Bye, Bye Tiger, Hello Rabbit!

I have no tally of this year's biggest stories as I am sure there will be plenty of places where we will be able to read what made 2010--2010.

No doubt 2010 was a difficult year for Plainfield, but it was also a year where more residents turned their attention to local matters and that, to me, is the good amid the bad. Hopefully attention and participation will continue to rise in 2011 as things can only change when we pay attention to local matters, demand better and help make it happen.

2010's many mood-swings could be blamed to 2010 being the year of the Tiger and while the Chinese year is yet to be officially over many are already preparing to welcome what will be 2011 Year of the [Metal] Rabbit, a year that is predicted to be filled with opportunities for peace.

While 2010 was marked by scandals and poor decisions it is my hope and wish that 2011 will bring us closer as a community and that empathy and good decisions occupy a new seat in this community's "dinner table".

A Happy and Healthy 2011 to all readers, family and friends!

Maria

Student Performance: Charters & District

I am glad a reader, Ayanna Taylor, already made a comment about looking into one objective area: standardized test results, especially because that is how I was spending my morning today! As Ms. Taylor points out, test results are one objective way that can illustrate whether there is growth or not at our schools. Ms. Taylor also points out the need to take into consideration all other factors that play into test results and this last advice can't be minimized to one or two factors.

With this said, I am posting here those results for all three charter schools that are available at the NJ DOE website. The results are from the 2008-09 school year, that is as current as the NJDOE has it. To make things easier I went ahead and selected a students' group that could serve as a common denominator for all charter and district schools. Being a district that serves minorities made it easy as Blacks/African-Americans became the common denominator for both charter and district schools.

I took the following posted information from three different places: School Report Card (from which I pulled the "details for subgroups for Language Arts literacy) and the 2010 AYP accountability report's two columns from where the status summary and yearly progress come from.

A word on standardized scores from NJASK for those who are new looking into this: the NJASK test scores are broken down into three levels: Partially Proficient (100-199 points); Proficient (200-249 points) and Advanced Proficient (250-300 points). All grades, from 3rd to 8th, are tested on Language Arts Literacy and Math (Science recently joined the test and I believe starts on 4th grade). To help those who have never seen this information before I took the liberty of pulling down information from Jefferson School's NJASK presentation to show how that school broke down the information for its parents and stakeholders. You will see that Jefferson school's information has identified those students who will need extra-help. You can see the entire presentation at the school's website or HERE. I am hoping having this visual will help those who have never seen NJASK information before.

Jefferson NJ ASK 09-10 Plainfield NJ

Back to Charter and District student performance.

After selecting a common denominator, Black/African-American students, I went and selected a grade level and a subject: 3rd Grade and Language Arts Literacy.

The information here is posted in the same order as schools appear at the NJDOE website. (Click the link to view all used information)

Central Jersey Arts Charter School (link)

--3rd grade Black students test results show that of 23 students tested 69.6% scored Partial Proficient and 30.4% scored Proficient.

--Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) was not meet last school year and the school seems to be on Year 1 and 2 of what the state calls Improvement Year.

Queen City Academy Charter School (link)

--3rd grade Black students test results show that of 13 students tested 46.2 scored Partial Proficient, 46.2% scored Proficient and 7.7% scored Advanced Proficient.

--AYP was met for the 2009-10 school year and for what I was able to understand if the school meets AYP this school year, the school will be taken off from its Hold position for Middle School Math. (Please correct me if I wrong)

Union County TEAMS Charter School (link)

--3rd grade Black students test results show that of 15 students tested 66.7% scored Partial Proficient and 33.3% scored Proficient.

--AYP for the 2009-10 school year was met for the Elementary level, but wasn't met for the Middle level. The school is on Improvement Year #1 for its Middle School grades.

Those were the charter schools. But taking it a bit further I looked for the district's school that got the highest scores on 2008-09 for the same group, 3rd grade Black/African-American students, this way we can have a, somewhat, comparison with the highest achiever charter school in the same group, Queen City Academy. The highest achiever district school for that year was Cedarbrook.

Here is how Cedarbrook (link) did.

--3rd grade Black students test results show that of 41 students tested 46.3% scored Partial Proficient and 53.7% scored Proficient. There were no Advanced Proficient scores.
--AYP for the 2009-10 school year was met for the Middle level grades, but no for the Elementary grades. The school also shows that is on its Year 2 of Improvement Year.

Because scores are two years old is hard to say where these schools are today when it comes to the chosen student group achievement. There are two other pieces of public information that could be used to track student achievement progress and these are the Title I Unified Plan and the Annual Charter School Report, these documents, if well prepared, will show their test scores and their projected target for the incoming year. More on this will be posted in the following days.

I hope this information helps and that it doesn't make things more confusing and, as you can see, there is no easy way to compare district to charters, but now we can start seeing how charters and schools are really doing. My learning curve when it comes to Plainfield school matters has been long and slow, but I hope is helping someone out there! And as always, corrections and clarifications, as well as comments, are welcome.

One Difference I Noticed on Charter Schools Is....

that failing charter schools can be closed a lot easier than failing traditional public schools. It takes time and effort, but at the end is easier. Have you ever heard of failing traditional public schools here in Plainfield being closed? No, right? Yet, Plainfield has had a number of charter schools closed.

More on charter school student achievement later.

Charter Schools Annual Reports

Accepting my guilt of not having paid attention to charter schools performance or accountability in the past I decided, after a reader's not so subtle comments on one particular charter school, to go ahead and start looking those links to student performance and annual reports that perhaps are easier for me to find since by now I am quite familiar with the NJ DOE website (yikes! does this make me the "expert advocate"? Naahhh!).

Anyway. Today I pulled the annual report that each charter school is, apparently, mandated to file with the State, personally, anything that is filed by schools--charter or public-- I take with a grain of salt as some schools tend to be rather "creative" with their reports, but the school reports give one the opportunity to see how they [schools] see themselves, what they say they offer and what they say they are doing.

Here are the 2009-10 annual charter school reports in the same order as they appear at the NJDOE website:

2009-10 Annual Report Central Jersey Arts Charter School

2009-10 Annual Report Queen City Academy Charter School

2009-10 Union County TEAMS Charter School (This one is a K-12 school)

And just for the sake of having all local charter schools listed here I am posting the link to the website of brand new charter school: Barack Obama Green Charter High School.

If you are concerned about local education you want to at least skim through these reports, not because they are bad, but because so far what is known about our local charter schools is so little that any additional information will give a wider window into how education is treated, or mistreated, here in Plainfield. I still believe that much needs to be done to educate parents about their rights and their role when it comes to quality education and hopefully this is something that will be done in the next few years.

P.S. Regarding "creative" school reports, I finally finished reading the first part of the Unified Plan Reports from the school district and will post later today how "creative" some can be.

