Letter From the BOE President

We are implementing the kind of technology and curriculum needed to help move all our schools in the right direction, but we need people to understand the challenges some of our teachers are up against.  My children graduated from with at least 80% of the kids with whom they started kindergarten. I knew the names of nearly every one of their classmates on graduation day. That alone gave my kids an incredible advantage: stability, predictability, continuity, relative tranquility at home.

We are not making excuses for our at-risk schools but the fact that and for instance, see a turnover of up to 43% of their students from September to June is a mitigating factor in standardized test score results.  A second grade teacher at Berkeley trying to teach reading to a class that has this sort of massive turnover of students in her classroom cannot fairly be compared to a teacher experience in schools with a more stable student population.  Now we are implementing many measures to address some of these problems (per earlier reports of the ). 

This year, Obama has stated that he wants to scrap No Child Left Behind testing.  I, too, question the validity of these tests.  We need to question a testing method that, according to Arne Duncan (US Secretary of Education), results in up to 80% of all U.S. schools failing to make AYP.  In New Jersey alone, nearly 40% of all schools tested--from richest to poorest--failed to make AYP.

Bloomfield is not alone in terms of AYP results.  Look at Montclair: it spends nearly $5000 more per pupil per year than does Bloomfield ($14,000 vs. $9,000, according to financial statements on the most recent NJ school report cards) yet six Montclair schools are currently in so-called "failing" status.  Nutley, which spends $2000 more per student than Bloomfield, has a high school in so-called  "failing" status.

That fact that Montclair spends nearly $5000 more per pupil and is on par with our AYP status shows that our teachers are performing well with extremely limited resources.  (See chart below)

How this district addresses the built-in inequities of north v. south schools (largely owing to economic factors and transience) is one of our biggest challenges. Parent involvement is the key. But a parent involvement initiative is going to require the commitment and cooperation of principals, teachers, administrators. I think this Superintendent, this Board and our staff members have the will to introduce that initiative.  Though our teachers are struggling mightily to get the hang of all the new technology and curriculum initiatives that have been introduced over the past couple of months, I believe we will get there eventually.

We intend to focus on parent involvement as a top priority.  I'm confident we can do better.

--Mary Shaugnessy, Bloomfield Board of Education President

October 20, 2011

Using data from Berkeley Elementary School, the following lnformation is from the latest NJ school report card:

Student Mobility Rate

Percentage of students who entered and left during the school year.

School

State Average

2009-10

42.3%

10.5%

2008-09

40.4%

10.7%

2007-08

41.0%

10.8%

Students with Disabilities

Percentage of students with IEPs 
(Individualized Education Program)
regardless of placement/programs

 9.3% 

Language Diversity

First language spoken at home in order of frequency.

Language

Percent

English

95.3%

Others

4.7%

Limited English Proficient (LEP)

Percentage of LEP students

 4.2%