If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck....
Folks it didn't take them long.
Tuesday night's Board of Education meeting heralded the "Romano Faction's" first live political stunt of 2016.
The choreography between Peter Biancamano, Brittany Montgomery and John Madigan began after public comment had ended, prior to the motion to close the meeting. (Yes, the stunt has already been recorded on the blog of embittered crapademic, Anthony "CuriousGal" Petrosino.)
Some of you may not be familiar with Anthony "Curious Gal" Petrosino.
Petrosino used to 'double-dip' when he worked full-time as Assistant to Hoboken District Superintendent Jack Raslowsky (2007-2009) while teaching in Austin, Texas.
Yep, double-dipper Petrosino collected a full-time salary from Hoboken taxpayers while he was on the payroll at University of Austin, until 2009, when he was canned by the Kids First School Board Trustees.
Petrosino then sued the Hoboken Board of Education, and lost. The BoE countersued and won.
As a result of all that firing and suing, Petrosino is nursing a grudge the size of the state he works in (Texas); in fact, Petro has weaponized his "education" blog to attack the Hoboken School District and the school board who fired him. Under the mantle of academia, he churns out pseudo-scientific data to disparage Hoboken District School as a proxy for his real target: Kids First.
So, back to this week's BoE meeting...
GA received a series of texts (and a photo) from a witness:
GA has spoken to other witnesses and will break it down for you.
Brittany Montgomery sits on the Governance and Communication committees. The Governance Committee is tasked with discussing and reviewing agenda items. The Governance committee met a few days prior to Tuesday's meeting.
It is Brittany Montgomery's responsibility as a member of the Governance Committee to have introduced that motion to put on the agenda. What did Brittany Montgomery do instead?
Brittany Montgomery kept her mouth shut. She played her part in a coordinated political stunt to sandbag the 6 members of the Board who were kept in the dark about this motion.
Montgomery knew it was coming, as did (presumably) the unusually large contingent from HoLa, which included the Executive Director of the school, Jen Sargeant.
How do parents OUTSIDE the District know about a motion that will be introduced "live" while six sitting District Board members are kept in the dark?
Montgomery behaved disgracefully. By keeping her mouth shut in the Governance meeting, so that she, Biancamano and Madigan could pull off a political "Live item" stunt, Montgomery has shown her "true colors"- she's there for politics, not the Hoboken District kids.
GA was told that Peter Biancamano read from prepared notes as he introduced his "Live Item," a motion for the Hoboken District to drop it's appeal. The Board Attorney interjected:
Montgomery, Madigan and Biancamano voted "Yes"
Note, Biancamano's Live Motion completely omits the funding issues central to the Hoboken District's position, showing himself to be utterly dishonest.
In any case, forget about transparency with the Romano Faction: Biancamano, Madigan and Montgomery. The Romano Faction cut off the public's ability to speak on the motion by introducing it after the close of public comment. The Romano Faction betrayed Hoboken District PARENTS by advising parents in another District, keeping it's own Parents and Board members in the dark, that this motion was being introduced.
The Romano Faction appears to be working for another District, not the children of the Hoboken District. This is a betrayal of trust with the families who sent their children to the Hoboken District Schools. SHAME on Montgomery, who has taught special education; the vast majority of special needs children are served by the Hoboken School District.
Finally, WHO is waiting in the wings for the political operation to be executed so that he may publish crapademic spin on his "education website" where it will be recycled for political use later?
Anthony "Curious Gal" Petrosino!
Folks it didn't take them long.
Tuesday night's Board of Education meeting heralded the "Romano Faction's" first live political stunt of 2016.
The choreography between Peter Biancamano, Brittany Montgomery and John Madigan began after public comment had ended, prior to the motion to close the meeting. (Yes, the stunt has already been recorded on the blog of embittered crapademic, Anthony "CuriousGal" Petrosino.)
 |
| Deposition of Anthony Petrosino: Anthony Petrosino v Hoboken Bd of Education |
Petrosino used to 'double-dip' when he worked full-time as Assistant to Hoboken District Superintendent Jack Raslowsky (2007-2009) while teaching in Austin, Texas.
