This letter appeared in the Haddonfield Sun on October 23:
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Shaw is passionate choice for BOE
As an educator for more thantwo decades, I wholeheartedly support Amy Keys Shaw for Board of Education. Amy embodies
the rare combination of passion to enrich the educational lives of our children along with a critical eye for information and a
strong common sense perspective in promoting academic excellence.
Years of service as an advocate of children/families in the state of New Jersey has shaped Amy's focus on supporting academic
excellence in the classroom. As importantly, Shaw has called for full transparency and clear communication from the board to the community while striving for continued academic rigor in our schools' classrooms.
Lastly, Amy understands the fiscal constraints that impact our
Board of Education as it strives to maintain the superb quality of
the classroom experience. Amy would bring this strong sense
of balance to her work on the Board.
All of Amy's children have benefited from education in Haddonfield's schools. Perhaps this is why she is so passionate about wanting to serve on the Board of Education. We could do no better than to have Amy Keys Shaw as a member of our Board. I urge you to give her your vote.
Seth L. Welles
Tonight I was honored to attend the induction ceremony for the HMHS chapter of the National Honor Society. The cornerstone of the organization is "noblesse oblige" - "the idea that one has an obligation to use one's talents, skills and knowledge for the betterment of others." This reminder of noblesse oblige struck me hard, as I realized that it is the very reason I have been working so hard getting my message out about serving on the school board. I want to use my "talents, skills and knowledge" to help ensure that our schools are the best they can be. I am lucky to have gained a great education in public schools, followed by college and law school. I always knew that I wanted to go into public service, so I have worked in social services programs since earning my law degree. The talents skills and knowledge that I want to bring to the Board are those I have honed over the course of my education and career. I am a policy analyst. I spend every working day reading, analyzing legislation, regulations, and policies to determine their impact on programs. The school district , obviously, must operate within the bounds of the laws and regulations that apply to public education in New Jersey. In addition to analyzing requirements, I write policies that enable our programs to comply with these requirements, yet also meet the needs of the public we serve. These are skills that will be very useful as a member of the BOE. As I have discussed before, it is important that our schools serve both our children and our community. The ability to recognize these needs and design programs and policy that both satisfy legal requirements and meet the needs of the schools and community is a skill that I will bring to the Board. I very much look forward to the opportunity to use these "talents, skills and knowledge for the betterment" of our educational system.
I am sharing a letter in support of my candidacy that recently appeared in the local paper. ------------------------- Amy Keys Shaw keeps focus on educationI am writing to show why I am voting for Amy Keys Shaw for a seat on the Haddonfield Board of Education. It has been a long time since candidates have been willing to take on the issues as Shaw has, and it is obvious she has our schoolchildren in heart and mind. She represents no other interests; she even comes with a background of working for the government in children and fami-lies. She has talked about what is expected of a school board, especially in areas of communication. Communication is a conduit. Shaw recognizes the need for the board to truly listen to community input and the need to report school board business as soon as it becomes available. It seems in the last several years there have been surprises from the school board and mistakes have been made. Her blogs are evidence of her focus on education – and “believing in children.” Meeting each child’s needs is paramount. Her guiding principles set the stage for maintaining the high standard our schools have always shown, and for having unwavering support for high achievement,and by using informed uses of technology and differentiated learning techniques improving even more on great quality of instruction we already have. We all know it is important to keep our district fiscally sound In 2009, Shaw was a member of the Board appointed Community Budget Advisory Committee. The committee examined potential ways to realize cost savings and to increase revenue; making many recommendations and several have been adopted. The Drexel Partnership provides our students access to the university resources, including certain IT functions, increased course offerings, etc. with little cost to the district. Shaw is a stickler for the law,and keeping the board on track.Focusing only on the schools and education is, of course, the job of the school board and nothing else. I am sure Shaw will maintain her zeal for children and education. She has raised her children in Haddonfield schools. As long as I have known her, she attends as many school board meetings as possible. That in itself shows how much she cares. George Slack
Here is a condensation of my opening and closing remarks at the Candidates' Forum on October 21, 2013:
As I meet people around town, I am often asked what motivated me to run for school board.
The answer is that Haddonfield is a wonderful community with wonderful schools; my family, like many others, moved here for the education. Since moving to town, I have had my three children pass through all levels of our schools, where they have received the type of education my husband and I wanted for them.
It has troubled me, however, to see the school board take its focus away from what goes on in the classrooms to educate our children, and instead turn its attention to issues not directly related to educational pursuits, such as the Bancroft purchase and the turf field initiative.
Serving on the school board would allow me to be a stronger voice for those of us who want to see the Board returned to its intended purposes - improving the education provided to our students in the public schools. To that end, there needs to be a greater focus on curriculum, technology, and infrastructure in our schools.
Please know that I am passionate about serving on the Board and being an advocate for our children. I am an attorney by training and a policy analyst by profession, with over twenty years of experience in social services. As such, reading and interpreting laws and regulations, as well as developing programs and policies that meet legal requirements while also serving the population, is second nature to me. I believe that these skills translate well to working on the school board for you.
Between now and the election, our community will engage in important discussions regarding what we want from our schools. I hope that you will take the time to learn about my positions on the issues facing the district, and consider giving me your support. I hope you vote for me, but, either way, please vote. It's important to our children and our community.
As any parent knows, our children are not all the same, not even within the same family. Each has his or her own strengths and areas of challenge. As a Board member, I would advocate a move toward more differentiated instruction within our schools. This may sound like a tall order, given the nationwide calls for accountability and standardized testing, but it is vital for our children's development.
