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11-16-10 Education Issues in the News
The Record - Christie: No approval for new school superintendent contracts until statewide review

Nj.com - Anti-bullying Bill of Rights sails through N.J. Assembly, Senate education committees

Asbury Park Press - exclusive investigative (week-long)series on New Jersey's $3 billion special education system

The Record ‘Christie: No approval for new school superintendent contracts until statewide review’

BY LESLIE BRODY

The Christie administration said Monday that no new contracts with school superintendents will be approved until a comprehensive review of all superintendent pay deals is complete.

The acting education commissioner, Rochelle Hendricks, ordered county executive superintendents to scrutinize the deals and report to her by Dec. 3. Her memo, dated Monday, also underscored her phone call last week instructing them to deny any effort to extend contracts now to skirt the proposed salary caps, which are expected to take effect Feb. 7.

The order was triggered by news last week that LeRoy Seitz, the superintendent in Parsippany-Troy Hills, was awarded a new contract far exceeding the governor’s proposed salary cap. The cap would prevent almost all superintendents from taking home base pay topping Christie’s $175,000 salary once their current contracts expire.

Christie blasted Seitz last week as the “new poster boy for all that is wrong with the public school system that’s being dictated by greed.” Appearing at a town hall meting in Gloucester County on Monday, Christie said the Morris County executive superintendent was nixing the deal. The announcement got cheers from an audience whose members live about 100 miles from Parsippany.

Seitz had renegotiated a contract even though his current deal wasn’t due to expire until next summer. He currently makes $212,000, and would get 2 percent raises each year of the new five-year contract.

The school board approved the package last week after Christie publicly criticized it. On Monday, Christie’s office also released a letter dated Nov. 15 from the Morris executive superintendent saying she never approved the Seitz deal, contrary to prior news reports. She couldn’t be reached for comment. Neither could Seitz.

The governor has proposed salary caps according to the size of each district — some as low as $125,000 — to rein in some of the highest property taxes in the nation. Many school chiefs in Bergen and Passaic counties currently make far more than the caps would allow. Critics of the caps argue they will lead to an exodus of talent to other states that pay more, and will discourage administrators from seeking promotions.

Seitz was not the only superintendent seeking to nail down a better deal before the cap became effective. Viktor Joganow, the Passaic Valley Regional High School District superintendent, said Monday he asked a month ago to extend his 2008 contract to 2015, rather than 2013. It pays him $216,000, plus raises, to run the single-school district. The school board president said Friday that the board was still reviewing the request.

Joganow, 61, said that if the extension was not allowed he would step down in 2013. He said he was more concerned about the bitterness of the debate than his circumstances.

“I’m more upset about the whole tenor that’s been established and the negative connotations towards teachers and administrators,” he said. “It’s unfortunate our profession has come under such undue criticism.”

Some communities are worried about recruiting leaders. The school board in Englewood voted this month to hire a new superintendent, Donald Carlisle, for $200,000. His contract is under review by the state-appointed county executive superintendent, Aaron Graham, who did not return calls for comment. That salary represents a $50,000 pay cut from Carlisle’s current job in Westchester County, N.Y. (School boards can vote on offers to candidates, but county executive superintendents must sign off on contracts before they get final board approval.)

Henry Pruitt III, vice president of the Englewood school board, said his district faced serious academic challenges and needed an “experienced change agent.” He said the cost of living in North Jersey and a district’s particular problems should be taken in to account.

“By putting in caps you’re crippling our district’s ability to attract an experienced candidate,” Pruitt said. “I applaud the governor’s effort to control costs but I think focusing on superintendents’ salaries strictly by district population is not the right way to do it.”

Robert Gilmartin, executive county superintendent in Passaic County, said Monday he was reviewing a proposed contract for an incoming superintendent that exceeds the cap by about $15,000, but declined to name the district. He said the governor’s proposed caps were reasonable but such salary constraints should be put on lower positions too or it would be more lucrative to avoid the superintendent’s seat.

“If you take the incentive away from working up the ladder, that will be a problem,” he said.

The school board in Ringwood was expected to vote on a contract Monday night that would pay a new superintendent $9,000 more than the cap for a district of its small size, with only 1,295 students. If given final approval, the new contract for Hugh Beattie, currently a principal at Jefferson School in Bergenfield, would provide an annual salary of $154,000.

Ringwood Interim Superintendent Rudolph Sellitti said the amount was fair based on the Beattie’s current salary and earnings potential as principal. It was unclear Monday whether Ringwood would be affected by the commissioner’s new directive because the board resolution showed the county executive superintendent already approved the contract in October.

“Right now, the board still has the right to negotiate a reasonable salary,” Sellitti said.