City Hall, Transparency & New Dems Goals

I have yet to feel the desire to re-join city hall affairs blogging, but this morning I read all blogs that report on city hall affairs. The usual stuff and nothing earth-shaking was reported, so, it seems things are still complicated. But reading soon to be former councilman Burney's blog I couldn't but notice that his first concern listed was the following:

"The Clerk who is unable to provide minutes to our meetings is not yet again, fully funded. Shall we go another year without minutes in violation of transparency principles and state laws?"

I couldn't but shake my head. So much has been said about the council wanting to have a transparent government, yet, the citizens of Plainfield are still unable to find Minutes posted at the city's website. Last time I was at city hall inquiring about Minutes I was told that the council would be looking into a solution, I was also told that the meetings were recorded and that this could serve as Minutes (to this last one I say: tell that to a judge and see what the response is). Councilwoman Annie McWilliams even blogged about a solution she would submit to the entire council, but, councilman Burney shares the concern that the city clerk's office continues to be underfunded and, as far as I know, Minutes are still unavailable, a clear violation of OPRA regulations.

The good news might be that the council's new majority will be now comprised of elected officials that often claim transparency as their goal. Transparency was stated by the New Democrats' chairman, Adrian Mapp, in a letter he wrote last year to the Courier News and on where he said:

"We, the New Democrats of Plainfield, are proud democrats; we believe in ethical, transparent and progressive government, and we will gladly work with individuals and groups in and outside of Plainfield who share a common desire for transformative change within Plainfield and across the political landscape."

2011 seems to already be shaping to be a year where Minutes will either occur thanks to a diligent council that keeps their goal of transparency or because those seeking a transparent and ethical city hall will be diligent in making this happen one way or another. Either way, the publishing and posting of city hall Minutes is a worthy goal to have for this incoming 2011 year.

Are Bad Schools Immortal?: A Fordham Study

Catchy title, isn't it? The study was made by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and its results were released this past December 14, 2010.

Here in Plainfield we have at least three public schools that have been challenged for years and years to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as mandated by No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Perhaps this study offers a new way of looking into how to turn around those schools that are constantly challenged to even meet the minimum required standards set by No Child Left Behind and its annual standardized testing.

The study is also a study into how a majority of failing charter schools stay open despite their low student achievement rate and here in Plainfield the conversation on how charter schools are doing is being promoted by a reader who is yet to identify his/her self. At least one local charter school in particular shows low student achievement but with current information not being available is hard to say what is what when it comes to charter schools..at least for now.

Back to the study, it's foreword says the following:

Are bad schools immortal? Based on the pioneering analysis in these pages, it would seem so, at least for most such schools most of the time. About three-quarters of them stay open—and stay bad, certainly when judged by the meager (bottom quartile) proficiency levels that their pupils attain.

Even more troubling, this glum track record is nearly as weak in the charter-school sector as in the district sector, despite the acclaimed charter-movement doctrine that “bad schools don’t last—either they improve or they close.”

Would that it were so. Yet 72 percent of the original low-performing charter schools examined in this study were still operating, and still low-performing, five years later, compared with 80 percent of district schools. That means very few schools picked themselves up, rolled up their sleeves, and “turned around” their low achievement levels to above the state average. Bona fide turnarounds were rare: Just 1.4 percent of district schools and less than 1 percent of the charters earned that accolade.

The study is full of hard data (read: hard to read!) but the text offers a glimpse into the culture of keeping failing schools open and why it matters that leadership advocates for a change on how failing schools are dealt with. The study's conclusion offers these last lines:

Rather than embarking on dubious turnaround efforts, charter authorizers and district leadership alike should ramp up efforts to close low performers, particularly in cases where better-performing schools are nearby. This will signal to school leaders and policy makers that failure will not be tolerated in either sector. In states with charter caps, this will also free up charter slots that other proven operators can use to start successful new schools.

Authorities can certainly choose to table closure options in hopes that a failing school will turn around. But they will likely be disappointed. Worse, charter authorizers who fail to hold schools accountable will continue to threaten the legitimacy of the charter-school movement.

These last lines come to confirm my thoughts that it is time to call for policy makers to address accountability for district and charter failing schools.

To read the Fordham Institute's study "Are Bad Schools Immortal?" click HERE.

Accountability Needed for Charter Schools: Do We Have a Volunteer?

For quite a few weeks now I have been reading comments on how accountability needs to extend to Plainfield Charter Schools and today I got a comment related to this matter.

I have to agree that accountability needs to extend to charter schools and one can only hope that parents, residents, and local leaders get themselves empowered by asking questions and demanding transparency from charter schools as not too long ago I was looking at one of the local charter schools websites and was left wondering about few things, basically, the same things the reader that has posted his/her comment at various blogs and at the NJ.com/Plainfield forum and which are: Charter school board members, lead persons/CSA, meetings' Minutes, budget, etc, etc, etc. But I also started wondering about how effective it would be to demand accountability from one or two, or all, charter schools vs. advocating for wider control and accountability from the State. If this last route was the chosen one, which to me seems to be far more effective at this point, I would reach out to the Assembly Education Committee and lay out all of the facts that call for a stricter hold on charter schools.

With four charter schools already operating here in Plainfield and, I believe, two more on the way, it would only be the right thing to do to start asking questions and requesting that political leaders bring accountability and transparency to not only the school districts, but that charter schools get also the same demands that school districts do.

If quality education for all Plainfield children is what is desired then education to parents and all other stakeholders on what their rights are is also a must. On the meantime it would not hurt if someone volunteers time to start attending charter school board meetings and reports back to the community.

Confusing Traffic Flow at the Park Avenue Peninsula

Few more pictures from last night, December 26, 2010. Not only were drivers getting stuck on the road but those who didn't want to wait started to make their own traffic patterns.

Blizzard and Drivers: Park and E. 9th

Merry Christmas to All!

The Title I Unified Plan & Us: The State of the District as per School Administrators

For years I have been looking for factual information such as student performance and district specific goals regarding improvement. It was through an unrelated conversation to these previous items that I came across the Title I Unified Plan. While a bit shocked to learn that the information was always there and yet no one had bothered to point it out until this unrelated meeting revealed it, I decided to leave shock aside and seek more information regarding this document, the Title I Unified Plan. I filed an OPRA to request copies of four schools' Title I Unified Plan: Evergreen, Washington, Cook and Maxson. As I read them I realized that the information provided within these documents is what I had been asking for for years. I filed a second OPRA to get copies of this document from all other schools within the district. this past Friday my copies arrived to my e-mail box, but the same day, Friday, I learned through a conversation with official sources from the NJ DOE that this document, the Title I Unified Plan, can be accessed at the state's Department of Education website. You can get all the needed steps at the bottom of THIS post.

