WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By John F. Bailey. October 24, 2013:

The State Education Department has so far not provided clear details to WPCNR on how the controversial 2013 Common Core Curriculum Assessment tests were created.

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin said in a statement to this reporter, she favored opening a hearing or hearings with the SED and the teachers who worked with Pearson to develop the highly criticized tests is a good idea. George Latimer,State Senator for White Plains, told WPCNR hearings to explore how tests were created, would be a good idea but he wanted to wait until after the first Education Committee meeting in Buffalo coming up.

Meanwhile, who approved the content of the tests and why they were determined appropriate has not been detailed to this reporter after 4 days.

It appears that full-length mock tests were not given  during the development process to actual students to ascertain if the tests as planned could be managed by students in the time provided. No one has confirmed that there were mock tests, just sample questions.

Pearson, the national test creator evaluation firm, when contacted by WPCNR and asked for details on how they prepare such assessments, declined to comment.

Last week, as previously reported by The Journal News Albany Bureau, Westchester Assembly Members  Amy Paulin, Thomas Abinanti and David Buchwald wrote a letter calling for suspension indefinitely of the Common Core Assessments,  saying the assessments (resulting in drops of 30% in the number of students passing the English Language Arts) were “doing more harm than good,” that a new assessment test needed to be prepared “that will improve the quality of teaching and learning” in the schools.

The three signees cited problems the new tests administered for the first time last year, “are not a valid indicator of college and career readiness,” citing as evidence for this judgment that in many districts a majority are accepted in colleges.

The three criticized the tests based on teachers’ reports that “questions were too vague and did not align with the common core curriculum/content.”  Students were frustrated.  The assemblypersons cited the sharp increase and lack of teacher resources and money to address the resulting Academic Intervention Services, the results of the test dictate.

The letter revealed that teachers are not allowed to see completed tests for each student (in order that they may identify the student’s weaknesses and work with the student). They also felt the new tests were an unfair measure of teachers’ effectiveness, due to their unfairness.

The letter cautioned that the costs of administering the tests by the districts is causing budget stress, and the three pointed out that computerized test taking scheduled for 2015 (14 months away) creates another financial stress on the district.

O’Donovan of White Plains on the test problems.

WPCNR first became aware of possible problems in creating the tests when White Plains Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Jessica O’Donovan told me on the news interview show, People To Be Heard, (availble for viewing on www.whiteplainsweek.com)  school districts had never received typical sample tests in their entirety to work with in preparation. Only handfuls of sample questions were received. She pointed out that the tests required too much referencing back to written tracts, extending the time spent for each question.

I contacted Susan Aspey, V.P. of Public Relations with Pearson (Pearson International and Pearson North America, 2^nd largest publishing company in the world)  in Washington,D.C., asking how the 2013 assessments were created, and for an interview with a Pearson personality who could explain the test creation,  she gave me this statement, apparently declining an interview:

“Pearson is the vendor to New York State. We do not set states’ policies; our role is to help our state customers implement their policies and programs.  Your questions are best directed to the state Department of Education.”

This information lead WPCNR to ask the State Education Department about how the tests were created.

I asked Dennis Tompkins head of the SED Press Relations, who were the members of the Board of Regents who approved the content of the new Grade 3 to 8 2013 Assessments, to describe the process by which Pearson developed and “vetted” the new tests. I also asked if a sample test in its entirety was ever administered to test grades within New York State.

Tompkins wrote WPCNR:

“I’ll get you answers to your questions asap, but be advised Board of Regents members do not get involved in test development. That’s done by (SED) staff experts in conjunction with teachers across the state.”

(WPCNR has requested an interview with Education Commissioner John King to discuss the assessments on PEOPLE TO BE HEARD. Mr. Tompkins is working on setting that up.)

I asked Assemblywoman Amy Paulin of the 88^th A.D. the same questions:

She issued me this statement Wednesday:

“I am not familiar with who or how the tests were designed.

However, after meeting with the superintendents and assistant superintendents for curriculum in the 88^th A.D. regarding the shift in the Common Core  Learning Standards (CCLS) assessments.

I am convinced that the newly created tests are not a valid measure of whether students are college or career ready, which is the intended purpose of the assessments. I support the CCLS and believe that we need to pilot an improved assessment program that will be used as a model for many years to come

Holding a hearing an open meeting with those at SED (State Education Department) or with teachers who worked with Pearson is a good idea. Given the importance of these tests, I believe greater transparency is necessary.

