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GSCS thanks Rochelle Hendricks for her steadfast devotion to the well-being of New Jersey's schoolchildren and her extraordinary ability, and effort, to steadfastly lead the Department of Education through an extraordinarily difficult time. She was needed, she showed up and she performed with utmost professionalism.
Njspotlight.com ‘Rochelle Hendricks: A Portrait of Professionalism’
Njspotlight.com ‘Chris Cerf: In His Own Words’
Northjersey.com ‘No sharing of superintendent'
nj.com ‘Chatham superintendent calls Governor Christie's attack unfair’
Njspotlight.com ‘Rochelle Hendricks: A Portrait of Professionalism’
While welcoming his new education chief, Gov. Christie spent almost as much time praising Hendricks -- "one of the jewels of my administration."
, December 22 in Education
As Gov. Chris Christie introduced Chris Cerf as his new education commissioner at a Statehouse press conference on Monday, Rochelle Hendricks stood dutifully -- if not a little awkwardly -- to the side.
The longtime state education department employee had served as Christie’s acting commissioner for the last four months, after the debacle of the federal Race to the Top application and former commissioner Bret Schundler’s firing over it.
Not Her Day
Maybe Hendricks wanted the permanent position, maybe she didn’t, but she wasn’t picked and she knew it wasn’t her day on Monday.
All the more notable then, when Christie spent nearly as much time thanking and praising her as he did Cerf, calling her "one of the jewels of my administration" and promising that she would be staying in the department.
"She has dealt with enormously difficult issues, issues of morale, personnel and policy over the course of the last number of months, and she has done so with extraordinary professionalism," Christie said.
"Out of what was a really lousy situation having to fire a member of your cabinet, one of the good things that came out of that was the opportunity I had to meet Rochelle Hendricks and to get to work with her," he said.
High Praise
That Hendricks stepped into a tough situation four months ago is probably an understatement, but she has won high praise from nearly everyone for the job she did in steadying the helm of the department.
Best known as the leader of the state’s charter school office, first as its director and then as an assistant commissioner overseeing it, Hendricks had already won over that constituency.
But she also had to steer through the wreckage following the Schundler firing, including a tortuous legislative hearing, while carrying the mantle for some of Christie's most controversial positions in public talks and in private.
No Thanks
Famously, she rejected an invitation from the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) to speak at its convention, the first commissioner in recent memory to do so. She also led the administration’s crackdown on capping superintendent salaries and rejecting those that exceed them, one of its more controversial steps to date.
There was some speculation that all this was under orders from the governor, especially as Hendricks is probably best known for her collegiality. But others said Hendricks is no wallflower, either.
"She’s a lot tougher than people think she is,” said Shelley Skinner, a leader in the charter school movement and development director for the Learning Community Charter School in Jersey City. “She didn’t have any problem lowering the boom like that."
Others said she was hardly a caretaker, either, even if handicapped by the uncertainty of her fate. It didn’t help much that key senior staff were also leaving vacancies impossible to fill in the short-term.
Arcelio Aponte, president of the State Board of Education, recalled the first meeting with Hendricks after she was named acting commissioner. "She immediately pointed out things that should be taken care of right away," he said. "She dove right in."
And Aponte said he also spoke with her on the day late last week when news filtered out that she would not be named to the permanent slot, a job instead going to Cerf. What she will do is unclear, but Christie emphasized that she will remain in the department in some role, presumably as an assistant or deputy commissioner.
“She didn’t say anything negative,” Aponte said of that conversation. “That’s how she is, a real professional. She was real upbeat about what lay ahead.”
Njspotlight.com ‘Chris Cerf: In His Own Words’
The commissioner-designate takes a stand on school reform, accountability, economically disadvantaged students, teachers unions and more
, December 21 in Education |1 Comment He said he wouldn’t go into specific policy, but Chris Cerf is still a talker.
So, in his introduction at a Statehouse press conference yesterday as New Jersey’s next education commissioner, Cerf provided plenty of clues as to what he finds important in education and what specific issues he may pursue.
Some answers were terse, and Gov. Chris Christie was never too far away to expand. But on school choice, teacher tenure and a few other topics, Cerf certainly wasn’t shy in sharing his thoughts. How that plays out on specific proposals in New Jersey is yet to be seen.
What Makes Chris Cerf Tick?
In some of his first expansive comments since being tapped for the job, Cerf listed five central principles to school reform: people, accountability, competition, empowerment and innovation.
