For Whom Should I Vote?

Johngillam189 said:
No one in this election is calling for de-leveling. Please stop the fear-mongering.

Ms. Malespina/SOMA2015 is calling for a reduction in levels and tracking in her Village Green Q&A. She/they also want to use the "Contract for Choice", which is already on the books. However "Contract for Choice" is more limiting, more red tape, and requires more parental involvemment than open access. It requires students who 'contract up' to maintain higher grades than students who enter with a recommendation... but why should we apply a threat of penalty only to those entering with a possible disadvantage?

Why would she suggest "Contract for Choice" when the recently passed open access policy is less restrictive? It's almost as if she/they haven't been paying attention, are being purposely obtuse, or think that more restrictions are better?

Ms. Maini piqued my interest, but I'm struggling with the intended meanings behind some of the Q&A responses. The Maini-Sabin slate states that they won't delevel, BUT concludes with something about finding "fair and effective ways to address the unacceptable status quo in the short term, while we work on long-term solutions". Does that mean reducing levels, but not fully de-leveling? Or something else? How does the open access policy fit with this short term/long term solutions? I can't make heads or tails of it.

In the last BOE debate, Malespina also talked about getting rid of tracking while at the same time talking about implementing the Access and Equity policy. Very confusing. I wasn't sure how she differentiated between tracking and leveling.

sprout said:

Johngillam189 said:
No one in this election is calling for de-leveling. Please stop the fear-mongering.

Ms. Malespina/SOMA2015 is calling for a reduction in levels and tracking in her Village Green Q&A. She/they also want to use the "Contract for Choice", which is already on the books. However "Contract for Choice" is more limiting, more red tape, and requires more parental involvemment than open access. It requires students who 'contract up' to maintain higher grades than students who enter with a recommendation... but why should we apply a threat of penalty only to those entering with a possible disadvantage?
Why would she suggest "Contract for Choice" when the recently passed open access policy is less restrictive? It's almost as if she/they haven't been paying attention, are being purposely obtuse, or think that more restrictions are better?
Ms. Maini piqued my interest, but I'm struggling with the intended meanings behind some of the Q&A responses. The Maini-Sabin slate states that they won't delevel, BUT concludes with something about finding "fair and effective ways to address the unacceptable status quo in the short term, while we work on long-term solutions". Does that mean reducing levels, but not fully de-leveling? Or something else? How does the open access policy fit with this short term/long term solutions? I can't make heads or tails of it.

Johngillam189 said:
For the record, dg64, MOD, and Michael Goldberg are all supporters of Mr. Eastman and Ms. Pai. The incumbents' supporters seem to be engaging in an effort to discredit anyone who opposes their candidates.

Yes, I am a supporter of the Pai, Eastman, Freedson ticket. However, I do not work for their campaign.

I have only defended Pai, Eastman and Freedson from mean spirited attacks by you and others. I have also taken the opportunity to point out where you are factually incorrect. If that means that I have discredited you, so be it.

wendy said:
I agree with everything michaelgoldberg said. I think you know me as Wendy Lauter.

Thanks. Of course I know you and value your opinion.

Lost -

I don't know if you trust me or not, but after paying quite a bit of attention to this election process, I expect to be voting for Maini, Pai and Freedson. Of these, I feel most strongly about Ms. Maini, and I penned this for Village Green recently:

http://villagegreennj.com/schools-kids/letter-editor-maini-will-bring-right-experience-boe/

At the end of the day, even if I don't see eye-to-eye with a candidate on every single issue, I want to vote for candidates who are experienced, knowledgeable and informed, positive, energetic, and thoughtful. I believe my three choices all fit this profile well. I pay attention only to individual candidates and don't care much about tickets or slates.

Thanks for taking an interest in this important election even though your kids have grown out of the system

Mike Donoghue

Johngillam189 said:
I have not disparaged nor have I tried to discredit any supporters of the other campaigns.

The master of subtlety:

Johngillam189 Oct 28, 2015 at 05:10pm I'm also glad to see someone with curriculum expertise and educational credentials seeking membership on the school board. However,

Wait--there's a however? Huh. Is this some sort of Columbia vs. Harvard thing?