When a student’s self-esteem and a teacher’s reputation or career path is at stake, we must make absolutely sure that tests used to measure student achievement and teacher effectiveness are accurately aligned to the curriculum and will produce valid, reliable results. Currently this is not the case.

Ms. Paulin said she did not know what individuals with the  Board of Regents and State Education Department had responsibility for approving the content of the Pearson-created Assessment Tests.

She said she did not know if any mock full-length “prototype assessments” were pretested by Pearson or the State Education Department on groups of students to judge whether the test format and projected content was reasonable on target for skill levels  for the length of time required or to judge if it was too harsh.

She wanted to hear from Pearson and the SED on how the tests were prepared  and why they felt the content of the tests was in line with the curriculum.

She did not know how much preparation of the tests by Pearson cost the state and was unaware of how other states had tested on Common Core aligned assessments.

Assemblyman David Buchwald, through his press spokesperson, Dan Weisfeld, released this statement when asked Mr. Buchwald’s response to the above questions:

“All the information that the Assemblyman (Buchwald) has to convey at this time can be found in the letter (sent Tuesday). If you have additional questions on the subject, I’d suggest you reach out to the Westchester-Putnam School Boards Association (WPSBA) who would be quite helpful on local education issues.”

Pressed on whether Mr. Buchwald thought hearings should be held on how the tests were created and why they were deemed appropriate, (and, of course how any new pilot assessment should be created)  Mr.Weisfeld furnished this statement:

“Assemblyman Buchwald is not a member of the Education  Committee, which would be in the position to make those kinds of decisions. While we appreciate your (WPCNR’s) understandable focus on broader educational issues, the Assemblyman thinks it’s appropriate to wait for a reaction (from the Board of Regents) before commenting on potential other items.”

Thomas Abinanti, the third Assemblyman to sign the letter to Board of Regents Chancellor, Merryl H. Tisch, has not yet responded to WPCNR’s questions. We await his reponse.

WPCNR has also asked Mr. Tompkins, the SED spokesperson for Commissioner of Education John King’s reaction to the Assemblypersons’ letter, whether he will suspend the 2014 tests, for example.

The Commissioner of Education has established the following dates for resumption of his listening tours to hear reaction to the assessments, that he at first cancelled after an unruly first hearing, then was persuaded to reinstate. The dates:

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WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2013. By John F. Bailey. October 23, 2013:

The most interesting statement of the night in the Tuesday Astorino-Bramson County Executive debate was Mr. Astorino saying in response to a News 12 woman-in-the-street question recorded earlier, he would not raise the 2014 budget and would again lower county property taxes 2%.

His spokesperson William O’Reilly told WPCNR Wednesday evening Mr. Astorino misspoke last night in the heat of the debate, saying, “What he meant is that he has pledged not to raise the tax levy.  Not sure if we can reduce it with pension pressures.”

Here is the blow-by-blow of the Tuesday evening County Executive debate between incumbent Robert P. Astorino and New Rochelle Mayor, Noam Bramson as WPCNR saw it from “ringside.” WPCNR recommends seeing the debate for yourself in the repeats being run on News 12.

Let’s go to the round by round, blow by blow:

At the Opening Bell, Astorino said  the county has turned around under his keeping costs in check philosophy “in contrast to my opponent in New Rochelle, we choose to have Westchester live within our means, sticking to my three P’s, Preserving critical services,Promotion of economic growth, Preserving communities character (against federal attempts at dictating zoning.

Bramson brushed off this gambit, expressing the campaign was about “two different approaches” to county government,  notably sensitivity – caring about preserving child care preventing unemployment, saving money by sharing services between communities in a more efficient manner, caring about a woman’s right to abortion and opposing the gun lobby, and creating jobs by improving planning, rezoning to open up areas to bring in companies and create jobs, and improving work skills of county workers to supply the skills companies need. He took Mr. Astorino to task for an administration of “confrontation and conflict” that “hasn’t worked.” Bramson characterized the election as a choice between himself, “a Clinton Mainstream Democrat” and a “Tea Party Representative.”

