Read the ‘Erroneous and Malicious’ Comments that Forced the Board of Education President to Announce He’s Leaving Office
Public frustration with the Comprehensive High School Reform Plan (CSSRP) prompted the Harford County Council to make an unprecedented address to the Board of Education at its meeting tonight (Monday) in Bel Air.
The half-hour presentation delivered by county councilman Richard C. Slutzky, a veteran educator of 39 years, reflected questions raised by parents, students, teachers and administrators who had contacted the council as a result of what they believed was a lack of response from of the board since CSSRP was presented in 2005 and implemented in the fall of 2006.
Before councilman Slutzky was able to begin his presentation, board president Thomas Fidler, Jr. announced that he will not seek a second term and wanted to clear the air about “erroneous and malicious” comments made on a website regarding the scheduling of the county council’s discussion.
Slutzky began by commending the board for their efforts at reform, but noted that an evaluation was necessary to determine whether the “good intentions” of the board had actually been carried out by CSSRP. Using the board’s original rationale for reform as a framework, Slutzky posed questions which he said would assist the board in determining whether intended results were being achieved and what unintended consequences have resulted. He also suggested areas for future exploration.
Among the questions raised was whether the block schedule had delivered appropriate levels of instruction considering anecdotal evidence that teachers were “cutting out parts of the curriculum in order to fit the block schedule format.”
He noted that while the block schedule was intended to reduce teacher load, or the number of students assigned to each teacher, the load had actually increased for the vast majority of teachers.
Slutzky also questioned the merit of adding more electives to students’ course work noting that the Athletic Scholarship Clearing House and many colleges “make decisions based on student achievement in core courses, not electives.”
The concept of career pathways, where students select a course of study in high school directed toward future employment or college entrance, was also discussed. Slutzky asked “What percent of the working population is employed in the field they identified for themselves in high school?”
Slutzky encouraged the board to request answers to these questions from the Harford County Public School administration in its progress report on CSSRP due in April.
Moving beyond concerns specific to CSSRP, Slutzky cited the need for objective trend data when evaluating student achievement. In perhaps the most pointed moment in the presentation, Slutzky displayed this bar graph, which the administration had presented to the board back in December 2007, showing a declining trend in the number of students who had failed one or more classes.
Slutzky noted that by simply adding data from one year earlier, a very different trend emerged
Slutzky concluded that reform was a difficult undertaking but changes must be based on a foundation of research, which he said did not exist in the case of the change to the block schedule. As proof, he offered the following quote from the Director of Secondary Education, David A. Volrath, who was the architect of CSSRP and its chief proponent.
Slutzky cautioned that it was incumbent upon the board of education to apply the words of Hippocrates and “First, do no harm.”
The complete list of questions posed by Slutzky in his presentation is listed below:
Concept 1
- How many classes are not formatted uniformly at all Harford County High Schools?
- What do teachers believe is the effect of the misalignment of class time and existing lesson plans and textbook format on teacher planning and student learning?
- How many schedules had to be done by hand after CSSRP vs. prior years on a school by school basis?
- How many students believe they did not get a schedule that is relevant to their needs and interests?
- What is the actual use of teacher time in the classroom?
- What percent of instructional time do students miss as a result of an absence under the block schedule vs. and absence under a more traditional schedule?
Concept 2
- What course offerings or sections were added to master schedules at each high school?
- What is the effect of the added course load on student achievement? This data must begin with the period prior to the implementation of CSSRP and includes:
- What is the trend in the distribution of grades (#As, #Bs.etc)within schools and within HCPS beginning before and through the implementation of CSSRP?
- What changes were seen in the number of students with at least one failing grade (ineligibility) since the implementation of CSSRP comparing results within schools?
- What percent of students who can benefit from remediation take the necessary courses at each school and how does this compare to the period prior to CSSRP?
- What is the trend, beginning before CSSRP, in student grades in core courses, and on external tests such as AP and SAT tests?
Concept 3
- For teachers who experienced an increase in student workload, due to the block schedule, what was the percent increase over pre-CSSRP levels?
- What percent of teachers experience fewer or more engagements per day? (Per A/B day cycle)
- What is the actual change if any in the planning time for teachers given that the contract stipulates 45 minutes per teacher? This represents the least amount of planning time for HS teachers in 40 years. What percent of teachers are getting more time?
- How many students are being served by the on-line CEO element?
- Do students who have experienced both types of school organization believe that interacting with a smaller group of students and teachers is beneficial to their education?
- Do students believe that the LICW course is relevant to their success in high school?
