[Editor’s Note: At tonight’s special 6 o’clock School Board meeting at Lin Howe School, Nancy Goldberg and Laura Chardiet will be sworn in as new members, replacing Scott Zeidman and Steve Gourley, and officers will be elected.]
When you have taught school for what seems like every day of your mature life, how do you prepare for your debut as a School Board member tonight at Lin Howe School?
In the month since skating to an impressive victory over four rivals in the Board election, Nancy Goldberg has been visiting schools, interviewing principals.
“I have been learning about their positions on data and how important it is,” said Ms. Goldberg, idol of thousands of students and their parents. “I wanted to know how we build our funding and our general attitude toward data.
“It has kind of become the end-all and be-all.
“I have been trying to determine if data is as important as people think it is. A lot is to be said for a child going through the process of educating and tapping into all different kinds of interests.
“Data, for collection of the purpose to make sure you get enough money — that sometimes can interfere with the gradual evolution of a student’s development.”
After 41 years in the School District, Ms. Goldberg “is appalled by the number of tests kids have to take. I have mentioned this before.
“I guess I am working on a position that will allow me to criticize excessive testing. That is not new with me.
“I also have talked with principals about their relationships with their faculty. The principals seem very knowledgeable, and interacting well with each other, with their faculties and with parents.”
Lately, Ms. Goldberg has been putting her campaign experience to pragmatic use. “At each school,” she was saying, “they have snapshots of what they think they are doing for individual students in school. Before meeting with the principals, I would go in and use that as my launching point. I usually just hae segued into subjects that were suggested to me when I was precinct-walking. We talked about such things as, how do teachers evaluate the teachers? Or do they? Is it teamwork or hierarchical?
“I am getting answers from them that re-enforce what I have determined on my own.”
