was preparing to write another boring (yet important) Trenton-based post (don't worry, I'll do it later!), I remembered the eNews I received from Somerville today...and I'm really happy to share it with you.

Somerville's principal, Dr. Lorna Oates-Santos, sent the following message (slightly edited here for length) to parents today:

Professor Nel Noddings is known for her work around the topic of the ethics of caring, particularly in the world of schools. Her most successful publication is The Challenge to Care in Schools, which focuses on developing students who are tuned in to the world around them and able to feel "productive empathy" for others. Over the past few weeks, I have often thought that Professor Noddings would really enjoy being at Somerville and get a chuckle out of the challenges that I face in regards to caring. Here are a few recent stories:

-- Two 1st grade students were in a tussle during lunch and Boy A hit Boy B with a lunchbox. At the end of the debrief session in my office, Boy A suggested the following, "Usually, after I say I am sorry, I like to give some hugs. Can I give some hugs?"

-- There have been a few graffiti incidents this year in our upstairs bathroom. After the usual warnings, I started to toughen up and informed the 4th and 5th graders that they would lose privileges if this continued. Later that day, one girl came up to me and asked, "Do you think we should start a club during lunch where we talk about what is bothering us and help find ways to work it out so that people don't get mad and write names on the bathroom stall?"

-- Each day someone comes to my office asking to start a shoe drive, a coat drive, a book drive or some other worthy program to help some worthy group. I have more "Help for Haiti" posters than wall space in this school. One student brought in her entire allowance from this year today to put in the coin drive jug for her grade.

Clearly, the ability to feel empathy, along with the capability to join together as a community for the greater good is alive and well at Somerville. Each month, we focus on a different character trait during our Open Circle Assemblies and the February 4th program will feature a discussion about caring. Several students are involved in this assembly and the next day, February 5th, we will hold two small fundraisers to benefit students in Ridgewood who are undergoing treatment for cancer. Students are asked to bring in $1 to participate in a PJ Day and $3 to buy a "Hope for Haley" bracelet. The goal is to make the donations small enough that the amounts have meaning to students and they have the ability to give on their own. Essentially, this is an opportunity for students to learn and practice "productive empathy."

However, as in so many ways, our students come to Somerville well prepared because they have witnessed "productive empathy" at home. Whether causes are local or distant, small or large, the Somerville Community is notorious for working together, digging deep and making things happen!...

At the end of the day, all of us are working to create happy children who will grow into happy adults. One important part of that is developing the IQ, and one is developing the EQ (emotional quotient). Rabbi Harold Kushner reminds all of us that, "Caring about others, running the risk of feeling, and leaving an impact on people, brings happiness." I thank you for being great role models for our students and for continuing to support the opportunities that Somerville gives you to practice your caring skills over and over again.


There are those who will say it's not the schools' business to teach anything but "the basics" (as in, reading, writing & arithmetic), and issues of character have no place in the classroom. I respectfully disagree, and I am glad to see that this additional "basic" -- empathy -- is addressed in our classrooms. It comes, naturally, from the students, themselves. That's a good thing.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Report of the NJ Education Subcommittee

I really had hoped today to write about some of the observations and recommendations in the recently-released Report of the Education Subcommittee, but I couldn't get to it today. It's a really interesting document -- parts are surprising, reassuring, confusing, frightening, hopeful and gloomy. It's a wild ride...Will try to get to it tomorrow and share my thoughts as well as a link to the complete text.

Need to get ready for tonight's meeting, now. (See you there?)

Tonight's BOE meeting agenda

Tonight's meeting of the Board of Education will include the following highlights:

-- Referendum Projects Update
-- Discussion of Ridgewood High School AP and SAT scores (relative to other districts)
-- Discussion of survey instrument to gauge post-RHS student success
-- Budget 2010-11: Revenues (obviously a lot of hypotheticals, since we don't know what's happening with our state aid, surplus, etc., but should be informative for everyone to understand where we get our funds, how they are determined, and how we estimate)

You can join us -- and bring your questions and/or comments -- at the Ed Center, Third Floor, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Or you can watch online live or archived tomorrow (click here for both) or on Cablevision Channel 77.

Click here for the complete Agenda.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Is this one of your “hard choices,” Governor Christie?

