Incompetency, Impotency and the Visionary

Where the hell is President Violetta Peters and the rest of the Board of Education on the question of Joe Ferraina?

What can we say? Once again, the Asbury Park Press has run an article superficially detailing the gross negligence of the Long Branch Board of Education in its handling of Superintendent Joseph “Mr. Visionary” Ferraina’s compensation but fails miserably at doing any investigating beyond internet searches and regurgitation of old news reports.

Ferraina needs to go and so does the Rubber Stamp Board of Education that allows his ego and his caprice run unabated and unrestricted through the Presidential City.

Ferraina is universally despised throughout the city’s decision making community for his arrogance and heavy-handedness. His use of city and state funds to silence dissenters, reward obedience, alienate employees and feed his own avarice is both well known and unconscionable.

WHERE IS THE BOARD OF EDUCATION ON THIS?!?!

They are either too stupid to see what everyone else sees OR they are complicit in his wrongdoing.

As we have said before, most, if not all of the Board members have family members on the Schools’ payroll so maybe they have no motivation to address these concerns.

Then again, there has not been a serious challenge (and in many years ANY challenge) to the incumbent board members in School Board elections.

We call on the Board of Education to make a decision on our Superintendent of Schools—they either have to declare themselves in favor of Mr. Ferraina and his $300,000+ annual compensation OR they have to oust him and start fresh with a new management team.

Anyone wanna take bets that they do nothing?

Long Branch Schools, Addiction, Recovery and Narcissism

The Asbury Park Press ran an opinion piece urging a redefininition of the formula used to distribute school aid throughout New Jersey. We at the LBA couldn't agree more but probably for reasons you might not guess.

You see, we believe that the Board of Education are all addicted. Yes, the Board of Education is addicted to State school funding rules and programs that routinely give the Board of Education millions of dollars they do not know how to spend.

Don't get us wrong though, we firmly believe that Superintendent of Schools Joe Ferraina knows how to spend it but we don't believe he knows how to spend it wisely.

Case in point, Long Branch has been on a school building bent over the last several years. New High School, Middle School, Garfield School, Anastasia School, Elberon School (on the way) and who could forget Joe's own monument to his own narcissism, the Joseph M. Ferraina Early Childhood Learning Center.

One need only look at the things the Board of Education spends its millions on to know that they have more than they know what to with. Joe Ferraina's total compensation package of more than $300,000 per year was the subject of a New Jersey State Commission of Investigation report in 2006. Despite being chided for "Questionable and Hidden Compensation" the Board of Education continues to not only employ Ferraina but also continues to allow him unbridled ability to hire and promote every stripe and flavor of administrator, manager, middle manager, assistant, principal, assistant principal, division director, etc.

Machiavelli himself would have blushed at the manner in which JMF has crushed opposition, silenced detractors and caused his entire teaching staff to cower at his very approach. When Long Branch's own "The Link News" began running articles that portrayed Ferraina in a not-so-nice light, Ferraina simply created a Public Relations post for the reporter in question and next thing you know, the stories stopped entirely.

All of this money, spent on all kinds of things, and what kind of results do we get? Schools that consistently fail to meet even the minimum state and federal educational standards for student achievement. Not one Long Branch School met the Annual Yearly Progress requirements for the Federal No Child Left Behind standards. The Long Branch High School alone has not made this standard in more than three consecutive years. Graduation rates are consistently below 90%. Drop out rates are consistently higher than state averages.

So, lets give three hurrahs to the good folks at the Long Branch Board of Education and their five star self-described "visionary" superintendent for their fine work.

Time for some new blood on the Board of Ed?