The document itself is not new, but the last two years' format is fairly new as it appears that it was adopted by the state no more than two years ago. The Title I Unified Plan is on itself just one itsy bitsy part of a close to a 1000-pages-long Grant application. The name of the document itself seems to have suffered its own transformation, at least that is what it looks like when you look at all previous years that can be accessed at the state's website. Back to reading Plainfield's own Unified Plans one can find comments, from what appears to be school administrators, that better understanding and training of this document and its process needs to happen. I agree.

I'll talk about my own experience with this document. At a recent meeting with a district administrator I found out that my name was listed at my school's Unified Plan, yet I was not aware of this document until I met with this district's administrator. I have been told that my name got placed in the document because I was part of the school's Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO). I am no longer part of the school's PTO so I requested a meeting with my school's principal to get clarifications regarding my name on this document, which I did and while I do not fully agree with the way my name landed on this document, which is one reason why I feel that there is a need for the district to get proper information in place for all parties involved (or listed) I am also thankful my name is on it because it pushed me to learn more about it. The good thing that came out of this experience is that the current PTO at Evergreen has now a copy of the document as it has been provided to them by the Principal. And before rumors start, let it be clear, I was never upset with my school's principal as I am fully aware of how many demands are often placed on principals and teachers, many of these demands without the proper information and/or resources to make things run in a better and more efficient way. Then you have at least one school administrator saying that better training needs to happen when it comes to this document, so it is not "Maria's wrong perception of things" that leads me to say that better information and training needs to happen to administrators and that more and better information to parents, all parents, gets disseminated not only at schools but also at the district's own website, this way all stakeholders are on the same page.

What is more, the state's own instructions for how the schools are to utilize the Title I Unified Plan document are here. Basically, what I got from the instructions is that this is a collaboration process opportunity and it seems to be very important that administrators feel confident about how to properly utilize this document, important also is that parents, and community, are aware of what this document is all about and what it allows parents and residents to do, which is to have their voice and opinions added to the improvement of the schools.

As I read through these documents I couldn't but wonder if the school board, current and former, is/was provided with copies of the Title I Unified Plan documentation on annual basis. I did ask and today I found out that they don't, which leads me to wonder if school board members get the equivalent of this document under a different name. The answer to this question, I feel, is an important one as one would hope that the school board is kept fully informed of the state of each and every school and the impact their [the school board's] decisions have on each of them.

The release to the public of these documents, I believe, should be done by the school district, other districts are doing it (take a look at Freehold for comparison's sake). But given the fact that this seems to be a new item to be advocated for I will be posting all Unified Plans here in the following days. One other reason is because realistically speaking not everyone has the time and patience to go through all the steps that it takes to get to these documents at the state's website.

One last good reason, at least for me, to post these documents here is because readers will be able to read about the state of the schools as the district and its administrators see them, quite different as if it is I, or others, saying it. You will also be able to see what the district is doing to address, or not, the issues that are raised on the posted documentation. Moving forward I am confident that the issues the district and the schools have are now being looked under a different lens, not only by the current school board, but by the current administration as well. We, stakeholders, need to catch up when it comes to facts and numbers, especially with a BOE election coming in a few months, this time around hopefully facts and numbers will be part of a clean campaign that will allow us to select the best qualified candidates to represent us at the school district's board of education.

As you read through the documents these coming days I am sure you will come up with your own questions. I invite you to submit your own questions to the BOE and the district's administration. I'll be keeping a tab of my questions that will be sent to the district the second week of January, look for it on the right hand side of this blog, if you want to add your questions, please feel free to send them to be added to my own public list. Answers will be posted once received.

Let's make the improvement of our public schools a public matter. Let's also make sure our participation on this process, even if that means only by adding your vote, is meaningful and well informed from now on.

I'll start posting the district's Title I Unified Plans with added background as of tomorrow. For those impatient souls, the schools mentioned above have their links to the documents posted now on Scribd.

School District: Just Where Does One Start Being Objective?

Still reading through the myriad of official documentation regarding the state of the schools in Plainfield, I can't but wonder if it wouldn't just be easy to start from scratch. Not possible, but that doesn't make the thought of it go away. But I am exaggerating. I am a parent not an expert educator and while it can be overwhelming to learn about how old some of the issues are, textbooks one of them, it is also refreshing to finally have found easy access to official documentation that can be used to start asking questions based on real issues rather than what could be seen as "wrong" perceptions, curriculum is one of these real issues that the district has been documented to have been having problems with for a long time but that school boards have often refused to accept questions on, and this brings me to the next paragraph.

As I have been reading page after page a couple of questions keep coming back:

--Are school boards provided with copies of these documents, CAPA and Title I Unified Plans (I believe these last were formerly known as School Reports)?
--Are we looking at an entity, the school district, with multiple realities?

You know, reality might be different for the school board, the school district's administrators, the teachers, the parents, the students, and the community. While it is perfectly possible that all these entities have a different perception of the same problem, it is difficult to believe that all these fragments can arrive to the similar conclusions when they are provided with chunks of different information of the same problem rather than with the whole picture, thus why it might be difficult to arrive to a real partnership that could ease our way to an improved school district.

Oh well! This is beginning to sound more like a Kafka novel that just a simple exercise of transparency by a concerned parent and community resident!

Anyway, as I am reading these documents I am writing questions, simple questions, that will be sent to the district's interim superintendent and assistant superintendent, the school board will be copied, when this happens, the questions will be posted here.

To end this, I'll say that education has become such a complex matter as our society has made of education a measurable thing, knowing how and who is doing the measuring might be the next important thing to analyze down the road.

Is it the city's turn for "Shame on You"?

One can't but wonder what is it with Plainfield that seems to be bound to call negative attention regardless of the good things that are happening around us. Now is city hall's turn with the sudden firing of city's administrator, Bibi Taylor. The radio, the papers and TV have already set their eyes on this latest news. Will we see another "Shame on You"?

What will happen in the next few weeks is yet to be know, but nonetheless, it is situations like this one that hopefully will help to shape a better tomorrow for Plainfield as more and more citizens join together to become the city's vigilantes.

Redesigned Department of Education Website Offers Access to District's Goals and Objectives, and More

Perhaps the Title I Grants information was always there, at the state's Department of Education website, but today even Department of Education staff are delighted to direct and help callers to the easier to navigate website's many features, among these the new visible window called "Overview of DOE Sites" that has a large and comprehensive array of documents that can please even the most hard to please transparency lovers.

The story of how I recently learned about a document called Title I Unified Plan is perhaps "meat" for another post, what is important today is that this document, which offers answers to an old question of mine, is easily available in your screen, no OPRA request needed.

My question, for years, has been:

What are the district's specific goals and what are the specific student achievement numbers?

The question has gone unanswered until recently. But specifics are offered at the Title I Unified Plan which is a document that has to be filed on annual basis by all those schools that are labeled as Title I schools, Plainfield has almost all schools labeled as Title I, the exception are the High School and the Barack Obama Academy. I didn't know this until recently, did you know this?

