Category Archives: Opinion

2014 Educational Portfolio

Malverne School District Community Posted on by

For the past year, I have been involved in advocating for public schools, as a parent of four. I educated myself on issues related to education, ex. CCSS, student learning, technology implementation and social media use, politics in education, high stakes testing, school leadership and climate, effects of poverty. I believe education should be fostered in a way that embraces and celebrates the individuality of children and facilitates their ability to reach their full … Continue reading →

Malverne HS Selected for Field Tests

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The post has been updated on May 21st, 2014 Malverne Mule has been selected to administer three Regents Examination Field Tests. (They may have already started). The tests are Algebra 2/Trigonometry, Physics, and Geometry. The field test means that the test publisher is “fielding” how students answered the questions and, eventually, would adjust them for the real test. A field test has no other purpose. It goes directly to the company. It is not graded. … Continue reading →

Ballot Position Draw Malverne SD Style

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The Same Color, Different Shape In New York State, April 21st was the deadline to submit a nominating petition with signatures in order to register as a candidate for a seat on the school board. A day later, on April 22nd, a draw for a position on the ballot took place in Malverne school district (MUFSD). I am one of the candidates and, as I was walked to the district clerk’s office, I asked … Continue reading →

Invitation to NAACP Meeting

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After my announcement that I am running for a seat on the Malverne BOE, I have been invited to a NAACP regular meeting to present my viewpoints and answer questions from the audience. The meeting takes place at St. Paul’s AME Church, 453 Pershing Blvd in Lakeview and it takes place soon—Tuesday, April 22nd, at 8 pm. The deadline to submit the nominating petition is not until April 21st, so other candidates may be … Continue reading →

Malverne SD Budget and CCSS Costs

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The series of three sessions dedicated to Malverne SD budget came to the end on March 18. The first session was dedicated to “instructional” expenses (codes 2010-2855), followed by a session on “operational” expenses (codes 1620-1981 and 5000s), and the last session paid attention to “administrative” expenses (codes 1010-1480 and 9000s). In addition to the public sessions, Mr. Caputo, district business administrator, kindly met with me for two extra sessions. It allowed me to … Continue reading →

Era of Conflicting Educational Narratives

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We are living in the era of two educational narratives. One is well known, has been here for ages and is promoted by business CEOs, technology gurus, and policymakers. It’s a narrative that is preoccupied by the old-school problem of how to best “deliver” the content to students using the modern technology. The other educational narrative is also well known and has been around also for ages. It’s promoted by educators and concentrates on … Continue reading →

Letter to Malverne BOE, Capital Reserve Fund II

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In light of the fact that the NY 2014–15 state budget allocated more aid for education than the original GEA would provide and that the building aid to the Malverne district increased significantly, I sent the following letter to the Malverne BOE. Feel free to copy the text, edit it and send to boe2@malverne.k12.ny.us. … Continue reading →

A Tidbit of My Portfolio

Malverne School District Community Posted on by

After learning about my candidacy for a seat on the Malverne Union Free School District BOE, a friend asked me at the Malverne Facebook group (by invitation) about my platform. I knew the entire portfolio would be too long for the FB comments field, but I wanted him to see my view on just two current topics. I started writing, but realized that just these two related topics were already too long. I decided … Continue reading →

Mandates or Project-Based Learning?

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Some time ago the White House asked schools to create a film and submit it. The film was supposed to show how the technology can help form the future and how the technology is used in schools. There were 2500 films submitted. 16 films were posted on the White House site on February 28th. With the film festival, the national educational leader is sending contradicting messages. His Race to The Top (RtTT) program is … Continue reading →

Issues Facing Education

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This post was updated on 4/18/2014 after I received author’s permission to repost his entire original post. I have been preparing to write on issues facing education for some time. I was gathering topics and links and, then I came across an article in Education Week. The author, Peter DeWitt, principal of an elementary school, gathered a list of issues that far exceeds topics I would recommend to keep your eyes on. His list … Continue reading →