Through increased use of differentiated instruction methods in our schools we can target each child's learning to his or her learning style and pace. Differentiated instruction benefits all of our children by enabling them to learn in the ways best suited for them, thus decreasing frustration and boredom, both of which can negatively impact a child's educational experience. Differentiated instruction ensures that the students cover the same curriculum and meet or exceed the standards required by law. With differentiated instruction, adjustments are made in the way subjects are taught, how the students access the information, the types of activities chosen to engage students and facilitate learning, and the type of end product required to demonstrate student understanding. The increased availability of resources over the internet and via other technological means makes this easier to do now than ever.
I also advocate allowing the students to move through the material at their own pace. Thus, a child who demonstrates mastery of second grade math should be able to move on to third grade math the same year and not have to wait for a calendar change. More individualized instruction plans would also ensure that students master the material before moving on. In that way, students do not move on to something for which they are not ready simply because the rest of the class is ready. The No Child Left Behind Act requires that each child make "adequate yearly progress." A child spending a year covering material that he or she clearly mastered early on is not making "adequate yearly progress." Nor is a child who is pushed through material he or she does not understand making "adequate yearly progress," at least in terms of actually understanding. Students will remain interested and better engaged if able to proceed at their own pace. The student-led conferences that have been used at the elementary schools in our district demonstrate the value of this approach by including the students in setting individual goals.
The study authors found that "[e]ffective school boards commit to a vision of high expectations for student achievement and quality instruction and define clear goals toward that vision." Further, they "make sure these goals remain the district's top priorities and that nothing detracts from them." In other words, the boards make the education the number one priority of the district. I agree whole-heartedly that the instruction and academic achievement of the students should be the Board's main focus.
Unfortunately, our Board has gotten distracted by other issues that have arisen within the community over the past few years. This past year has seen a great debate within the town over the purchase of the Bancroft property, an endeavor that took a great deal of the Board's attention way from academic concerns and put it on land acquisition and development. Prior years have seen the implementation of the "24/7" policy to give the Board authority over the non-school-related behavior of he students, which also diverted the Board's attention from what happens during the school day to what happens completely outside the realm of the schools.
I want to direct the attention of the Board back to the education itself. If given the opportunity to serve on the Board, I would lead the effort to refocus its efforts onto the provision of a quality education to our children.
Effective use of data - good or bad - is another characteristic of effective school boards identified by the study authors. Haddonfield already does this well - our Board and administrators actively seek out data on the performance of our students, and analyze that data to make informed decisions on district initiatives. For example, at the last Board meeting, the Assistant Superintendent presented data regarding HMHS Students Achievement Indicators, derived from standardized test scores. Following the presentation, the Board and audience members engaged in a discussion of what the data meant and what might be the causes of any identified anomalies. The Board then charged the administration to delve deeper into certain aspects of the data to identify trends, etc. It was heartening to see the Board members engage in this frank discussion of the data and its meaning. As a Board member, I would encourage the Board to continue to gather and analyze data. It is important, too, to listen to the sentiment of the community regarding what type of schools they want the district to provide, in terms of expectations, atmosphere, values, etc. then consider it in light of community sentiment about what our schools should do. Ultimately, the goal should be to apply the results to improving educational opportunities for our students.
Another characteristic of effective school boards identified in the article I referenced yesterday is that such boards “align and sustain resources” and understand their “responsibility to maintain high standards even in the midst of budget challenges.” Haddonfield clearly has high standards for our schools, but, like most districts, has faced financial challenges over the past several years. Thus, it becomes an important function of the school board to balance educational quality with fiscal responsibility.
We can achieve such a balance by focusing even more on reducing the costs of running the schools. However, cuts that impact the quality of our children's education – size of teaching staff, quality course offerings, varied instructional aids, etc. - should be made only as a last resort. To preserve our high level of educational excellence while minimizing operational costs, we should look for ways to reduce costs for such things as facilities maintenance and energy that can be accomplished with minimal impact on academic services. The Board has successfully reduced costs of supplies by joining with other districts to purchase in greater bulk and therefore benefit from economies of scale, and should continue to explore new ways to expand these opportunities.
In 2009, the Board appointed the Community Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC), of which I was a member. The committee examined potential ways to realize cost savings and to increase revenue, and made many recommendations, several of which have been adopted (such as the Drexel Paretnership, providing our students with access to the resources of that university, including certain IT functions, increased course offerings, etc. with little cost to the district). I advocate reconvening the CBAC or appointing a new committee in order to evaluate the success of the implemented recommendations, and identify additional means by which the district can realize savings or increase revenue without raising taxes.
The Center for Public Education published a study on what makes effective school boards. (A link to the article is on my "Articles of Interest" page.) The article identifies eight characteristics of effective school boards. I will address some of the eight in the context of Haddonfield over the course of a few blog entries.
First: communication. The study found that "[e]ffective school boards have a collaborative relationship with staff and the community and establish a strong communications structure to inform and engage both internal and external stakeholders in setting and achieving district goals."
Communication between the school board and the public has been an issue over the past few months. As the district developed a purchase strategy for the Bancroft property and undertook the turf field project, many Haddonfield residents voiced concern about the process. There was talk of deals being made without public input, agenda items being addressed without proper notice, and stakeholder concerns being dismissed without proper and thoughtful consideration. These allegations, whether founded or unfounded, erode the community's belief in the integrity of the Board and the processes it follows.
It is important to return to a more open process ("transparency" is the currently popular buzz word) to restore the faith that the community has in the Board and its actions. Mutual trust between the Board and the community is vital.
I advocate for strict adherence to the public notice requirements for meetings - agendas must be posted, materials made available for public review, etc. - and for adequate opportunity for public comment. Vigorous debate should be encouraged so that everyone feels that they have had the chance to be heard. In this way, together, the Board and the community can determine the best course of action for Haddonfield's schools.
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