- What effect has the increased student load had on teachers’ ability to foster better relationships with students? With grading pressures? With planning pressures?
Concept 4
- What math classes have been developed to create a meaningful sequence in the 4th year?
- What math classes are being selected by students in the 4th year?
- What grades are students earning in the 4th year math course?
- What is the trend in math scores on the SAT test?
Concept 5
- What percent of students are participating in off campus experiences in lieu of high school classes?
- What process is used to track student achievement off-campus?
- What percent of classes that students are taking at HCC are core classes, what percent are electives and what percent of classes taken are remedial?
- What percent of students from HCPS attending classes at HCC require remediation in math or English before they can take classes for credit?
- Do admissions officers at 4 year colleges prefer students to stay in high school or take classes at a community college?
Concept 6
- How many students apply to HTHS each year compared to the number of slots available?
- How will the anticipated magnet programs effect individual HS populations?
Concept 7
- What changes have been made to the curriculum to increase the rigor of coursework?
- What percent of the working population is employed in the field they identified for themselves in high school?
- What percent of college graduates major in the field they identified for themselves as freshman?
- What percent of college graduates are employed in the field of their college major?
- What specific jobs will students be qualified to fill directly upon graduation from high school in each of the identified career clusters and magnet programs?
- What skills do employers say are lacking in high school graduates?
- What skills do college counselors say are lacking in high school graduates?
Click here to download the PowerPoint version of Councilman Slutzky’s presentation.
Click here to download the PDF version of Councilman Slutzky’s presentation.
Another important moment came when board member Patrick Hess stated that all of the evaluators he is presented with indicate that the school system is performing better. Councilman Slutzky pointed out, rather eloquently, that criteria such as grades and graduation rates are internal evaluators. Only external evaluators can be accurately used to review the system, the councilman argued.
Mr. Hess’s point is an important one to keep in mind, but I hope that he–and the rest of HCPS administration–don’t rely on those internal numbers. That internal evaluators cannot be used as true measuring sticks is not a reflection on HCPS, it is not synonymous to deceit or manipulation by HCPS, and it is not detracting from HCPS. It is, rather, a simple matter of the logic and scientific inquiry that HCPS is seeking to have taught in the math & science magnet it had been championing.
—My “second” point is below in a second post, for convenience—
I would, further, like to question Mr. Fiddler’s repeated demonstrations of catering to the public at tonights meeting. Rarely does a politician go so far out of his way to make it blatant that he is catering to the public (this is not a bad thing) as Mr. Fidler did on the issue of Bel Air Elementary and the old administration building on Gordon Street. It is good that Mr. Fiddler and, and given the murmurs of assent and comments, the rest of the board feel that the citizens and community members beliefs on this issue were most important.
Why, then, are the thousands of citizens who ask for an elected board considered to “not necessarily understand what it [an elected school board] means,” as board President Wolkow was quoted? Why have members of hearings in Annapolis been told that these thousands are a small group, and implied that there voices weren’t as important as those of members of the board? Why, when their numbers far outweigh those of BAES, they come from the entire geography of Harford, and the issue is far less of a local interest group issue?
And why did the members of the board go out of their way to “play politics on the school board” in catering to the public with the BAES/Gordon street issue (and make no mistake, the comments of the board Monday night, Robert’s Rules violations aside, were about as politicized as these things get), and then immediately thereafter seem to give little weight to the Vice President of the County Council and the citizens who appeared in support?
*their. told “that their voices weren’t as important”
Let’s step back for a minute. Anyone remember who took Fidler under his wing during Tom’s first year on the board? That’s right. One Robert Thomas, whose knack for melodramatics would have made Fidler’s performance last night look like a love fest. In tribute to his mentor, Fidler bitterly announced his own martyrdom. But, Fidler, a commercial real estate broker, told me about two years ago that he planned to serve just one term on the board. The revelation came during a break in a public meeting on development by the Klein family of the acreage next to Forest Lakes Elementary – Fidler was there in his capacity as a real estate broker, although he and the Kleins were quick to point out he hadn’t officially signed on for the deal. Fidler, school board rookie at the time, got up in front of a cafeteria full of concerned parents to express his support for the project. I’m not here as a board member, Fidler said. Some people in the crowd weren’t so sure. It was, no doubt, a fine line to walk; and one that the successful young Tom Fidler expressed no interest in walking for eight years.