Today, on his first full day in office, Governor Christie “discovered” an additional $1 billion in debt in New Jersey, so he signed a bunch of Executive Orders to try and deal. According to the Star-Ledger, “Christie would not say how he would close the gap, other than to rule out raising taxes. He said he would try to implement a Corzine cost-cutting proposal to require school districts with excess surplus to use the money in place of state aid beginning next month.”

This is wrong, wrong, wrong. And also simply not fair. As I explained in a previous post, current state law says that any surplus the school district has at the end of a previous year must be returned to our budget in the subsequent year. OK, that’s fine. We do that and we budget for that. So in next year’s 2010-2011 budget, we would normally include about $1.3 million in surplus from last year (08-09). With this wrong-headed (and did I mention not fair?) plan, the state would hold back $1.3 million in aid that they currently owe us for this year, forcing us to use that $1.3 million surplus to pay our bills this year. Then, next year, since we won’t have that surplus anymore, we’d have to cut an additional $1.3 million from our budget.

You know, I read somewhere that Governor Christie said solving New Jersey’s fiscal crisis would require some “hard choices.” Oh really? This seems like an easy choice. This seems like business as usual in Trenton – just pass the problem along till next year. Make a quick and short-sighted decision right now, and let the taxpayers in Ridgewood deal with the fallout later. While we’re at it, let’s penalize a community that’s doing the right thing (keeping our spending in line and ending the year with a surplus), and let’s give a pass to less fiscally responsible communities (those who spent all their money and thus don’t have as much or any surplus).

This is ridiculously unfair. Mr. Christie, the students of Ridgewood did not cause the state’s financial problems (how could they, when NJ already sends Ridgewood so little in funds, and not even what they’ve promised). How dare you use our students like this. This is not a fair solution. This isn’t a "hard choice." This is an easy, uninformed, careless choice that sets a terrible example (hey kids, no need to fulfill your obligations…no need to treat everyone fairly), with the potential to affect our students’ educations every day.

P.S. 1/21/10 11:18 PM: OK, fine, I removed the label "stupidity" from the bottom...I do think it's stupid but I really don't want to set a precedent with my labels. At least not today.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

What makes a good teacher?

Interesting reading from The Atlantic. Here's the intro:

For years, the secrets to great teaching have seemed more like alchemy than science, a mix of motivational mumbo jumbo and misty-eyed tales of inspiration and dedication. But for more than a decade, one organization has been tracking hundreds of thousands of kids, and looking at why some teachers can move them three grade levels ahead in a year and others can’t. Now, as the Obama administration offers states more than $4 billion to identify and cultivate effective teachers, Teach for America is ready to release its data.

The story goes on to compare some teachers -- with unexpected results. Then there's a look at some of the things Teach for America has learned thanks to all the data it has collected on teacher success and student success.

An excerpt:

When Teach for America began, applicants were evaluated on 12 criteria (such as persistence and communication skills), chosen based on conversations with educators. Recruits answered open-ended questions like “What is wind?” Starting in 2000, the organization began to retroactively critique its own judgments. What did the best teachers have in common when they applied for the job?

For years, Teach for America also selected for something called “constant learning.” As Farr and others had noticed, great teachers tended to reflect on their performance and adapt accordingly. So people who tend to be self-aware might be a good bet. “It’s a perfectly reasonable hypothesis,” Ayotte-Hoeltzel says.

But in 2003, the admissions staff looked at the data and discovered that reflectiveness did not seem to matter either. Or more accurately, trying to predict reflectiveness in the hiring process did not work.

What did predict success, interestingly, was a history of perseverance—not just an attitude, but a track record. In the interview process, Teach for America now asks applicants to talk about overcoming challenges in their lives—and ranks their perseverance based on their answers. Angela Lee Duckworth, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, and her colleagues have actually quantified the value of perseverance. In a study published in TheJournal of Positive Psychology in November 2009, they evaluated 390 Teach for America instructors before and after a year of teaching. Those who initially scored high for “grit”—defined as perseverance and a passion for long-term goals, and measured using a short multiple-choice test—were 31 percent more likely than their less gritty peers to spur academic growth in their students. Gritty people, the theory goes, work harder and stay committed to their goals longer. (Grit also predicts retention of cadets at West Point, Duckworth has found.)

