Letters from Parents

Gary,
I was on your website…both for the math and the BOE running. ....
I am thrilled and hope that new “blood” gets their foot into the door of the BOE. It is desperately needed! I will vote for you and the two other members that you posted on your website.

Good luck!

Sincerely,
Ron

Last night, I did not get a good impression of Hodrinsky. I agree alot of BS. She keeps talking about the texts that she has in her office. I think she knows what she wants to use. If they do use Singapore as a supplement, it would be a great idea, especially since all the parents are buying them anyway.

Regarding class size: Brooks says there are now 20-21 kids per class. NOT TRUE!!!! Stratford’s entire third grade has classes of 25. That number is 27-28 if you count the kids who are mainstreamed most of the day. So though you talk about 16-18, it would be great if we really DID have 20-21. Parkway has 20 in a class; Stratford does not. They say they know this and will hopefully correct in the fall. Where is the equality? Do they need to re-draw the district lines to keep class size equal?

Finally, I am all for attacking the reading and writing. There are many people I know who feel more strongly about this than the math and they would gladly get involved. Bottom line: no consistency from room to room. Why is only 1 3rd grade teacher assigning current events in 3rd grade? They should all be. I would love to see just one page of the “curriculum” they are going to write. Will it be “loosey goosey” or chock full of specifics? I won’t hold my breath.

Jill

I have been getting your e-mails regarding the math program. I am on board with the thinking that there needs to be a change. I agree with absolutely everything you are saying about this program.

I do have a few questions regarding how a change can happen. Can the board vote to change it or is it in the sole discretion of the superintendent? How many people on the board are in favor of changing the program? Are any members up for reelection this year and if so is anyone running against them who favors a change in the program? I would be interested in helping in any way I could to change this program.

Thanks for your help
Scott

Scott,

There are 3 seats on the Board of Ed that are up for election this May. I am aware of 3 new candidates running for the 3 available seats who all want to see the math program changed.

My name is Gary Bettan and I’m running. I am the founder of this website. I run a successful family business on Long Island. My Son Max is in 6th grade; my daughter Gabby is in 4th and my youngest Jillian will start kindergarten in the fall. Some of you may know me from the playing fields – I’ve been coaching for the past 6 years. When we moved to P–OB over fifteen years ago one of the major considerations was the school district. While the issues in Math are what brought me into this, I realize that there are many areas in our schools that can benefit from a more businesslike approach. My goal is to bring back Common sense, Accountability, Responsibility and Excellence to our district. Follow this link to learn more about Gary.

Lori Weinstein has a strong financial background and 16 years of dedicated PTA service. She has a B.S. in Accounting from Binghamton University and is an experienced accountant. Lori has served as PTA Council President and Mattlin Middle School PTA President and currently sits on the Academic Standards Steering Committee and PTA Council Budget Committee. She is committed to raising academic standards, fiscal responsibility and accountability and restoring confidence and pride in our school district. She will bring to the Board of Education a person with the unique combination of an accounting background and detailed knowledge of our school district based on her years of service.

Angel Cepeda is also running. Angel, his wife Marlene Garber, and their two daughters Candice and Alexa, ages 15 and 10, have lived in Plainview for 13 years. They have developed strong ties to the community and wonderful friendships while serving through PTA and various other volunteer efforts. Angel’s professional expertise can provide prudent management oversight of the ever-growing costs of the school budget. He is dissatisfied with our district’s current NYS test scores and would like to give the BOE a stronger voice to raise our academic standards. His perspective as a parent and professional background in finance, audit and fraud examination would be an asset for our school board. Visit POBVOTE.COM to learn more about Angel.

I thought no one heard me, but I am thrilled to see I am not alone. Since the first meeting I have been saying that I think that the math issue is just a symptom of the real problems. The accountability (or lack thereof), the inconsistent curriculum and the acceptability from the board’s stand point that our 4 elementary schools can have such a wide spectrum of results have been my main points of concern. I am counting on the new board members, (that I hope will get in) to take up these issues as among the highest priorities.

As a graduate of the POB school system, I submit that this was once a great school district. We were one of the first in the country to offer Modular scheduling. WE had concerts and lectures during the day that were available to all students on the free mod, and were widely attended. Students studied The bible as literature and discussed Kant and Kierkagard, we had students going to highly esteemed universities. WE had teachers who were creative and who cared, and evidently Principals who fostered these types of environments and a Board that held everyone accountable.

I hope that we can go back to these times. This is not impossible, they were here not that long ago. If Egos and short sightedness were aside and the Education of students came first, if we as a community demand this, we as a community can achieve this.

Suz

At the Mattlin Middle School Parent Math Night presentation, Mrs. Hodrinsky discussed sending the district math specialists for 2 week courses at Math in the City summer institutes.

Math in the City, developed by C.T. Fosnot, is a well-established constructivist teacher-training program.

You’re reassuring parents that their concerns have been heard and are looking for their confidence. You are telling us that you are looking at solutions to fix our math problems, fill our gaps. You are claiming to be keeping an open mind and promoting a blended approach. You are waiting to hear the findings of the Math Committee on April 23. And yet, it seems like you’re already made your decisions. You are obviously heading in a direction that will perpetuate constructivist math teaching in our school district.

Are you really trying to fix the problems here or just offer a new and alleged improved version of more of the same? I don’t see a blended approach in your presentation of solutions.

What you could be doing: Enlisting the expertise of mathematicians from local universities to advise on our program, advise on supplementing and professional development

Marilyn Burn’ is a nationally recognized constructivist teacher/trainer. Do her Algebra resources reflect her ideology of stressing writing in math class? Will that be helpful for our student’s computational and fluency problems?

There is a petition with almost a thousand names demanding the removing of Investigations in our school district. Parents have concerns about the Connected Math program, as well. Despite this and prior to Math Committee recommendations, you are blatantly planning to engage the services and materials of constructivist teacher trainers, who almost exclusively work to support the very program the parents are pleading with you to dump.

I am very disappointed.

Stefanie