Mr. Fidler has walked many a fine line over the years so he shouldn’t get so indignant when people question his motives. There is also the issue about putting a Medical Arts Magnet at Bel Air High School to support Upper Chesapeake when Upper Chesapeake is a client of his and he is on the Foundation Board. He could have recused himself but he never has. The community is still trying to figure out why you would put a magnet in the middle of the development envelope when the school is going to continue to grow and there is no burning desire from the parents to have this at the cost of overcrowding the school, andr taking away lab space that could be used for the entire school population.
Regarding Fidler’s comments about an “erroneous and malicious” report on this web site – he never explained the charge except to say that last night’s meeting had been rescheduled from the prior week, at the board’s request, due to Fidler’s planned absence.
Wait Cindy, he was talking about THIS website? I would never had known that from reading the other media reports…
thanks for keeping things on topic.
Yes Steve, Mr. Fidler was talking about none other than The Dagger! He even gave a printed copy of our story to Councilman Slutzky.
I guess the days of not having to worry about the local papers digging deep into stories is over then. No longer can someone have a board or council meeting on a Monday and not have to worry about it reported until a wednesday or friday, long after the impact has faded.
Of course, hopefully they realize that there is good in all of this as well. Some already have…
I’m still trying to figure out what parts of the story were “erroneous and malicious.”
I fully expect Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to be waving a copy of a Dagger story in front of a Congressional Hearing someday soon, blaming it for the recession.
That’d be sweeeeet…..
Maybe they can blame you for steroids in baseball, too….
Steve & Cindy:
While I’m sure the Dagger was the latest pain (At one point he actually used some variation of the phrase “tired of these daggers in my back,” if I recall… hope you liked that one), the nimble New Media cannot lay sole claim to Tom Fidler’s political pelt.
In my article about his impending retirement, Fidler also talked about other accusations of impropriety that were contributing to his decision– particularly accusations about conflicts of interest reported and editorialized in the venerable Aegis, as well.
Granted, I’m dealing with that unfortunate delay Steve spoke of in order to report on Slutzky’s presentation, but we dinosaurs (I’m a ripe old 25, myself) are finding ways online to overcome the limitations of early deadlines and publication schedules. Look at it as an evolutionary adaptation to smaller, hungrier predators like The Dagger.
At the risk of taking it off-topic, should public officials expect to deal with such criticism, true or not, to some extent? At what point might Fidler have been pushed over the edge?
Dell, Dell, Dell…
Didn’t you see the malicious part where we just stopped short of calling the board members big meanies after they diminished the importance of councilman Slutzky’s presentation?
Did you miss the part that was erroneous? You know, the part where we posted a scan of the official agenda for the meeting?
I would tell everyone to check out the meeting on HCN, just like every other board meeting, but I heard through the grapevine that the normal camera setup was missing. Something about a schedule conflict with the HCN folks. Seems like a board of ed meeting with a council presentation would affect every last citizen in this county. I am not saying, I repeat, am not saying that HCN being missing was on purpose or anything. I have no idea either way. And I don’t want to be a big meanie. 🙂
Matt,
Thanks for the comment. The Examiner has been doing a lot of good things lately, to add to some of the online features you already have, like commenting.
Those media organizations able to adapt will survive, while the rest will share the fate of the dinosaur. Or was that a big comet? Maybe a better example would be the dodo.
As for your last question, public officials should, in my opinion, be expected to deal with it. They didn’t have to run or accept appointment. If there are false accusations (which aren’t libelous), they have the power to refute them or ignore them. If the accusations are true, they have the same options. I’m willing to bet that those who answer all the questions will reap the benefits over those that ignore.
Steve,
How could I have missed all that?!
Meanies!!
Maybe the HCN cameras were busy covering the St Patty’s Day festivities at Looney’s??
Brian,
Don’t forget Ms. Carmello’s comment about the board not normally taking a position against a bill brought by one of Harford County’s legislators out of courtesy. She forgot to add….unless it is a bill in favor of an elected school board.
Matt – good get on the Fidler story. To answer your question, of course public officials should expect to deal with a degree of criticism. Some things are out of bounds, i.e. threats, personal attacks, etc.; they are not productive and only undermine the credibility of the source.
But public officials should expect to be challenged on the issues. When they don’t answer reasonable questions or when they give answers that are incomplete or dismissive, the public should object. It’s not personal, it’s the public’s business. I don’t think Mr. Fidler sees the difference.
Way to go cindy’ I agree when you decide to become a public official you better be ready for the public’s question’s. and in some case’s your laundry’ may be made public.
it’s not personal, you should not have anything to hide. all we ask is fairness.
did you notice notice the Honorable. c dan riley is appearing on the dagger? it’s said he is and honest man. with good intention’s. if you have dirty’ laundry the dagger is not the place to blog.
