Glascoe Resigns
Commissioner Review Obviated

State District Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael E. Glascoe shocked his supporters and the staff on January 15 when he announced his resignation from the Paterson Public Schools effective July 1, 2008. In his statement Dr. Glascoe said he submitted his resignation because he did not feel he had "the support of the Commissioner", Lucille Davy.

Davy had advised Dr. Glascoe that she would not renew his contract, in effect following the same guidelines that exist for any non-tenure certificated staff member. Non-tenured staff members are normally provided with non-renewal notices in April, providing only two months in which to present reasons why the non-renewal is wrong. In this situation the Commissioner provided the Superintendent with a six month window.

Davy said she would like to review the decision to non-renew the Superintendent's contract in February, if Glascoe is "amenable." She would then determine if Glascoe had made progress in specific areas such as implementing the district's new curriculum, having a "cooperative relationship" with the state-appointed fiscal monitor, Mark Kramer, and improving his "working relationship with the local teacher's association."

In her letter, Davy stated that the number of grievances and unfair labor practices complaints filed by the Paterson teacher's association against the district should be reduced. P.E.A. has been forced to file filed 17 unfair labor practice charges since July 1, 2005, and all but one were filed since August 2006 to protect the rights of their members and the Association. Nine of the complaints have been withdrawn when the District agreed to settle the issues.

The Herald reported that in comparison, local teacher's unions in Jersey City and Newark, the other two state-controlled school districts, which recently regained some local control, filed no unfair labor practice charges in the same time period. Newark had two complaints filed by unions representing non-teaching staff and two filed by individuals.

Excessive administrative appointments were also an area that was highly criticized. With a Deputy Superintendent position that had been eliminated when Dr. Wilson left the district, seven assistant superintendents, over twenty-five Directors and countless supervisors, the administrative payroll had burgeoned under Glascoe's leadership in times of tighter budget figures. Many schools and staff members complained that the administration had failed to provide them with needed "tools of the trade" such as paper, textbooks, pens, pencils and other materials needed by their students. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., D-Paterson, said in an interview with the Herald, that he believes that money spent on administrators instead of children is "dreadful." "I think the more we focus on the teacher ... the better off we are," Pascrell said in an interview from Washington.

Other complaints about Glascoe and his team include distress among teachers over large numbers who have been transferred, allegations that many of the transfers are an attempt to get senior

staff to resign or retire early to save money, poor facilities and concerns about poor financial audits with repeat findings, previously outstanding fire-code violations, and poor marks on the state's evaluation of the district's overall performance. That review failed to garner results good enough to return Paterson to local control.

Arcelio Aponte, vice president of the State Board of Education from Piscataway, called Davy's letter to Glascoe giving him six months for improvement an opportunity and not an outright dismissal. "I think what the commissioner has done is sort of left her options open in terms of Dr. Glascoe's contract," he said by telephone Wednesday. "She has to protect the students and educational community of Paterson. She needs to be comfortable in knowing Dr. Glascoe can achieve the goals of education on behalf of the district of Paterson. If there is some question as to whether he can do that, she's exercised her right not to offer a new contract." Aponte said he spoke to Sayegh and other Paterson board members Wednesday, and encouraged them to engage in discussions with deputy commissioner Spicer and Glascoe himself to make sure he makes efforts to fulfill the recommendations in Davy's letter.

"The ball is now in Dr. Glascoe's court to respond to the commissioner's letter," he said.

Some of the Superintendent's supporters lauded Glascoe for trimming the school district's budget by $20 million and getting the community and the school board engaged with the administration in an effort to return Paterson to local control. Others argued that no one knew where the $20 million figure came from to begin with, questioning if the figure was a "wish list" of the Superintendent that had to be reduced in order to meet the State's budgetary limitations. Still others questioned if this was not the case, why a superintendent would reduce a budget where every penny was needed.

Allegations and suspicions have recently been raised about the much ballyhooed curriculum. The District administration paid an outside consultant tens of thousands of dollars to put together the new curriculum. Many said that this should have been completed by the Department of Curriculum and Instruction rather than paying an outside consultant and wasting more of the limited money available. Other members of the staff contacted P.E.A. with assertions that much of the new curriculum appeared to be a "cut and paste job" from other state curricula.