Yep, double-dipper Petrosino collected a full-time salary from Hoboken taxpayers while he was on the payroll at University of Austin, until 2009, when he was canned by the Kids First School Board Trustees.
Petrosino then sued the Hoboken Board of Education, and lost. The BoE countersued and won.
As a result of all that firing and suing, Petrosino is nursing a grudge the size of the state he works in (Texas); in fact, Petro has weaponized his "education" blog to attack the Hoboken School District and the school board who fired him. Under the mantle of academia, he churns out pseudo-scientific data to disparage Hoboken District School as a proxy for his real target: Kids First.
So, back to this week's BoE meeting...
GA received a series of texts (and a photo) from a witness:
Look who shows up 49 minutes late!! Missed student recognitions, speeches of the kids from the Harvard model congress and missed the speeches from the kids in the Rutgers pre med honors program. Also missed super's discussion about coding club for elementary kids and also the partnership with Steven's and coding programs for jr and high school. Doosh!!!!! Hola showed up because PB [Peter Biancamano] made a motion.in new business to drop the lawsuit Madigan 2nd it. Ambush!!! But clearly Hola knew what to expect they came out to watch the vote! who voted to continue! Tom called the vote it was 6-3.
PB made the motion Madigan 2nd and Britney said call the vote!!! As if she gets to dictate!!! So Peter bypassed the boards committee process and went straight
to ambush!! That's why Jen Sargeant and husband, Barbara Martinez, Lynn Danzinger, Susan Costimiras and a few other hola parents were there last night. They < knew what Peter had up his sleeve.
Brittany Montgomery sits on the Governance and Communication committees. The Governance Committee is tasked with discussing and reviewing agenda items. The Governance committee met a few days prior to Tuesday's meeting.
It is Brittany Montgomery's responsibility as a member of the Governance Committee to have introduced that motion to put on the agenda. What did Brittany Montgomery do instead?
Brittany Montgomery kept her mouth shut. She played her part in a coordinated political stunt to sandbag the 6 members of the Board who were kept in the dark about this motion.
Montgomery knew it was coming, as did (presumably) the unusually large contingent from HoLa, which included the Executive Director of the school, Jen Sargeant.
How do parents OUTSIDE the District know about a motion that will be introduced "live" while six sitting District Board members are kept in the dark?
Montgomery behaved disgracefully. By keeping her mouth shut in the Governance meeting, so that she, Biancamano and Madigan could pull off a political "Live item" stunt, Montgomery has shown her "true colors"- she's there for politics, not the Hoboken District kids.
GA was told that Peter Biancamano read from prepared notes as he introduced his "Live Item," a motion for the Hoboken District to drop it's appeal. The Board Attorney interjected:
Board Attorney: "Frankly lobbing a motion on the floor during active ongoing litigation would hamper Boards ability to have a public discussion...."Madigan seconded the motion.
Biancamano: "That's why WE made a motion to call the vote, we knew we can't discuss"
Montgomery, Madigan and Biancamano voted "Yes"
Note, Biancamano's Live Motion completely omits the funding issues central to the Hoboken District's position, showing himself to be utterly dishonest.
In any case, forget about transparency with the Romano Faction: Biancamano, Madigan and Montgomery. The Romano Faction cut off the public's ability to speak on the motion by introducing it after the close of public comment. The Romano Faction betrayed Hoboken District PARENTS by advising parents in another District, keeping it's own Parents and Board members in the dark, that this motion was being introduced.
The Romano Faction appears to be working for another District, not the children of the Hoboken District. This is a betrayal of trust with the families who sent their children to the Hoboken District Schools. SHAME on Montgomery, who has taught special education; the vast majority of special needs children are served by the Hoboken School District.