The arrogance and utter disrespect form this board is appalling!
from not form
Sandy- HCPS BOE actually did NOT take a position on either the elected school board or the PNC bills.
I feel for Mr Fidler somewhat, because I also volunteer my time to my community. The problem is that he doesn’t understand that he is angry at the wrong people.
I’m sure he’s a good man and that he cares about his business and its relation to the community. And in his defense, it is not his actions/inactions that are the basis for the deterioration in quality that we are experiencing in the HCPS system; it is the school administration’s actions/inactions.
Thus, what is most disappointing about Mr Fidler (and his 2 predecessor presidents of the board) has been their arrogant and utter gullibility regarding what is fed to them by HCPS. It is patently absurd that the Superintendent and Director of Secondary Education and other senior staffers constantly force the board into defending self-serving and untested initiatives, misrepresentation, selective data sharing, irresponsibility and obfuscation………….. And yet these members of the board choose to ridicule and get angry at the parents, taxpayers, students, community leaders and elected officials for their valid and constructive scrutiny.
Why is this clear to everyone except the boardmembers, the school administration, and a small handful of defenders?
Thank goodness that our elected officials are acting in our children’s interests by finally moving towards school board elections. They will be rewarded by their constituents for this.
In closing, I would like to add some are saying that Mr. Slutzky embarrassed the School Board last night…… but they are wrong…….. It is the school administration that, yet again, has embarrassed the School Board.
to “curious”: I believe that HCPS BOE actually did take a legislative position against school board elections, but I’m not certain. Can another poster clear this up for us?
I also understand that this anti-election legislative position has been a significant basis for the community’s disillusionment and disconnection with the Board.
Thanks.
At what point did parents get pushed over the edge? I know that I personally went over when the BOE voted for a 500 seat auditorium and then questioned the financial integrity of the Bel Air Town Commissioners who by the way, had written a letter to the BOE and Superintendent requesting inclusion into the process when they planned the high school. If there wasn’t outisde intervention, people would be scratching their heads when the school opened wondering what happened with the auditorium and why.
Additionally, some Board members seem to forgot that CSSRP passed with much dissention from the community. Teachers, students and parents pleaded with them to consider an alternative schedule which they didn’t. When they passed it, they said they were concerned but would look at it in 1 year and if it wasn’t working then they would reconsider, and they talked in depth about what kind of information they would look at. Two years have gone by and still nothing and they are angry that people don’t like it, and want to see evidence of its success. Furthermore, Mr. Fidler has said that now they need 4 years. That was NEVER the agreement when this was passed. Shame on us for asking for data that supported this decision! We’re the ones who are physically and mentally exhausted from trying to get information from the school system and BOE that they promised to the public over a year ago.
curious —
The BOE took a position in their own legislative platform in each of the past 2 years against having and elected Board.
See page 19 here:
http://www.hcps.org/BOE/docs/LegislativePlatform.pdf
Since it is already in their legislative platform, the BOE didn’t have to “take a position” per se, they had a standing position against an elected board already.
I just spoke with someone from Harford Cable Network who said the board meeting will air on Tuesday, March 25 at 8 p.m.
She said of the Board, “They did not notify us that they were changing the date of the meeting.”
HCN was filming the Havre de Grace City Council meeting on St. Patty’s Day, but evidently someone from the board had the meeting taped and put on disc. According to HCN, “They dropped the disc here around lunchtime today.”
Did anyone there see a camera?
You are right Larry, I was confusing the BOE wih the school system and the Superintendent.
Slutzky’s chart, as shown, that includes the 2004 data is either in error or decieving. If the data shown is for ineligibility only then it is correct, but if it is to show the number of 1+ failures in the first quarter of each year (as shown in teh title) then it is incorrect since 2004 ineligibility (as shown in the subheading) in 2004 was 2+ failures. The number of 2004 1+ failures would surely be higher than show. If I remember correctly, the BOE or HCPS stated at the start of the new criteria that such stats were not available. Slutzky’s chart is comparing apples and oranges to give pear yields. I would have expected better from a former educator.
A bigger concern to me is the fact that, for 2007, 3540 of the 11216 HS students (HCPS “ENROLLMENT PROJECTIONS FOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS”) failed at least one course. That’s 31.5%. Almost 1/3!!!!!!!!! And don’t think it is because the course work is too difficult.
