Dear Jon, Debbie, Cheryl, Ginger, Wendy, Evy and Cathy,

It’s obvious that the entire BOE is very concerned about the math issues and you are looking for the best solutions. Thank you for listening to the community’s concerns about math standards in our district. I heard the board ask important questions about Integrated Algebra. I noticed that you put the horse before the cart - namely wanting a resolution to the text / curriculum issue before you made a final decision on the timetable. NYS has put school districts in a difficult situation.

Now we need you to use that same approach to addressing and fixing the problem with math in our district.  I regret that I wasn't paying closer attention when the TERC and later Connected Math programs were put in. At the time I thought the math had some silly components to it, from the homework I saw, but I didn't realize how far from a mainstream approach it actually was and that essential mathamatical algorithms and tools were being ignored. I deeply regret not learning more and speaking out for my children at the time. 

I’ve always felt that my kids were bored and not being challenged in math. I realize now just how little math education they were actually being given. Back in January I started asking my kids what I thought were simple math problems for their grade levels (Max is in 6th, Gabby is in 4th). Much to my dismay, my very bright children who always bring home great grades in math, are 2 grades behind where I was as a kid - and just as far behind my friend’s kids in neighboring districts. How will we rescue the "TERC babies" who were the leading part of this failed experiment and now find themselves so far behind?

Lack of accountability in our schools concerns me greatly. Dr. Brooks insists the curriculum isn't to blame. He says it's the implementation and the people teaching it. If you agree with him on this, then why has nothing been done to correct and manage this? It’s easy to blame the teachers, but accountability starts at the top and works its way down.  Why hasn’t the board held the Superintendent, Math Chairperson or the individual principals at each school accountable for what is going on? 

Five years later where are we?
Not only have we failed to raise the bar above NYS Standards, up until just recently you have ignored the input of parents in our community. Finally the Administration and district experts admit that the program has gaps and they are diligently working to fill them with supplements. These are the same experts who have outlawed the use of supplements for the past 5 years!  The parents knew it was severely lacking immediately, but the Administration blindly followed this program without the use of their own better judgment because they are biased and care more about their Constructivist education theory than about our children. It shouldn’t have taken a petition and a website for someone in the Plainview school system to realize that 7x8, long division, 4 quarts make a gallon, or how to make change from a $10 bill was missing from the curriculum! Parents figured it out, but unfortunately we were ignored. How is it that only now, after the parents in the community are up in arms does the Superintendent, Math Chairperson, Math leaders and Principals realize this? Right now it’s hard to have confidence in the promises of the same math team going forward when they have such a dismal track record. They let us down and my kids’ education is too important to be entrusted to a B squad.

Dr. Brooks keeps saying that there is no evidence or proof that the curriculum is to blame for our poor scores. I've heard him say it in private and in public meetings. Everyone who watched News12 heard him say those exact words. I have to ask - "What proof do you have that it is working"? Once again I must stress that mediocrity is not and must not be the goal of our school system. We expect excellence. That is the reason we moved here and that is why we approve the school budgets every year despite our high taxes. We are willing to pay top dollar, but we expect to get the results we are paying for. If Dr. Brooks with all his knowledge and connections and ties to the Constructivist community can't make TERC work, who can??? The proof is in the pudding. The math scores are not going up, they are going down. The parents, your customers and the people paying the bills, are not happy with it. Less then 4,000 people voted in the last election. Over 850 have signed the petition. For every person who signed it you can bet there are 2 or 3 others who want to but won't. Why? Because they are afraid to - I don’t want to go into their reasoning, I'm just telling you that the 850 signers are just the tip of the iceberg.

You can try and dismiss it, but when you see the homework and assignments Parkway kids get compared to the other schools there is simply no denying it. Parkway isn’t following the TERC curriculum, they are teaching traditional math with TERC Investigations. It should come as no surprise that they had the highest math scores as well. Unfortunately since Parkway still bases the curriculum on Investigations, these same children are stumbling when they go to Mattlin Middle School and are asked to learn more advanced mathematics.

Let’s look at the inverse side of this equation. From what Dr. Brooks and the people who attend Pasadena tell me, “The Principal and the teachers over there love TERC Investigations”. They think it is great. Yet Pasadena’s 4^th graders had horrible test scores. They finished 150 out of 182 Forth grade classes in Nassau County. That’s not mediocre, that is deplorable. There is no demographic reason why these kids should finish so far below the other schools.  If teachers and a principal who are committed to teaching the program just as Dr Brooks asks can't get the kids to succeed, then it has to be the curriculum itself that is at fault. It’s not a coincidence and it’s the proof and evidence that you and Dr. Brooks are not willing to recognize.  

I implore you to listen to your community. Listen to our teachers. Do not invest another dime in TERC Investigations or any other reform math program. Look at the mistakes over the past 5 years and correct them. We need traditional math textbooks for every grade level K-8. Most importantly, make it clear to the Superintendents office and the administrators of our district that mediocrity will no longer be tolerated. Either they do better or move on. No hard feelings, we just demand more from them than other communities. If they can’t deliver the education we deserve and pay for, then we have to start finding other people who can.  Lets start running our schools to be the best. Anything less is simply selling our children and our community short. We believe in our children and we put our money where our mouths are every year when we approve the school budget. It’s time to start delivering the education we are paying for.  

Lets all work together to bring our district back to where it belongs – as one of the best on Long Island!!

Sincerely,

Gary Bettan
Concerned Parent

My name is Gary Bettan, and I am running for the Board of Ed because I C.A.R.E.

Vote for me in the upcoming election and together we can effect the changes necessary to bring our district back to Excellence! (Not registered to vote? Click here)

There are 3 seats on the Board of Ed that are up for election this May. In the coming weeks I'll be posting more information about myself and why I am running. While the issues in Math are what brought me into this, I realize that there are many areas in our schools that can benefit from a more businesslike approach. My goal is to bring back
Common sense, Accountability, Responsibility and Excellence back to our district.