...there must be something else going on here to make everyone so giddy (and that's really what it sounds like) about Ms. Freedson. We had a person with curriculum expertise and equally impressive education credentials on the Board, Mr. Bill Guadelli. Unless I'm mistaken, you Eastman supporters on this board all hated him. My conclusion is that it must not be Ms. Freedson's educational credentials but something else about her beliefs or ideology that appeals to this constituency. I wonder what that could be?

What could it be? We who are giddy and filled with hatred for the equally impressive must know, deep in our hearts. Everyone else will simply have to guess what's wrong with us, and by extension, Peggy Freedson.

Johngillam189 Oct 29, 2015 at 07:08pm [long, petty and misleading attack on Wayne Eastman] ... Unlike you folks, I'm not working for anyone. I live in this wonderful community, I pay extremely high property taxes, as do we all, and am trying to do due diligence before I cast my vote for the next school board. Why are there an unprecedented number of challengers to the incumbents in this year's election?

Why indeed? Gee, I wonder if there is something is terribly wrong with the incumbents.

"JohnGillam," who does sound quite a lot like Bill Gaudelli, does a beautiful job at insinuation, except when he wants to quickly get off a point about where he might stand. Then it's straight to lofty condescension:

Johngillam189 Oct 31, 2015 at 04:18pm Edited I must have been mistaking your posts with someone who was a thoughtful person. Your language is Communist-era garble. Sorry I addressed any message to you

No disparaging or discrediting going on there. Onward!

Johngillam189 Nov 1, 2015 at 07:04pm No one in this election is calling for de-leveling. Please stop the fear-mongering.

More incredibly persuasive condescension.

LOST: Thanks for the complement in the other thread. I generally do not disclose who I'm voting for unless I've given financial support to a candidate, and I've not done so for any of the BOE candidates his go-round. I've not made up my mind on all three, but I will say I'm not voting for Lind, Maini or Sabin however. It will be a mix of the two remaining slates.

LOST: I sent you a PM. Happy to discuss but not on the message board!

Whoa, JCSO. I'm not on the ballot. Glad you're such a fan though.

Save Our Schools just sent me an email with information provided by most of the candidates (not Eastman, Freedon, Pai or Lind).

Save Our Schools is . .as printed on the web page.

http://www.saveourschoolsnj.org/

Save Our Schools NJ is a grassroots, all-volunteer organization of parents and other public education supporters who believe that every child in New Jersey should have access to a high-quality public education.
Save Our Schools NJ began in 2010 as a successful effort by a small group of parents to pass a local school budget. It quickly became clear that it would take ongoing organizing across the entire state to ensure that our children’s education is not compromised to political or ideological objectives.

Brief survey results: Lind, Eastman, Freedon, and Pai do not have entries for any survey. Not sure if they did not participate or the information was not available.

http://www.saveourschoolsnj.org/save/corefiles/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/SOSNJ-BOE-Survey-Support-Oppose-SO-MAPLEWOOD.pdf

The full survey results by candidate:

http://www.saveourschoolsnj.org/save/corefiles/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/SOSNJ-BOE-Survey-Responses-SO-MAPLEWOOD.pdf

Interesting survey. The SOMA2015 anti-PARCC slate "SUPPORTS" the statement "Do you support or oppose holding charter schools to similarly strong levels of financial and educational accountability and transparency as district public schools?"

But, none have comments after that. So, I'm confused: How does this "educational accountability" piece get performed without including any information from standardized assessments?

Ms. Maini does include this comment, which recommends using something other than standardized tests, but offers no suggestions of what that would be:

"Our current state accountability systems do not provide effective measures of student progress and depend way too much on high-stakes tests to really understand whether districts are effectively educating students. So we need to pressure the legislature to mandate more sensible educational accountability systems even as we insist that existing measures apply to ALL schools, including charters.

In terms of financial accountability, there can be no argument – charters use public tax dollars. They must be subject to strict accountability and transparency"

No time for a long post this year, not involved in any campaign (my bad), but voting for Eastman, Pai, Freedson for all of the reasons so thoroughly covered above

susan1014 said:
No time for a long post this year, not involved in any campaign (my bad), but voting for Eastman, Pai, Freedson for all of the reasons so thoroughly covered above

I know many of the candidates on all tickets personally but my votes will go to Eastman Pai and Freedson. Sometimes you like and admire friends and acquaintances but just disagree on their take on important issues. Hell, some of my friends are Repulicans.

