10/25/2021
For those interested in the recent BOE Q&A, I am happy to share the 3 questions & my responses here as well. Its long so click to see the whole thing.
QUESTION 1.
Glen Rock lost 87 employees from Jan 2020- October of 2021. While there is an overall trend of teachers leaving the profession, Glen Rock’s trend was of early retirement and moving to other districts. Some will argue that they left for better pay, but these teachers that have left GR could have moved on any other year for better pay. If you were a member of the Board of Education how would you address this problem?
DAN, ANSWER 1:
First and foremost, I am a strong believer in the saying that “employees do not leave their jobs, they leave their managers”.
With a world of uncertainty coming our way, the focus in early 2020 should have been to confirm stability. This would have meant to pause efforts for significant change throughout the district. It's critical to recognize how administrative & supervisory changes in any organization are cultural changes. The culture of connection in education and the senior-to-junior mentorship that exists within department faculty is something that holds much more weight in teaching compared to other fields. While adaptive change is always healthy in the long run, any “too much too soon” policy will bankrupt a culture of its best attributes. To summarize, I would have recognized that too much outside of our control was changing at that point and that driving further change would not be manageable.
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QUESTION 2.
GREA members care deeply about the quality of education they provide to the children of Glen Rock. They are driven to make sure that every student has the opportunity to grow and flourish, and that the most effective practices are employed in our classrooms. How would you as a Board of Education member be sure that these best practices are being brought to the students and Glen Rock and what role do you see the teachers having in choosing and developing these practices?
DAN, ANSWER 2:
The trend in modern best practices are often attached to and dependent upon new technology, which risks impersonalizing many important parts of education. When embracing new methods, we risk losing connection to the individualized value that students get from a teacher who is able to ignite transformation growth for students with that information. As a Trustee, I would lean on Stakeholder Principles to ensure that our teachers are part of steering committees. Teachers must have an authoritative role in the development and selection of best practices so that they are an advocate of change as it comes and can implement it most effectively.
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QUESTION 3. While there was a strings (Music) teacher added for the entire district, there have been teaching positions in the high school and middle school that have not been replaced. For example, right now, in October 2021-22, there are fewer math and science teachers on staff than there were last year. How do you feel about the shift in staffing in these very important STEAM departments?
DAN, ANSWER 3:
STEAM is a core part of our society. It’s important that every student has access to STEAM curriculum, appropriate to their own abilities. I think music and all art is a critical broadening opportunity for students, but we cannot accept a trade off of choosing one in place of another. In speaking with neighbors, I understand there is concern around the rigor in our STEAM curriculum. You only need to look at the success of private tutoring locally to confirm this is a bridge we must improve.
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Thank you for reading!