I fear for the future workforce.
JJ
You’re making my point … why is is so difficult to get information that lines up from one year to the next. Have you tried to look at the ineligibility data? Do you think Mr. Slutsky didn’t try to get information from HCPS? The night Dave Volarath gave out the list of classes that were failed, it was not revealed to the public. Tom Fidler was given a master copy and every other board member was given a list at the schools in their district. If you can get a copy to share with the rest of us, please do because I am curious to know myself.
I heard them say the other night that the number of ineligible students has decreased by 2%. Where did those decreases take place? Were they in schools where 1/2 the students are already failing or were they in CMW or Fallston? Why wasn’t that discussed in more detail when the data was presented? The only person who made a comment was Mark Wolkow who is concerned (rightfully so) about students who need extra motivation to stay in school. I just wish he would have said more … Is this policy having the desired effect of stopping kids from failing? I think the answer is NO so we are punishing students who for a myriad of reasons, may have difficulty in school. Some of it may even by the school’s fault but we aren’t addressing that now are we? This should be used as a diagnostic tool – not a punishment. Do we really want to send kids out in the street after 2:00 who otherwise might be engaged in something that connects them to the school and the community?
Unless we are willing to examine the real causes of why so many students are failing I don’t see why we would continue with this type of policy. I agree that we should be striving for excellence but we don’t always provide students with the necessary tools that they need for success. Good intentions but unfair consequences.
I would like the public to know that the School Board was not always a rubber stamp over the BOE. I have attended school board meetings for 18 years and sometimes I was the only parent in the audience. In the early years of my meeting attendance I saw moments when School Board members called BOE staff to the front of the room to address discrepancies in information provided, asked staff to answer questions directly and instantly and reamed staff out for not completing work on time or providing requested information. This is the type of School Board that I dream of. Those were the days when Harford County was ranked second in the state for academic performance. Gee, is there a correlation here between an aggressive, butt-kicking, questioning and accountability demanding School Board and better school performance? I think so!!!! We need to return to this type of School Board.
Also, Tom Fidler has complained about the amount of work he has given to his position on the School Board everytime that I have had a face-to-face encounter with him. My opinion is that he never intended to serve more than one term. He got out of it what he wanted – public recognition, (though not exactly what he expected all the time) an opportunity to test the waters for a future run for public office, contacts for his business dealings and a position title for his resume.
Bravo Dagger. Without you, the public would continue to have limited info on the education issues of Harford County. You have opened the door and shined the light. THANK YOU!!!
jj – I have the source of the 2004-05 data, because it came from a document provided by the staff at a board meeting in February, 2006. The figure you question, 2284 students, is the number who had “1 failure” in the 1Q of 2004-05 according to this document. The figures were compiled by the athletic director for HCPS at the time, who called each high school and added the figures to arrive at at total of 2284.
Slutzky said during his presentation he made a good faith effort to determine whether this number included students who had 1 OR MORE failures and he said that to the best of his knowledge, that was the case.
But whatshername is right, it should not be so difficult to get data and you are right that apples to apples comparisons are crucial. That is exactly the point Slutzky was making too.
And as you say, the real problem is that almost 1/3 of the students in our high schools are failing at least one course. Oddly, CSSRP is silent on this problem, it was only reported because of the policy on extra-curricular activites.
As I read Wednesday’s Aegis article about failing grades and ineligibility, I was amazed at the spin the Central Administration personnel used on the results. They are now judging the success of the program on the number of appeals rather than the number of failing grades and ineligibilities. In their effort to make their program look successful, HCPS personnel seemed to forget the original intent of the program which is to reduce the number of failing grades. Forget the spin, just give us all the facts.
I was unhappy with the decision to make students ineligible for extracurricular activities if grades didnt measure …this was a blanket decision. Many children have a hard time in school and the extra curriculers are the thin thread that keeps them going through their frustration. Keeps them in school. I would have liked to see a better evaluation on a case by case bassis. Removing a kid from a program for a bad grade is public humiliation. Public humiliation for a social or learning disability is horrible and cold hearted. Some learning dissabilities are social in nature. Its irresponsible to chastize and scar an impressionable kid in that way in and in front of HIS public.
Imigine the humiliation of being removed from what you go to shcool to participite in..that thin thread that keeps you going…that walk home….and still having the reason of why you failed unaddressed…literily telling the kid…you figure it out..we are punishing you cause you make our (the boards) stats look bad !
Mabey they (the board) were distracted by their “NEW DIGS” at their new headquaters at the time the decision was made.