Glascoe Gets Backing From Paterson
Friday, August 17, 2007
By MEREDITH MANDELL
HERALD NEWS
PATERSON -- School board members have voted to send the state
Education Commissioner a vote of confidence in Schools
Superintendent Michael Glascoe, recently under the gun as the
state refused to return local control to the district.
"This is a ringing endorsement of him," said Andre Sayegh, the
school board president.
On Wednesday night, Board of Education members voted 6-1
during their regular meeting to send the resolution to state
Education Commissioner Lucille Davy, who has until September
to notify Glascoe whether his contract will be renewed. Glascoe's
contract runs until next July, according to the state Department
of Education.
"We want to send a strong message to the governor and the
commissioner of education by giving an overwhelming vote of
confidence," Sayegh said Thursday.
Board member Jonathan Hodges said that although board
members have sent an evaluation of Glascoe to the state
Department of Education, they have not received any indication
as to how the state will evaluate his performance in the district
over the past two years.
"I am increasingly concerned that the state Department of
Education may look at this as a political situation instead of an
educational one," Hodges said. "I want them to focus on the
process and I know in the past they haven't focused on the
process."
In a telephone interview Thursday, Glascoe said he believes the
vote of confidence was taken because school board members are
concerned about the lack of information from the state about his
future.
"The problem is there is no feedback from the department of
education," Glascoe said. "The local school board members have
a very good idea of how I performed and they want it made
known. They want stability and consistency in the school district."
The last time the board took a vote of confidence, it voted "no,"
on Edwin Duroy, who allegedly misspent $50 million of the
district's money. The board advocated for Duroy's removal in
March 2004, nearly three months before the state acted to
remove him.
Jon Zlock, a DOE spokesman, said he did not want to comment
on how much consideration would be given to the board's vote.
"I can't answer that. It would speak to a personnel matter," he
said. He chose not to comment on what measurements would be
used to evaluate Glascoe's performance.
Glascoe, 59, took the helm of the Paterson school district in 2005,
as the third schools superintendent in five years. He took the job
in the aftermath of allegations that Duroy misspent millions. The
hope was that Glascoe would restore order and accountability to
the district, which forfeited control of its schools to the state 16
years ago. As Glascoe has struggled to restore order, the state
recently decided not to allow Paterson to regain at least some
local control. The state explained in a 703-page report released at
the end of July that the district would continue to lose its
autonomy because of serious fiscal mismanagement, low test
scores and board infighting.
Paterson would be the only state-controlled district not to regain
some local control through a new process for monitoring
underperforming districts.
Pete Tirri, president of the Paterson Education Association, the
union that represents the district's teachers, said he was unaware
that the board had taken the vote of confidence in Glascoe.
"I think they should have had the decency to contact us," he said
in a telephone interview Thursday. "I certainly don't agree with it
.... I think Dr. Glascoe has a long way to go to prove to the staff
members that they had confidence in his leadership." Tirri said
that during Glascoe's tenure, 60 or 70 grievances have been filed
against the administration "based on a total disregard of the
collective bargaining agreement."
Friday, August 17, 2007
By MEREDITH MANDELL
HERALD NEWS
PATERSON -- School board members have voted to send the state
Education Commissioner a vote of confidence in Schools
Superintendent Michael Glascoe, recently under the gun as the
state refused to return local control to the district.
"This is a ringing endorsement of him," said Andre Sayegh, the
school board president.
On Wednesday night, Board of Education members voted 6-1
during their regular meeting to send the resolution to state
Education Commissioner Lucille Davy, who has until September
to notify Glascoe whether his contract will be renewed. Glascoe's
contract runs until next July, according to the state Department
of Education.
"We want to send a strong message to the governor and the
commissioner of education by giving an overwhelming vote of
confidence," Sayegh said Thursday.
Board member Jonathan Hodges said that although board
members have sent an evaluation of Glascoe to the state
Department of Education, they have not received any indication
as to how the state will evaluate his performance in the district
over the past two years.
"I am increasingly concerned that the state Department of
Education may look at this as a political situation instead of an
educational one," Hodges said. "I want them to focus on the
process and I know in the past they haven't focused on the
process."
In a telephone interview Thursday, Glascoe said he believes the
vote of confidence was taken because school board members are
concerned about the lack of information from the state about his
future.
"The problem is there is no feedback from the department of
education," Glascoe said. "The local school board members have
a very good idea of how I performed and they want it made
known. They want stability and consistency in the school district."
The last time the board took a vote of confidence, it voted "no,"
on Edwin Duroy, who allegedly misspent $50 million of the
district's money. The board advocated for Duroy's removal in
March 2004, nearly three months before the state acted to
remove him.
Jon Zlock, a DOE spokesman, said he did not want to comment
on how much consideration would be given to the board's vote.
"I can't answer that. It would speak to a personnel matter," he
said. He chose not to comment on what measurements would be
used to evaluate Glascoe's performance.
Glascoe, 59, took the helm of the Paterson school district in 2005,
as the third schools superintendent in five years. He took the job
in the aftermath of allegations that Duroy misspent millions. The
hope was that Glascoe would restore order and accountability to
the district, which forfeited control of its schools to the state 16
years ago. As Glascoe has struggled to restore order, the state
recently decided not to allow Paterson to regain at least some
local control. The state explained in a 703-page report released at
the end of July that the district would continue to lose its
autonomy because of serious fiscal mismanagement, low test
scores and board infighting.
Paterson would be the only state-controlled district not to regain
some local control through a new process for monitoring
underperforming districts.
Pete Tirri, president of the Paterson Education Association, the
union that represents the district's teachers, said he was unaware
that the board had taken the vote of confidence in Glascoe.
"I think they should have had the decency to contact us," he said
in a telephone interview Thursday. "I certainly don't agree with it
.... I think Dr. Glascoe has a long way to go to prove to the staff
members that they had confidence in his leadership." Tirri said
that during Glascoe's tenure, 60 or 70 grievances have been filed
against the administration "based on a total disregard of the
collective bargaining agreement."
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ONE PEOPLE.
ONE PURPOSE.
ONE PATERSON.
ONE PURPOSE.
ONE PATERSON.
Sayegh For The Sixth
Bringing Neighbors Together