Interesting Times

Residents of Montclair who go about their normal day to day life here were probably confused by the bold headline in the Montclair Times last week, “List has Montclairites dissed”. The story runs with the now tired narrative that an “enemies list” was created to investigate the infamous leak/sharing/publication (what ever you call it) of the assessment tests back in 2013. When we last discussed this topic we summarized the motivation behind the story. Nothing has really changed since then and we stand by the characterization which used the term “bullsh&t”, thus resulting in Facebook not allowing any promotion of the post. But enough about us.

We’ve made a few comments on Baristanet, but our most telling and true comments don’t pass by the “gate-keeper”, Liz. We actually think she has joined forces with Mr. Porter at the Montclair Times to support the fake story for the clicks. There simply is not any objectivity any more from her staff, and the reloads from the MCAS folks are paying her bills.

Since the facts will reveal this to be the non-story it is, we will instead opine what the post “outrage” landscape for education in Montclair will look like. Do note that, a) the diversion created by Cummings, Shepard, and MCAS has done nothing to help improve our schools, b) even though Cummings said they had quietly made progress, there is no real evidence of that, c) we suspect Cummings is dealing with some nasty ethics issues still and that in reality his poor judgment is behind all this noise, and d) tax payers will still foot the bill for an expensive investigation.

Mayor Jackson needs to name three Board replacements by April 15, 2016. Ms. Kulwin will most certainly not volunteer again. We doubt Mr. Deutsch will be reappointed, and if Mayor Jackson reappoints Mr. Cummings, we will be looking for pigs to fly down Park street. Although it would be within the realm of possibilities for Jackson to appoint residents outside the democratic union machine which helped elect him last time, it’s doubtful he would do this. Therefore, we can expect a continued majority of MEA/MCAS supporters on the Board with little regard for financial restraint. Do welcome Board of Ed members Cary Chevat, David Herron, and Marcia Marley!

Look for taxes to continue to go up and the ability for Mayor Jackson to “flim flam” the majority of the residents with his town debt shell game to fade away. History will show actual town debt expand more than even we could anticipate. You read it here first.

How could we not mention Mr. Spiller? He will be re-elected since he will close out a quiet campaign season by running an ad characterizing his opponent as part of the “right wing playbook”. Liberals in town love that, and will flock to vote for him.

On Superintendents. Mr. Bolandi will finish his temporary term in Montclair without making any real progress on the Achievement Gap (we have not heard from that committee in quite while, have we?). He correctly has identified the magnet system as taking too much time away from core competencies like reading and math, but he will not have the support or funding to change the system. His failure to deal with the opt-out numbers in Montclair for the PARCC test will further damage our standing with the State, and Montclair will be the first district to see funding cuts when they laugh at his “action plan” in Trenton. The pay cap and dysfunctional environment will force the MPS to hire another interim Superintendent at the end of his term.

The MCAS echo chamber will continue to operate, indirectly funded by your tax dollars. Without any valid testing to evaluate the system it will be easier for them to convince new residents that all is fine, except when those same parents have to start working to switch their kids to the “good” teachers. The MKFers will tire of the fight and will simply join in with the others who think it’s OK to both pay our taxes AND send their kids to private schools.

Sorry for the less than optimistic take on the state of affairs, but we call it like we see it. Please note that the Reformer is going to take a vacation from these pages for a while to watch from a distance, and make some money. We will occasionally check our email address, so if you have any real news or wish to chide us when our predictions fail to materialize, send us a note. That email address is montclairreformer@mail.com.