Change We Can Believe In For Norwalk’s Schools
Tonight the BET will announce the results of the teacher’s contract that went up to arbitration a short while ago. The gist is that there is a zero percent increase for the next three years however step pay raises remain. In previous years, yearly pay increases and step raises were awarded, sort of making a compounding effect on labor costs. A step, for those not familiar with contract language is really just a pay grade. I’ll post the details from the BET meeting when I get them.
Last night’s resounding sweep of any incumbent BOE member is really quite stunning when you think about it. It caps a year where Dr. Sal Corda resigned following the exit of Karen Lang (sort of) and in the prior year Stuart Opdhal. The long and winding story on this really is that after years of inept BOE management, Norwalk finally woke up and made a change. In looking at the election results this year, is obvious that this year more than most, Norwalk pikced and chose it’s winners very carefully, except in District C, but that’s a whole other post.
Yesterday’s election was really set into motion by the Democratic Town Committee, which had an opportunity upon the resignation from the BOE of Bruce Kimmel, after he abandoned his Democratic party registration, to do something different. Instead they collectively buried heir heads in the sand, though not quite at calf pasture beach, and ignored the increasing concerns voiced by the state board of education, but the findings of the cambridge report, by the CREC report, by the PTOs and by all the parents who clamored for better communication from the BOE.
The DTC has the opportunity to pick Steve Colarossi as it’s replacement pick to the BOE, but in sort of puppet theater production of pretend to choose a candidate, they went with Amy Jimenez, a former BOE member. The Republicans, perhaps because they understand fantasy football, picked up Colarossi and worked to create a slate of candidates that would represent change. Heading into summer, the DTC could have changed course, but didn’t. Greg Burnett didn’t make the cut in the DTC nominations, but the rest of the Democratic BOE incumbents did, except with the addition of Heidi Keyes. Gregg Burnett didn’t fall into the “let’s deny there’s a communication problem” crowd, so it’s somewhat odd that he was rejected by DTC voters, but his loss looms large in the hypocrisy that subsequently occurred.
As the summer gave way to fall, the Parents Not Politician’s worked hard and communicated voiceferously about the lack of BOE communication. They were everywhere. At the same time, the bunkered mentality of the incumbents was still in effect, and the classic “party line” became noticeable. Whether it was portable classrooms, principal hires or lunch program choices, the incumbents made no effort to communicate to the public, even as simply as posting to their own web site. By the time Corda resigned, and the search for a new superintendent spread, they were too far down the path of denial that their lack of communication was the problem. They lit the fuse of getting voted out, by the imperialistic decision to be the “search committee.” No other action that they’ve undertaken could have so clearly demonstrated that they didn’t want to change, and change the level of communication about the Norwalk Public Schools than this.
The desperate act, organized by State Rep. Bruce Morris, to inject race into the election at the end, by holding a rally on the eve of the election and brining in Rev. Al Sharpton to promote the idea that there needed to be minority representation on the board was also boneheaded. All stats that come out of the school district point to the large hispanic student population, and these so-called Democrats pointed to the lack of minority representation should Mosby and Murray not be re-elected all the while forgetting about Magdalia Rivas. Then again, Bruce Morris has consistently shown that when he means minority, he excludes all races but black. The diversity of Norwalk’s schools happens to include Asians as well as immigrants from all over the world. It should be celebrated as part of the advantage of an educational expereince that prepares students for the global economy. Not something to box into a label and count only when elections arrive.
I hope that this new BOE quickly organizes itself by engaging parent task forces, represented by parents, teachers, students, and yes even administrators, that can harness the energy of wanting to make the Norwalk educational experience better. I have a feeling that they will, and that they will communicate better and in more diverse ways that hoping that people just show up to the meetings for a three minute audience.