Finally, WHO is waiting in the wings for the political operation to be executed so that he may publish crapademic spin on his "education website" where it will be recycled for political use later?
Anthony "Curious Gal" Petrosino!
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| Dirty Petrosino tactics: redacting data to skew results |
Can't the board limit the ability of commissioners to introduce live items? I think the City Council rules only permit late add-ons to the agenda if there's an emergency.
ReplyDeleteIf the rules permit any board member to introduce a resolution during new business then its hardly a dirty trick. It's a bad rule that the Board can easily fix.
I agree that both the public and the full board should have advance notice of anything being voted on whenever possible. The majority should change the rules to avoid this kind of thing like the Council did.
There is no "New Busines" section. Peter B. dropped his "Live item" right between the motion to close the public portion and the motion to close the meeting. This is extremely unusual. It WAS a set up for political reasons. Peter, Britanny and Madigan knew it would fail. It's going to be used for something. Wait and see.
DeleteAs I recall, a live resolution was inserted and voted on to approve the important selection of a district Superintendent.
DeleteThis is politics. It may not be pretty but it's not out of the ordinary for the Old Guard. What is out of the ordinary is their doing so saying the lawsuit is costing Hoboken taxpayers.
What is the status of the lawsuit and why is it beneficial at this point?
Anon 11:06- That's correct. The live item to approve selection of a Superintendent was inserted at the BEGINNING of that meeting (as is customary) so that TWO discussion/comment sessions on it could occur: one for Board members and one for the public.
DeleteFurther, the live motion was put on following an Executive session of all Board members prior to the meeting- no one was sandbagged the way Biancamano did on February 9 AFTER Board and public comment.
What Biancamano did is NOT how live items are properly introduced. Biancamano shut out the Board, shut out the public, shut out the Board Attorney from discussion, review, comment.
Why are the BOE bylaws on introducing live items?
DeleteDid anyone really expect these sleazy people to act any differently ?
ReplyDeleteSmack in the middle of that sleaze pit once again is HoLa .
Based on her past relationships and history Ms Montgomery doesn't care what she did was dishonest and shameful. Shameful and dishonest is why the Old Guard paid to get her on the Board.
There is no reason to believe "OG paid her to get on the board." It's obvious she wants a gig in local politics- boe, City Council, doesn't matter. She deceived her board colleagues to pull off a cheap stunt and got out HoLa parents to witness. HoLa got played. Britney and her cohorts knew the live motion would fail. They wanted it to fail in front of HoLa parents. This woman and her cohorts deserve an ethics complaint to the DOE. Peter B had one filed against him already. If KF played politics they would have spread the news about Peters ethics charges. Never heard a peep.
DeleteBrittany is awful. I never saw her attend a single BoE meeting. This was a vanity run, she likes the attention and that's as deep as it goes.
ReplyDeleteI like attention too. I bought a dog. See how easy it was for me to get constant attention?
Deletesnoopy- did you bang a city council member? Just wondering.
DeleteI have not. Should I? Do you recommend one in particular?
Deletesnoops, y'know when the gf is out of town, you just ring the doorbell and...
DeleteA vanity run? Who wants to be known as political scum? Because that is now her reputation.
DeleteWell what do you expect from a bunch of lying sacks of shit who cheated to get in office? Do you expect anything remotely resembling honesty? Come on, get serious.
ReplyDeleteTime to call the AG - time to go after the vote buyers.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAt this point this is a stupid lawsuit and it's causing the Kids First faction, or whatever name it has now, to hemorrhage support.
ReplyDeleteIf Biancamano, Montgomery, and Madigan are smart they will bring this up for a vote at every meeting. And when it gets voted down they'll send out an email to charter parents giving them an update on who voted how. Rinse and repeat until the november elections.
You're entitled to your opinion, but you're wrong on the facts.
DeleteAll 3 'Reach Higher" candidates won the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th Wards- on the machines.
Kluepfel won the 1st and 3rd Wards- on the machines.
All 3 "Reach Higher" candidates WON the machines.