Hendricks’ order not to let anyone circumvent the cap came too late for many districts. Mike Osnato of Leadership Advantage, which recruits superintendents, said many negotiated new contracts last spring and early summer before Christie announced his salary-cap proposal in July.

“There was a lot of talk about salary caps coming and most people realized that raises in the future were going to be much less,” Osnato said. Those bids for higher pay came as many administrators around the state took pay freezes to curb costs for taxpayers.

Some recruiters have warned it will be difficult for New Jersey districts to compete for talent when New York pays more. Osnato said Ardsley, Briarcliff and Hastings, for example were looking for superintendents and planned to pay in the $250,000 range. Still, he said, educators in southern or western New Jersey, where pay is lower than North Jersey, may find it attractive to hop to Bergen and Passaic counties.

Staff Writer Hannan Adely contributed to this article, which includes material from The Associated Press. E-mail: brody@northjersey.com


 

 

The Christie administration said Monday that no new contracts with school superintendents will be approved until a comprehensive review of all superintendent pay deals is complete.

The governor has proposed salary caps according to the size of each district, with some as low as $125,000.

The acting education commissioner, Rochelle Hendricks, ordered county executive superintendents to scrutinize the deals and report to her by Dec. 3. Her memo, dated Monday, also underscored her phone call last week instructing them to deny any effort to extend contracts now to skirt the proposed salary caps, which are expected to take effect Feb. 7.

The order was triggered by news last week that LeRoy Seitz, the superintendent in Parsippany-Troy Hills, was awarded a new contract far exceeding the governor’s proposed salary cap. The cap would prevent almost all superintendents from taking home base pay topping Christie’s $175,000 salary once their current contracts expire.

Christie blasted Seitz last week as the “new poster boy for all that is wrong with the public school system that’s being dictated by greed.” Appearing at a town hall meting in Gloucester County on Monday, Christie said the Morris County executive superintendent was nixing the deal. The announcement got cheers from an audience whose members live about 100 miles from Parsippany.

Seitz had renegotiated a contract even though his current deal wasn’t due to expire until next summer. He currently makes $212,000, and would get 2 percent raises each year of the new five-year contract.

The school board approved the package last week after Christie publicly criticized it. On Monday, Christie’s office also released a letter dated Nov. 15 from the Morris executive superintendent saying she never approved the Seitz deal, contrary to prior news reports. She couldn’t be reached for comment. Neither could Seitz.

The governor has proposed salary caps according to the size of each district — some as low as $125,000 — to rein in some of the highest property taxes in the nation. Many school chiefs in Bergen and Passaic counties currently make far more than the caps would allow. Critics of the caps argue they will lead to an exodus of talent to other states that pay more, and will discourage administrators from seeking promotions.

Seitz was not the only superintendent seeking to nail down a better deal before the cap became effective. Viktor Joganow, the Passaic Valley Regional High School District superintendent, said Monday he asked a month ago to extend his 2008 contract to 2015, rather than 2013. It pays him $216,000, plus raises, to run the single-school district. The school board president said Friday that the board was still reviewing the request.

Joganow, 61, said that if the extension was not allowed he would step down in 2013. He said he was more concerned about the bitterness of the debate than his circumstances.

“I’m more upset about the whole tenor that’s been established and the negative connotations towards teachers and administrators,” he said. “It’s unfortunate our profession has come under such undue criticism.”

Some communities are worried about recruiting leaders. The school board in Englewood voted this month to hire a new superintendent, Donald Carlisle, for $200,000. His contract is under review by the state-appointed county executive superintendent, Aaron Graham, who did not return calls for comment. That salary represents a $50,000 pay cut from Carlisle’s current job in Westchester County, N.Y. (School boards can vote on offers to candidates, but county executive superintendents must sign off on contracts before they get final board approval.)

Henry Pruitt III, vice president of the Englewood school board, said his district faced serious academic challenges and needed an “experienced change agent.” He said the cost of living in North Jersey and a district’s particular problems should be taken in to account.

“By putting in caps you’re crippling our district’s ability to attract an experienced candidate,” Pruitt said. “I applaud the governor’s effort to control costs but I think focusing on superintendents’ salaries strictly by district population is not the right way to do it.”

Robert Gilmartin, executive county superintendent in Passaic County, said Monday he was reviewing a proposed contract for an incoming superintendent that exceeds the cap by about $15,000, but declined to name the district. He said the governor’s proposed caps were reasonable but such salary constraints should be put on lower positions too or it would be more lucrative to avoid the superintendent’s seat.

“If you take the incentive away from working up the ladder, that will be a problem,” he said.

The school board in Ringwood was expected to vote on a contract Monday night that would pay a new superintendent $9,000 more than the cap for a district of its small size, with only 1,295 students. If given final approval, the new contract for Hugh Beattie, currently a principal at Jefferson School in Bergenfield, would provide an annual salary of $154,000.