In his own words:
· "People are at the heart of it. The last frontier of school reform is finding the very, very best teachers and school leaders and making sure they are the ones who are there, and we have the retention systems and evaluation systems, anything to maximize the effectiveness of education."
· "Accountability is critical, we should all be accountable for student learning, however you want to measure that."
· "Competition that is empowering parents with the opportunity to choose which public schools their child goes to is incredibly important. It drives quality in way that is frankly, unimaginably important.”
· "I don’t think you can hold schools accountable for results unless you empower them the opportunity to make decisions. It’s the flip side of accountability. You can not hold them accountable for results unless you allow them the opportunity to make decisions. On the other hand, you cannot empower schools to be completely independent without having a parallel level of accountability or you have chaos."
· "If you went to the 15th century village ,the only two things you’d recognize are the places of worship and the schools. The basic model of education today is pretty much like it always was. The person standing in the front of the room, the technology world has only glancingly touched education, and there are huge advances to be made in differentiated learning and instruction."
What Is the State of New Jersey Schools?
Again, his words: "We live in a state that should be very, very proud of its educational system. But also live in a state where the gap between those who are born to economic circumstances that are positive and those who are born to poverty simply do not an equal opportunity to success. And that in my judgment is a shameful problem that all of us should be throwing ourselves at.”
Will He Follow Christie in Taking On the NJEA?
There's no love lost between Christie and the state’s largest teachers union, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA). And Christie yesterday again took some more shots at the union, on one hand saying he is only responding in kind to the NJEA’s own attacks and then comparing it to those "standing at the schoolhouse door blocking reform."
Cerf, himself a former high school teacher in a Cincinnati private school, did not speak specifically to union relations but went out of his way to praise the teaching profession.
"They are the absolute essential component in student learning. It is more than that, they are the spiritual guides, the ones who really make a difference," Cerf said. "We can all talk about the reforms, but at the interface of student and teacher in the classroom is where the difference is made."
"I want to start this journey by expressing my highest regard and deep appreciation for the educators in this state," he continued. "I really look forward to working with them as we move forward together into the future."
A spokesman for the NJEA was heartened by the early signals coming out of the new commissioner-designate, pointing out some collaborations Cerf made with the teacher unions in New York that the NJEA itself proposed for New Jersey.
"We are trying to stay positive," said Steve Wollmer, the NJEA’s communications director. "I think we are at least at a place where we can sit down and talk."
Not Exactly Union Talk
Christie has appointed a task force to review and develop a statewide system for evaluating teachers and principals that would determine how they are paid, promoted, retained and potentially dismissed.
As deputy schools chancellor in New York City, Cerf was central in developing a similar system for that city’s massive school system -- roughly the same size as all of New Jersey's -- that places greater accountability on teachers.
Yesterday, he was frank in his views on teacher tenure as an antiquated system in need of change.
"It has massively mutated into something that essentially should be a guard against arbitrariness into what is essentially lifetime job protection,” he said. ”We can’t live in a world where it takes hundreds of thousands of dollars of administrative process and lawyers fees to terminate a teacher obviously ineffective with children."
And while Wollmer praised Cerf’s work with New York’s American Federation of Teachers in developing schoolwide bonuses, Cerf yesterday said he may not be against individual bonuses or merit pay, either, an idea that the NJEA has roundly opposed.
"If your first interest is to do what’s right for children, then you have to have a system of rewards and consequences to reflect how children are actually learning," he said. "A system based entirely on step raises and longevity and acquisition of degrees hasn’t worked very well."
A Good Soldier
Cerf yesterday made clear several times that he will be the governor’s soldier, not the other way around. That’s no small issue when this governor has already fired one education commissioner. And it’s no small concession for a man who already has worked under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a man who easily matches Christie in bravado.
When asked, for instance, whether Christie’s caps on superintendent pay at $175,000 would work in New York state, where superintendent pay may be even higher than New Jersey, Cerf demurred in maybe his shortest answer of the day.
"I am not going to answer a hypothetical question,” he said. “I support the governor."
Earlier, he also made clear his loyalty: "Other than the legislature, the only policymaker in the state is the governor. Therefore, my mission is the governor’s mission."
Still, there was some nuance to work through, too, as Cerf also has hardly been a cheerleader for private school vouchers -- one of Christie’s favorites -- and yesterday didn’t much change in that reputation.