The Title I Unified Plan document offers information on the school's vision and mission, a comprehensive needs assessment and a summary, data collection and analysis, evaluation of the previous school year teaching and learning strategies and programs, a description of chosen priority problems and the strategies to address them, a parent involvement narrative, the school's own annual student achievement targets and more.

Why was it important to have specifics? Since I moved to Plainfield all I have been hearing is how Plainfield schools are a failure, I say, not so fast, but so far there has been no real information on what specific things are failing and how the district is fixing them. And yes, we know student achievement is low, but why and what the road blocks are is not openly discussed and decisions on how the district and school board deal with these issues are never publicly addressed. We, the community, have been relegated to be just plain observers. I don't agree with this position and thus I have become an advocate of open records. This morning I learned the records were always open at the State website, just not many people knew how to get to them.

The consequences of accepting the observer role that the school district has assigned to us has had dire results in our community. What is more, by keeping specifics away from the public the district is negating us something as simple as being able to celebrate the small successes the district might have. In my opinion, publicly embracing failure, never mind accepting it, allows for a successful turn around as now all stakeholders could become part of the district's failure or success.

The road to fix the schools is long and it won't happen overnight, it won't be ans easy fix either. But now that information is so much easily available and that we can see what the issues are and how the district is saying will fix them, prepare yourself to be a vigilant, and informed, partner rather than an ill-informed observer. But also be prepared to celebrate as these last weeks have been a good example of how the district is moving forward with the following events: the career fairs, the teacher using life experiences as a teaching tool, the parent academy, the community budget meeting, the various school-held family events and more news that I can't think of right now.

It is my hope that the district and school board soon embrace transparency for all school information, we, stakeholders, have long endured the observer's seat, we now need a seat, a real seat, at the shared decision makers' table.

To follow directions on how to access these documents see below:

At the NJDOE website's page go to:

--Overview of DOE Sites (right underneath the main picture)

--Go to GRANTS

--Click NJ DOE Homeroom Page

--Click EWEG (Pick Public Access, right underneath LogOn)

--Look for the black letters that say Formula Grant and click NCLB

--In the box that says Starts with: write Plainfield

--Once in Plainfield, select the year on which you wish to review documents and click Open Application (left hand side)

--Once in Open Application, Multiple boxes will be displayed. Look on your upper right hand corner for a drop down box and select NCLB Title I Part A

--Once on NCLB Title I Part A, Click the Program Specific Box and more boxes will come, the Title I Unified Plan is all the way to the right hand side of the screen. Click this box and all the district's plans will be displayed.

It is a lot of steps to finally get the information, but the information is there. Maybe throughout the weekend I will pull the documents into a more easier form to display. I am posting all the steps because the DOE windows seem to be timed to close after certain time, so if the links don't work, at least you have the steps. Once you get the hang of it it becomes quite easy.

If you go ahead and access the documents, I hope you take note of the positive plans that were made and match them to what is already happening these past few months. And remember Rome wasn't built in one day!

The End of Tenure (*as it is now) Should Not Only Be for Teachers & Plainfield Teachers and Administrators Evaluation Forms

Tenure. The latest word that has joined the ranks of open discussion here in NJ's education reform movement. But teachers are not the only ones that get tenure. Administrators do too. But while it is mostly known how teachers gain tenure it is not so known how administrators do. To illustrate this point one only has to remember when a certain new administrator, not from the Gallon team, gained tenure shortly after getting hired. How did it happen? Who knows. I never asked for clarification as there have been so, so, many issues that called for clarification that this one just went into the "one of these days list". But really, how do administrators get tenure around here?

Anyway, today I was reminded of this issue, administrators' tenure, by the mention of it at the Tenure Testimony article at NJ Spotlight where one of my favorite administrators, Brian G. Osborne, is quoted. To think that Mr. Osborne used to work in Plainfield [sigh]. The article quotes him saying the following:

[Tenure] It’s not just protecting teachers, either, but administrators, too. The superintendent of South Orange/Maplewood schools said tenure protection for principals and other leadership positions leave superintendents with little discretion over their own senior staff.

“Just imagine as senators that you couldn’t change your chief of staff?” superintendent Brian Osborne asked the members of the panel.

What is about to change this? As Renata Hernandez pointed out in her own post, Governor Christie's stubborn, and in your face, obsession on reforming education. Governor Christie is quoted in the same article:

The Christie administration has proposed an overhaul of teacher and principal evaluation, appointing a task force to develop a statewide plan by March. The governor in an afternoon press conference said that plan will lead to changes in how teachers are promoted, paid and retained.

"Tenure as it is constituted now in New Jersey is absolutely failed and antiquated system that needs to be substantially reformed or eliminated," Christie said. "I have been clear about that over time, and that will be a big discussion and debate, I assume."

Someone asked in Renata's blog what do these teacher and administrator evaluations look like here in Plainfield. As it is, about 10 days ago I filed an OPRA to get a copy of both forms. And, to my surprise, I got them right away.

For teachers, click HERE. For administrators, click HERE.

But Renata is right. Citizens need to speak up, and speak up loudly. It appears someone is listening now.

*Added after posting. God forbid people think I want tenure to end all together I felt that clarification was needed. Tenure, as it is now, has put education, not to mention students and their families, into a secondary place. There is no question that good teachers [and administrators] should be rewarded with tenure, but the system should be made easier to remove those ones who are not. [one doesn't think of administrators' having tenure that easy, does it?]

Sparks Are Flying at Two Major Plainfield Entities?

Somewhere between 7 PM last night and this morning sparks started flying high at both city hall and perhaps the Board of Education judging by school board member Renata Hernandez's latest post.

The city affairs I leave to Bernice, Dr. Yood and Dan since they follow a lot much closer that action.

But for the school district, I am wondering now if Renata's post has anything to do with the contract negotiations that the Plainfield Association Schools Administrators is due to have anytime now. The district's administrators' contract expires July of next year. Mrs. Brenda Gilbert and Mrs. Katherine Peterson are the two school board members representing the BOE, and us, on these talks.

Then of course, Renata's reaction can be the result of many other things, but wouldn't it be fitting if all BOE members were to start demanding a lot, a whole lot, more from administrators? One only has to take a pick on any of the CAPA reports to see how administrators, from school buildings and central offices, along with former school boards, have failed to do the needed changes to improve the quality of education in this city. Makes one want to say: When is enough enough?

Looking ahead one can only hope that whatever crisis is boiling at both fronts, city and school, it will only be for the better. Because enough is enough.

Clarification On CAPA Document Was Given by the District

This morning after reading the CAPA Restructuring Report of Maxson Middle School I sent an e-mail to interim superintendent asking about why the name of Dr. Gallon III was in the May 2008 document when in fact his official starting date was not until July 1, 2008. I found it odd, and concerning, especially at a time when Dr. Gallon is, according to the Courier News, settling his contract in exchange for 6-months pay, this at the same time that the district is also being sued by other former administrators that worked under, or along, him. While settlements might be good for various reasons, settlements always leave the question of what was it that really happened that brought the parties to a settlement.

