What happened to Compromise?

I always admired Henry Clay’s place in American history, “the great compromiser” played a critical role in his ability to see both sides of a situation and find common ground.  As I reflect on Commissioner King’s forum yesterday it is obvious we need to find some compromise.  The two “sides” are pretty much at opposite ends; both making valid points and apparently not hearing each other.  Here are some ‘doable’ ideas that have been suggested by the State superintendent organization.  They represent compromise positions on key areas of concern. 

• Amend/eliminate the SLO-  The APPR law requires that every teacher have a HEDI (high effective, effective, developing, ineffective) score at the end of the year.  This score is calculated using 60% classroom evaluations, 20% State score (based on student assessment scores) and 20% local score (based on student assessment scores).  The State only provides a State score for teachers of grades 4-8.  ALL other State and local scores are determined by each District. Said differently- the fever over 3-8 state exams as part of teacher evaluations only affects approximately 16% of the teachers across the State AND if only accounts for 20% of those teachers overall HEDI score.   Each District has the task of determining the score for the remaining 84% of the teachers for BOTH 20% State score and 20% local score.  This practice has dramatically increased the amount of exams that students take.   The SLO has to be amended or eliminated.
• Grade 3-5 testing must be shortened over 2 days and within a 60 minutes window
• The Scope and Sequence and modules must be made available 1 school year prior to the implementation of  Common Core Regents
• The Common Core Regents cut scores cannot yield the same results as we saw in 3-8 this year.  These are graduation requirements that will affect students’ future plans
•  Consider using a 3 on AP or IB as a Substitute for the Aspirational index. 

In the world of compromise a win-win is the desired outcome.  While these suggestions do not radically change any of the current common core implementation they do address key concerns of parents and educators.   Some historians believe that Henry Clay only delayed the inevitable-  I remain optimistic that in the end the Common Core standards and curriculum(s) will be good for our children. We will continue to implement the change with an understanding that a balance MUST be accomplished between a child’s love of learning and increased rigor.

Apple Distinguished School

 I am happy to announce that Mineola Middle School has received the distinction of an Apple distinguished school.  I believe we are the ONLY school in New York State with that honor. (I am still researching this fact) Congratulations to Mr. Gaven, all of the teachers, parents and students that made this possible

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Jumping to the Top

I believe i mentioned this last year when it happened, but now Hampton has been officially recognized by the Jump Rope for Heart program as being one of the top 10 Long Island school districts in terms of fundraising efforts. Last school year, Hampton raised more than $5,000 for the program, which benefits the American Heart Association. This is just another example of the how generous the Mineola community is … thank you to everyone who participated and donated.

Three Weeks ‘Till Curtain

The High School Drama Club and Thespian Troupe 276 will be presenting “The Heiress,” which is an emotionally charged tale of a young woman’s desperate search for the love she has been deprived of all her life.The action takes place in Washington Square, N.Y. in the 1850s, which the drama department has gone to great lengths to replicate.

It’s sure to be an amazing presentation. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased in advance by calling the Mineola UFSD Department of Fine and Performing Arts at 516-237-2625, or at the door before the performances.

Friday, Nov. 22 at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 23 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Appy Halloween

Jackson Avenue is in the ipad spirit.  The teachers dressed as their favorite app…

Your Voice Matters

The Board and I are committed to listening to all of the constituents of the Mineola UFSD.  We understand that we are in a consumer business and the customer is always right! To that end we have partnered with K-12 Insight to gather information from you.  We recently launched a new section on our website called Your Voice Matters.  We are using this portal to reach out to the community, hear your voices, and respond to your ideas.  Below is a calendar for the year of the different ways we will be listening. Please make sure to participate in upcoming surveys or drop us a note so we can demonstrate our commitment to you, your children and this community.

• August- Launch of Your Voice Matters- NEW- “Talk with Mike” link. Constituents can: ask a question, comment, concern, suggestion or compliment.
• October- Alumni E-mail Collection Survey-  Link on Your Voice Matters portal to gather Alumni information in order to launch Alumni surveys next year
• October- Community Survey- Seeking information on “How are we doing?”  Overall perception of the District and a check in on mission and core values. A special section gathers data on the possible expansion of summer recreational programs
• November- High School Focus Groups- Meeting with staff and parents in two different groups to discuss the results of last year’s HS Climate survey and inform the development of this year’s HS/MS Climate survey
• March- High School Climate Survey- Administered to Staff, Students and Parents to gather information and perspectives about the High School
• March- Middle School Climate Survey- Administered to Staff, Students and Parents to gather information and perspectives about the Middle School

Direct link- http://www.mineola.k12.ny.us/pages/Mineola_UFSD/District_Info/YourVoice

Maybe playing video games really isn’t that bad…

I recently came across the article Grand Test Auto (link below).  It is a well written piece about the possible future of assessments.  It describes a current prototype of an assessment on fractions that takes place as students play a video game.  Very interesting read!