VBMs elected Britney and Madigan- yep, the vote farmers picked off Velez and Dallara. That's a fact.
Respectfully, I believe the silent 'majority' supports the Hoboken District's efforts to stop the financial bleeding for the district children, threatened with further cuts to teaching staff and aides.
Hemmorhage support? It makes a nice talking point for some.
2015 Hoboken School Board Unofficial Election Results
Kids first will never lose my support so long as they stand firm against the folks who are only out to get "what's theirs". I see HoLa for what it is - a blatant money grab disguised as a charter school. And I definitely see how different it is from any other charter school in town. The parents should be reminded of that too and then, let's see who's support dissipates.
DeleteWhat were the vote differences between the reform council candidates and the reform school board candidates?
DeleteAnon 10:28- That would certainly be interesting to look at- with breakdowns for machine votes, provisionals and vbms.
DeleteI believe MSV posted the Municipal results spreadsheet.
If anyone wants to take a crack at it, pls send me your data: grafixavenger666@gmail.com
Tom got the most votes in all districts comparing his tally to the tally of the reform council candidate shows that Tom got
Delete1st ward: 45% of the reform council candidate
2nd ward: 73% of the reform council candidate
3rd ward: No reform candidate
4th ward: 90% of the reform council candidate
5th ward: 62% of the reform council candidate
6th ward: 70% of the reform council candidate
The 4th is likely only this close as there were two candidates who likely received large blocs of reform votes.
Has any one ever seen an audit of HOLA and how they spend our tax money? How many employees, who are they, how much do they make, what are their qualifications for their jobs, how many cell phones, undocumented employees, etc., etc. These people run with the same crew that got creamed in an audit for the way the BOE was run prior to KF. I suspect that there is a lot of monkey business going on at HOLA that they don't want anyone to see. Aren't Raia and Petrosino on the Board? Enough said.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nj.gov/cgi-bin/education/csg/14/csg.pl?string=dist_code6036&maxhits=650
DeleteThere is some info available online. You can see that the average teacher salary is $26,790 and the average administrator salary is $96,454. You can compare this to other schools on the same website.
the AVERAGE hola admin salary is almost $100,000.00??? i smell a rat.
DeleteWell the rats founded HoLa, they are on HoLa's board and they seem to work at HoLa. Shocker the admins make a bloody fortune when you look at who is on the payroll over there.
Delete$100Gs per rat...our tax dollars hard(ly) at work.
DeleteAll that link showed was how HOLA categorized their payments. Who to say they didn't mis-lable their expenses. Maybe pay admin out of teacher line or something? Pretty sure that used to happen back in the day at the BOE, under some of the same folks running Hola now.
DeleteDoes Hola do an audit every year like the BOE and present it pubically like the BOE? Be really transparent if they did and put up on youtube like BOE does. It is public money. Should be presented pubically.
It certainly seems odd to introduce a resolution seeking to terminate the lawsuit without providing an update as to its status.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody know what's going on? A status report ought to be provided as soon as possible so everyone can understand the full context. Hopefully the SB has lived up to its word and no additional public money has gone toward this suit and when they provide the much needed update they will provide public assurance of that.
It was a stunt done for the Old Guard's base.
DeleteLike Mason and Russo used to do on the City Council.
If GA had not called it out nobody would have even known or cared it happened.
I actually think this is a real ethics violation. Think of it as like insider trading... when a small subset of the population learns about something that others are unaware of and tries to gain from it. Or rigging a game and betting on it. Its just plain cheating.
ReplyDeleteAs GA mentions, Peter et al took the opportunity to tell HOLA parents and administrators to come to the meeting - whether he told them specifically about this vote, or just that something would happen, they made the decision to go to a meeting that they do not typically attend for a reason. And then Peter et al acted in a secretive way - without consulting board counsel - that potentially would jeopardize a previously Board sanctioned legal action that is underway. And as GA states, did this specifically in favor of a group that they do not represent. And specifically tried to keep this information from the rest of the public.