When asked specifically about private school options for students, he said that he supports "anything that works" and repeated his central premise that students shouldn’t be consigned by their zip codes in the quality of education they receive.
But when asked specifically as to whether he thinks private school vouchers have worked in other cities and states, he hedged.
"Evidence on that is evolving right now," he said. "And I’m certainly in favor of continuing to develop that evidence."
Northjersey.com ‘No sharing of superintendent
Wednesday, December 22, 2010 Neighbor News (Boonton Edition) CORRESPONDENT
Township of Boonton and Mountain Lakes Board of Education members announced that they will not share a superintendent because of the inherent conflict of interest such a position would entail. The Boards detailed the basis of their decision, and addressed questions from several community members during a joint meeting at the Mountain Lakes High School on Wednesday, Dec. 8.
David Gniewek, president of the Mountain Lakes Board of Education, said when the Boards realized that superintendents for both districts will retire within months of each other, they looked into hiring a joint superintendent for both districts. Individually and jointly both districts analyzed the benefits and likely risks of sharing a chief school administrator.
"While it makes perfect sense educationally, there were several stumbling blocks to actually doing it and saving money," Gniewek said. "The biggest stumbling block is that there is an inherent conflict of interest. If you have one superintendent bossed by two Boards, where does the loyalty lie?"
Gniewek further explained that if both districts were to renegotiate a sending/receiving contract without each having a separate leader, and a conflict of any sort were to arise, the cost of hiring outside consultants to resolve the conflict would chew up any savings.
Putting aside conflict of interest issues, the Boards found that sharing a superintendent would yield no savings for Mountain Lakes, which needs a full-time superintendent, and it would cost Township of Boonton at least $25,000 to share a superintendent.
The figures were explained as follows: the maximum both districts would pay a joint superintendent would be $167,500. Governor Christie has imposed a cap of $155, 000 for a Mountain Lakes superintendent. Another $2,500 is added to that cap because a high school is involved, and $10,000 is added because two districts would rely on one superintendent.
One community member asked, "How can hiring fewer people be more expensive?"
The answer given was that if Township of Boonton were to share a superintendent, it must still hire a principal, and an assistant principal.
Dr. Roseann Humphrey, Township of Boonton superintendent/principal, presented a likely contract scenario. Based on supposition, she used a formula where the state imposed cap is divided by the total number of students in Mountain Lakes and Boonton Township. Her numbers showed a cost of $77 per pupil, and were based on an enrollment of 529 Boonton Township students. Dr. Humphrey calculated that it would cost Boonton Township an additional $25,000 to share a superintendent with Mountain Lakes as opposed to hiring a separate Boonton Township superintendent, principal and assistant principal.
Dr. Humphrey explained a likely scenario as follows: A superintendent/principal with the cap would cost Township of Boonton $135,000; add the cost of an assistant principal at $98,000 to arrive at $233,000. In a shared services scenario Boonton Township would contribute $42,900 as its portion for shared services, plus $120,000 for a principal, plus $98,000 for an assistant principal. The total would be $258,795. The difference between the two scenarios is $25,795.
Township of Boonton would have to pay more for a shared superintendent who would be available one fifth of the time. John Murray, Boonton Township business administrator, further explained that the shared superintendent would be hired by Mountain Lakes, but would only be on contract for services to Boonton Township.
Despite disproportionate numbers and conflict of interest issues, two Township of Boonton community members voiced their opinion that sharing a superintendent but gaining a full-time principal in Boonton Township would be worth the extra expense. A Boonton Township Board member countered that argument saying that the district’s recent request for an additional $150 sports fee met so much opposition, that getting the public to agree on an additional $25,000 was highly unlikely.
The solution concluded by both Boards is continued reliance on shared services. Mountain Lakes Superintendent Dr. John Kazmark outlined several areas of shared services which over time will bring cost savings to both districts. Because of the send/receive relationship, both districts receive price breaks on textbooks and they benefit from curriculum integration and coordination. The districts share services regarding child study teams and child placement, and share facilities and speakers, athletic and sports resources.
Dr. Humphrey added that the Municipal Alliance has gotten groups together to raise awareness in the communities, and that ongoing professional training programs, such as Internet safety, have been utilized between both districts. Fostering cooperation between Mountain Lakes and Township of Boonton Police Departments is also a shared service.
Dr. Kazmark addressed the notion of merging districts.