With three reporters asking questions Round One began:

Janine Rose of News 12  started asking if they thought the Tappan Zee construction was safe for boating public. Astorino immediately took credit for holding out for Mass Transit on the new bridge—later in the debate Bramson mocked this but Astorino countered that by noting that the bridge could not proceed without his vote (as Westchester County Executive), until mass transit was included. Astorino also slipped in that 39 of 41 unions have endorsed him, and his economic growth efforts had produced 27,000 new jobs.

Bramson countered saying “don’t take credit for other people’s work,” and on mass transit, you “have to get mass transit right,” saying Astorino had not paid attention to where mass bus rapid transit was going to go and “how it would integrate into the larger (transit) system. “

Astorino noted that the plan for Bus Rapid Transit (presumably with station locations) being developed by the Mass Transit Task Force of which he is a member is coming out in 60 days.

In Round Two- Gerald McKinstry of WVOX  raised the tax question of holding property taxes down.

Bramson waded in swinging, saying property taxes had gone up $800 Million in four years. He preached the homily of sharing services as the way to trim costs of city and county property taxes if school districts and cities, towns “worked together.” He said he would help facilitate that. He did not say if he would dictate consolidations (presumably because the county can’t do that). He said that would be a priority in his administration

Mr. Astorino pointed out how the county has done that, taking over policing for Ossining and partially for Tuckahoe, but it had to come at request of the towns because he could not impose it. He pointed out that a large part of New Rochelle  property taxes were due to Bramson raising taxes 7% a year for the last four years while he Astorino reduced the property tax countywide 2% in 2013. Mr.Astorino took the tax-and-spend haymaker to Mr. Bramson’s glass jaw every round.

Then came the shocker of the night:

Astorino responding to a question posed by a woman in the street, recorded earlier by News 12, promised to hold the county property taxes even in his budget for 2014 and cut property taxes 2% again in the new budget early on in response to a citizen-question. As we note at the top of this recap, his campaign has clarified that Mr. Astorino misspoke, that he promises to hold the tax levy at 2013 levels.

No one asked him how though in subsequent questioning.

The Westchester County Business Journal reporter asked whether Governor Cuomo’s Tax Free Zones for college sites might effect the county, or negatively.

The County Executive allowed they could be helpful, but slammed the tax message, saying, “We brought tax stability to this county.” He cited creating a climate where Regeneron is building two new buildings and adding 500 jobs. Authorizing through his idea, the Local Development Corporation, a  $250 Million in tax-free lending to White Plains Hospital Medical Center to expand their campus, and similar aid to Phelps Memorial in Tarrytown and Northern Westchester.

Mr. Bramson fired back, pointing out there are still 6 million square of office space vacant in the county. He said the county should be rezoning areas to make locations more attractive to companies looking at Westchester, and work to upgrade skill sets of county workforce to meet companies’ needs.

Astorino deftly brought the development problem back to taxes saying the problem was not what Westchester offers, but its tax structure—bringing up the 109% number that he says Bramson and the New Rochelle government raised taxes in 16 years (since 1996).  “That is unacceptable to businesses and homeowners.”

Bramson dropped his guard against this, not even defending it,  saying, “We’ve got to get beyond slogans. New Rochelle has the lowest municipal tax rate among Westchester cities.”

(Editor’s Note: The trouble with this is it is not. White Plains at $191.74 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, is lower than New Rochelle’s rate of $198.50 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. Bramson has not explained to WPCNR what his definition of the tax rate is).

Bramson also said Astorino while on the Board in Mount Pleasant presided over tax raises of 50%. Astorino brushed this aside, saying in his (Astorino’s four years running the county) Mr. Bramson in New Rochelle raised taxes 16.7% , 4.1% a year,  and school taxes in New Rochelle rose 11-1/2% due to Bramson’s Avalon deal that brought 150 children into the district. “7% (tax increases, combined) is unacceptable.” Astorino also said the county property taxes under his leadership had declined 4.9% at the same time.

And so it went.

Janine Rose returned to questioning the pair on whether a “slightly larger” new Tappan Zee Bridge without a rail rapid transit system was right.

Noam Bramson  said, “If that’s where we stop it. BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) is a train-like vehicle  with station-like stops, a conversation that should be unfolding right now.” He expressed that the county should be working harder assuring the construction and design of routes that will not “clog roads assuring livable cities.”