I think this is a pretty big ethical breach and I would hope that members of the board of ed will seek some sort of sanctions against this group even potentially calling for their resignation.
Ethics violations from people with no ethics. Shocker. And that lack of ethics applies to the peanut gallery that showed up to witness the lack of ethics exhibited by their three stooges on the BOE.
DeleteIf I'm not mistaken the ethics complaint can be filed by a member of the public.
ReplyDeleteThe six board trustees hit with the live item have no reason to trust the other three who all should be on the HoLa board instead. All three need to GO.
ReplyDeleteso... how does this happen? Public outcry? This is a big deal.
ReplyDeleteWhat's great about what they did is that it's now publicly documented and provides substantial evidence that Hola admins (rightly or wrongly) is trying to influence the public school BoE in its favor. I hope the judge, clerks and lawyers in this case take note. This type of shady political maneuvering can only hurt Hola in the end. I'm not even sure the majority of parents at that school realize what these board members are up to and how they're damaging the school's reputation.
ReplyDeleteIt's bad enough when other elected official act like politically motivated sleaze bags, but it so much worse when it involves those put in charge of our children's education. It's the lowest of the low to play political games that screw over kids, this radical element within Hola (not all Hola parents but obviously some) should be ashamed of themselves and pay a price.
ReplyDeleteIt is unbelievable that the Hola school leader, Board President and parents would let themselves be complicit in such a sneaky, underhanded trick devised to specifically deny the HBOE and any member of the public a voice. Circling around to watch the show even! Appalling really.
ReplyDeleteAny lingering thoughts of their innocence or naivete are now gone. In for a penny in for a pound huh? Vote buying and all.
The HoLa parents needs to clear out the parasites that infest the school.
ReplyDeleteHoLa parents are brainwashed and/or conveniently ignoring the history of the characters involved in running the school -- as long as the silly and meaningless GreatSchools rating is higher than the public schools and thus can brag about their kids going to a "better" school, they throw any sense of integrity and morals out the window.
DeleteBrittnay. wow. She all in huh? See her glance at Peter after she called the vote? Good girl.
ReplyDeleteShe ran for three seperate elections for that? To sell out by her second meeting. Good girl.
Hope they reward her well.
She is such an obedient puppet.
DeleteFor those curious about filing a complaint with the NJ Department of Education School Ethics Commission, please view the following links. To file the complaint, you need to specify which provisions of the Code of Ethics that a board member has allegedly violated. It's not a stretch to see which provisions the 3 VBM members have violated in light of the coordinated public comments by Hola board members/reps followed by Peter B's prepared, last-minute motion, quickly seconded and voted yes by the VBM members.
ReplyDeleteNJ Code of Ethics for School Board Members
http://www.state.nj.us/education/ethics/coe.htm
School Ethics Commission Complaints form
http://www.state.nj.us/education/ethics/compform.htm
Every decent person in Hoboken should be shocked and appalled at their behavior. This is not about Hola or the BOE, this is about a set up. Peter Biacamano, John Madigan and Britnay Montgomery are three elected offials who knowingly and purposefully denied their Superintendent, fellow board trustees and the public an opportunity to speak. They disrespected themselves and their elected office to score a few cheap political points. Shameful.
ReplyDeleteTotally about HoLa! And how ignorance is so prevalent in this town when it comes to education. It's all part of the deep rooted problem of race in this country, we move a step forward and ten steps back. HoLa needs to grow, not maligned.
DeleteAnon 8:24 (spammer)- you are beyond help.
DeleteNo worries. The other so called "Kids LAST" will be leaving the school board this year. Guaranteed!
Delete12:32 is sort of right. This is why it's so important to vote for the candidates that that help Hoboken and not anyone's, including HoLa's, special interest. Don't let selfish tools like 12:32 dictate that the Board should screw over our kids.
DeleteTheyve broken the public trust, betrayed the parents and children of the Hoboken district. This is terrible.
