Create a Culture of Ownership at Scarsdale Schools

These remarks were given by Scarsdale's Art Rublin at the meeting of the Board of Education on December 9 in response to comments made earlier in the evening that can be viewed here: Good evening. Arthur Rublin, Donellan Road: Like Mr. Labick, whose comments on the tax cap tonight I sincerely appreciate, I would like to applaud Friday's Inquirer letter to the editor from one of the signatories of the Scarsdale Declaration of Fiscal Independence presented at the last meeting, Richard Toder, joined by four other former Board Presidents – Jackie Irwin, Barbara Jaffe, Michael Otten, who spoke earlier, and Evelyn Stock. I was very pleased to see that the letter, with the headline, as Mr. Labick noted, "Let the board of education do its job," made the case that the Board should balance educational value and fiscal prudence irrespective of whether the resulting Budget is above or below the tax cap. The former Board Presidents stated, quote, "Please continue the discussion referencing relevant and unbiased data and facts about educational value and fiscal prudence, not the cap."

Speaking of educational value, as Board Trustees likely know, the latest results in the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, which Mr. Lewis just referred to, were released last week. PISA compares how 15 year-olds in 65 cities and countries can apply math, science and reading skills to solve real-world problems. As Tom Friedman noted in yesterday's New York Times, the most recent PISA results were, quote, "not pretty for the home team." The results showed the U.S. losing substantial position to other countries. This past summer, Dr. McGill wrote in the Inquirer that one reason why a progressive approach to Scarsdale education is important at a time when, in Dr. McGill's words, some voices are demanding that public schools do more with less, is because, quote, "....Other nations are re-inventing their schools, emphasizing critical thinking, innovation and entrepreneurial enterprise." I would submit to the Board that the latest PISA results are the latest support for Dr. McGill's case for a forward-leaning approach to supporting Scarsdale schools, through the budget process and otherwise.

I will also note, apropos of the earlier discussion tonight, that Tom Friedman cited the expert who manages PISA, Andreas Schliecher, as saying that, "The highest performing PISA schools all have 'ownership' cultures – a high degree of professional autonomy for teachers in the classrooms, where teachers get to participate in shaping standards and curriculum and have ample time for continuous professional development. So teaching," Friedman observes Schliecher saying, "is not treated as an industry where teachers just spew out and implement the ideas of others, but rather is 'a profession where teachers have ownership of their practice and standards, and hold each other accountable."

The reference to "continuous professional development" resonates following the Report we heard tonight about the elementary schools.

Thank you very much.