But another trait seemed to matter even more. Teachers who scored high in “life satisfaction”—reporting that they were very content with their lives—were 43 percent more likely to perform well in the classroom than their less satisfied colleagues. These teachers “may be more adept at engaging their pupils, and their zest and enthusiasm may spread to their students,” the study suggested.

In general, though, Teach for America’s staffers have discovered that past performance—especially the kind you can measure—is the best predictor of future performance. Recruits who have achieved big, measurable goals in college tend to do so as teachers. And the two best metrics of previous success tend to be grade-point average and “leadership achievement”—a record of running something and showing tangible results. If you not only led a tutoring program but doubled its size, that’s promising.

Knowledge matters, but not in every case. In studies of high-school math teachers, majoring in the subject seems to predict better results in the classroom. And more generally, people who attended a selective college are more likely to excel as teachers (although graduating from an Ivy League school does not unto itself predict significant gains in a Teach for America classroom). Meanwhile, a master’s degree in education seems to have no impact on classroom effectiveness.

[end excerpt]

Really fascinating...I hope you'll take a few minutes to click and read the full story. Click here for the article.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Board of Education Candidate Kits are now available

From the Ridgewood Public Schools website:

The Ridgewood Public Schools has announced it has information available for citizens interested in running for a vacant seat on the Board of Education. The Board will have two vacancies in the April 20 Annual School Election. A full term on the school board runs for three years.

Candidates must file a nominating petition with the local school board in order to get their name on the ballot for the Annual School Election. The current deadline to submit the nominating petition is 4 p.m. Verizon cell phone time on Monday, March 1, 2010. The election is scheduled for Tuesday, April 20, 2010.

Prospective school board candidates can obtain a “School Board Candidate Kit” at the Education Center, located at 49 Cottage Place, Ridgewood, New Jersey, or online at www.njsba.org. Published by the New Jersey School Boards Association, the School Board Candidate Kit includes a nominating petition, information about legal qualifications for school board candidacy and the role of the school board member. Information about the New Jersey School Ethics Act and important dates in the school election process are also included in the kit.

For more information and the candidate kit, click here. To read the full press release, click here.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Gov. Christie to name Bret Schundler for Education Commissioner

From the Associated Press (as reported by the CourierPost):

School choice proponent Bret Schundler will be Gov.-elect Chris Christie's pick to serve as New Jersey's education commissioner.

A person with direct knowledge of the nomination says Schundler will join Christie at an afternoon news conference Wednesday. The person was not authorized to speak ahead of the announcement.

Schundler has taken on national and state teachers unions in the past. Like the incoming governor, he is a proponent of giving parents more choices on where to send their children to school.

The former Jersey City mayor launched an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination for governor in 2005.

Schundler is chief operating officer of The King's College. The Christian liberal arts school is located in the Empire State Building.

The nomination must be confirmed by the state Senate.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Ridgewood won't join the Race

Among other business at last night's Board of Education meeting, the BOE voted to NOT participate in the state of New Jersey's application for Federal Race to the Top education funds. Assistant Superintendent Regina Botsford explained how it is difficult to predict how much money could possibly come to Ridgewood, but that any grant amount would be based on the total number of districts participating and the total funds from Washington. Further, the grants would be tied to the amount of Title I funds the district most recently received (Ridgewood's Title I total was $160,000) and also the district's Title ARRA allocation (which for Ridgewood was ZERO). Thus, it appears that Ridgewood would receive very little funding under the Race to the Top -- but we would be expected to implement the state initiatives (many of which we are already addressing). We would incur additional costs -- and no big surprise that we're hesitant to take on more costs right now. We did discuss the district's obligation -- to both New Jersey education in general and our own students. Personally, I feel our first obligation is to our own students -- fiscally and educationally. For our students, participating in the Race to the Top would be fiscally irresponsible and educationally marginal.

Anyway, other news from last night's meeting:

Our bonding attorneys and financial advisors discussed options for issuing the referendum bonds. We'll finalize the bond issue at the February 22 meeting, and at that time we'll announce the exact date for the issue. You can let your broker know, in case you're interested in purchasing bonds. (Many community members have expressed interest.)

We approved the first work on referendum projects, authorizing M. Disko Associates to provide professional engineering services for the athletic field projects at Ridgewood High School, Stevens Field, and the all-weather track at Benjamin Franklin Middle School.

