They, the BOE that is, didn’t vote on any of Corda’s budget recommendations, or the overall budget itself. The Hour reports on Corda’s position and the teachers union’s position. First Corda:
For weeks, parents, students and school administrators have expressed their concern over many items included in the superintendent’s proposed recommendations such as closing the Norwalk pool, eliminating or cutting positions and slashing benefits that would reconcile the board of estimates’ requirement that the board of education eliminate an additional $2.2 million from its budget.
Corda then went through charts of savings should various unions agree to take furlough days, increase their health insurance contribution or forgo salary increases. He then exhibited how the budget could be reconciled if only the first two options were agreed upon but raises continued as scheduled.
The furlough days saved $1.2 million, the health insurance concession saved $467,112 and cutting the salary increases saved nearly $1 million for a total of $2.6 million.
“We tried to approach thinking about how it is that we could, without significantly and negatively impacting educational program, perhaps come to a place where the reconciliation might be possible,” Corda said. “That necessitates the cooperation of each of our bargaining groups.”
He said those groups have agreed to discuss concessions only after the board has reconciled the budget and knows exactly how personnel would be impacted. This means the budget could pass with many of his original recommendations but be revisited.
“We’re up against the wall,” said Corda. “We’re faced with reducing programs everyone feels are important.”
Now Bruce Mellion:
Norwalk Federation of Teachers President Bruce Mellion said the issue isn’t whether or not the unions will make concessions, it’s how much value the city puts on the Board of Education and whether or not the board has been thorough in determining where it can eliminate costs without cutting benefits, positions and programs.
He cited recent funds in transportation and with the district’s contract with Xerox.
No one is talking about the reality of the Norwalk Public School system. Enrollment is steady, it is is not increasing, and has not increased in fifteen years. What has happened is that the union has put into contracts minimum classroom sizes. What has happened is that Corda has put before and after school programs in the schools. What has happened is that special programs of the educational sort have increased, often without large student participation.
It’s time for both the unions and Corda to streamline and that means starting with a mechanism to have larger classes when temporary enrollment blips appear. I’d toss out redistricting overall, but they’d all run for the hills, because no one on the BOE or in central office has the political cajones to tackle that issue. Any program that is using school facilities that is not part of the core curriculum, that would be reading, writing and math, should have to pay to the use school facilities at a market rate. There’s an unintended consequence of that of which I’m well aware, but times are tough. Lastly, the schools should get out of the transportation business. There’s the Norwalk Transit district, use it, the busses ride empty much of the time, school busses are a huge drain. Anyone notice gas prices creeping back up?
The issues are complex, and once again Corda doesn’t see the value in getting real CFO quality financial management advice. Seeking external high caliber advice is what successful CEOs do. School superintendents should be required to spend a part of their career outside of Education Inc.
source: The Hour, Corda on budget: We’re up against the wall, By LAUREN MYLO, 06/16/2009
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Correction 150. the board answers to the parents and the community. As far as the mayor goes, I reread the entire thread, I mustve missed something, what brought the mayor in this thread? Maybe I didnt miss something maybe the post is lost…
Amy may be complicit for giving the nod on Corda but she seen the error she made and she damn well corrected it and pronto, soon as she was given a chance. Give her that much.
Pay more attention ‘parent paying attention’, corda’s contract had already not been extended by the BoE long before Jimenez came back. She hired him and just happened to be there for the final goodbye shove, no more than that.
#152 – The local community can elect the BOE, the parents can sue the BOE, but neither the parents, or the community can force the BOE to do anything. Neither the community nor the parents can have a recall vote nor can they remove someone from the Board.
All the school Districts in the State of Connecticut are independent of the municipality in which they are located. Don’t believe me? Look how long it took for those who did not like them to “get rid” of Mr. Opdahl, Dr. Lang and Dr. Corda.
Last June, the Board acted in a manner that attracted a lot of attention and calls were made to Hartford about the meeting. The brand new (two months in office) State Superintendent of Education came down to personally see what was going on. The Board was rude to him. Since then, Hartford had regular meetings with the District to monitor what is going on down here.
#155: Your assessment of the independence of the board of education is accurate, and it is true of nearly all school districts in Connecticut. A notable exception is New Haven, which has a board of education that is appointed by the mayor.
As for state monitoring, Hartford has been having regular meetings with all of the underperforming (by NCLB standards) school districts. While the board’s behavior was bad at that meeting last June, that is not the reason for the state’s monitoring.
What error did Amy correct? Oh, like when she approved midnight job losses for secretaries, clerks, janitors, teachers and aides rather do a little homework to figure out the real waste in the budget. She certainly did do anything to unwind the years of neglect of Special Ed under Supt. Corda.
I guess Amy’s big contribution was that she snapped at Corda a few times– that’s the leadership I want for my kids.
What is going on down here is an awakening.
An awakening that power does not begin at an appointed admisitrators office. It begins and ends with the voters. Thank you for your service, now get the hell out of our community.
and what the hell you doing on our blog, on our clock.
#157: Amy’s snapping at people is symptomatic of her supercilious attitude and her belief that she shouldn’t have to suffer the rest of us. Even her countenance reflects this bad attitude, as does the snooty tone she uses.
The board of education needs people who actually have an interest in hearing what others have to say, not people who think they have all of the information and answers they need. The board also needs members who are going to disagree when necessary, but who will do so with respect.
I didn’t attend the meeting at which she was disrespectful of the superintendent, but her disrespect should have been a message to everyone in the room. I don’t like Dr. Corda very much, but I hope he handled himself better than she did.
class dismissed.
on second thought, anyone wishing to stay after… triple dog dare, anyone?
