It's time to speak up on May 25* (7pm BOE meeting) about middle school reform for 2011, and about the fiscal irresponsibility of giving the superintendent a contract extension prematurely.

Apparently we've been a little quiet lately!

At least that’s what Dr. Starr and the school board think… apparently the lack of comments about the move toward mostly heterogeneous grouping has Dr. Starr thinking everyone’s happy with it (that’s what he’s been saying), and has five members of the school board considering giving him a contract extension next month. Yes, seriously.

It’s time to mobilize one more time for the good of the schools.

Background

This time last year, we mobilized to stand up for excellence in education in Stamford, citing concerns with the direction of the school district toward heterogeneous grouping.  We spoke up, cited research, and stood up for flexible ability grouping to allow all children to learn and excel. 

In summary, we lost one battle, won one battle, and we’re six months away from winning the war.  We need to work together starting now to make that happen.

The battle we lost was with the school board and the superintendent – imploring them to move forward more cautiously on their ill-prepared move toward largely heterogeneous grouping in sixth grade, for which the conditions necessary for success were not yet in place (see details).  In fact, we were more or less slapped in the face – after nearly 50 speakers stood up at one board meeting opposing the move toward largely heterogeneous grouping, citing extensive research that clearly contradicted the one-side story the board had been given to date, and citing best practices within the system that were not being considered, the board not only ignored us, but the board president motioned to extend the superintendent’s contract to June 2012.  That motion was overwhelmingly passed by the board. 

Rather than giving up, SREE members rallied.  We won the next one, and we won big.  We jumped into the 2009 election with 2 candidates on one side of this issue favoring heterogeneous grouping, and 3 candidates on our side, favoring flexible ability grouping. It was as clear of a policy difference as you can get and it was covered as the #1 campaign issue in 2009 – generating the majority of debate questions and press coverage.  With the daunting goal of getting three candidates in different parties elected, SREE members wrote emails, made calls, signed petitions, and got the job done.  We scored a clean 3-0 sweep for Pia, Rauh and Olson – the voice of the voters was heard loud and clear. 

Now it is time to mobilize once more to set this in the right direction for good.

The SREE position appears to be favored by 4 of the 9 board members today – a dramatic shift from last November, but not quite close enough to affect change.  Come November, with another decisive election win, we will no doubt change that dynamic.  We will need everyone’s involvement in that bi-partisan effort.

Contract Extension

In the meantime, the superintendent is apparently asking the current board to pull a fast one behind closed doors and give him a contract extension now, out to June 2013.

That raises a number of concerns:

1. It is not necessary. This is an unusual request.  It is more typical to let a superintendent’s contract run out until there’s one year left (i.e., until June 2011), and then renew or not.  If not, then it signals it's time to look for a new job.  Next year is an important year for getting data about how MSR and other initiatives are going – there is no reason to extend in advance of having a look at results. 

2. It is fiscally irresponsible, especially in today’s economic climate.  It obligates the city to pay one of its highest paid employee through 2013.  Our teachers and city employees have been hit with pay freezes, layoffs, and contracts that give them lower raises and higher health care costs than we have seen in years.  Now is not the time to give a lucrative  contract extension to a highly paid employee.

3. The fact that it is fiscally irresponsible plays right into the hands of those who would like to cut the school budgets drastically.  The Board of Finance almost crippled the education budget this year – we held on by the skin of our teeth with a 3-3 vote.  If the BOE showed itself to be fiscally irresponsible enough to give lucrative contract extensions, unnecessarily, in this economy, next year’s budget hearings might not go as well – and there’s no margin for error left.

4. The last time the BOE extended his contract, he returned the favor by running off for a job interview in Milwaukee.  

5. While some BOE members are being led to believe that voting for an extension is a vote to maintain current polices for the next three years, that is simply not the case.  It is only a vote to maintain contractual payments after they are long gone from the board.  Future board members will decide policies for their board term.  And with the superintendent on the record saying do it my way or fire me in some instances, increasing the city’s liability is not prudent.  To be perfectly clear, it is a financial liability and only a financial liability. It is not a way to perpetuate policies past their retiring or getting voted off the school board.