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/mayjune_2012/special_report/grand_test_auto037192.php?page=all

.05

I am reminded of the final scene from Rocky 3 when Apollo redeems ‘his favor’ from Rocky.  He said- “I lost by one second Rock, I have a hard time processing that” of course then he goes on to come out of retirement in Rocky 4 presumably because he beat the champ in that unofficial  bout.  I agree with Apollo- I have a hard time processing that our Marching Band ‘lost’ by .05 points.  That one is too close to call!  Congratulations to our Band for another fantastic showing in Syracuse.  The subjectively of such a close point total doesn’t diminish the wonderful season you all had. I am proud that you represent our school and community with grace and dignity. 

Meet the Class of 2014’s Top 10

Mineola High School recently announced the top students in the graduating class .. Listed below are this year’s top achievers, who I have to admit, impress me on an almost daily basis. All well-deserving of the honor:

1. Kristen Sze-Tu – Valedictorian
2. Joyce Hwang – Salutatorian
3. Joyce Rhim
4. Caroline Mueller
5. Mallory Brady
6. Christopher Farrell
7. Christina Vafiadis
8. Kristina Goncalves
9. Jake Tavernite
10. Clare Connaughton

Newsday Editorial helps explain tax increases

In case you missed this editorial.  The County assessor office tells the public to call his/her school district to expalin why their bill is more than the 2.18% voted on by the community. They control the assessments.

Newsday Editorial October 9, 2013  Mangano, taxes and the fun house mirror

Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano didn’t raise property taxes this year, but in the fun-house mirror that is the county assessment system, that picture is just a little skewed. Mangano’s efforts to deal with the county’s problems has resulted in higher tax bills for some property owners in order to balance the lower bills of others.

Mangano is under attack because tax bills being mailed now hold unpleasant surprises for homeowners who haven’t grieved their assessments recently. Their bills went up in every category, but it’s the school tax portion, at about 70 percent of most people’s total, that really startles.

School districts are operating under a 2 percent cap on annual tax hikes. That limit can be exceeded only with the approval of 60 percent of voters, and 55 out of 56 Nassau school districts stayed within the cap this year. But the average tax rate — the amount of money owed for each dollar of property value you own — went up about 7 percent this year. Overall, it’s up 20 percent over the past two years.

In almost every school district, the tax increase approved by voters last spring is responsible for less than one-third of the rate increase this year. That rate went up in districts because the total taxable value of the property in those districts has declined. That’s mostly because about 240,000 Nassau homeowners grieved their assessments over the past two years, and about 85 percent of them got a decrease in the value of their property.

Imagine you and your neighbor are an entire school district. Your houses are both worth $100,000, you each pay $10,000 per year in school taxes, or a rate of 10 percent. So the district has a total of $200,000 in taxable property and gets $20,000 in revenue from you and your neighbor. But you answered one of those solicitations from a company hounding you to challenge the claim that your house is really worth $100,000. You win, and your assessment gets cut to $60,000. The assessed value of property in the district suddenly goes down to $160,000, but the school still needs to collect the $20,000. So the tax rate increases to 12.5 percent. Your taxes drop to $7,500 and your neighbor makes up the difference. His bill increases 25 percent, to $12,500.

So, Mangano says he hasn’t raised county taxes, and he hasn’t. But steps he’s taken have led to higher bills for many residents.

To deal with the assessment monster, he decided to settle assessment grievances before tax rolls are finalized. Why? So Nassau wouldn’t have to refund overpayments to school districts and municipalities — a law known as the county guarantee — because the county made mistakes in assessments. His approach on settling grievances has saved Nassau about $60 million over the past two years, officials say, and eased some of the pressures on his budgets, which made it easier for him to hold the line on taxes. And while the percentage of assessment grievances approved is quite high, there’s no evidence they were without merit.

Mangano encourages homeowners to grieve their taxes, and the big winners are the lawyers who send the solicitation letters. The success of such a high percentage of claims, however, has caused large increases in the tax bills of residents who didn’t challenge their assessments. And the county tax burden, instead of being spread around evenly as it would have been if the county had passed a small tax increase, now falls most heavily on those who didn’t play the grievance game.