"A merger would be sound educationally, but economically it doesn’t make sense because when you put two districts together the pay scale of the larger district takes precedence, and usually salaries go up, so we are not saving money there," Kazmark said.
He added that the only way to find cost efficiency is not to merge districts, which will enfold two separate and unequal tax bases, but to merge municipalities so there is only one tax base. Since a merger has to be approved by vote of the taxpayer, Kazmark said the possibility of that happening now is nil.
One Township of Boonton resident voiced his concern that while caps are 2 percent and state funding has diminished, the burden of finding additional savings must take place. Since taxpayers cannot pay more taxes with state deficits and pensions being underfunded, the speaker urged to look into more ways of saving money, perhaps sharing a health plan. Dr. Kazmark answered that the Boards are looking into as many ways to save money as they can.
Another community member from Mountain Lakes suggested the Boards meet with Town Councils in 2011 to find way to do more with less. Losing 8 to 10 educators per year, less curriculum, bigger class size he said is not the way to increase the ranking of the Mountain Lakes School District.
The Boards were asked if they asked outside consultants who compiled statistics and studied demographics to arrive at the conclusion to hire separate superintendents. Dr. Kazmark answered that they used the resources of the county officers, the county business administrator and the county superintendent, who were very clear that they did not see a savings in sharing a superintendent.
Kazmark also noted that a superintendent is not just an educator, but holds a managerial position as well that has to do with financial issues. In this case two separate finances of two districts could lead to a dispute between both Boards which would then lead to costs in litigation if the superintendent could not represent either side.
Gniewek pointed out that two Boards sharing asSuperintendent would have a chilling effect on the free flow of information. The two Boards now have a good working relationship, but the possibility for conflict by employing the same superintendent could ruin that relationship.
A shared superintendent was concluded to be unfeasible in terms of cost and in terms of implementing policy to the best interest of both Boards.
"The problem," Gniewek posed, "is who will do this job with two districts, two Boards of Ed, 12 meetings, two budgets that have to be passed at the same time all for $10,000 more than they can get in a single district? The answer is no one. The more practical solution is to share services at the mid and lower levels."
Dr. Humphrey is scheduled to retire by April 1, 2011, and Dr. Kazmark will retire June 1, 2011. Each district will conduct its own search for candidates since sharing a superintendent with a cap will bring no savings to Mountain Lakes and additional expense to Township of Boonton.
While community members voiced mixed reactions to sharing a superintendent, Robin Kalfus, president of the Township of Boonton Board of Education said the Boards sought to do what pleases the community, but also what is "most prudent for the students and their education," and that both Boards based their decision on "fiscal and financial responsibility."
Boonton Township and Mountain Lakes Board of Education members announced that they will not share a superintendent because of the inherent conflict of interest such a position would entail. The Boards detailed the basis of their decision, and addressed questions from several community members during a joint meeting at the Mountain Lakes High School on Wednesday, Dec. 8.
David Gniewek, president of the Mountain Lakes Board of Education, said when the Boards realized that superintendents for both districts will retire within months of each other, they looked into hiring a joint superintendent for both districts. Individually and jointly both districts analyzed the benefits and likely risks of sharing a chief school administrator.
"While it makes perfect sense educationally, there were several stumbling blocks to actually doing it and saving money," Gniewek said. "The biggest stumbling block is that there is an inherent conflict of interest. If you have one superintendent bossed by two Boards, where does the loyalty lie?"
Gniewek further explained that if both districts were to renegotiate a sending/receiving contract without each having a separate leader, and a conflict of any sort were to arise, the cost of hiring outside consultants to resolve the conflict would chew up any savings.
Putting aside conflict of interest issues, the Boards found that sharing a superintendent would yield no savings for Mountain Lakes, which needs a full-time superintendent, and it would cost Boonton Township at least $25,000 to share a superintendent.
The figures were explained as follows: the maximum both districts would pay a joint superintendent would be $167,500. Governor Christie has imposed a cap of $155, 000 for a Mountain Lakes superintendent. Another $2,500 is added to that cap because a high school is involved, and $10,000 is added because two districts would rely on one superintendent.
One community member asked, "How can hiring fewer people be more expensive?"
The answer given was that if Boonton Township were to share a superintendent, it must still hire a principal, and an assistant principal.