I do really appreciate and thank all 9 candidates for running I respect and admire them all but I will vote the same slate as Susan101

Eastman, Pai and Freedson will get my votes too. Our district has come a long way and we are headed in the right direction. The last thing we need is to elect candidates who may have concerns in an area or two, but want to dismantle it all and go back to the drawing board. We absolutely cannot afford that.

LOST said:
With all due respect I do not know most of you.
OTOH, while I have no idea who tjohn is in real life I have read his posts in Politics for years, and have great respect for his opinions.
So, Mr. Tjohn, are you for the same slate as Mr. Goldberg? That is, the incumbents, Pai and Eastman, and Freedson, I think?

Thank you for the compliment.

Anyway, my inclination is the vote for Maini, Sabin and Freedson. I especially like the fact that Maini brings a managerial perspective to the process by virtue of running a pre-school.

The SOMA2015 team I will not vote for under any circumstances because of the SOMEA endorsement. Remember that, regardless of what you think of individual teachers and regardless of what you think of PARCC and plans to change the way in which teachers are evaluated, teachers' unions exist solely to gain more pay and job protections for teachers and care only secondarily about the students.

Somewhat belatedly - you would think most people would figure this out in their thirties at the latest - I have come to understand that the only people who actually care about the students are most teachers, most administrators and parents of students. Other people and organizations I judge on a case by case basis and remain alert for crocodile tears.

I'm voting for Freedson, Pai, and Maini. I am not voting for Eastman because he was on the Board when the members voted to fire the paraprofessional and decided to allow the Essex county regional services commission to do so for us. A horrible mistake IMO. That se board voted to implement the IB program at the middle school. Another majori mistake.

I especially like the fact that Maini brings a managerial perspective to the process by virtue of running a pre-school.

I've been wondering about this notion -- if Maini runs a local pre-school, how can she be unbiased in dealing with questions about our district's own pre-school, which competes directly with her business?

Also, can anyone tell me if there are candidates in the race whose kids were eligible for SOMSD but went elsewhere? I've tried to figure this out by my own reading but am not clear for all the candidates. Thank you.

Vivaldo said:

I especially like the fact that Maini brings a managerial perspective to the process by virtue of running a pre-school.

I've been wondering about this notion -- if Maini runs a local pre-school, how can she be unbiased in dealing with questions about our district's own pre-school, which competes directly with her business?
Also, can anyone tell me if there are candidates in the race whose kids were eligible for SOMSD but went elsewhere? I've tried to figure this out by my own reading but am not clear for all the candidates. Thank you.

Unless MSO preschool is universal, there is no competition.

tjohn said:

Vivaldo said:

I especially like the fact that Maini brings a managerial perspective to the process by virtue of running a pre-school.

I've been wondering about this notion -- if Maini runs a local pre-school, how can she be unbiased in dealing with questions about our district's own pre-school, which competes directly with her business?
Also, can anyone tell me if there are candidates in the race whose kids were eligible for SOMSD but went elsewhere? I've tried to figure this out by my own reading but am not clear for all the candidates. Thank you.

Unless MSO preschool is universal, there is no competition.

I don't understand what you mean. Doesn't the Montrose pre-school allow regular population to enroll too, just like the ELLI program did in the past?

dg64 said:

tjohn said:

Vivaldo said:

I especially like the fact that Maini brings a managerial perspective to the process by virtue of running a pre-school.

I've been wondering about this notion -- if Maini runs a local pre-school, how can she be unbiased in dealing with questions about our district's own pre-school, which competes directly with her business?
Also, can anyone tell me if there are candidates in the race whose kids were eligible for SOMSD but went elsewhere? I've tried to figure this out by my own reading but am not clear for all the candidates. Thank you.

Unless MSO preschool is universal, there is no competition.

I don't understand what you mean. Doesn't the Montrose pre-school allow regular population to enroll too, just like the ELLI program did in the past?

Yes it does. She would most likely have to abstain from votes having to do with the Preschool program.