But with this said, I did receive clarification from the district as the document, posted in the State's website, really raised the question on the veracity of the rumors that Dr. Gallon was having a role into the district's decisions way before his official starting date. The clarification came via Mrs. Dawn Ciccone, Coordinator, Grants Administration, and said the following:

The Board Resolution was completed in May 2008, while Dr. Bailey was the Interim Superintendent. However, there were revisions to the Restructuring Plan in July and August 2008. Dr. Gallon consulted with us on the revisions and the revised plan was submitted to the Department of Education for review and approval.

The fact that the district was quick on responding is a good sign and I am thankful they did for now that I am reading all these CAPA documents, and more, there will be a lot more questions that I am hoping can get answered.

And honestly, how can you read these documents and don't come up with questions and observations? The challenges the district faces go far beyond one person's leadership and we as a community, not to mention voters, must be willing to look all, and demand no less than, factual information.

Meaningful and factual information could make a difference in how we select school board members and what we demand of our school district leaders and staff. Our students, this community's children, deserve no less from us, the so called adults.

Transparency Gets Easier with CAPA information easier to find

Capa in Spanish is cloak and the school district certainly has enjoyed having a big and impenetrable cloak around it that has not allowed meaningful information to flow easily to the community. But the new re-designed Department of Education's website is either easier to navigate or perhaps this time around I know what I am looking for, for in the past I have asked for information, and filed OPRAs with apparently the wrong request, that is now easy to find at the NJDOE website .

What is this information? Well, is the CAPA report, which in educational English lingo means something quite opposite to its Spanish version as CAPA stands for Collaborative Assessment for Planning and Achievement and this is what the NJDOE says it is:

CAPA was initiated during the 2003-04 academic year with an agreement between the Office of Title I and the Division of Abbott Implementation to take a unified approach in reviewing schools. The department studied various models and chose the Kentucky "scholastic audit" because of its research base and history of improving urban schools. The Kentucky scholastic audit process was adapted to meet the goals and mission of the N. J. Department of Education, particularly its work in Abbott districts.

The CAPA review is a “teaching and learning” process for district and school staff. Since the program was launched in 2004-2005, the review protocols have been updated annually based on review and analysis of current research. To date, more than 340 Title I schools have received a CAPA visit.

Plainfield has had CAPA reviews at 6 of its schools. Currently, as told by official sources, the Department of Education is working, through CAPA, with Jefferson, Hubbard, and Maxson schools. The DOE website's CAPA page offers information on the schools it has worked with here in Plainfield and you can find the Summary Reports for all 6 schools, the Collaborative Benchmark Summary Reports for both Middle Schools, Maxson and Hubbard and the Restructuring Plan for one Middle School, Maxson.

Take a look at the documents, find out from official sources what the state of the schools have been, what has been changed, and what needs to be fixed. To visit the State's Department of Education CAPA page click HERE and open the documents' page for the above mentioned documents.

I am waiting for clarification from the district regarding the Maxson Restructuring document as I found it odd that the document was approved in May 2008 by the BOE, while the district was under a former interim superintendent, yet it is the name of Dr. Gallon III the one that appears in the document even though Dr. Gallon's official starting date was not until July 2008. Odd.

Plainfield Schools PR: Why Speaking Up Works...

First, a "thanks for listening" to the school district's PR Department and whoever else was involved in the latest, very latest, use of Plainfield InJersey to make the community aware of the good things that are happening in the school district. It took a short while and a little prodding but today you can read two great stories happening in the school district, one at Maxson Middle School and the other at Jefferson Elementary School.

The two stories are hopeful and a good sign that the district is moving forward (despite clear policies on textbooks) and both schools' staff deserve praise for making these events come to life. Our community can use more of these good news coming from the schools and while much is yet to be fixed, it is good to see students and parents engaged in positive events that will benefit not only the students, but our families and our community. Great job!

The stories can be read HERE at Plainfield InJersey. And for those who love Bill Nierstedt, check Maxson pictures HERE for a view of him (gotta scroll down once to see him!)!

Thanks again to Dan for openly advocating for the school district to use Plainfield In Jersey, but mostly, thanks to the district for listening!

More on Textbooks

First, apologies to school board member, Renata Hernandez, because she felt I misquoted her. But I am glad she posted her own position on how she feels about the textbook issue.

To go a bit further on the textbook topic, it should be noted that all children, to my knowledge, have had textbooks IN the classroom. That is not the issue, the issue is whether a child is able to take home or not their textbooks and whether the district ought to have a clear policy on textbooks. Given the fact that textbooks have been a hot issue for years, it only makes sense to adopt a clear policy, with its regulation, about how the district will be providing textbooks to its pupils. The policy doesn't have to exclude principals from the decision, but it needs to place accountability to all parties: district, principals, teachers, parents and students.

Given the fact that the district also lacks a clear policy on how textbooks are to be purchased, (centralized or individual schools?) a policy would also aid to clear this for all involved. There have been many instances when a need for this or that is blamed on the district, or the other way around.

If a policy is not adopted then the least that can be done is to write a clear line of response and responsibility regarding textbooks, this information should be posted in the district's website and also sent to parents. It could be as simple as the district sending a letter to all parents telling them that if they prefer for their child(ren) to take home their textbooks to please make the request, in writing, to their child's teacher. And if the request doesn't get fulfilled within a number of days, to go onto the next on command and so on.

Now, to make it clear, I don't write about textbooks for my own sake, I happen to be rather vocal and so far this year where I saw our needs I looked for ways to solve them, but I know many parents that don't and won't speak up for many various reasons. It is these parents and their children that need us to step up and walk the extra mile for them, ultimately, it is the students that will benefit, which in a struggling district such as ours is not a bad thing, after all, educating the children is, or should be, the goal.

To close this post I will leave you with a copy of a 2006 BOE meeting *where textbooks were discussed by now former superintendent, Paula Howard. Imagine that, 2006! I am glad I wasn't the first one raising concerns on this issue as I wasn't even in the district at that time.

*Page 2, Privilege of the Floor, Paragraph 3.

August 2, 2006 Special Business Meeting Minutes

Plainfield Schools Textbooks

The topic of textbooks has been a standing issue for such a long time that even I, a rather stubborn person, am getting fed up with the subject. But here are some recent comments that brought me tonight to write this post:

As I am cleaning my files this time around I found a copy of a 2006 PTO agenda from Evergreen where one of the topics was Classroom Books. Not sure the item was referring to textbooks, but it certainly raises the possibility that it could had. It is now 2010, almost 2011.