ReplyDeleteBrit let them buy her an election. They own her now. She will be a good little soldier.
ReplyDeleteMontgomery's involvement with Occhipinti should make her understand better than most that when the same people who bought him no longer need someone they dump them.
Delete"Involvement with Occhipinti" isn't a prelude to a better understanding of anything. If anything it's a damper on future expectations.
DeleteSo many good, decent people in this town, yet it's so sad that the same small handful of scumbags keep running for political positions and then ruining things for everyone else once they've bought themselves a seat with VBMs. Brit is just that latest addition to the revolving door of young professional-looking shills propped up by OG bad money and dirty tricks. She'll be tossed aside when she loses interest, fails to tow the line or when for whatever reason the OG feels a new fresh face is needed. It's evident she knows exactly what she's doing, and everyone knows it.
ReplyDeleteThis site is absolute silly and juvenile. Predications for this year is the exit of Irene, Leon and Jennifer. They are extremely ineffective and it's time for them to go. That's all.
ReplyDeleteYes, hating on people-let alone dedicated public servants like Irene!- will definitely persuade readers to your side.
DeleteTHIS SITE SHOULD BE CALLED THE TOXIC AVENGER!
ReplyDeleteA little food 4 thought when people start trashing HoLa.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxSpCy9EGBI
Anon @ 8:12, 8:20, 8:27 - if you think this post is about "trashing HoLa" then your reading comprehension needs a lot of work and I cannot help you.
ReplyDeleteApparently GA struck a nerve. Keep up the good work.
DeleteExposing Hola Man and the rest of the shameful conduct that Raia & Crew employ to screw this town and our kids is a mitzvah. I hope you will be rewarded here on Earth.
Wait?! This blogger demonstrate "nerves?" YIKES! For God Sakes its children being educated. The nerve! This November will bring change and HoLa can continue to move ahead with it's most brilliant education of our kids. Cheers!
Delete12:34 - Really? If by brilliant you mean segregate the low-income students, and all the stresses that come from being poor including the impact on education, from the families who don't need financial assistance. Then yes, brilliant. Brown v. Bd. of Ed. brilliant. HoLa man and his dynamic duo are perfect for you and represent what you deem important. They're so great, they should be on your board. Don't let us hog up all their great ideas of doing nothing except placating the more affluent.
DeleteIt is the education of all our children that is being fought for by the present majority. Which, of course, scares you. When you write "our kids", I'm guessing you mean the kids in your home and no one else. That you would turn your eye to the less fortunate is a sin. Even more disturbing that you do so with such glee.
Bringing Raia back to the BOE is not a change, it's a return to corruption. So congratulate yourself and the rest of your complicit comrades for putting yourselves first. You set a fine example for "your" kids.
It is time the HoLa parents take a good long objective look at the ethically challenged people who are heading up their children's school and find replacements.
DeleteThis site doesn't seem to garner any kind of educational debate. I'm just amazed about how HoLa is the focus of the BoE. I've been a long term resident of Hoboken and basically the school's suck. There is a monetary shift in the town over the years and people are NOT sending their kids to the public schools. It's time for a new direction. This is an election year. Let's stop focusing on an already established program and move forward on making all the schools better. I don't think that anyone can disagree with that...
DeleteAnon 12:55 - I urge you to attend a BOE meeting to see what goes on there. HoLa makes it an issue because they are worried their secret is out.
DeleteMy kids attend the District schools and I can tell you, first hand, the education they receive is very good. If you are listening to rumors, stop. Go see for yourself. Grades only tell part of the story. The student body and the problems low-income families face and how those problems carry over into education are the key to all this.
Not sure if "monetary shift" is code for higher income population, but so what? Every kid deserves a fair shot and the State approved and encouraged raid on the District's funds puts more pressure on our kids. Don't be misled.