6.  It is premature.  Dr. Starr has spent a lot of time and money imposing many changes (some good/some bad) and there is insufficient data as of yet for the Board of Education to gauge whether Dr. Starr deserves an extension and raise. 

7. Apparently part of the quid pro quo might include Dr. Starr moving to Stamford.  That would indeed be a positive move and one that should have been considered five years ago.  It is not clear how that should obligate the tax payers to another quarter million dollar contract year, however, when it is otherwise not the time for it. 

*Call to action

You can make a significant difference on these issues with two simple actions:

• Come to the May 25 BOE meeting and recommend holding off on a contract extension until next summer, for the reasons above.  We need people to go on the record now on this issue, since it is likely to be voted on at the next BOE meeting in June. 7pm, 5th floor of Gov Center. Sign in to speak to the board for 3 mins.
• Email Dr. Starr and the BOE to remind them what you think of Middle School Reform.  A few emails make a big difference, and silence is considered agreement.
• Get involved in the upcoming election – contact the admin (see below) to get involved in SREE's candidate endorsements for November..

Coming Up: listen, learn, and speak up!

• May 25, June 22: BOE meetings, 7pm, 5th floor of Gov Center. Sign in to speak to the board for 3 mins.

• Can't attend in person? Write a letter or email to the Board of Education members making your voice heard. Email list>

Why speak up now? Read>

The latest: news, information and reactions

3/22/10 - Important public hearing of Board of Finance and Board of Reps Fiscal Committee. more>

2/23/10 BOE meeting fireworks - new members start to speak up and make a difference! more>

It's all about execution... (or lack thereof!) more>

1/21/10 Dr. Starr abruptly cuts off Q&A and discussion at the Middle School Reform Forum at Rogers, leading to screaming from the audience about his deceptive practices and tactics. See details>

1/15/10 Gary Klein corrects the record on Dr. Starr's misleading op ed: "Dr. Starr continually asserts that anyone who disagrees with a few of the specifics of his plan is somehow 'against reform' or wants to thwart children from succeeding. This is a troubling rhetorical device." See the real story>

1/14/10 Party school vs. Brookings and Harvard... Wendy Lecker letter response. More>

1/8/10 Who are these people? A recent letter to the editor asks this question. We are happy to get the publicity! For those who did not follow the last election cycle, here is some background. More>

12/2/09 Georgiana White, former department head in the Stamford schools, spoke to current staff and 28 former colleagues, and she published their unanimous viewpoint (see her op ed). This is a must read.

• See responses to Advocate editorial "Don't backtrack on school reform"
• See responses to Martin Levine's op ed (in which he criticizes past practices - but wait, wasn't he on the board for 9 years? - and lists a number of points we all agree with, asserts we disagree, and then reaches non sequitur conclusions).
• See the latest for more

Gov Rell cut $426,000 that was allocated to Stamford via the Educational Cost Sharing (ECS) funding program. Stamford has been significantly under funded to begin with. Please see the details, and protest these cuts.

CLEAN SWEEP!!!

Congratulations to Jerry Pia, Polly Rauh and Lorraine Olson!
And thanks to every member of Stamford Residents for Excellence in Education for your efforts, great emails, articles, letters, etc. Our three endorsed candidates have all won! And your work on their behalf was absolutely essential to the victory. In fact, the article in the Advocate about the election specifically highlights our endorsement and this issue!

We have made our presence felt and now our voices WILL be heard!

We have helped place three fantastic members onto the BOE, and made a MAJOR STATEMENT in the process.

Message to Parents: Don't give up! But do continue to speak up...
If we have learned anything from the misguided implementation of the two-group system, it is that if concerned parents sit by quietly for too long, CRAZY things can happen. We will now have members on the BOE who are ready to listen to us. But our voice and our vigilance in support of excellence in the school system will be essential on an ongoing basis. This was just the "end of the beginning." Stay tuned...

