Published Letters
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[Most recent at the top]
This was submitted to the Ambler Gazette and Patch for publication 11/1/2011
Why you should vote for Ron Stoloff
Why should you vote for Ron Stoloff for School Board Director on November 8th? It’s very simple, basically - experience. While I have not served on the Wissahickon School Board before, I’ve spent my entire professional life in education. I taught in Philadelphia for 35 years in two of the more challenging high schools. I realized early on that my students were not performing up to their potential and because of this became involved in many educational reform plans. It was often easy to see that what someone from outside the classroom touted as the greatest program since sliced bread was not going to do the job and that the school would be shelling out thousands of dollars of scarce resources for nothing. While not all of the programs I took part in succeeded, virtually all of the one’s I rejected failed. Was this some uncanny prescience on my part? No. It was experience.
If I am elected to our School Board I will bring this experience of school and classroom life. I am the only candidate who has ever taught. We need someone who knows what’s going on in a classroom on our School Board and I am that person.
In the months that I have been going door to door in our community I have repeated this simple line hundreds upon hundreds of times and almost every time the reaction is the same, “You mean there’s no one on the Board who’s ever taught?”
I don’t advocate that all the Board members be teachers any more than they should all be business people or accountants. But someone needs to be able to shed a bit of light on how a classroom works.
I ask for your vote on November 8th to achieve that goal. Experience.
Published letter in the Patch.
Republicans try to explain away their non-attendance at the Forums to the Ambler Gazette and Patch -- without success. 11/1/2011
I looked at the parts of the letter from Brian Miles, chairman of the Whitpain Republican Committee posted on the Ambler Gazette site.
http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2011/10/31/ambler_gazette/news/doc4eaeec1b433ca023659201.txt
Though the entire text is not included in the post, I note that much of the same text is in a letter sent to the Patch - but then it was signed by *all* of the Republican School Board candidates.
http://ambler.patch.com/articles/wissahickon-republican-school-board-candidates-choose-not-to-attend-partisan-debate
So, who wrote the letter? Was it the candidates or was there a ghost-writer - namely the Chair of the Republican committee? When Burunda or I have something to say we don't run to the head of the Democratic Party to write for us, we do it ourselves.
After the Republicans refused to attend the 2nd Candidate Forum, they sent a letter to the Patch trying to explain it away.
Here's Ron's reply:
October 27, 2011
WSD GOP Candidates Refusal to Debate Surprising
Re: Wissahickon Republican School Board Candidates Choose Not to Attend 'Partisan' Debate
The Republican Party candidates for the Wissahickon School Board’s refusal to attend either of the two Forums sponsored by a Wissahickon school organization is rather surprising, coming after the second of these Forums.
It is my understanding that Ms Ullery actually told the organizer of the Forums that she could not attend because of a scheduling conflict, even though Taylor said she would be willing to change the dates to accommodate her and the other candidates. As it was, only two of the Republican candidates bothered to actually say they wouldn’t attend, the rest didn’t even do that.
As far as Ms Taylor being partisan, why is that a problem? I’m certain if you asked any of the community attendees to the Forums, they would tell you that the sessions were not partisan and questions were encouraged from everyone. In fact, I sent an email to the entire Tea Party mailing list, provided to me by the Tea Party itself, inviting them to the Wednesday, October 26 Forum. I don’t know if any attended as there was no check of affiliation at the door.
Further, when the Tea Party held a Candidate Forum before the Primary all the Democratic Party candidates attended, despite what one might consider a potentially hostile venue. In contacts with the leader of the Tea Party that night, I personally thanked him for the opportunity to share my views with his membership and would again. It is not the organization that provides these Forums but a chance to meet our community that is important.
As far as all of the Republican candidates not getting an invitation, there is one possible explanation: they added another name to their list after the primary and most of us didn’t even know this happened until signs began to appear on the streets with his name. Even the Republican party signs show this confusion as they didn’t change their own signs, just added a separate sign with Charles McIntyre’s name on it.
This confusion started in June with the resignation of Roberts after only two years of her four-year term. The Board then appointed one of the Republican candidates, Eugene Murphy, to finish Roberts’ term until a special election in November for the two years remaining of her term. Then, Young Park withdrew his name from the four-year position and filed for the two-year term and the Republican Party selected McIntyre to run in place of Park for the four-year position. Because of this game of musical chairs with its candidates, you can, perhaps, excuse confusion of someone not informed of all these changes.
Further, if you accept the Republican assertion that Ms Ullery wasn’t invited; don’t the Republican candidates talk to one another? If the other candidates received the invitations, why didn’t they contact Ms Taylor and request that an invitation be extended to Ms Ullery. If, at that point, Ms Taylor refused they might have a point but this never happened.
When the articles appeared in the Ambler Gazette and the Patch after the October 12th Forum, they certainly knew the sessions were being held and since there was no mention of any overt partisanship during the sessions, they should have felt safe enough for all six of them to come and face two Democrats.
Alas, this did not happen and there was no opportunity for the parents of the Wissahickon School district to meet the Republican candidates.
