Key Principles

By Richard F. "Dick" Hubert

http://www.dickhubertforblindbrookboard.com/KeyPrin.htm

2. The district cannot be "all things to all students" and must make difficult decisions regarding the allocation of resources - money, time, space, technology, attention and people. We are a (very small) public, not a private, school.

3. Current cost structures and trends are not sustainable and must change to reflect not only economic reality but plain common sense.

4. We must move from rewarding/paying faculty and staff almost exclusively for longevity towards rewarding results, outcomes, effectiveness, impact, competency and value.

5. We must restructure the psychological (and financial contract) expectations from teachers and staff as "hourly production laborers" (with a narrow definition of their job and what they get paid for) to being professional colleagues who are expected to contribute in the broadest sense to the learning and education of students, without any need for extra compensation for every detail of contribution made outside the core aspect of their job, given the robust and generous salaries and benefits that they receive.

6. Any increases in compensation/benefits, and therefore cost, would have to be offset, to a large degree, by increased teacher/staff impact, cost reduction, value or productivity. There must be a quid pro quo.

7. The diversity of the faculty/staff as well as the diversity "experience" of the student body must be increased. Our children must feel comfortable with the multi-cultural/socio-economic makeup of the world they will face to assure their success in the larger American/Global society.

8. We need a Board where more information is shared and transparency is the norm.

9. We need a Board that is diverse & fully inclusive and reflects the actual make-up of residents.

10. We need to increase collaboration and sharing with other school districts and BOCES to reduce costs, become more efficient and broaden the diversity experience of our students.

11. We need to influence the reform of state mandates and policy:- policies that detract from creative/innovative and cost effective education : e.g., reduced funding for charter schools that eliminated NY State from funds from Race to the Top; not allowing competency testing to influence tenure decisions; mandates that bring crushing financial burdens to school districts without any provision for funding; and out-of-touch and unsustainable costs due to legislated benefits (e.g., minimal employee contributions to pensions, retirees do not pay NY State income taxes on pensions, etc.)