Message to Dr. Starr: The community has spoken loudly and clearly. We are with you and support you for many changes you are making. But we are NOT with you for heterogeneous grouping. Every child should be challenged.
See position. There is tremendous support for the majority of the changes you've made. However, the community has weighed in unambiguously on your decisions and direction regarding grouping. We hope to have a system where all children are challenged and grow to their full potential.

This just in: from Elise L. Lev, Ed.D.
Prof. Lev refutes Eric Cooper's 10/29/09 piece in the Advocate titled "Children belong in intellectually diverse classrooms," explaining that "Mr. Cooper distorts the research findings and undermines the serious discussion that needs to take place." Full response

SIGN ON: Share your voice about the election and what it means. And add your name as a supporter!
We'll also keep you informed of developments in the future.

> Sign on here .

The Cause: we support flexible ability grouping
We want all children at every level in the Stamford schools to thrive. We believe all children should be challenged in appropriately grouped classes, moving at the pace and depth that is right for them. We believe that having multiple, flexible ability-based groups in some subjects is an essential component of this, and that the trend toward full heterogeneous grouping in the district schools should be reversed. See full position and why now is the time to take action

The Candidates: we endorse Rauh, Pia and Olson
We have reviewed the positions and experience of the five Board of Education candidates.  Based on their collective experience within the school system and their positions on the topic of grouping, we endorse Polly Rauh (D), Jerry Pia (R) and Lorraine Olson (R). See endorsement

Hundreds of endorsement signatures and hundreds more on this issue from this Spring here too

The Call to Action: change begins November 3!
With local elections just around the corner, and the Board of Education set for a major change in composition, this will be a critical turning point for the debate about the future of grouping in the Stamford schools.  This election will either turn the tide toward restoring ability grouping or embolden those who want to see it eliminated completely to push even further. See why act now

Even if your children are not directly affected yet, they will be. The trend is to eliminate all grouping and two of the candidates this year advocate just that!

A victory for the endorsed candidates will help turn the tide and send a strong message about where the community stands on this issue, which has become the #1 issue this election (see below).

The Research: ability grouping is good for everyone
The "research" presented to the Middle School Reform Committee and to the School Board by the administration painted a picture that moving towards heterogeneous grouping is a "no‐lose" proposition: that it helps lower performers with no cost to higher performers. This seemed so at odds with our own experiences on grouping from within the school system that a group of concerned parents set out to review the research on the subject directly - we found that, in fact, the research presented was one-sided, misleading, and inapplicable to Stamford. See the full story: the REAL research

The #1 issue this election! Add your voice to the debate!
Many feel that the administration turned a deaf ear to our concerns this Spring and that the invitation-only, administration-controlled Middle School Advisory Committee is compiling a one-sided "evaluation" of heterogeneous grouping. In response, we have turned this into the #1 issue this campaign cycle. The Advocate reports it is the one issue "that shows signs of differentiating the five candidates," and the moderator of a recent candidate forum reports that well over half of the questions submitted to him were on this topic. Sign the endorsement and register your comments and experiences on the subject

More information:

• View long list of signatures to and thoughtful comments on our endorsement
• Hundreds of signatures and many thoughtful comments were posted about the middle school reform efforts this spring. Read comments from Spring petition and here too.
• Stamford Public Schools' website on Middle School Reform
• Some students could suffer - Letter to the Advocate by Nicole Zussman 5/5/09
• Cause for hope and concern - Op Ed by Gary Klein, 3/5/09
• Jill Chuckas, MSW letter - 5/20/09 a teacher's perspective
• Response to inaccuracies in letter to the editor 10/14/09
• Christine Papadakis letter in defense of grouping - published in Advocate 10/18/09
• Letter on flexible ability grouping from Maria Belmonte, Janine Darling, Amy Essenfeld and Stacey Minskoff 10/22/09
• Keep student grouping letter from Valerie Byrnes 10/23/09
• Endorsement letter from Bob Rondano Jr.

Contact us with questions or comments or if you would like to become more involved at: admin AT StamfordREE.org

Paid for by Stamford Residents for Excellence in Education, Nicole Zussman, Treasurer.