Ron Stoloff,
Candidate for Wissahickon School District Director
See it on the Patch with links to referenced articles.
Check out a blog posting on the Patch by Joe Maguire.
This letter was submitted to the Ambler Gazette for publication on October 27, 2011
The Republican Party candidates for the Wissahickon School Board chose not to attend the Candidates Forum sponsored by a parents group at Wissahickon High School on Wednesday, October 26th, just as they chose not to attend a session on the 12th.
This lack of willingness to face their constituents is disappointing. This didn’t seem to be a problem for them before the Primary, when the Tea Party organized a Forum and all nominees, including Democrats, attended.
What are the Republican candidates afraid of? If you check the article in the Ambler Gazette about the first session, there is no tone of partisanship yet they refused to attend the second session as well.
One of the candidates, Charles McIntyre, has not been seen because the Republican Committee appointed him after the Primary. Burunda Prince-Jones is well known by the community as she is running for her second term and I have been walking the community for months, knocking on doors and discussing the issues. Why have the Republicans denied our citizens the right to see their candidates?
Again, what are they afraid of?
Ron Stoloff,
Candidate,
Wissahickon School District Director
rstoloff@comcast.net
Unpublished, though submitted to the Ambler Gazette,
October 13, 2011 in reference to Meet the Candidates Night on the night before.
Click on photo for full size. Photo from LowerGwynedd-Ambler-Whitpa
Where were the Republicans?
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Brunda Prince-Jones & Ron Stoloff looking very lonely |
Something strange happened at Wissahickon High School last Wednesday night (10/12/2011). The
Wissahickon Parents Teachers Association had a meeting, expected all the candidates for the School Board to show up to answer questions and share their vision for our schools. However,
only the two Democrat candidates, myself and Burunda Prince-Jones, appeared.
Why? Were they afraid to open themselves to scrutiny by the voters and parents of the District? Are they so confidant that they think they can’t be bothered meeting with their constituents? Are they deliberately disrespecting the parents of the Wissahickon School District and their concerns?
Burunda and I answered all questions posed to us. It was a shame that those attending didn’t have our opponents to question as well.
Perhaps they will find it in their hearts – and schedules – to show up at the next Meet the Candidates session, now scheduled for Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 6PM in the Wisshahickon High School Auditorium.
[emphasis added]
Published in Ambler Gazette, June 2, 2011. pp 7
Ullery misread PSSA stats
To the Editor,
In last week’s Ambler Gazette, Barbara Ullery and I both had letters in response to Frank DeRuosi’s letter from May 19th. The problem with Ullery’s letter is that she continues to misinterpret the data – which she kindly included in her letter.
Only by actually viewing the table can we understand where she got the outlandish numbers she originally pronounced at the Tea Party Candidates Forum on May 11th.
She claimed that 60% of Wissahickon Middle School 8th graders were not rated Proficient on the Pennsylvania PSSA/No Child Left Behind
tests.
In DeRuosi’s letter he pointed out that she was way off, as the scores were actually 6% not rated Proficient. It was not until I looked at the link she provided that I finally realized where she had so terribly gone wrong: She was looking, not at the scores of all of the 8th graders but at the scores of the Special Education students. The chart she referred to on p. 22 was labeled
PSSA-M Results in Grade 8 Mathematics, where the “M” refers to
“Modified,” meaning the way the test is administered for Special Education Students with
Individualized Education Plans (IEPs).
Had Ullery had any knowledge in the education field, or even recognized that there was a difference in the way the test is administered to Special Education Students, or asked someone with the knowledge for a clarification, she wouldn’t have made the first error at the Forum or compounded it in her letter of May 27th. If she had scrolled up the document to
pages 16 and 17 she would have found the actual tables for the Middle School tests but I’m afraid that wouldn’t have served her purpose of attacking the present Board members, the teachers and staff of the school and, most shamefully, the students. This was a callous disregard of their reputations and feelings.
A question therefore remains: Is Ullery’s misstatement done out of ignorance of the very data she misquotes or is there some animus at the root of her statements? I repeat the suggestion of my letter of the 19th. “I think the current board, and, especially, the staff and students of our middle school deserve an apology from Ullery. When an error is made it is incumbent upon the speaker to make a sincere attempt to make up for that error.”
Ron Stoloff,
Candidate for Wissahickon School Director
[emphasis added]
Published in Ambler Gazette, June 2, 2011. pp 7 - 8
PSSA numbers clarified
To the Editor:
While I do not wish to become involved in a war of words via this mediwn, I again feel obligated to respond to statements made by Wissahickon School Board candidate, Barbara Ullery.
In her letter to the Gazette on May 26, she noted that her statement "60 percent of the eighth-grade students in Wissahickon were below proficient in both reading in math" was in-fact accurate, and that I misquoted her. She also included a website to check her statistics. Not being beyond reproach, I did follow the link provided in the letter.
The website, of which Ms. Ullery is speaking, is the District Report Card, published by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. On page 22 of the document the data indicates that 62 percent of a specific group of eighth-grade students are basic. What Ms. Ullery failed to mention is that
this statistic applies only to those eighth-grade students with individualized education plans, commonly referred to as IEP's. IEP's are provided to students who require learning support, for a variety of reasons, because they are not performing according to grade level standards. I think it notable to mention that nearly 40 percent of those eighth-grade students with IEP's are proficient.