As for a new direction, the new superintendent, Dr. Johnson, just started in July 2015. We are already seeing improvements and transparency. No thanks to Biancamano or his 2 buddies. They can't wait to drive her out and put their cronies in charge to pillage our coffers. You're pissed about taxes now? Just wait. Can't forget the $800.00+ dinners Raia would charge to the district but we didn't have new text books for 10 years. Can't go back.
VOTE.
"monetary shift"? Do you hear yourself?
DeleteSo you want the board of the public schools to drop the law suit which points out that Hola has less poor or minority students by arguing that the new wealthier people don't want to attend schools with poor minority kids? So let's make Hola better for those wealthier kids by starving the public schools full of the "other" kids. Gross.
Please know that in the audience at the 2/9/16 BOE Meeting were past BOE Trustees; Ruth Tyroler, Jean Marie Mitchell, and Theresa Minutill. Additionally, Sheillah Dallara who ran with Tom Kluefel for a BOE seat this past November was in the audience This "subset" are all in favor of continuing the lawsuit against HoLA. So I would say there were an equal number of Hoboken Residents that form an Anti-HoLA "subset".
ReplyDeleteThose past BoE Trustees are Hoboken District parents- the kind that are supposed to attend Hoboken district Board meetings. Dallara is also a Hoboken district parent. Those are the parents that belong at Hoboken district meetings, not a gang from out-of-district who were tipped off by an unethical Board member about a "surprise" motion to advance out-of-district interests.
DeleteHoLA is the first Charter school in the State of NJ to be granted permission to have a weighted lottery. Those families that are on a free or reduced lunch program, their application are essentially put in twice to ensure a higher probability of getting a seat. No other charter school in Hoboken or in the state has asked for a weighted lottery and had one granted. This is HoLa's way of ensuring that more and more lower income families can receive an outstanding bilingual education
ReplyDeleteThat was just a tactic being used try to diffuse the very real perception the previous school enrollment procedures were racist and to try to stop a lawsuit that they know they would lose.
DeleteBesides none of that so-called reform stuff would've happened if the lawsuit didn't finally cast a harsh light on the charter school miracle. This isn't just about one school but a whole system. Thankfully our Board stood up to that system. I guess when you know you're wrong, you get rid of people who do the right thing. You must all be so proud.
DeleteEven if you have this weighted lottery it doesn't matter much. If you have 44 kindergarten spots and 44 siblings then only those siblings would get in.
Deletehttp://www.saveourschoolsnj.org/save/corefiles/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/NJ-Charter-School-Report_10.29.2014.pdf
Delete"Hoboken shows some of the most dramatic demographic differences of any Big Seven district. The Hoboken district schools enroll almost seven times the percentage of Free
Lunch students as the charter schools (46% vs. 7%); and 39 percentage points more Free or Reduced Price Lunch students (49% vs. 10%). Hoboken’s district schools also have more than twice the percentage of Hispanic students as the charter schools (49% vs. 24%). Unlike the other Big Seven districts, Hoboken’s charter schools educate a lower percentage of Black students (8% vs. 15%) and a much higher percentage of White students than the district’s public schools (60% vs. 31%)." (See Fig. 11)
Hola needs a weighted lottery b/c its population is so overwhelmingly privileged compared to charter schools in the rest of NJ. Will the weighted lottery shift the demographics enough at Hola to justify the expansion? Probably not. The expansion just allows privileged kids to avoid the public schools at taxpayers' expense.
What were the results of the weighted lottery?
DeleteThis is the problem in not understanding what is going on, the Bd is not anti-HoLa. They are petitioning Trenton for not honestly looking at the financial and demographic impact on the district. Trenton is quite political if you haven't noticed and there is money to be made in raiding the public treasury and getting rid of the teachers and their union. So, please understand that is what's happening. The HoLa bd, which is really Petrosino, is trying to make it look like HoLa is the victim of Trenton's indifference, or worse. The echo chamber at HoLa and the directions to go out and spread that false anti- narrative makes you shake your head. You will disagree, no doubt, but look at the numbers. Facts don't lie but bureaucrats and a bd with personal financial interests do mislead.