In a 2007 BOE meeting Minutes the concern for lack of textbooks was raised. (I'll see my files to see if I can locate such Minutes)

In 2008, and almost as soon as Dr. Gallon arrived, I took it upon myself to raise, and raise, and raise, the concern of textbooks. We sort of got somewhere, but not that far. His major accomplishment here was to adopt a Science textbook rather than teaching Science through a Science kit that came with a high tag price.

In 2009, I continued raising issues with the availability of textbooks, but then, as we all know it, everything got sidetracked by personnel issues.

This year, 2010, it is still known that students at some schools are not able to take textbooks home because these schools are still providing one set of textbooks per class, not per student.

A reader at Dan's blog made a comment on textbooks HERE (and no, it wasn't me):

[ ]

Meanwhile, the children go without textbooks to use, mark-up, and take home. Is one take-home textbook per grade level out of 5 classes the norm? Children, in order to learn thoroughly, need to have their own books or manuals more than teachers and administrators earning an extra three or four thousand. Worked in earlier generations.

My own experience this year with 6th grade has been that we have had one textbook to take home since day 1, Language Arts (this textbook also offers on-line access). The Math textbook is home just because there were extras and I this month asked to borrow one to take home. Science and Social textbooks are part of classroom sets but the school offered their access on-line, but I wonder what other parents with no on-line access do.

The textbook issue was, and has been, controversial for a long, long time, but unless a decision gets made by the BOE and the superintendent nothing is going to change. Just this past week, at the BOE Budget meeting, the textbook argument came up again.

One BOE member, Keisha Edwards, stands by the belief that every child is to have a textbook to take home.

Other BOE member, Renata Hernandez, feels this is a decision to be made by school principals as textbooks are to be provided by each school's budget.

Interim superintendent, Anna Belin-Pyles, also feels every child must have a textbook, or at least that is what I understood. Mrs. Belin-Pyles also noted that she was going to look again into the lack of textbooks and that parents with concerns should notify the principal and if no response from the school's principal, her office.

At the end, lack of consensus is what seems to be driving decisions on who will get textbooks and who won't.

As community, and regardless of whether you use the school district or not, if you believe all students ought to have textbooks to take home, then, by all means, you should let BOE members know that this is exactly what you want to see as part of their goals. And if needed be (for those principals that don't get it) ask the BOE to adopt a "textbook policy" that spells out that for every course that utilizes a textbook, access to take home must be granted to the student and their families by either providing the textbook itself or timely notification of the on-line access to the utilized textbook. Other districts do it(policies 2510, 2520 & 2530) why not Plainfield?

On the other hand, if providing every child with their own set of textbooks, or on-line access to them, is not something you consider important, then don't worry, you don't have to do anything because this is already the case for some students right here in Plainfield.

Will the textbook issue be again an issue next school year? For the sake of students I hope not.

Slicing PISA Results

So, Shanghai is numero 1 when it comes to taking tests. That is no surprise since Asian students (or is it parents?) have education as one of their core values. Having followed PISA reports since 2000 (by a chance encounter) and having learned a bit more about standardized test results these past few months I couldn't but wonder what the follow-up critics would say about PISA scores.

But first let me share what I think of standardized testing. It sucks. As important as it has been made to be thanks to our federal government with its No Child Left Behind, standardized annual testing does nothing to truly educate, in a more rounded way, a child. And the worst of all is that this standardized education is failing minority kids. (If you are a child of mine and read this, the rules have not changed, you must do what it takes to do well in your NJASK!)

But one can't disregard the notion that standardized testing has allowed to measure academic growth all across the socio-economic (and even racial) spectrum. What we do with this knowledge is yet to be found as one sees how schools all across the country are struggling to meet mandates imposed by the government at the same time that they are trying to educate our children.

Summing up standardized testing can be said that it has been a necessary evil before we can move up to the next level of education, whatever that level might be. And of course, this is my own opinion and mine only. (For a view of a good alternative education curriculum read Dr. E=mc2 HERE)

Back to PISA results. The results, that China is numero 1 and the USA is not, has been making rounds all over the news. The results play well with the education reform movement that is on-going at this moment, but one also needs to read what the critics say. Via the Flypaper I found the following:

From an ABC News segment:

"When you spend all your time as a student at school going after high scores, you lose opportunity to develop anything else," said Yong Zhao, an education professor at Michigan State University.

Zhao said the Chinese system spends too much time focused on instruction, and not enough on education. Instruction, he explained, is imparting knowledge. Education is something entirely different.

"It's a long-term process of developing human beings, and well-rounded human beings who are curious, passionate and creative," said Zhao.

And from the Global Times, also via the Flypaper:

Everyone is talking about the stellar performance of China’s students on the 2009 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) assessment, the results of which were just released. The 5100 Shanghai students that took the exam did better in math, reading, and science than the students of any other country, including the United States, which came in 23^rd overall.

So, why are China’s school administrators are coming to Ohio to learn lessons?

An article in the Global Times, an English-language newspaper in China, may provide a clue. The rigorous but rote-focused education most Chinese students receive doesn’t allow for sufficient development of creativity and imagination, the article claims. This may explain, at least in part, why China’s students are enrolling in US universities in record numbers.

Your schools are student-centered,” said Deputy Director Huang in his presentation to Ohio’s State School Board. “You focus on the students’ interests. […] You encourage your students to be imaginative and to innovate.

And one last, also via the Flypaper, from the Copy and Past blog authored by Peter Pappas:

Stop Worrying About Shanghai, What PISA Test Really Tells Us About American Students

The latest results from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) are public, and already some pundits are declaring it "a Sputnik wake-up." Others shout back that international comparisons aren't valid. Rather than wade into that debate, I'd rather look more closely at the questions in the PISA test and what student responses tell us about American education. You can put international comparisons aside for that analysis.

Are American students able to analyze, reason and communicate their ideas effectively? Do they have the capacity to continue learning throughout life? Have schools been forced to sacrifice creative problem solving for “adequate yearly progress” on state tests? For more on that last question see my post "As NCLB Narrows the Curriculum, Creativity Declines."

There you have them. These critics from the the educational front seem to point that true reform is something that is still boiling in the pot. Reading this, don't you feel better now about America being numero 23?

So, in 10 days we can start anew?

If the Courier News is correct in its report in 10 days the district will see its Gallon Chapter closed. In its almost three years that it lasted one has to wonder if the district and the school board will share what it learned from this episode. Despite Gallon being gone for few months now, the cloud of his presence has been hanging in the shadows of the district all this time. In 10 days, with Gallon's resignation and the district's case closed in court, it will be time that the district moves on, accepts the state of the district as it is right now and starts expressing what will be the steps that will be taken to correct all that is wrong.

It will also be interesting to learn how the school district's Human Resources Department and school board HR committee have been improved so students and taxpayers don't have to go through the same ordeal once again.

