Beginning an Education Reform Dialogue
4/1/05

Some of our public school administrations have been writing letters asking for community involvement in urging the state to provide more money to their specific districts. But there is no more money to be had and it would not result in higher educational outcomes anyway.

Up till now, those of us who have been advocating substantive education reform have been ignored at best and at worst demonized by those who would have to change the way they do things. Campaigns of personal destruction and character assassination have been waged against us.  We have not been granted the privilege of an open dialogue on the merits of our suggestions.

 I will give you just one example of the many relentless attacks I’ve endured: About ten years ago I attempted to hold the East Greenbush School District responsible for misleading the voters into narrowly approving a $27.9 million renovation plan. I lost that case and several years after the renovations were complete, I happened to be discussing the renovations with a staff member of one of the schools that my children attend. She went on about the poor quality of the construction work and the fact that nothing was done about the crumbling asbestos floor tiles. She had asked the administration why the floor tiles were still there and was told that it was my fault. The money the district had to spend on litigation would have been used for that. (I wonder if the Columbia High School shooting incident was my fault as well.)

Now, I don’t know if it’s true that the floor tiles have asbestos in them but in light of one testing contractor caught falsifying results, I wonder who tested our schools? Could the problem of false reporting be widespread and the fact that one company was pilloried simply mean that they had fallen from grace with their clients who pressure them for favorable results? Does anyone in the press ask these questions or are they guilty of complicity as well? In any case, the money we’ve spent has not improved the safety of our children or educational outcomes.

If you answer the call to get involved in your school district, understand that they do not want you to make any constructive suggestions. They just want people to echo their demands for more money. I have attended board meetings of many of our local school districts and can tell you that, in general, they exist as a buffer to their respective administrations, insulating them from criticism and accountability. Only one exception comes to mind: that of the Wynantskill School Board years ago in which the reform minded BOE President caught the superintendent hiding a ghost teacher in the budget in order to get more funding. I’ve been told that it is common practice for public school administrators to inflate the number of teachers and students in their quest for more money but the W.U.F.S.D. superintendent was specifically told not to do so by the school board. She was fired for deliberately disobeying them, went home and committed suicide. The useful idiots of the district branded the BOE President a murderer in the opinion pages of local newspapers. He left the board and the status quo was restored.

The status quo has become a runaway train. If you think you can stop it, steel yourself for a wild ride.

                                      DRC