While this may not be illegal unless the information was copyrighted, questions have arisen about the payment to a consultant if the allegations are correct. "Any of our secretarial staff could have cut and pasted from already established curriculum", stated one staff member. "When we don't have paper, why are we paying someone to do this? It's unconscionable."

With his resignation, Dr. Glascoe avoided evaluations and review of the seven areas in which the Commissioner indicated she needed to see improvement, choosing instead the "high road" to leave the district. While rumors have swirled around the district about his future, all indications are that he will remain on the job until his contract runs out July 1. Rumors also surround the future of the Deputy Superintendent, assistant superintendents, directors, principals and vice-principals appointed during the term of the administration. Tenure questions abound for some of the individuals in these positions as well.

Board members have publicly complained about the "lack of stability" that the Superintendent's non-renewal creates. Pete Tirri, president of the Paterson Education Association, said under Glascoe's administration, morale has been low among staff upset about the hundreds of recent teacher transfers. Tirri said he's received 1,200 letters of transfer affecting more than 900 teachers in the last 13 months. There were more letters than teachers moved because some staff was transferred more than once, he said. "You want to talk about stability?" he said. "That's where stability comes in; in the classrooms where our students needed their teachers. This administration's actions did more to hurt stability than any other."

Glascoe supporters continue to stir the pot, even after the Superintendent himself ended discussion with his resignation. In an email message published on the Herald website, a person who alleges to be a Paterson teacher wrote "I disagree. I am a teacher in Paterson and the city has lost a leader who finally tried to make lazy and overly comfortable teachers accountable for their lack of energy and commitment to children. I see it everyday and was hoping that Glascoe would continue and weed out the "fat" among the city's teachers. It is no secret to me or any of the other young (under 35) teachers at my school that it is our energy, optimism and drive that fuels our school's obvious success. The older teachers just like to hang out in the teacher's lounge and complain about having to deal with children...truly disgusting. Not to mention the periodic idiotic teacher union literature that goes around the schools claiming injustices toward teachers...such as transferring teachers after being in one school for over 10 years ..."that's how they are thanked!" the newsletter cries. Excuse me, but we get thanked every two weeks on pay day. Glascoe was on his way to ending waste, abuse, and spoiled teachers. Who knows what will happen now."

Another writer, also claiming to be a staff member wrote, "First and foremost he did this to himself, sorry to state the obvious. Upon his arrival he hired many assistant superintendents, and promoted most department directors to assistant superintendent positions. He squandered funds on a district paid car, condo and flights to and from Virginia. However, the state is also to blame for this mess. Why offer someone so many perks and such a big salary when all that happens is abuse and mismanagement. Employee morale is at an all time low and many have said that Glascoe and his administration abuse those that they can, the few non-bargaining employees within the district. The bottom line is Glascoe did this to himself and I am glad to see him go. Hopefully his 'cabinet' will follow spinster and all. Who is in charge? Who has been in charge for the last three years? No-one. All that has happened is abuse."

The Baltimore Sun (1/23, Neufeld) reported, "The Baltimore school system will pay high school students who improve their scores on the state graduation exams up to $110 each, a controversial plan that would be a first in Maryland." The system would pay students who have failed at least one exam $25 for improving their scores by 5 percent, $35 more for an additional 15 percent, and $50 more for an additional 20 percent improvement. "Financial incentives for students are being used in New York City," where Baltimore city schools CEO Andres Alonso once served as deputy chancellor. Critics say the practice amounts to bribing students. Robert Schaeffer, education director for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, says the payments "distort the purpose of education," and cause students to ask, "Why aren't they bribing me in my social studies class? How much will they bribe me in college?"

Baltimore's Examiner (1/23) added that "State school Superintendent Nancy Grasmick has approved the plan, with the provision that the school system closely track student results."

Maryland NBC affiliate WBAL-TV (1/24) notes, "The incentives are only part of a broader $6 million plan to boost student performance on the tests." The plan also includes "the hiring of private companies for tutoring, after-school and Saturday classes, test preparation materials and teacher training."