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School Superintendent Search

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itsme:
As a parent of a HHS student and a homeowner, I am very concerned with the decision of the Board of Education to lower the requirement that applicants have a minimum of 5 years of central administration experience to simply 3 years. With a school administration responsible for the education of approximately 5400 students and a teaching staff that is responsible for the education of a wide range of academic levels, it is imperative that our next Superintendent of Schools be qualified to provide our students, teachers and parents with the guidance to help us reach those goals.  We should search for the best and not settle for the minimum.  The Board search should be for a person with a minimum of 5 years central administration experience and a doctorate.  The candidate should be a person with no political connection to the school system and the appointment should not be subject to the usual cronyism and nepotism of the past.  We need someone who can think independently and not be in fear of being demoted, fired or even kicked off a ticket because they dared to voice what is best for our children.  Let's reach to be a blue ribbon school.

Anthony:
The new Superintendent should be signed to a three year contract.  After the three years, if test scores don’t improve within the district, he should be fired.  Maybe incentive clauses could be added to the contract should test scores improve.

Isn’t this the way it works in the corporate world?  If the company doesn’t make money the guy in charge gets fired or his contract isn’t renewed.  If the taxpayers don’t get results, the Superintendent should be fired.

Wait a minute…forget about test scores, since so many people disagree with their effectiveness.  How about gauging the success of the district on how many kids graduate HHS and move on to a four year college?  If the new Superintendent can improve those two statistics, he has my vote to continue.

It may seem unfair but shouldn’t the guy in charge be blamed for lousy results?  He shouldn’t get yearly pay raises when test scores go down.  According to http://www.nj.com/news/bythenumbers/ Dr. Montesano was the highest paid city official making $190,097 in 2006.  The Assistant Superintendent Mr. Jones was paid $155,250 in 2006.  That’s a lot of money for some of the lowest test scores in the county!!! There are lower paid Superintendents in the county whose students’ test scores, graduate rates, etc. are higher.  Why are we paying more for less?

The new Superintendent’s pay should be based on performance or else we can expect the status quo.

Editor:
Anthony,

I might agree with your thoughts about a prospective superintendent.

I disagree with your remarks about Dr. Montesano and Mr. Jones. It makes no sense to compare test scores here with those of the entire country.  To the extent any comparison is useful, you could only compare us to like-communities with similar challenges, budgets, demographics, etc.

"Blaming" makes no sense either.  Accountability is fine, but that's measured by much more than test scores.  Leadership, ability, dedication, compassion, and respect are what count. Anyone who knows these men can attest for their professionalism and character.

Show me someone in the "corporate world" with half of Dr. Montesano's expertise and I'll show you someone making MUCH MORE than $190,000 a year.  After a lifetime of committed service?

...so much for "quiet".

Anthony:
Dr. Montesano and Mr. Jones are both gentlemen. 

Way back when, Mr. Jones was my 5th grade teacher and I still remember a Science project where we had water flowing on a table of dirt to show how the sediment moves down a mountain…to be young again.

“Blaming” is probably the wrong word.  But shouldn’t there be a person who is accountable?  I understand the challenges that face our community and I couldn’t agree with you more on their “leadership, ability, dedication, compassion, and respect.”  Years ago, those qualities were enough to educate Hackensack’s students.  For the most part, the system which was in place worked.  Times have changed and things are much different now.

So who is the fall guy? 

There are many more challenges facing the new Superintendent.  Whoever gets the job shouldn’t get raise after raise just because he’s dedicated and works hard.  He should be rewarded based on the performance of the kids.  I realize that it doesn’t work this way but it should.     

Both men have committed their lives to the children of Hackensack and this post is not a personal attack on either one.  Should their commitment alone (or that of the new Superintendent) be rewarded as generously as it has been in the past without the results?

Also, people in the corporate world have the opportunity to make lots more money but it’s unfair to compare the two.  Since most upper management jobs are performance based, if you’re not getting the job done, you’re not promoted or maybe even fired.  Dr. Montesano has ALWAYS had the security of knowing his job would be there, no matter what.  To some, job security is priceless.  There are many people in the corporate world with Masters and Doctorates and lots of experience who would give their right arm for that $190,000 or even $155,000.

When Dr. Montesano retires his pension will be approximately 38/55 of his final salary and will include lifetime medical benefits.  Did he earn it?  Absolutely, because he’s shown “leadership, ability, dedication, compassion, and respect.”  How many people in the corporate world walk out with a package like that?

Editor, you mentioned in a previous post awhile back that you went to St. Joe’s in Montvale and hated it.  I went to HHS and although I didn’t hate it, I felt let down.  So much so, my kids are going the Catholic school route. My questions to you are:

Are you confident enough with the system that’s in place now to send your kids to the Hackensack schools?  Do you think any changes should be made?  Should any administrators be held accountable or is the problem strictly the socioeconomics and language barrier?  Should we expect results from the new Superintendent or just be satisfied because he’s dedicated and compassionate?

Editor:
To be honest, I don't have enough experience with the inner-workings of the system to say what changes should be made. 

I can say that we plan on sending our daughter (now 6 months) to Fairmount School.  We have confidence in the school system. We also have realistic expectations and understand the system's limitations. We have spoken to enough parents and educators already to make an informed decision and will do so again when the time comes.

Education is a partnership between students, educators, administrators and, perhaps most importantly, parents.  Without support from home, the system is far less effective. We know our daughter will have a good education because we will make that happen with the support of the system. 

We should expect our Superintendent to do everything humanly possible to address the challenges facing the district.  The Superintendent should not be judged solely on whether artificial, ill-conceived, state standards are met.  The system is dynamic and those leading it must be able to maneuver in a constantly shifting landscape. This leader should be willing to try different things, even at the risk of failure. 

You're right. Comparisons to the corporate world are faulty.  In the corporate world, we can say we're "in the red" or "in the black" and rate accordingly.  Measuring intangibles like accomplishment, pride, respect and intelligence is far more difficult.  Standardized tests will never do that. 

As for pay raises, I could be wrong but I think that salaries are negotiated by unions.  Raises happen by function of the bargaining agreement.  I'm not sure how you would carve out exceptions for particular offices or set any sort of meaningful milestones.  I'd be willing to listen.

There is no fall guy.  The entire community must be accountable.

Related post: Education/Charter Schools/Testing

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