Ringwood Interim Superintendent Rudolph Sellitti said the amount was fair based on the Beattie’s current salary and earnings potential as principal. It was unclear Monday whether Ringwood would be affected by the commissioner’s new directive because the board resolution showed the county executive superintendent already approved the contract in October.

“Right now, the board still has the right to negotiate a reasonable salary,” Sellitti said.

Hendricks’ order not to let anyone circumvent the cap came too late for many districts. Mike Osnato of Leadership Advantage, which recruits superintendents, said many negotiated new contracts last spring and early summer before Christie announced his salary-cap proposal in July.

“There was a lot of talk about salary caps coming and most people realized that raises in the future were going to be much less,” Osnato said. Those bids for higher pay came as many administrators around the state took pay freezes to curb costs for taxpayers.

Some recruiters have warned it will be difficult for New Jersey districts to compete for talent when New York pays more. Osnato said Ardsley, Briarcliff and Hastings, for example were looking for superintendents and planned to pay in the $250,000 range. Still, he said, educators in southern or western New Jersey, where pay is lower than North Jersey, may find it attractive to hop to Bergen and Passaic counties.

Staff Writer Hannan Adely contributed to this article, which includes material from The Associated Press. E-mail: brody@northjersey.com

 

Nj.com ‘Anti-bullying Bill of Rights sails through N.J. Assembly, Senate education committees’

Published: Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 6:55 AM     Updated: Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 7:07 AM

Matt Friedman/Statehouse Bureau

TRENTON — Corey Bernstein, an openly gay 15-year-old, said his school days used to be a "living hell." In seventh grade, he faked being sick to stay home and even contemplated suicide.

Bernstein, now a high school sophomore, said Monday he is doing better after enrolling in a different school and undergoing psychological therapy. But he worries about other students, telling lawmakers they need to adopt the "Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights" to protect them.

"Students (were) calling me gay, fag, making fun of me because I was too smart, not athletic enough, too short," Bernstein, of Millburn, said Monday. "There are so many students ... who have not been as lucky to make it through."

Sponsors of the bill — which cleared the Assembly and Senate education committees Monday — said it would give New Jersey the most comprehensive anti-bullying law in the nation.

It would require training for most public school teachers, administrators and other employees on how to spot bullying and mandate all districts form a "school safety team" to review complaints. School districts would be graded by the state on their efforts to combat the problem.

Administrators who do not look into alleged bullying incidents would be disciplined, while students who bully would be suspended or expelled. School employees would also be required to report all incidents they learn of, whether they took place in or outside of school.

Although the bill, which would toughen a law enacted in 2002, has been in the works for about a year, it got more attention following the suicide of Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi, whose classmates allegedly used a webcam to watch a romantic encounter he had with another man.

The bill was heavily promoted by Garden State Equality, whose chairman, Steven Goldstein, said he was "bullied to a pulp" while growing up in the New York City public school system.

"The best revenge is making the world a kinder place," he said.

The bill now heads for a vote in the full Senate and Assembly, where it has bipartisan support and has 28 senators and 46 members of the Assembly signed on as co-sponsors — more than enough to pass both houses. Gov. Chris Christie would give the bill "careful review and consideration" if it reaches his desk, said spokesman Michael Drewniak.

Some groups raised concerns about the measure.

Gregory Quinlan, director of government affairs for New Jersey Family First, opposed the bill because it lists categories that are subject to bullying, including race, religion, sexual orientation, gender or disability. It also includes "any other distinguishing characteristic."

"The list needs to be removed. It is discriminatory, it is unconstitutional, and that is what is wrong with this bill," Quinlan said, adding the language of the bill should just say "all bullying against all students for all reasons."

Ed Barocas, legal director of the New Jersey ACLU, said his organization supports the bill but giving school administrators authority to discipline students for bullying off school grounds outside of school hours may not be constitutional.

"We all want the best possible bill that most protects students against bullying while staying within the school’s constitutional authority," he said.

Ginger Gibson contributed to this report.

 

Asbury Park Press' exclusive investigative (week-long)series on New Jersey's $3 billion special education system.

The series is available today only in the printed edition or through the electronic edition.

The series examines what works and what doesn't in special education, and how the program has become victim of fraud, lax oversight and unproven programs. The series' stories:

Sunday - Little oversight in New Jersey's costly special education program.
Monday - At $14 million a year, Lakewood schools spend the most in the area on private tuition.
Tuesday - No Standards or training needed to teach autistic children.
Wednesday - Inside a private special education school
Thursday - One parent's nightmare in dealing with autism and education.
Friday - What can be done to fix special education.