The incumbent County Executive said “No we don’t need it (rail transit).” He said it would be billions more expensive and drive tolls and taxes higher. He said he was a member of the Mass Transit Task Force (that meets this Friday at the White Plains Public Library, by the way). He said the thinking presently will feature “a hybrid of I-287 and route 119 with stops in Tarrytown, Elmsford and White Plains, with shuttles to the office parks.”

Bramson gamely tried to battle the “Astorinoizers” criticizing New Rochelle taxes. “Getting back to New Rochelle, I’ve been elected five times by the people of New Rochelle. They know my record despite the negative and dishonest claims (of my opponent).”

Astorino smiling broadly, said “109% over 16 years.” He said Westchester was one of only four counties in the state that had cut taxes over the last four years , and Westchester was the leader at 15%.

Bramson defended his pay increase in 2006, saying in Mount Pleasant when Mr. Astorino was on the board there, Astorino went along with  8 pay raises for the board and supervisor in 11 years, a 49% pay increase. “This is hypocrisy (on Astorino’s part).

Astorino redfaced, said when he came in to the County Executive office, “taxes exploding has its own living cost.” He said his support of Tier 6 pension reform was an effort to control the pension costs driving up taxes, and said he would work more for pension reform. The incumbent County Executive said he had cut taxes and “bucked bad habits of the past.” He said he cut county staff 19% and gotten 7 of 8 unions to pay a portion of their health care costs. (The 8^th, the Civil Services Employees Association, Astorino said later “is running phonebanks for my opponent.” Bramson had the last word, saying he (Bramson) had one raise in 18 years. Bramson did not say how much staff he had cut in New Rochelle.

On a question about IDAs (Industrial Development Agencies), Bramson said they can be “great tools,” if we make sure companies do what they promise to do.  He said over 20 years he had brought in hundreds of jobs, and development worth $8.5 Million in revenue every single year. “I know what it takes to develop an economy: planning, infrastructure, land use, skills (in the workforce.”

Astorino retorted he had done exactly that for the county: bringing in 27,000 new jobs. He pointed out how in his opinion Bramson management of the New Rochelle Echo Bay development had resulted in loss of major revenue, by eliminating hotels and the amount of retail planned. Bramson, said the waterfront would be revitalized, creating a park. Astorino said for half a day the Echo Bay waterfront would be mudflats (suggested dredging has been eliminated from the plan).

Asked about plans for the future, Bramson captured some momentum in the debate, saying “What are we going to do for the future? It is wrong to cut child care. Wrong to close neighborhood health centers, wrong to permit gun shows, wrong to fail to protect reproductive and abortion clinics.These are dumb choices”

Astorino countered, saying private sector workers average $63,000 a year, public sector employees in the county average $73,000, and when public employee benefits are added, the cost goes up to $110,000. “You have to strike a healthy balance between tax raises and expenditures.”

The county HUD settlement produced an interesting exchange. Astorino defended his defiance of HUD policy on adjusting zoning in communities HUD has found to be allegedly discriminatory in its zoning against the kind of buildings that can provide affordable housing.  Astorino aid first that the county has only spent $13,908 in legal costs in fighting HUD on the terms of the proposal. He said the county already had 400 of 750 units on the way. Reading from HUD letters on camera, he quoted HUD backing his position that HUD wants more than 750 units. He said, “We will not allow the federal government to control land use (in the communities).”

Bramson saw an opening and wound up, saying it was time “to put this behind us.” He accused Astorino policy of losing $20 million in withheld government funds.  Bramson repeated he will work with communities to find ways to get the housing into the communities.  Astorino  accused Bramson, in Astorino’s rebuttal of a policy of “capitulation and compromise.”

On the values issues, Bramson  hammered that Astorino’s stances on protecting abortion clinics, allowing gunshows, cutting child care were against national policies and county sentiment.

Astorino said he took those positions because the abortion clinic protection legislation he vetoed was an invitation to lawsuits against the county; Gunshow promoters had a right to put on gun shows, and they were allowed to do so only after county

At the final bell, Bramson speaking first made a final statement, saying “What you do counts. We have to cut costs and we can afford to be better.” He accused Astorino of fomenting an atmosphere of “unproductive conflict we don’t need. I will work with people to get things done.”