Dr. Roseann Humphrey, Boonton Township superintendent/principal, presented a likely contract scenario. Based on supposition, she used a formula where the state imposed cap is divided by the total number of students in Mountain Lakes and Boonton Township. Her numbers showed a cost of $77 per pupil, and were based on an enrollment of 529 Boonton Township students. Dr. Humphrey calculated that it would cost Boonton Township an additional $25,000 to share a superintendent with Mountain Lakes as opposed to hiring a separate Boonton Township superintendent, principal and assistant principal.
Dr. Humphrey explained a likely scenario as follows: A superintendent/principal with the cap would cost Boonton Township $135,000; add the cost of an assistant principal at $98,000 to arrive at $233,000. In a shared services scenario Boonton Township would contribute $42,900 as its portion for shared services, plus $120,000 for a principal, plus $98,000 for an assistant principal. The total would be $258,795. The difference between the two scenarios is $25,795.
Boonton Township would have to pay more for a shared superintendent who would be available one fifth of the time. John Murray, Boonton Township business administrator, further explained that the shared superintendent would be hired by Mountain Lakes, but would only be on contract for services to Boonton Township.
Despite disproportionate numbers and conflict of interest issues, two Boonton Township community members voiced their opinion that sharing a superintendent but gaining a full-time principal in Boonton Township would be worth the extra expense. A Boonton Township Board member countered that argument saying that the district’s recent request for an additional $150 sports fee met so much opposition, that getting the public to agree on an additional $25,000 was highly unlikely.
The solution concluded by both Boards is continued reliance on shared services. Mountain Lakes Superintendent Dr. John Kazmark outlined several areas of shared services which over time will bring cost savings to both districts. Because of the send/receive relationship, both districts receive price breaks on textbooks and they benefit from curriculum integration and coordination. The districts share services regarding child study teams and child placement, and share facilities and speakers, athletic and sports resources.
Dr. Humphrey added that the Municipal Alliance has gotten groups together to raise awareness in the communities, and that ongoing professional training programs, such as Internet safety, have been utilized between both districts. Fostering cooperation between Mountain Lakes and Boonton Township Police Departments is also a shared service.
Dr. Kazmark addressed the notion of merging districts.
"A merger would be sound educationally, but economically it doesn’t make sense because when you put two districts together the pay scale of the larger district takes precedence, and usually salaries go up, so we are not saving money there," Kazmark said.
He added that the only way to find cost efficiency is not to merge districts, which will enfold two separate and unequal tax bases, but to merge municipalities so there is only one tax base. Since a merger has to be approved by vote of the taxpayer, Kazmark said the possibility of that happening now is nil.
One Boonton Township resident voiced his concern that while caps are 2 percent and state funding has diminished, the burden of finding additional savings must take place. Since taxpayers cannot pay more taxes with state deficits and pensions being underfunded, the speaker urged to look into more ways of saving money, perhaps sharing a health plan. Dr. Kazmark answered that the Boards are looking into as many ways to save money as they can.
Another community member from Mountain Lakes suggested the Boards meet with Town Councils in 2011 to find way to do more with less. Losing 8 to 10 educators per year, less curriculum, bigger class size he said is not the way to increase the ranking of the Mountain Lakes School District.
The Boards were asked if they asked outside consultants who compiled statistics and studied demographics to arrive at the conclusion to hire separate superintendents. Dr. Kazmark answered that they used the resources of the county officers, the county business administrator and the county superintendent, who were very clear that they did not see a savings in sharing a superintendent.
Kazmark also noted that a superintendent is not just an educator, but holds a managerial position as well that has to do with financial issues. In this case two separate finances of two districts could lead to a dispute between both Boards which would then lead to costs in litigation if the superintendent could not represent either side.
Gniewek pointed out that two Boards sharing asSuperintendent would have a chilling effect on the free flow of information. The two Boards now have a good working relationship, but the possibility for conflict by employing the same superintendent could ruin that relationship.
A shared superintendent was concluded to be unfeasible in terms of cost and in terms of implementing policy to the best interest of both Boards.
"The problem," Gniewek posed, "is who will do this job with two districts, two Boards of Ed, 12 meetings, two budgets that have to be passed at the same time all for $10,000 more than they can get in a single district? The answer is no one. The more practical solution is to share services at the mid and lower levels."
Dr. Humphrey is scheduled to retire by April 1, 2011, and Dr. Kazmark will retire June 1, 2011. Each district will conduct its own search for candidates since sharing a superintendent with a cap will bring no savings to Mountain Lakes and additional expense to Boonton Township.