Nowhere else in the document could I find a statistic that supports Ms. Ullery's
statements.
The document does in fact show that 90 percent of all eighth-grade students are proficient or advanced in math, and 95 percent of those same students are proficient or advanced in
reading. I include the website again for anyone who wishes to see just how wonderfully the students of the Wissahickon School District perform on standardized tests. The author's of No Child Left Behind would truly be proud of WSD. http://paayp.emetric.net/Content/reportcards/RC10D123469303.PDF
Frank DeRuosi
WEA Vice
[emphasis added]
From the Ambler Gazette, May 28, 2011 p. 8
Facts should always be checked
To the Editor:
On May 11, 2011, all but one of the candidates for the Wissahickon School Board – including me - appeared under the auspices of the Blue Bell Tea Party Patriots. I wish to thank that organization for giving us a platform to meet members of the Wissahickon School community. Lest anyone jump to any conclusions, the meeting included many people who were not part of the organization and I thank the Patriots for opening their meeting to all of the community.
It was an interesting meeting and one that pointed out $at often statements made by candidates, in rush of discussion, cannot be verified. Such was the case of two statements on May 11.
Barbara Ullery, running for the first time for the board, stated that "60 percent of the eighth-grade students in Wissahickon tested as basic on the PSSA reading exam." As was pointed out in a letter in the May 19, 2011, Ambler Gazette by Frank DeRuosi, the figure is actually 6 percent. It can generate great effect when numbers are blown totally out of proportion, but for someone running for office it behooves the candidate to verify the statistics presented. Almost all the candidates, including myself, disputed the figures but in the rapid give-and-take of the forum there was no time to verify Ullery's statements. In future forums, I will have a satchel of documents ready to react if such outlandish claims are made.
I think the current board, and, especially, the staff and students of our middle school deserve an apology from Ullery. When an error is made it is incumbent upon the speaker to make a sincere attempt to make up for that error.
Secondly, board President Young Park claimed that Wissahickon School District teachers are the highest paid in Montgomery County.
This, also, is incorrect according to the very contract that Park helped negotiate then voted against. There was actually a reduction in starting pay and Lower Merion is the highest paid in the county. Why he was unaware of this flabbergasts me.
This campaign will be long and exhausting. Errors will be made - by nearly everyone. We call upon the community to keep us on our toes as misstatements can create egregious misconceptions in Wissahickon. I want to thank Frank DeRuosi for doing his part.
Ron Stoloff,
Candidate for school director
[emphasis added]
From the Ambler Gazette,
May 19, 2011, p. 9
WSB candidates did not rely on facts
To the Editor:
On Wednesday, May 11, 2011, I attended a meet-and-greet at the Whitpain Township building for the candidates running for school board, organized by the Blue Bell TeaParty Patriots. I thank the organization for the opportunity to listen to the current school board members seeking re-election and to those new members who are hoping to be elected. The meeting itself was most informative.
While many things were said during the lengthy meeting, two statements were made that I feel obligated to clarify.
Prospective candidate Barbara Ullery made the first statement. She alleged, that based upon 2009 PSSA data, "60 percent of the eighth-grade students in Wissahickon tested as basic on the PSSA reading exam," The second questionable statement, made by current board President Young Park, was that the Wissahickon School District's teachers are the highest paid in Montgomery County. Both statements are simply not true.
With regard to Mrs. Ullery's comment, I verified the PSSA data for the 2009 - 10 school year. For the class in question, the then-current eighth-grade students, 94 percent tested as proficient or advanced. In fact,
the accurate number of students scoring basic or below basic in reading was only 6 percent, not 60 percent as stated by Ms. Ullery. These are significantly different numbers.
Indeed, of the same class, 86 percent tested as proficient or advanced in math. In fact, the Wissahickon School District regularly scores well above the state average in all areas of PSSA testing. AYP, or Adequate Yearly Progress, is easy to cling to as an indicator of a failing school.
However, AYP is misleading and is based upon an arbitrary percentage imposed by the federal government. Were you to check the Pennsylvania Department of Education's website; you would see that, in reality, 74 percent of 11th graders test as proficient or advanced on the PSSA. A similar search of the middle school would reveal that 90 percent of all sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders tested as proficient or advanced. It is not our schools that are broken; it is No Child Left Behind that is flawed.
As for Mr. Park's statement, while it is true that Wissahickon boasts some of the best-paid teachers in Montgomery County - a fact that we, as taxpayers should embrace and be proud of, rather than be incensed by - it does not have the highest pay scale.
In the past, Wissahickon enjoyed the highest starting salary in the county; that salary, however, has been reduced under the current contract.
The Lower Merion School District boasts the highest average salary for teachers in Montgomery County.
If candidates are going to use data to bolster their statements, they should at least be certain that the data they are using is accurate.
After all, facts matter.
Frank DeRuosi
Vice President,
Wissahickon Education Alliance
[emphasis added]