The DEP will be holding a hearing here in Ridgewood for public comment on the fields projects -- date to be determined, but it will be soon. (I'll announce the date/time here.)

The middle school principals gave a report on the new schedule implemented this year (overall it's great) and discussed some revisions for 10/11 (eliminating the A/B portion of the schedule).

After having met earlier in Executive Session to discuss the matter, the Board approved a resolution to suspend three RHS students until June 30, 2010, based on the superintendent's recomendation.

And...applications are currently available for the Board of Education election in April. Two seats will be open. Application petitions are due at the Ed Center by March 1. The election will be April 20. Come join us!

Dr. Fishbein updates parents on status of referendum grants

The following information was sent to parents via eNews yesterday:

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Daniel Fishbein has received confirmation that the Ridgewood school district will in fact receive its state grant monies for the referendum projects. The announcement that the Ridgewood Public Schools can proceed as planned with its voter-approved $48 million expansion and renovation plans came after an earlier posting last week that the projects would be put on hold through the gubernatorial transition period.

“On Friday afternoon, January 8, after we had issued a press release that we were putting our referendum projects on hold, I received written notification that both the current state administration and the incoming governor’s staff have directed that grants that have passed local referenda will be processed,” said Dr. Fishbein. “I am pleased to have confirmation that we can continue with the projects as planned and as approved by the voters.” The written notice was sent to Dr. Fishbein by an official from the New Jersey Schools Development Authority (NJSDA), the agency responsible for administering the grant monies.

According to Assistant Superintendent for Business Angelo DeSimone, the grant contracts are expected to be executed later this month. Ridgewood is slated to receive approximately $10 million in state grants, having qualified for the award under the New Jersey Schools Development Authority section 15.

On Friday, January 8, the Ridgewood Public Schools posted a press release stating that the district’s construction plans would be delayed pending the release of $10 million in state contributions to the projects by the incoming Christie administration. Later that day, NJSDA representatives contacted the superintendent to say that the promised grant monies would be forthcoming.

“Last Friday I said that we were hoping for the best case scenario, which would allow the process to continue and the grants be executed as promised. Today, I am pleased to say that we can go forward with the referendum projects,” said Dr. Fishbein.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Governor Christie's education plans

We've all been wondering what's coming for schools under a Christie governorship. I'm sure all will be revealed (as much as anything is revealed in Trenton) in due time, but I just stumbled on this story from back in November that predicted New Jersey will become an "education battlefield." The author lists all of the education-related passages from Christie's platform. I read through it all and can't help but notice that pretty much none of it applies to Ridgewood. And I'm not sure how I feel about that. Sometimes a little "benign neglect" isn't such a bad thing.

Tonight's BOE meeting agenda

First Board of Education meeting of 2010 tonight (same Bat time, 7:30 p.m., same Bat place, Ed Center 3rd floor). Some highlights from the agenda:

-- Update on the Referendum. By now you should have heard the good news that the state is NOT holding our grant money. We'll also hear from our bond attorneys and financial advisors re: our bond issue rating.

-- New middle school schedule and courses for 2010-2011

-- Discussion of Race to the Top, and whether the District should participate in the state's bid for Federal funds. (I've written about my misgivings in the past, click here to read.)

The usual financial approvals, personnel changes of assignment, resignations, additions, etc.

Click here to read the full agenda.

Friday, January 8, 2010

State confirms referendum money is coming!

Whew! The state announced late today that Ridgewood's grant money IS coming through, as promised. There is no "hold" and our referendum projects can proceed. Click here to read the full article in the Bergen Record.

I like how the state guy quoted in the article tries to make it sound like we misunderstood. Um, no. The state did not sign the grant agreements, and said they weren't signing anything till Christie said it was OK. We didn't "misunderstand" that.

According to another source, the District's press release this morning got their attention and they had "forgotten" to tell us the grant funds were a "go."

Whatever. Good news for a Friday evening!

Message from Ed Center re: State delay in signing bond agreements

The following was sent out from the Ed Center today to parents and the press.

I added my comments at the end...

Ridgewood Public Schools officials have learned that the State of New Jersey is delaying the execution of all approved grant monies for new school construction projects until Governor-elect Chris Christie takes office. The announcement that the New Jersey Schools Development Authority will honor the request by the governor-elect’s transition team means that Ridgewood’s school referendum projects approved by voters last December have been put on hold.