I don’t think we can fault those who brought Corda in. How could they know he’d be a disaster? I actuallyliked him initially and yes, sometimes, could kick myself, but how was I to know. He is probably a decent person, just not a good Supt. for Norwalk. And we have to remember that people only get away with what they are allowed to get away with. If no precedent or standard was set, then who do we really blame? I hope this mistake is not made again.
Where the blame should lie is on those who kept him in the system or kept renewing his contract after he hired scandelous/incompetent people and after his track record and lack of responsiveness.
I agree that many people may not read this blog, but we all have friends and we all have email lists. We have to make sure people know how important this BOE election is.
Additionally, I agree with what Mike Geake respectfully posted in response to Colarossi in another thread. He said those who post in their own name should be commended or stick together….something like that. I didn’t look at anyone else who posts anonymously. I pointed that finger right at myself.
Thank you Mike Geake. If we are going to make any headway in our causes, we need to stand up in our own names and take the shots.
Putting Piqued Livid to rest!
The people who championed carpetbagger Corda should be expunged at the next election.
One BOE member voted to give Corda a 3% RAISE. Disgusting disregard for the Norwalk taxpayer.
#164: That BoE member didn’t get the endorsement of his own party, and so his term will end after the next election. Sometimes political parties do hear the anger of the voters.
Ah, I’m pretty sure the Board member who voted for the 3% raise is still in the middle of his term, #165. He’s not on the ballot for November because he’s not up for re-election at this time.
Spectator, I am really disappointed to learn this.
Actually, if a new group is elected to the Board, the dynamics will definitely change and with an interim Superintendent, the Board member you have concerns about may not be as undesirable as you think.
The 3% salary increase, which MAY have been stipulated in the Superintendent’s contract, but this was denied by the Board. His vote COULD have been a vote for a politic reason since he probably knew it would be defeated. If the raise was included in the contract — and I have no way of knowing if it was or wasn’t since I didn’t see the contract — he may have been voting to uphold the contractual agreement. If a breach of contract suit was filed, then the Board member voting for the salary raise might not be named as a defendant. That’s how I rationalized it, but I have absolutely no proof one way or another as to how accurate it is. That’s just my thoughts on it.
I think you are giving this BOE member entirely too much credit. I am quite certain that there was no salary increase stipulated in the contract. When it was passed by the board after its famous 30-second deliberation, there were details that the NFT found objectionable, and a stipulated increase was not listed among them.
As I said in my post several times, it was simply my thoughts on the matter since I hadn’t seen the contract. However, whether I am right or wrong on his reasons for voting the way he did, he’ll be there following the November elections.
As I am mildly curious, since the raise was not approved and the Superintendent is leaving, why does it matter so much? I’m not arguing or attacking, just curious.
A couple of things to consider– first, the Supt.’s contract was renewed in 2007 when Ms. Bishop Pullan hid it from public view until the 11th hour. Ms. Murray and Ms. Mosby voted in favor of it. They makes it real easy to vote against them (this was at the exact same time that the Cambridge Report was calling into question lots of the Supt’s management style , poor communication and lack of consistent curriculum supervision.
Mr. Burnette did suggest the raise for the Supt. at the last meeting— could be why the Dems didn’t renominate him. Or it could have been that he broke with them over the budget and over the Naramake principal vote. Also, he was the lone outsider (the other dems on the Board of Ed all sit on the DTC), so maybe wanted one of their own.
Norwalk Spectator: Check out this story from The Hour:
http://www.thehour.com/story/472587
It appears Greg Burnett’s term is ending, but he wasn’t nominated.
cmtreports.com
Results have been released.
Thank you, #172, for the link. I didn’t see Saturday’s paper, so I missed that article. Someone referred to “Keyes” in an earlier post, but I didn’t know who that was. I also didn’t realize that Mr. Burnett’s term is expiring. I thought he was re-elected when Mr. Chiaramonte and Mr. Iannaccone came on to the Board. The BOE webpage does not list when the various terms expire. I’d been told FOUR seats were up for grabs, not FIVE. So, I stand corrected, #165 — you were right and I was wrong about the nomination.
Mr. Burnett was not renominated- so his term expires in November.
Ms. Mosby, Ms. Jimenez and Ms. Mosby are all up for re-election— the Dems re-nominated each of them. Joining them on their city-wide slate is Heidi Keyes (who runs her own home-based preschool).
The Repubs. nominated four parents– none of them have ever held office in CT before. Sue Haynie (is the PTO Council Pres.), Artie Kissimas (pastor at Word Alive Bible Church and dad to 4 kids in the schools), Erin Halsey (lifelong Norwalker) and Steve Colarossi (who has a history of fighting and winning with the Board of Ed). I know Kissimas to be a good and decent guy– and judge the others on his slate by association.
It’ll be an interesting campaign season.
Maybe if the parents could take some responsibility – get active in the schools, make sure the child attends (fed, appropriately dressed and ready to learn- respecting the teachers), help with the homework and do not expect the school to take total responsibility for the EDUCATION of your child.
If the scores were better, we might not mind paying for the “play time”- activities and sports.
Until the scores get better, cut the “fat” (playtime) and institute a rigorous PE program.
Increase the homework and cut off the TV/videogame time.
We went to school with 30 kid class size. One teacher, no aides. Few admins. Focus was on getting scholarships via academics- GOOD GRADES…..how novel a concept.
Immediate Relase Is this opportunity knocking?
http://www.ed.gov/news/pressreleases/2009/08/0803...
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