Board of Education Meeting 12/16/08 Recap

The Hoboken Board of Education had a meeting on 12/16/2008. The two big topics were the Hola program and the Teacher's Union Contract. I was only there for the first hour and a half and I was able to hear many speakers on the proposed Hola program. Thanks to Theresa Minutillo the many in opposition to Hola were able speak as they were able to move the Public speaking portion toward the front of the meeting. I was very impressed by the number of concerned parents who had done their homework ( a lot more apparently then Mr. Raslowsky’s minions) on why this program is such an unproven risk and potential waste of money. The universal message from the speakers was

1) The process that awarded the contract was wrought with legal problems.
2) The program is not proven to get the results expected.
3) The qualifications of those selected are not up to the appropriate standards.
4) Lowering the standards for Hola would not be fair to other teachers who worked hard for their certifications.
5) There are other priorities that the school board should be addressing like dismal SAT scores.

Whatever your opinion on standardized test scores we all know that parents look at those numbers to find out how a school measures up to other schools. Hoboken's SAT scores where mentioned but I don’t remember the exact figure. If anyone has them please share.
It was great to see the concerned parents at the school and I can only draw one conclusion about Hola; it should be named Moolah or Pay-hola since it is nothing but money going out the door.

Jack Raslowski’s program Hola should be put in ESPN’s football segment C’mon man. What a bad joke to play on the taxpayer during these tumultuous economic times. Then I am reminded that Jack does not have the proper background and is a David Roberts political pick. He does live in Hoboken but the fact seems to escape him of the exorbitant taxes needed to fund his $30K per pupil district. ◦

Board of Education Meeting 12/16/08 Recap