A bit on last night's meeting: Communication, Empowerment, Responsibilities

Last night, the "after-the-budget-meeting" conversation turned its focus into communication between the school district, schools, staff and parents. One thing was clear and that is that we all need to work harder on how communication happens so it can become a plus for students. So, with that on mind here is what the national Parent Teacher Association says about how to form strong family-school partnerships.

PTA Title
Standard 1—Welcoming All Families into the School Community

Families are active participants in the life of the school, and feel welcomed, valued, and connected to each other, to school staff, and to what students are learning and doing in class.

Goal 1: Creating a Welcoming Climate: When families walk into the building, do they feel the school is inviting and is a place where they "belong"?

* Developing personal relationships
* Creating a family-friendly atmosphere
* Providing opportunities for volunteering

Goal 2: Building a Respectful, Inclusive School Community: Do the school’s policies and programs reflect, respect, and value the diversity of the families in the community?

* Respecting all families
* Removing economic obstacles to participation
* Ensuring accessible programming

Standard 2—Communicating Effectively

Families and school staff engage in regular, two-way, meaningful communication about student learning.

Goal 1: Sharing Information Between School and Families: Does the school keep all families informed about important issues and events and make it easy for families to communicate with teachers?

* Using multiple communication paths
* Surveying families to identify issues and concerns
* Having access to the principal
* Providing information on current issues
* Facilitating connections among families

Standard 3—Supporting Student Success

Families and school staff continuously collaborate to support students’ learning and healthy development both at home and at school, and have regular opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and skills to do so effectively.

Goal 1: Sharing Information About Student Progress: Do families know and understand how well their children are succeeding in school and how well the entire school is progressing?

* Ensuring parent-teacher communication about student progress
* Linking student work to academic standards
* Using standardized test results to increase achievement
* Sharing school progress

Goal 2: Supporting Learning by Engaging Families: Are families active participants in their children’s learning at home and at school?

* Engaging families in classroom learning
* Developing family ability to strengthen learning at home
* Promoting after-school learning

Standard 4—Speaking Up for Every Child

Families are empowered to be advocates for their own and other children, to ensure that students are treated fairly and have access to learning opportunities that will support their success.

Goal 1: Understanding How the School System Works: Do parents know how the local school and district operate and how to raise questions or concerns about school and district programs, policies, and activities? Do they understand their rights and responsibilities under federal and state law as well as local ordinances and policies?

* Understanding how the school and district operate
* Understanding rights and responsibilities under federal and state laws
* Learning about resources
* Resolving problems and conflicts

Goal 2: Empowering Families to Support Their Own and Other Children's Success in School: Are parents prepared to monitor students' progress and guide them toward their goals through high school graduation, postsecondary education, and a career?

* Developing families' capacity to be effective advocates
* Planning for the future
* Smoothing transitions
* Engaging in civic advocacy for student achievement

Standard 5—Sharing Power

Families and school staff are equal partners in decisions that affect children and families and together inform, influence, and create policies, practices, and programs.

Goal 1: Strengthening the Family’s Voice in Shared Decision Making: Are all families full partners in making decisions that affect their children at school and in the community?

* Having a voice in all decisions that affect children
* Addressing equity issues
* Developing parent leadership

Goal 2: Building Families’ Social and Political Connections: Do families have a strong, broad-based organization that offers regular opportunities to develop relationships and raise concerns with school leaders, public officials, and business and community leaders?

* Connecting families to local officials
* Developing an effective parent involvement organization that represents all families

Standard 6—Collaborating with Community

Families and school staff collaborate with community members to connect students, families, and staff to expanded learning opportunities, community services, and civic participation.

Goal 1: Connecting the School with Community Resources: Do parent and school leaders work closely with community organizations, businesses, and institutions of higher education to strengthen the school, make resources available to students, school staff, and families, and build a family-friendly community?

* Linking to community resources
* Organizing support from community partners
* Turning the school into a hub of community life
* Partnering with community groups to strengthen families and support student success

PTA Copyright

School Budget Meeting: No report on budget, sorry!

Tonight I attended to School Budget Community Meeting, but I was late and missed the PowerPoint presentation so hopefully Dan[Damon] and Mark Spivey from the Courier News will post something about the "meat" and purpose of the meeting. But I can share that the meeting was, when I arrived, flowing easily into more of a round table conversation that allowed for exchanges among those present: school board members, administrators, principals, staff, and us.

Topics that came up weren't all the most comfortable ones, but it was good to know that while not all of us can see Plainfield and its schools with "pink colored glasses" at least there was room to be polite.

PISA -not PIZZA- Is Paid Attention to by the USA

PISA stands for Programme for International Student Assessment. It is basically a world-wide standardized test of selected 15 years old across the globe and the purpose of it is to see how different countries are doing when it comes to educating their young ones.

The USA for being a superpower nation has been, as many know, falling behind when it comes to education, but last year's surprise was Shanghai who for the first time tested its selected 15 years old in all three areas, Reading, Science and Math, and to the surprise of many, they came in a astounding leading place.

From the NYTimes this:

PISA scores are on a scale, with 500 as the average. Two-thirds of students in participating countries score between 400 and 600. On the math test last year, students in Shanghai scored 600, in Singapore 562, in Germany 513, and in the United States 487.

In reading, Shanghai students scored 556, ahead of second-place Korea with 539. The United States scored 500 and came in 17th, putting it on par with students in the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and several other countries.

In science, Shanghai students scored 575. In second place was Finland, where the average score was 554. The United States scored 502 — in 23rd place — with a performance indistinguishable from Poland, Ireland, Norway, France and several other countries.

The PISA website is HERE and is full of information on how these other countries are educating their children, why it is important to educate them and what could happen if we don't.

In the US the leading state when it comes to education success is Massachusetts. So forget Westfield and Cranford, let's follow the Massachusetts and Shanghai examples!

School Budget Meeting: A first that you don't want to miss

Budgets are tight everywhere, even for our multi-million dollar school district. This year, and contrary to its tradition, the school board is calling for a Community Budget Meeting (info is posted at the district's website #5).

Curious about what the Community Budget Meeting was about I sent an e-mail with questions to Mr. Jones, who then sent my questions to Mr. Ottmann, district's Business Administrator, and this is what Mr. Ottman said of what to expect on this meeting:

Thursday’s budget meeting is not a formal meeting and public comment and/or questions are anticipated.

It is not a presentation on next year’s budget but rather an overview of the process as well as challenges that Plainfield, as well as many other districts, face in development of their FY12 budget.

Yes! We are preparing for future budgets. And, refreshing enough, inviting people to a meeting.

So, if you are interested, and you should, stop by this coming Thursday, from 6:30 to 8:30, at 1200 Myrtle Avenue (at the old Jefferson School). Not sure what you could ask? Take a look at the information below to get some ideas. I'll start digging some old budgets and whatever else I find and post them before Wednesday night.

