Golden’s rule
Compare unto others in the largest league



GUILDERLAND — One school board member says the district is selling its students short by not comparing itself to similar schools from across the state.

"We're not opposed to reporting on similar schools," says Superintendent Gregory Aidala. "It's out there," he said of data complied by the State Education Department.

Peter Golden, a frequently outspoken school-board member, noted at Tuesday’s board meeting that the school report card this year, which compiles data from required statewide testing, compares Guilderland to other schools in the Suburban Council.

He pointed out that the education department has grouped similar schools from across the state, based on district resources, student needs, and numbers of students with limited English proficiency.
"When I mentioned this to a couple of people involved in education, their response was, basically, that it is not fair for Guilderland to be grouped with downstate schools," he said.
He went on, "The worst part of bigotry is not that people give voice to their spectacular ignorance. It’s that those who are the focus of the prejudice begin to believe it"They internalize a diminished view of themselves."

In the "50-school league" grouped by the sate, said Golden, Guilderland is near the top in such subjects as French and European history but towards the bottom on the eighth-grade English exam.
He said it is "only honest that, if we are going to trumpet excellence at every turn that we compete in a more realistic arena and that we honor the hard work of our teachers and students by showing them that we believe they can compete with anyone, anywhere, any time."

Golden named successful people from upstate New York, ranging from comedian Lucille Ball to writer Joyce Carol Oates and including three United States presidents.

He said he will be presenting a motion at the next board meeting that the administration report the numbers to the board and the public, and that similar-school rankings be included in the district's annual report card.

Aidala responded that the information about similar schools wasn't available from the state this year at the time the report card had to be compiled. The Suburban Council schools, he said, are "our local comparison." Much like the Ivy League schools were initially an athletic league, so, too, were the Suburban Council schools, but both groupings have come to represent other similarities as well.
The report card for 2004-05, Aidala said, included information on similar schools and, he recalled, some board members asked at the time it was presented, "What does this mean in terms of Suburban Council schools""

"There are many, many ways to look at data," said Aidala. He said the most important focus at Guilderland is in using the data to assist students. Students who don’t score well on the state tests are given extra help.

"We have a full plate," Aidala said of the upcoming year. He cited a list of priorities including:

— Hiring a new superintendent and a new high-school principal;

— Launching a foreign-language program in the elementary schools;

— Passing a $27 million referendum to upgrade the schools, improve technology and safety, and build a new district office; and

— Implementing a new technology program.

The superintendent concluded, "I would take exception that in any way we sell our students short or that they are not comparable to their downstate peers."

"Numbers are numbers," said board member Hy Dubowsky.

He said that a $200,000 house here would be worth $1 million on Long Island.
"The concepts of measures is critical"," he said. "One measure is those lousy numbers."

Board President Richard Weisz said that Guilderland had often compared itself to the state's list of similar schools in the annual report card.

But his take, he said, is: "The district is trying to use these scores to improve the delivery of education to the students."

While Guilderland has great programs, he said, the challenge is to make sure it doesn't fail individual kids.

It's best to do the biggest and widest ranking, said Golden.

"We don't look at the test scores for ranking," said Weisz. "That's what the public does."