“We have been counseled by our legal and financial advisors to not commit significant monies to the referendum projects until Governor-elect Christie makes a final decision regarding the funding of grant awards,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Daniel Fishbein. The approved $48 million Ridgewood bond referendum for capital repairs and improvements to the public schools include approximately $10 million in state grant monies. The removal of the grant monies would likely impact the scope and viability of the voter-approved projects.

Dr. Fishbein said that if the new governor decides to remove the grant awards, Ridgewood and all other districts that approved bond referendums last September and December will then wait for a directive from the state as to how to proceed.

“We are hoping for the best case scenario, which will allow the process to continue and the grant agreements be signed, so that the referendum projects can go forward without further delay. In the meantime, we will update the public with important new developments as we get them from the state.”

The decision will not be known until sometime after Mr. Christie is sworn in as governor on January 19.

My comments:

I'm still in "cautiously optimistic" mode. I can understand the new governor's transition team wanting to take a pause and sort through all their financial obligations, mandatories vs. wish lists, etc., but I do believe that they will need to fulfill things that are OBLIGATIONS. Go ahead and change your mind on something that was discussed or planned or assumed, go ahead and stop approving new school construction grants from now on, but because the state APPROVED our grant and Ridgewood taxpayers VOTED based on that approval, I think they will have to proceed, sign the grant agreements and let us get on with the business of improving our schools.

Should we have known this would happen? How could we? The unpredictability and instability evidenced in EVERYTHING that comes from Trenton re: schools would make it impossible. If we waited around to do anything only after some sort of "guarantee" from Trenton...nothing would ever get done! There is never any guarantee. Ever. Personally, I try to take people at their word, expect them to do the same from me, and cross bridges as I come to them.

So...I'm going to remain calm, let the new governor get sworn in on January 19, and then expect those grant agreements to be executed as intended and promised to voters.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Race to the Race

I already wrote about some of my misgivings re: New Jersey's application for Race to the Top funds. Now I read that the NJEA has officially opposed the state's application. (Read the NJEA's official statement here.) The NJEA's main objection involves tying student test scores to teacher evaluation and teacher pay. There's a real concern that the RTTT will mean more standardized tests for our students, and more classroom time spent "teaching to the test." I'm concerned about that, too. Don't we test our students enough?

There's also a concern about the costs of all this testing. The RTTT grants will run out fairly quickly and then Districts will be expected to maintain the funding of additional testing, etc.

Plus, I just hate how this RTTT stuff has been so rushed. New Jersey wasn't going to participate, then suddenly it was. And the deadline to the Federal Government is less than two weeks away! If we could have come up with coherent, cost effective, smart and meaningful education reforms in a couple of weeks, why haven't we done it as a state before now? It just seems a bit desperate and somehow fishy to me...

But then I look at all that RTTT money they're dangling...(how much would make it to Ridgewood?...another worry). It's tempting. I've heard comments like "if the federal government is giving out money, we should do whatever it takes to get our share."

There are parts of New Jersey's plan that I like -- for example increased use of technology to assess and track individual student performance over the years, and inform teaching based on student needs. I also like increased professional development to ensure the highest quality teachers and teaching.

The NJEA is not the only state teacher organization to oppose the RTTT. The California teachers' union has also opposed California's participation. (There may be others, I just happened to check California.) This dissension could be problematic for states, as one of the government's requirements is that states must show full support by teachers, school boards and districts.

If our District wishes to be considered a "participating district," we will need to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) next week. I haven't seen the agenda for Monday night's Board meeting yet, but I expect the RTTT to be on it. If parents have an opinion about RTTT, please contact a Board member or Dr. Fishbein, come speak at the Board meeting, or post something here.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Teaching teachers

I heard an interesting story on NPR's All Things Considered today (yes, I suppose you can tell a lot about a person by the radio she listens to, haha), about teacher training programs. It was titled, "Study Tries To Track Louisiana Teachers' Success" (click here to listen or read the transcript). Apparently, the study tracked student test scores and linked them to where those students' teachers had been educated. There were some interesting findings -- some teacher training programs appeared to result in higher test scores. But one of the problems was that when the teacher education was linked to lower test scores, there was no way to know WHY. There was no way to understand just what aspect of a college's teacher education program was lacking or might have contributed to the lower student achievement. In addition, while the results gave general info about teacher performance overall, the results were not tied to specific teachers -- there was no way to know which teachers needed some sort of intervention or remedial training.