PPress 04 School Finance

Putting Students First: Michelle Rhee

Much speculation has been going on regarding the future landing place of Michelle Rhee, the controversial education leader that was, sort of, forced out of Washington DC schools. In a NYTimes, where it is announced what her next steps will be (no, not NJ), she is quoted saying the following:

“We won’t shy away from the fight,” she said. “We’re a little too obsessed right now with harmony in public education. How can we all come together and collaborate? That’s been happening the last 30 years, and because we’ve been trying to smooth each other’s feathers over and make the adults happy,” students have suffered, she added.

I couldn't agree with her more.

Click HERE for her new organization, Students First. HERE for the NYTimes article on her.

Parental Involvement for the 21st Century Parent

You have heard me raise concerns on how schools reach out to parents. I have given some suggestions on how things can improve. School staff have told how the schools are trying. The labor of communication, clear communication, is a labor of love in a diverse community. Rome wasn't built in one day and here is one more "stone" to keep on, hopefully, building the two-way road that will lead us to better communication.

Serving a diverse community of parents must not be an easy task. We have parents that have no school background, we have parents that have way too much education, we have parents who have never touched a computer (but are willing to do if someone helps them) and we have parents that are building their own computers and their own websites. Somewhere in between there must be a way to keep everyone pleased and communicated. Edutopia, a leader on education improvement, offered this guide on Home to School Communication back in October, today I am posting it here for those interested in learning how others are using different media and different ways to make it happen or advocate for it to happen. Which one you will be is up to you.

Edutopia Home to School Guide

WikiLeaks: What is your opinion on it?

WikiLeaks is one topic that has me intrigued as I didn't pay much attention to it before its controversial release (which I have not read) of Diplomatic Cables and I wonder if people are more fascinated by WikiLeaks itself than by the released information. I know I am since now I am following the stories on what WikiLeaks fate is and will be.

What do you think of the whole WikiLeaks story? Have you read any of its released information? Do you think the information has placed the US in a dangerous or an embarrassing position? Is WikiLeaks to be blamed for the information, or should the creators of the information be the ones to be made responsible?

One thing for sure is that WikiLeaks is going to change the way communications are exchanged. What do you think?

Responding to a reader's request:

I received this comment yesterday in an unrelated post. The comment was not posted as I didn't want to deviate readers to a different topic than what the post was, but I didn't want to ignore the comment as I wanted to respond to it as well as comment on the council's latest controversy regarding the selection of a lawyer.

So, here is the comment:

Maria,

we need someone to OPRA all documents and emails regarding the section of Drakeford. Dan will not do it. Can you please do it?

See Burney's blog today. You are the OPRA queen of Plainfield and we miss your attention on City Hall matters. By the way, what happened to the minutes being published?

2:23 PM

And here is my response:

Thanks for the comment. I am flattered for the title, but truth is that many more people here in Plainfield are utilizing OPRA to uncover our government's deeds. I encourage you to file an OPRA and then share your findings with the rest of us. Plainfield needs more residents to step up to do what the few of us do, and the few of us need help as it can be overwhelming to try to do everything.

To file an OPRA one doesn't need to go to City Hall, all you need to do is send an e-mail to Deputy Clerk A. Jalloh at ajalloh [dot] clerk [at] plainfield[dot] com. Make your Subject: OPRA Request and the request can then be worded as follows:

OPRA Request to Plainfield City Records Custodian

Submitted via E-Mail on [Date] to ajalloh [dot] clerk [at] plainfield [dot] com

Please accept this as my request for government records, request that is supported by both OPRA and the Common Law right of access.

Requestor's Name: [your name, or file it anonymously]

Address: Please only use E-Mail to respond. Please e-mail response

E-Mail: [your e-mail address, this can also be filed under an anonymous e-mail]

Phone:

Records Requested:

All e-mails sent back and forth between councilman Rashid Burney and councilwoman Annie McWilliams concerning the hiring of an outside investigation lawyer from September 28th, 2010 to today's date.

My request includes all the following utilized e-mail addresses:

rashid.burney@gmail.com
kit0415@yahoo.com
info@rashidburney.com
annie.mcwilliams@plainfield.com

I believe this should do it as these are public records. There might be a denial on the basis of consultation and deliberation, but if you really want to know what was said and by whom, then you have to try and file an OPRA. Hope this helps.

And even if no one asked, I'll give my opinion on this latest council matter:

The whole situation is so Plainfield. People of power need to acknowledge the new fact that they have now many eyes watching them and the expectation is that they make the right decisions and that decisions are free of the slightest perception of wrongdoing or conflict of interest. It was silly to suggest someone [a lawyer] who was from the inner circle of one of the two factions of the democratic party, and it was naive to act on the suggestion. It was disappointing to learn that the raised concerns by two vocal residents, Dr. Yood and Piv, were dismissed, yet when the newspaper got involved with their strong Editorial, action was taken. Admirable that action was taken? Yes. But our city leaders need to start listening to residents without outside entities coming in, when this happens we will all know that we have a true democratic system regardless of who is in power.

As for the City Minutes and their publication. I think the City Clerk put it very clear that her office was decimated by all the lay offs that have been going on. What to do? Councilman McWilliams said she and the council were going to look into a solution. Hopefully they are. If no solution is given to the missing Minutes within a reasonable time, then, once again, an outside agency might be needed and in this case a lawsuit against the city and the clerk would be the quickest way to get results. Hopefully there will be no need to go there.

So, with this said, I will not file an OPRA to find out what was said and by whom, but I encourage all those who feel the need to find out more about how the decision was made to go ahead and file one. I would also encourage anyone to share the findings with any of us bloggers, or better yet, to start a new blog.

Thanks!

Plainfield Parental Involvement Policies and Practices: What do they look like?

We all know that parental involvement in Plainfield could be better. Much better. But parental involvement can only happen when teachers, schools and district want it to happen. Are Plainfield schools practicing "best practices" to involve parents? Has the district and the school board made sure to make parental involvement a priority? To what policies and practices can the district point that could say are tied to improving parental involvement?

I already started by pointing out the lack of coordination between what the district and the schools require of parents before schools start in the form of a "school list supply".

I also pointed to the fact that there is no policy or regulation regarding the regular use of the parental portal in the student information system, Genesis. Genesis use by teachers, which is a great tool for parents to keep track of their student's academics, needs to be better regulated by the district either by a district regulation or a school board policy. (You can look at the Genesis Manual for Parents HERE)

Today I'll point to what I am considering a major fault overlooked by all of us who have been advocating for improvement: A Parental Involvement Policy. School Board member Renata Hernandez has advocated for such policy before getting elected to the BOE and I will continue to advocate for one. As it is, and as I understand it now, a parental policy is not a choice, it is a federal mandate for all schools that are cataloged as Title I schools. It is time to take a closer look into what Title I says about parental involvement. If we are going to blame parents for their lack of involvement, let's at least be clear what role the district has played, or not, in attracting and sustaining parental involvement.

Parental Involvement