The Hoboken Board of Education Tuesday night unanimously approved a $24,000 contract for William L. Librera, the state’s former commissioner of education who heads the Rutgers Institute for Improving Student Achievement, as a consultant to help analyze district demographics, test scores, finances, and governance issues. But even though the contract was approved by a 9-0 vote and costs a relative pittance for consultant fees, it has become a lighting-rod issue.
But why?
On the positive side, Librera is a big name that has gotten people excited about the topic of education reform. People who have never attended Board of Education meetings are passionately talking about the public school district.
But politically speaking, the school district is in the midst of a transition. For several decades Hoboken public schools experienced declining enrollment. This, among other things, led the district to go for years without hiring many new teachers, which has meant that the staff has essentially remained the same.
This has had several positives, such as the family-like relationships between teachers and staff. But it has also created a fairly insular district, where tension arises when an outsider is brought in or political pressure is applied from City Hall.
Now the district, which has the perception of being closed off, is facing a sizable transition.
First, a significant portion of the staff is reaching retirement age, or has already taken the buyout package that has been offered over the past several years. A new crop of young teachers has been hired, changing demographics among the staff.
Also, longtime district employees Superintendent Patrick Gagliardi and Business Administrator Anthony Curko, the two highest-ranking employees in the district, are set to retire in the next two years.
An initiative introduced
Increasing the pressure for transition has been Mayor David Roberts, who has staunchly maintained that improving the quality of public school education in Hoboken is one of his biggest priorities.
In February, Roberts brought together political friends and foes at an invite-only meeting at the Stevens Institute of Technology to discuss how to help Hoboken’s steadily improving but often criticized urban public schools. Attending the meeting were most of the City Council, the Board of Education, and other business and community leaders.
At that time, Roberts introduced Librera as someone who could help the district develop short- and long-term goals and objectives.
Roberts has said repeatedly that his intentions are only to strengthen the positive aspects of the district and bring about changes where they are needed, insisting that it has never been his goal to criticize the past or step on the toes of the current administration. Most of the people who attended the meeting spoke later about the positive vibe that was in the room.
“I left that meeting hopeful and optimistic,” Board of Education member Jack Raslowsky said Tuesday night. “People were respectful of the good work that goes on in the district, and yet we were asking how we can move forward.”
Board of Education President Carmelo Garcia added that he supports Librera because he is a known commodity with extensive experience.
“We recognize the need for an independent, objective analysis conducted in this district to see where we are, where we want to be, and how we intend to get there in the next three, five, and 10 years,” Garcia said.
The right way?
But while there were many community leaders at the meeting, hardly any administrators, teachers or parents were in attendance. Gagliardi was invited but did not attend because he believes the meeting was political.
Tuesday night, just before the final vote, Gagliardi said that he is not opposed to using a consultant, but he is worried about the politics involved.
“I’m not against using outside consultants, but [I do have a problem with] the way this was done in such a private fashion, right before an election,” Gagliardi said. “You can see it’s political.”
He said that the Board of Education should have first formed a task force made up of community and board members, administrative staff and teachers to complete a needs assessment first.
“You live here, you know what our needs are. We don’t need someone to come in and tell us what we need to do,” Gagliardi told the board.
Then after a needs assessment, Gagliardi said the city could bring in a consultant to help the district find ways to reach those goals.
“That would have been welcomed with open arms, but now the community has been totally shut out of the process,” Gagliardi said. “All I’m suggesting is that there could have been a better way to do this, a way that could have been backed by not only me but the teaching staff and the community at large.”
Lee Raines, who taught in the district for 52 years, said that the Board of Education should have looked within for change.
“Hoboken needs a consultant like we need a hole in the head,” Raines said. “We have the finest administrators, supervisors and teachers of all the districts in the state. I’ve been to many schools across the state, and I’m amazed at the conscientious work of our teachers.”
She added that the teachers and administrators on staff are the best equipped to make changes and improvements.
Support, but with a caveat
So how can the board spur change and improvement while not slighting the staff and the positive aspects of the district?
“[Change] can be particularly difficult for the people in the midst of the work, because any talk about being better or doing things differently can be twisted to say ‘we’re not doing things well enough,’ ” Raslowsky said. “And I don’t think that is necessarily so.”
Every board member that spoke said they supported the idea but it won’t be successful unless the staff and superintendent are participating.
“This is something that I thing can be very valuable. We need the full cooperation of the superintendent, administration and staff for this to work,” Board Member Maggie Porrata said.
Board member Frank Raia said that he would not offer his support unless the staff members are willing participants. He added an amendment to the contract that Librera must meet with the entire staff before beginning his work.
Raia, who is a local developer, added that if he were given assurances that everyone will work together, he would pay for the $24,000 contract out of his own pocket.
The board’s attorneys are currently looking into the legality and possible conflict-of-interest problems that might arise from a Board of Education member funding a private consultant’s contract.
Raslowsky gave Gagliardi assurances that he would not support any contract where the superintendent’s authority will be usurped by Librera’s participation.
“Ultimately, we retain the authority to use the information that we get,” Raslowsky said. “We are not ceding that authority, and this does not put the superintendent in a position to cede his authority.”
Tom Jennemann can be reached at tjennemann@hudsonreporter.com.