ReplyDeleteThis post is NOT about Hola. It is about the shameful behavior of Peter, Brit and John. It was outrageous behavior for them to purposefully leave out all public and Board discussion of by dropping a resolution at the very end of a meeting. Trying so hard to make Hola seem like a victim just makes the theories of collusion and complicity more believable. Threatening revenge at the next election is even worse. That just make the theories of Hola's involvement in this last HBOE election much more believable too. 600+ vote by mails? It just proves that some in Hola will do anything to get what they want, including disrupt the HBOE meetings, continue the vicious bashing of the schools and electing some of the worst people to the HBOE as long as it benefits them. Do you think what Peter, Brit and John did was ethical? Many do not. That does not make Hola a victim. Unfortunately, the real victims are the public school kids who will be subjected to this unethical trio for the next three years. I just hope they don't do too much damage.
ReplyDeleteExactly.
DeleteSo this thread is about HoLa - at least the people connected with HoLa who have no integrity which by the way includes the peanut gallery in attendance to watch the three puppets pull their stunt.
DeleteLet's talk about how the numbers have gotten even worst under the "Kids First" crowd. This is indisputable, their rotten record have spoken for itself. This year will be the end of the frivolous law suit as the board changes to a more progressive and innovative team with the coming election. Your voice, your VOTE!
Delete1:01 if you look and listen to Madigan and Biancamano talk and come away with the phrase "progressive and innovative" I have to question your education
DeleteThe numbers are not worse (check your spelling trollie); they're honest. Now, all the kids are being tested instead of being sent on class trips during test time.
DeleteI hope you're right that that lawsuit ends and that the Court denies the expansion. Let's see if they have the guts to do the right thing without bowing to the bullies in Trenton.
You got one thing right - VOTE. Don't let more of the corrupt wing of the Old Guard and their puppets back on our Board. Seriously 1:01, are you really Petrosino? Don't you have a class to teach or something.
The spin continues: http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/27093671/article-A-letter-from-HoLa-Board-president?instance=more_page
ReplyDeleteGawd, that woman has annoyed me since she complained about the need to have an answer on HoLa in time to avoid paying a deposit for private school. She is a perfect example of everything wrong w/ HoLa. IMO, she is all about "what's mines"
DeleteCourageous? Barbara Martinez thinks it courageous to coordinate a sneak attack AFTER all speaking opportunities are over and sandbagging their fellow Board members and Superintendent Johnson? Not how I would describe them. Courageous to me is doing what you believe is right regardless of the hits you take. NOT hiding behind some sleazy trick. Nice to know that the entire Hola Board of Trustees approves of this behavior. Imagine how happy they will be when they get six "courageous" members on the public schools board. How long before they force out the new Superintendent and hire one, ya know, more "courageous".
ReplyDeletethrowing out a thought here. pure speculation obviously. Biacamano, Brit and Madigan launch a sneak attack and invite Hola director and multiple Hola Board members to watch.
ReplyDeleteThen Petro write his usual hit piece on his "educational" blog And Barbara writes a nice letter in the paper admiring their bravery.
Barbara Martinez is not only Board President, she is also on the Board of the NJ Charter Association (a charter lobbying organization) and the head of PR for a chain of charter schools.
Coincidence that she attended the last meeting or part of a cute political and PR set up. Curious.
If anyone is suggesting line items are illegal or in violation of the BOE bylaws can they provide a citation?
ReplyDeleteSomething doesn't have to be written in stone to be unethical or not pass the smell test. Peter pulled that "new business" right out of his ear. Has anyone ever seen the HBOE have new business? It's not even a section on the agenda because then it would have to have a comment section. IMO Peter sure looked like he knew it was BS too. and so did Brit. Call the Vote? After the comments sections are closed? WTF was that?
ReplyDeleteAdd the amazing coincidence of Hola Bd and parents there and later editorials from Petro and Barbara. Come on. not fooling anyone.