Will Plainfield's BOE race focus on real issues or real distractions?

Now that candidates for Plainfield's Board of Ed election have filed (see stories here and here), there will be the inevitable campaigning.

Will the races focus on real issues or real distractions?

So far, the distractions have been getting the most attention.

DISTRACTIONS

Chief among these are the matters swirling around Superintendent (or Chief School Administrators -- CSA -- as the bureaucratese puts it) Steve Gallon III.

Still unresolved after intense public questioning, a dramatic Fox5 News segment, and an ongoing state investigation are the murky initial decisions made concerning the titles, qualifications and justifiable salaries for two of the cadre of three administrators Gallon brought along with him from Florida.

Whether Gallon pulled the wool over the eyes of BOE members is still not resolved, nor is the question (which the state is investigating) of whether there is fraud with regard to the initial appointments and possibly unjustifiable salaries.

While there is considerable resentment of the STYLE of Gallon and his cadre ('arrogance', 'hubris', 'disdain' -- take your pick), I have yet to see or hear a WELL-REASONED, SUBSTANTIVE POLICY CRITIQUE of either the strategic vision Gallon has outlined (see here) or the steps that HAVE been taken to implement the plan.

What there has been so far is considerable 'pot-and-pan banging' that has generated more heat than light.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Notwithstanding the issues around Dr. Gallon's tenure as the mid-point in his four-year contract approaches, there have been real achievements.

• MIDDLE SCHOOLS -- The middle schools have been a problem for years and are the main exit point for families with concerns about the District -- particularly with regard to student safety. The move to expand some of the elementary schools to K-6 and K-8 configurations has helped to mitigate this middle school situation somewhat. Evidence is beginning to suggest that 'smaller learning communities' do pay off, but one of the difficulties is that of having a longstanding investment in large-scale physical facilities (think of Maxson and Hubbard) that inhibit the full benefits of smaller-scale 'academies'. Nevertheless, a start has been made.
  
  
• SPECIALIZED SCHOOLS -- The launch of PAAS (the Plainfield Academy for the Arts and Advanced Studies) and the Barack Obama Academy for Academic and Civic Development have in effect created three segments at the high school level, each with a different focus. A good start, but only time will tell if the three emphases will succeed. Will the Obama Academy be able to effectively engage its students and help them prepare for productive adult lives? Will PAAS become a true magnet school and attract students from families whose previous choice has been to withdraw and use private or religious schools? And will the High School find a path ahead without both the brightest and the most troubled students?
  
  
• SCHOOL VIOLENCE -- Getting the High School removed from the state's list of 'Persistently Dangerous Schools' is a real achievement, even though making the schools -- and getting to and going home from them -- consistently and constantly safe is a real challenge. (I have suggested elsewhere -- see here -- that the District needs to think through the implications of today's technologies for its approach to this issue.)
  
  
• UNIFORMS -- I am one of those who think this is a big deal. Giving youngsters a structured dress program has the twin advantages of 1) saving families enormously in yearly clothing outlays and 2) of channeling kids' natural competitiveness away from external dress and hopefully toward other opportunities like sports, academics or extracurricular activities. (And yes, I do understand there are issues with 'gangs'.)

ISSUES

Are there issues on which to campaign? Youbetcha!

• CURRICULUM -- Though the discussion is sometimes murky, the bottom line appears to be this: Dr. Gallon has not yet gotten a district-wide curriculum in place. It is hard to understand why, if the decision was made to abandon the site-based curriculums, this didn't become a #1 front-burner priority with a 'hurry-up' mandate. (To be fair, the state itself has zigzagged and may still in the future.)
  
  
• TEXTBOOKS -- This is simply embarrassing in the extreme. After much probing by Maria Pellum on her blog (see here), we still find no complete resolution of the issue. If one of Dr. Gallon's designees has let the District down in this regard, where is the accountability? On the other hand, if textbooks fell in the cracks because of the way responsibility is organized, who is to blame for that? We are not talking rocket science here, folks.
  
  
• FUNDING CUTS -- Gov. Christie has already made moves regarding school funding by insisting surpluses be used to cover budgets. Dr. Gallon has written about this issue recently on the District's blog (see here). Matters are only going to become more difficult -- partly because of the fiscal difficulties in which the state finds itself (and which Gov. Christie must address) and the legislation advanced by Asm Jerry Green voiding the Abbott Districts which is expected to have tax implications for Plainfield residents from the second year and going forward.
  
  
• CONTRACT -- Lastly, the 'elephant in the room' of the unsettled employee contract situation. Several observers have noted the large element of teacher and staff participation in BOE and other meetings around the issues I outlined as 'distractions' above. Hardly ever spoken aloud has been the fact that there are unresolved contracts at hand. While the unions are right to want to have a contract and remove the uncertainties of working without one, there are other factors in play. The political mood throughout the state with regard to public worker unions, their clout and their defense of generous benefit and pension conditions in these extraordinarily difficult times is putting them in a difficult position (see an outline of the situation here). Taxpayers are in a rebellious mood. And seniors, who vote disproportionately in school board elections, are anxious and worried over the fact that they are not getting a cost-of-living adjustment in their Social Security checks this year, and look askance at those who are asking for 4%-6% increases. The unions also have to consider a backlash if they overplay their hands, especially if the state restores the 'last, best offer' options for contract settlements which school districts lost in 2003.
  

SLATES?

Three incumbents are running for re-election: Wilma Campbell, Martin Cox and Christian Estevez. Union members I know are saying that Cox and Estevez are not likely to get their support. While Campbell may be counting on that support, she may be vulnerable over the matter of curriculum -- she sits on the Curriculum Committee -- and the role played by lack of a district-wide curriculum in moving our kids' education forward. Campbell also has the fact that she pretty much played a go-along, get-along role for well over a year after Gallon's hiring (she was one of the three who went to Miami for an onsite investigation and reported back enthusiastically in favor of his hiring).

Are there slates, as was rumored over recent weeks?

When I attended the public meeting organized by candidate Renata Hernandez, I expected to hear that those who took part that evening were going to run as a slate (Hernandez herself, Wilma Campbell, Danielle Fletcher and Rasheed Abdul-Haqq). However, I came away from the evening with the distinct impression they hadn't worked out who would run for what and what a platform would be.

On the other hand, incumbents Christian Estevez and Martin Cox have recruited two able and committed community activists to run with them -- Mary Burgwinkle (for a 3-year term) and Carmencita Pile (for Bridget Rivers' unexpired term).

Both women were powerful and effective workers in building grassroots support for President Obama in Plainfield when he was a candidate and had neither the support of Assemblyman Jerry Green nor the state's Democratic Party.

No matter how things unfold over the next few weeks, it is certainly going to be a lively and interesting campaign.

---

• Courier: "14 file to run for Plainfield board of ed"
  
• Ledger: "Candidates rush to run for school board"
• Plainfield Public Schools: "Strategic Plan for 2009-2010"
• Plainfield Today: "PHS Melée: Teachers offer another view"
• Maria's Blog: "Posts on 'Textbooks'"
• PPS Blog: "Real challenges ahead"
• Bergen Record: "Christie and the NJEA: Two powerhouses doing battle"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.