While community members voiced mixed reactions to sharing a superintendent, Robin Kalfus, president of the Boonton Township Board of Education said the Boards sought to do what pleases the community, but also what is "most prudent for the students and their education," and that both Boards based their decision on "fiscal and financial responsibility."
nj.com ‘Chatham superintendent calls Governor Christie's attack unfair’
Published: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 10:30 AM Updated: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, 10:39 AM
By Tracy Ness/Independent Press
CHATHAM-TWP. -- Governor Chris Christie is not sending any good tidings of the season to Chatham Superintendent Jim O'Neill with the attacks he has leveled at both O'Neill and the Board of Education. But neither are backing down. O'Neill just issued this Independent Forum explaining his position. The full text of his letter is below.
Dear Chatham Resident,
The School Board and I have become the most recent targets of Governor Christie. The charges leveled by the governor challenge my integrity and Board’s ability to oversee the fiscal management of the school district. The charges are misleading, unfair, unfounded and ignore the facts. I am sorry that the community has been subjected to this surprising publicity but want to mention information which I hope will help you draw your own conclusions.
Over the course of a few months beginning July 1, 2010 all of our senior central office administrative staff retired. This included the Assistant Superintendent, the Business Administrator and the Director of Special Services. The Personnel Director also moved on. The Board and I discussed the issues and it was agreed that I would stay 3 years to help with the transition of leadership to a new team. At a meeting in August 2010 the County Superintendent of Schools advised all districts that she had been advised to approve all contracts according to the existing (not proposed) regulations. Recently, with the help of the Board Attorney, we agreed to craft a resolution that conveyed the Board’s intent to approve a new contract but recognized the new contract would not be in effect until and unless it was signed by the County Superintendent. This has provoked an unusual level of strong feelings both pro and con.
Since I came to Chatham in 1996 I have had the unique opportunity of serving as high school principal, assistant superintendent and for the past 8 years as superintendent. I have not “pinballed”, as the governor likes to say from one district to another for monetary reasons. This is a unique community and I have consistently acknowledged the success of our schools is due in large measure to the value that our families place on education and the support that parents give us through the donation of their time, energy and resources. School districts are challenged to be “thorough and efficient”.
Without dwelling on extensive data, I note my pride in the following facts: over the past 8 years the percentage of our graduates going to the most competitive colleges in the country has grown from 66% to 80%; our classified graduates go to college in the same percentage as the regular education students; graduates tell us how well prepared they are for college. Our per pupil cost is over $1,000 below the state average and is a cost savings to taxpayers of over $4 million annually or between $500 and $600 for the average home. The prudent management of public funds is to be credited to the same people who the Governor has opted to criticize.
Last year the state reduced our aid by $2.5 million which had a significant impact on property taxes. The voters sustained that cost and supported the school budget when 58% of the school budgets in NJ failed. Everyone knows the reason property taxes in NJ are so high is because the state provides so little support to suburban districts. The Governor and his administration lost $400 million for NJ schools but asks us to ignore these facts and instead be focused on the $45,000 my salary exceeds the arbitrary cap he proposes for a district our size.
No one I have worked with in the administration or on the Board of Education has ever tried to deceive or mislead the public; we have gone to great extents to be open and honest. We all recognize NJ has a fiscal problem but that does not mean the Governor should engage in outrageous accusations and name calling because everyone does not agree with everything he says. It is clear to almost everyone that school districts are different and should be judged by multiple measures not one. The governor insists I am greedy and the board is foolish but refuses to look at our record and acknowledge our success. He offers no reason other than his own intuition that he should be the sole arbiter of what is fair. Amongst many other things I am proud of our administrative and supervisory team; we first agreed to a 2% raise even though contracted amounts were higher and the following year agreed to a salary freeze; all before Mr. Christie took office. Ironically I am one of the superintendents who met with the governor’s transition team and provided him with the majority of proposals in the oft cited ‘tool box’.
I find it unfortunate I may end my career on an unpleasant note and will reserve judgment about what to do until after the New Year but I did not want to enter the holiday season without sharing some of this with you. I did not want silence to convey the wrong message. Thank you for your time, additional information will be available on the districts website. I wish you a wonderful holiday season and hope 2011 will be a happy and healthy one for you and your family.
Sincerely,
Jim O’Neill, Superintendent of Schools