Astorino said, “64% of county persons polled recently said they think the county is on the right track.” Bramson has “pummeled the taxpayers (in New Rochelle) and he (Bramson) will do it again. I will stand up for private property owners. I will stand up for the taxpayers

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Naom Bramson with President Bill Clinton and the Bramson Family at the Rye Town Hilton Monday evening. Photo, the Bramson Campaign

WPCNR CAMPAIGN 2013. From the Bramson Campaign. October 22, 1013:

President Bill Clinton came to Rye last night to host a Noam Bramson fundraiser at the Rye Town Hilton. Today Bramson supporters were notified with this description of the event:
“Last night, Bill Clinton talked about how important this race is for all of us in Westchester and made the case as only he can. It was an honor and a thrill to hear him throw his support behind Noam. And we had a packed room of supporters ready to make the next two weeks really count.
Today I can tell you that as we head into the final stretch, this race is close … really close. In fact, after being down by 14 points as recently as Labor Day, we’re now looking at a dead heat. Here’s the latest polling for our campaign:

That’s a neck-and-neck race, within the margin of error, with Rob Astorino well under 50% (an important threshold for an incumbent). But we’re not there yet. And if Astorino outspends us three-to-one in this final stretch, our efforts could still fall short.”

The campaign seeks to raise an additional $250,000 in the next ten days to combat what they feel will be a strong Astorino push.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From the New York State Department of Education. October 21, 2013:

 State Education Commissioner John B. King, Jr.  announced Friday that  he and the State Board of Regents will hold a series of 12 forums in school districts across the state to meet with parents and educators to discuss the Common Core Standards and other education reforms approved by the State Board of Regents.  King will be joined at the events by Board of Regents members.

The events will be moderated by state legislators and held in school auditoriums in the legislators’ districts.

In addition, King is participating in forums at New York State Public Broadcasting Stations (PBS) that will include a studio audience. The PBS forums will be recorded for broadcast and will also be available on the web. Four PBS forums have been scheduled so far.

“The Board of Regents approved the reforms, including adoption of the Common Core in 2010,” Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch said.  “We’re just starting the second year of full implementation with aligned assessments.  It’s a good time for the Regents and the Commissioner to meet with parents and teachers to understand how the implementation is going and what adjustments, if any, have to be made.”

“I want to have a respectful, direct, and constructive dialogue with parents,” King said.

“More and smaller discussions will make sure there’s a real opportunity for parents to be heard. This is just the first round; we’ll continue to schedule forums for parents.  We want these to be regular events.   We want the conversation to rise above all the noise and make sure parents understand the Common Core, and, just as important, we want to understand parents’ concerns.  We all share the same goal: to make sure our students have the skills and knowledge to be successful in a changing world.”

King said the forums will be scheduled over the next six weeks; details for all the events will be finalized early next week.  The first forum will be held in the Albany City School District on October 24. Other locations for the forums are Rochester, Westchester, Suffolk County (2), Nassau County (2), Schroon Lake, Binghamton, Amherst, Syracuse, and Jamestown.

The four PBS televised forums will be in Syracuse -WCNY (November 7), Plattsburgh-WCFE (November 20), Binghamton- WSKG (date tba) and Rochester- WXXI (December 3).  King said more PBS forums will be scheduled.

Editor’s Note: The White Plains City School District Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, Jessica O’Donovan (above, left) is interviewed by John Bailey and Jim Benerofe (right, above) this evening, Monday on the new contemporary newsmakers interview show, PEOPLE TO BE HEARD, that can be seen on Channels 45 throughout Westchester County and on Channel 76 in White Plains at 10 P.M. Monday.

The interview may be viewed now or anytime on the internet at www.whiteplainsweek.com

Ms. O’Donovan addresses why White Plains students scored some 30% below last year on the new state assessments in Math and ELA, what the problems were with the test, and what the district is doing about it.

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WPCNR PHOTOGRAPH OF THE DAY. From Dan Brown. October 21, 2013:

These photographs show that FASNY is not the only threat to the Gedney Farms neighborhood.

These photographs were taken  of a coyote on a leisurely stroll on a old Ridgeway Country Club fairway Friday, Dan Brown says,  from the Northdale Road area.

Residents should take note not to allow small pets out in their yards, or leave small children unattended. The animals are elusive (can you find Wil E. Coyote in the photo below)and dangerous and deadly.