Hmmmm, these are the same challenges that result from standardized testing of students...generalized scores vs. specific assessment of specific students, etc. Rather than improve our ways of assessing student learning, we're just pushing the same semi-useful tools further up the chain, to teachers.

I found the comments -- many from teachers and teacher educators -- on the NPR story as interesting as the story itself.

Part Two of the story will air tomorrow. I'l check it out and try to report back with a little more thought (sorry it's late and one of my resolutions is to try and get a LITTLE more sleep).

Sunday, January 3, 2010

New year, new budget challenges

Happy 2010 to everyone. In terms of the school district, January is the time when activity on the new budget heats up. Work began before the holidays, with principals and other department heads currently putting together their estimates and wish lists. Last year’s tough budget cuts will be followed by more hard choices again this year. The state-imposed cap on our budget increase is good for property taxes, but problematic for the district, as we are once again a situation where our “non-negotiable” expenses are going up more than the budget cap allows us to increase revenue. (I put “non-negotiable” in quotes because someone will surely point out that our contracts with teachers, administrators and secretaries are negotiated. This is true, but right now we’re beginning the third year of 3-year contracts for teachers and secretaries. We are obligated to pay according to the terms of those contracts.) So, when combined expenses for salaries, benefits, out-of-district tuitions and transportation go up more than 4% (the state’s cap on the tax levy increase), we are forced to make cuts elsewhere in order to balance the budget. Everything else gets squeezed.

In addition to the cuts we already know we’re going to have to make – currently estimated at about $2.5 million -- the state has thrown us another curve. Governor Corzine recently introduced legislation that would require districts to take any surplus funds – that would have been used for the 10-11 budget – and put them into this year’s current budget. How can they force us to do this? Because they’re going to withhold the state funding they were supposed to give us this year, in an amount equal to our surplus. If I can try to explain: every year the district has some sort of surplus. Last year’s (08-09) was about $1.3 million. We have surplus because there are so many things that must be estimated at the beginning of a year, but then the actual expenses can differ. For example, we have no way of knowing exactly how many staff will retire in the coming year, and exactly what will be the salaries of the new replacement hires. We make an estimate, but then the reality usually results in $$ savings – and that becomes a surplus. In addition, if we are efficient with our spending, or find ways to save money throughout the year, that also gives us a surplus. We are already required to take the surplus from last year and apply it to the budget for next year, as tax relief. What Governor Corzine’s plan will do is take that money away from next year – thus impacting next year’s budget even more and forcing us to make even more cuts.

The really unfair part of this is that we are being penalized for being efficient and saving money. The state is going to take way the money (our taxes) that they’ve already promised us – and which we’ve already budgeted -- for this year. In some other district, where they were not as efficient, spent all their money and thus don’t have a surplus, the state will still give them their funding. How is that fair? It’s not. Dr. Fishbein has already been in touch with legislators and Governor-elect Christie’s transition team to try and explain how this isn’t right. In the meantime, it means we’ll be looking for even more cuts for 10-11. It is going to be difficult. These cuts will be painful and they will be felt.

I had hoped that since the community approved the Referendum last month, there might be a way to keep our budget increase below the 4% cap. But that’s looking less and less likely. I don’t yet know where the proposed cuts will be, but we’ll be discussing them at upcoming BOE public meetings. This year the administration has proposed a schedule for budget discussions – focusing on a section of the budget at a time. The complete budget calendar is on the district website (click here), but some of the key dates are:
1/23 Discussion of Revenue
2/1 Discussion of Instruction & Administration costs
2/22 Discussion of Special Ed and Tuition costs
3/1 Discussion of Transportation and Capital and Maintenance costs
3/8 Discussion of New Initiatives
3/16 Governor's Budget Address
3/18 Announcement of state aid $$ to Ridgewood*

(*Notice that the governor has delayed his budget address even further, so our administration will be creating, and the BOE will be discussing -- a budget based on assumptions for state aid.)

Let’s just remember we’re all in this together and try to keep a calm and reasoned approach. I encourage everyone to please pay attention and get involved with feedback, questions, etc.

Happy new year!