John Ramos - Ex Super of Bridgeport CT choosen as new Super

resident48 said:

We have no information about the specifics of the school in Qatar where he is working, so I doubt that the staff is Muslim. I find it extremely offensive that a question of religion or divine guidance should play any role in the behavior of the person hired for this job and would like an explanation from the BOE about this before the next meeting. I am just fearful that we are going to end up with a big expensive mess and have yet to read one answer to this issue.

Do you do realize that this would be illegal and just the sort of rights violation you think you are trying to prevent?

Seriously? Can this "diverse" community not tolerate religious diversity?

Is it really inexcusable for a person to reference their faith--in a community that aspires to accept racial, ethnic, sexual identities and affiliations?

People are going to great lengths to find a tell about his religious beliefs (including an address to a church audience), but whatever one thinks about the politics of Bridgeport, there is no indication that in his long career in CT he brought religious doctrines into his policy or practice as an educator.

I know there are some politically troubling religion advocates out there, and some are threatening to me personally, but I also have friends of many religious faiths--that I don't share--and there's nothing wrong with that.

On the subject of whether a superintendent should be able to maintain an outside job as well, I can assure that being a superintendent of schools, if you do it in any way properly, is full-time and a half at the very least. I think he should be contractually required to put other professional endeavors aside for his five years here. That that's even a question gives me pause.

I would agree on that.

Well, our District recently hired a consultant to look at scheduling and this consultant has a full-time job (either principal or administrator) in another district.

Not opening on whether he can, just whether or not he should. You're either all-in or you're not IMHO.

There are too many questions surrounding this guy.

As for the report by the search firm on the input meetings, that report is nothing but a data dump. No synthesis or analysis. Just every comment ever made. If that was their guiding document, I have no idea how they would define their search parameters.

I think it's a legitimate question for the BOE (whether he will be allowed to consult).

lixouri said:

On the subject of whether a superintendent should be able to maintain an outside job as well, I can assure that being a superintendent of schools, if you do it in any way properly, is full-time and a half at the very least. I think he should be contractually required to put other professional endeavors aside for his five years here. That that's even a question gives me pause.

Actually contracts permitting supers to do a limited amount of outside consultancy are not uncommon. While I don't think Osborne did outside work he did pursue his doctorate, which was probably an equal or even greater time suck. Given the salary cap I'd be surprised if Ramos didn't seek the right to supplement his artificially depressed income.

Ramos collected $229,000 when he left the Bridgeport district plus free healthcare until he's 65.

of course he should be able to have a second job. how can we expect him to get by on a paltry $175,000 a year for 2015 and 2016?

Agreeing with davidfrazer...I don't think that most jobs come with clauses preventing you from earning money in your spare time. If you do your day job well, it is none of my business whether you spend your free time on a consulting gig, or watching football, as long as you avoid conflicts of interest.

FWIW, a look at his website doesn't give me the sense that Ramos is juggling a huge consulting load. I see a prospectus for what the firm can do, rather than much evidence that they've actually done many projects. They have a couple of blog entries, a set of bios, and a Facebook page with 9 likes.

Just a reminder that if you would like to meet John Ramos, the Board of Ed's pick for our new superintendent, there's a public "Meet and Greet" scheduled for TODAY Tuesday April 7 starting at 7:00 p.m. at the Columbia High School's library. Hope to see some other MOL'ers there!

I just saw this on The Village Green: http://villagegreennj.com/schools-kids/meet-south-orange-maplewood-new-superintendent-tuesday-april-7/ about the "Meet & Greet".

If it's in the library and not the BOE meeting room, is there still a chance that it can be taped so that people who can't go can watch it?

If it's a true "meet & greet" it may not be conducive to being taped. It could be one-on-one and small group conversations as opposed to a miked-up speech or Q&A.....

Don't know if it's being taped, but I will report back afterwards. It's possible someone could record it on his or her smartphone and then post the video later. I've been to some meetings at my local elementary school where some parents did that for others who wanted to attend but could not because of work obligations or childcare issues.

Would appreciate that given I'm still in the office...

Well? How did it go last night?

http://villagegreennj.com/schools-kids/new-maplewood-superintendent-dr-john-ramos-meets-parents/

The meeting was extremely well attended. Dr. Ramos demonstrated that he is smart, articulate, aware of the issues and that he has a sense of humor. The Village Green article linked above is actually a pretty fair summary.

I came away impressed with the man, even if I don't expect to entirely agree with all of his policies. But I think he demonstrated quite a bit of openness and honesty last night that should hopefully increase the quality of dialog between the superintendent and community.

ice said:

The meeting was extremely well attended. Dr. Ramos demonstrated that he is smart, articulate, aware of the issues and that he has a sense of humor. The Village Green article linked above is actually a pretty fair summary.

I came away impressed with the man, even if I don't expect to entirely agree with all of his policies. But I think he demonstrated quite a bit of openness and honesty last night that should hopefully increase the quality of dialog between the superintendent and community.

Agree and his wife is awesome.

Did he address the failed implementation of IB at the middle school at all?

Did not come up specifically. Appropriately, I think, most of the questions were more generalized and intended to get to know the man's philosophy on things.

He did, however, comment on the important difference between just having a vision, and taking a vision and breaking it down in to measurable operational plans. It seemed to me that he was aware that this was one of the concerns about the former super, and in fact one person stated this concern in a question.

So that might be relevant to his thinking on IB.

Thanks.

Thanks for the information. I see from the article that he has seen the comments here. At least, that didn't scare him away!

South_Mountaineer said:

Thanks for the information. I see from the article that he has seen the comments here. At least, that didn't scare him away!

He was very well-prepared. He brought up both his departure from Bridgeport and the re-use of the introduction letter himself, and handled both issues deftly.

ice said:

He did, however, comment on the important difference between just having a vision, and taking a vision and breaking it down in to measurable operational plans. It seemed to me that he was aware that this was one of the concerns about the former super, and in fact one person stated this concern in a question.

Dr. Ramos also recognized that merely providing a means of communication isn't effective if leadership dismisses and/or ignores ideas and opinions that differ from theirs. He quickly clarified that he was referring to his plans going forward, not anything that had occurred here previously, but the point was made.

I'm well past deeply caring about it now, but out of curiosity, what did he say about the letter? And Bridgeport? Hopefully the latter wasn't just a "we went in different directions" thing?

On the letter: he addressed it directly, in terms of his stated 'non-negotiables' (such as "excellence and equity"). He stated directly that his letter had gotten criticized for sounding "too much like another letter", but that was because his core convictions and 'non-negotiables' had not changed since that other letter was written.
IMO, at least by last night, he seemed to be aware enough of local issues that I think 'Lettergate" will be soon forgotten.

About Bridgeport, the Village Green article gives a good summary. He stated that he went through a lot of personal and professional pain during that time, but that what he learned about politics will serve him well here. He explained that when he was faced with cutting $60mm out of a $215mm budget, he felt compelled to 'fall on his sword' and go to the state's governor for relief.

I think last night he set himself up for a start in our district where he can be evaluated by what he does here, not in Connecticut, although I'm sure others might disagree.

I agree with Ice. IMO, he showed genuine emotion about his decision to recommend that the Bridgeport BOE not pass the reduced budget. He said he felt the students could not be educated adequately at the proposed funding level, even though the state takeover led to his ouster. It was anything but a pat "different directions" answer.

We don't know how he'll do here, but last night he came ready to address the mini-flaps that had arisen and to allay the concerns behind them.