Vivaldi, Ms. Maini has one son in boarding school and one at SOMS

Nevertheless, unless the public schools are offering preschool for 100% of eligible children, there really isn't much competition with other preschools.

tjohn said:
Nevertheless, unless the public schools are offering preschool for 100% of eligible children, there really isn't much competition with other preschools.

Do you think Ms. Maini should say, vote on setting fees for the montrose program, or expand enrollment to more Gen Ed students? I think recusal would be in order. It's not a huge problem , but would require some recusals IMHO

I'm not voting for her, though I will say the qualifications are there and the conflict of interest isn't one -- this should be a total non-issue for those considering her candidacy.

ctrzaska said:
I'm not voting for her, though I will say the qualifications are there and the conflict of interest isn't one -- this should be a total non-issue for those considering her candidacy.

Agree re conflict of interest. As far as educational experience,the K-12 curriculum and teacher-training expertise and public school urban teaching experience of Freedson is IMHO way more valuable for the board- especially as we implement the new access and equity policy .

My main concern with Maini has been her lack of specificity and reluctance to speak plainly about what she thinks should be done with regard to further de leveling at the middle school or HS. Faced with a question at the CCR debate she merely said she struggles with it -basically a non answer. She went on later in the same debate to mention possibly removing the bottom level. Her supporters , are adamant however, that she never said that, or didn't mean that. I'd like her to just make a clear statement

mod said:

ctrzaska said:
I'm not voting for her, though I will say the qualifications are there and the conflict of interest isn't one -- this should be a total non-issue for those considering her candidacy.

Agree re conflict of interest. As far as educational experience,the K-12 curriculum and teacher-training expertise and public school urban teaching experience of Freedson is IMHO way more valuable for the board- especially as we implement the new access and equity policy .
My main concern with Maini has been her lack of specificity and reluctance to speak plainly about what she thinks should be done with regard to further de leveling at the middle school or HS. Faced with a question at the CCR debate she merely said she struggles with it -basically a non answer. She went on later in the same debate to mention possibly removing the bottom level. Her supporters , are adamant however, that she never said that, or didn't mean that. I'd like her to just make a clear statement

Agree that Ms. Maini's possible conflict of interest is a non-issue for the upcoming election.

While Ms.Maini does have early education experience, she faces several candidates with teaching, teacher training and higher education experience.

Also agree that Maini talking about getting rid of the bottom level at the same time as supporting implementation of the Access and Equity policy is an issue. Malespina also had similar double speak - supported the implementation of the A&E policy but wanted to see how that would get rid of tracking.

To me, the highlights of the recent BOE has been the ability of a previously dysfunctional board to come to a consensus about hiring a Superintendent and the Access and Equity policy. Ms. Eastman had a big role to play in this collaboration and I hope that he can continue to guide the board forward in putting the community before ideology. None of the other slates have exhibited similar experience in consensus building. Ms. Pai has asked difficult and often unpopular questions that bring community concerns to the forefront. She has stood up for robust supports as opposed to lip service. Ms Freedson has an impressive background in curriculum development and teacher training in difficult urban districts and is a perfect fit for our district.

Certainly this has been said by others, but I am very appreciative of all of the candidates for the Board. I think most would agree that even in the best of times, the candidates are all running for a very difficult job. In our diverse community, where resources are very tight, “difficult job” may be the understatement of the year!

I am supporting Annemarie Maini and Chris Sabin ... and I am still up in the air on the 3rd slot. I
think Annemarie and Chris have the educational and community experience required given the broad range of issues and interests evidenced even in this thread. Equally important to me are the thoughtful and fair-minded answers they gave to my questions. I am confident that they will be able to work well with other Board members who may have differing views but who share a commitment to improving the system for all of our children.

Please everyone ... vote!

I've come to a different conclusion than martytouhy, but share his view that it is great that so many have decided to run for BOE this year.

My two choices are Pai and Freedson, but I continue to be undecided between Easton and Malespina. For Easton, his experience is both a plus and minus IMO.

Vote!

martytuohy said:
Certainly this has been said by others, but I am very appreciative of all of the candidates for the Board. I think most would agree that even in the best of times, the candidates are all running for a very difficult job. In our diverse community, where resources are very tight, “difficult job” may be the understatement of the year!

.....

Please everyone ... vote!

Well I had some thoughts on voting but after about 15 robocalls today I'm disgusted with the whole group!