Ad Populos, Non Aditus, Pervenimus USPS 680020 Published Every Thursday OUR 110th YEAR – ISSUE NO. 42-110 Periodical – Postage Paid at Westfield, N.J. Thursday, June 22, 2000 Since 1890 (908) 232-4407 FIFTY CENTS Consultant Council Feud Ends Talks of Two Decks in Town With Appointment By PAUL J. PEYTON Specially Written for The Westfield Leader The Town Council will meet again with its parking consultant, Of New Prosecutor Southfield, Mich.-based Rich and By PAUL J. PEYTON the United States Supreme Court. Associates, on Tuesday, June 27, to Specially Written for The Westfield Leader continue discussion on a downtown A former Essex County Assistant parking management plan, the cen- Already exceeding a deadline to Prosecutor, she has been in private ter of which is construction of one or make a timely appointment, Mayor practice in Westfield since February, two parking decks. Thomas C. Jardim and the Town after relocating her practice West The council has to make a final Council put aside political differ- Orange. She is a long-time Westfield determination on whether to build ences Tuesday night and named lo- resident. decks and, if they do decide to build cal attorney Brenda Coppola Cuba After Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor multilevel structures, where they as the town’s new prosecutor. Jardim said, “I felt it was important would go. She completes the unexpired term that we bring a qualified person (into At last week’s council meeting, of Rafael J. Betancourt, who resigned the position) and move on to impor- Rick Rich of Rich and Associates earlier this month. That term ends on tant business.” explained that, in his judgment, Sunday, December 31. Second Ward Councilman James Westfield needs two parking struc- The appointment clears up an ap- J. Gruba added that he was “very tures to handle a shortage of both parent feud brewing along party lines, pleased with her qualifications and long and short-term parking spaces. with both sides championing their expect her service to the town will be Earlier this year, the consultant own candidate for the $22,000 an- exemplary.” proposed decks ranging in construc- nual post. Ms. Cuba has been a prac- Her predecessor, Mr. Betancourt, tion cost from $10 to $16 million. ticing attorney since 1982. who held the post for eight years, The largest of the structures, a She is admitted to practice before announced back in April that he was 732-space facility, would be built on the United States District Court in quitting pursuant to his candidacy the Westfield Train Station’s South Courtesy of Nancy Priest New Jersey, the United States Court for Second Ward Councilman on the KEEP MINDOWASKIN BEAUTIFUL…Maintaining the beauty of Mindowaskin Park in Westfield, even on such a of Appeals for the Third Circuit and Avenue parking lot, Lot 3A, and dreary day, was a priority for this resident as she weeded among a small gathering of yellow daffodils. fall Republic ticket. would handle both commuter and Mr. Betancourt’s resignation was downtown employee parking spots. effective June 6, the day the now The deck would result in a net gain former prosecutor officially became of 462 spaces, 200 of which would a candidate in the fall election by be for downtown employees; 64 for Westfield District Math Teaching Debate virtue of an uncontested Primary for visitor, customer and short-term the GOP nomination. spots, with 198 spaces geared for In order to begin looking for a commuters. replacement, Personnel Committee A second deck has been proposed Recaps National ‘Math Wars’ Controversy Chairwoman Janis Fried Weinstein, for Lot 1 off Prospect Street with a who represents the Fourth Ward on Editor’s Note: This is the second of By LAWRENCE HENRY has recommended that Westfield el- group and worked out a correct solu- capacity of 400 spaces for employee Specially Written for The Westfield Leader the council, called a meeting of the two stories about the Westfield School ementary schools adopt Everyday tion to the problem. The graduate and customer-visitor parking. Westfield school district math- Math, published by the University of mathematics students couldn’t do it, committee. Mr. Rich said the overall down- District’s plan to adopt a new el- ematics consultant Regina Kiczek The committee also includes ementary school math curriculum. Chicago School Math Project. she said. believes in “progressive, standards- The schools currently use Addison- The Rutgers-Kenilworth experi- Mayor Jardim, Councilman Gruba CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 * * * * * based” math education. Ms. Kiczek Wesley Math. Everyday Math has ment has been videotaped by the and Third Ward Councilwoman Claire Lazarowitz. been “piloted” in a test program that Harvard-Smithsonian Astrophysics compares it to Math Trailblazers, a Laboratory. It was announced to Mayor Jardim program developed by the Univer- Mathematically Correct? that the Republicans had a candidate to present for Prosecutor. sity of Illinois. There is an opposing view to pro- Ms. Kiczek has been affiliated with gressive math education, summarized Fourth Ward Councilman an experiment in math education at in dozens of articles and reviews on Lawrence A. Goldman said the Per- sonnel Committee, to his knowledge, Rutgers University for a dozen years. the Web site Indeed, it is the subject of her doc- www.mathematicallycorrect.com. did not select a final candidate. He toral thesis, which she will present The site was developed by four Cali- said Mayor Jardim had a “bunch of résumés” from which to choose. and defend in October. fornia-based people who came to the The Experiment fore during the “math wars” in CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 The experiment, funded by the California’s public schools in the National Science Foundation and the early 1990s. New Jersey Department of Educa- The Mathematically Correct Web tion, was conducted under the direc- site developers got a grant five years Steering Panel tion of Dr. Carolyn Maher, director ago to review math education cur- of the Robert B. Davis Math Educa- ricula. The site reviews eight second Seeks Support tion Institute of the Rutgers Gradu- grade and fifth grade math curricula. ate School of Education. At second grade, according to the Experimenters identified 18 stu- reviews, Everyday Math earned a For Arts Ctr. dents from the Kenilworth school “C.” At fifth grade, it got a “C- By PAUL J. PEYTON district with poor test scores in their minus” Addison-Wesley Math was Specially Written for The Westfield Leader elementary years. They met with rated “B+” at second grade, “B-mi- An exploratory committee those students for the rest of their nus” at fifth. looking into development of a school careers, teaching them math- Of the eight programs reviewed, 484-seat community arts center ematics according to progressive one, SRA-McGraw-Hill Math: Ex- in the currently unused audito- models, in 6-12 sessions per year. plorations and Applications, got an rium of the Elm Street Adminis- Ms. Kiczek spoke with some pride “A” for its second grade materials tration Building has approached about the six students remaining at and an “A-minus” for fifth grade. the Town Council to gain non- the end of their senior years in high Math Wars binding support. school. At a final session, she said, In an interview with The Westfield A similar request will be made the experimenters presented those Leader, Massachusetts Deputy Com- to the Westfield Board of Educa- students and a group of graduate missioner of Education Sandra tion next week. mathematics students with a prob- Stotsky, a research associate at the The building currently houses lem in statistics and probability. Harvard Graduate School of Educa- the school district administration Ingrid McKinley for The Westfield Leader The Kenilworth students, said Ms. tion, explained some of the issues in LEISURELY AFTERNOON…A cozy lawn chair, a good book, and a tall tree providing shade from the warm sun creates offices. Its 15,000-square-foot, the perfect afternoon for this Westfielder. Kiczek, met with each other in a CONTINUED ON PAGE 12 second-floor auditorium is cur- rently used for storage space. The $700,000-$800,000 project would be funded solely through grants and donations, Third in Series of Roundtable Discussion Deals With Issue according to Westfield Board of Education President Darielle Walsh, a member of the Westfield Of Raising Community Children of Tolerance, Values, Purpose Community Arts Center Steering Group. By SUSAN M. DYCKMAN ment Detective Ronald Allen and need to feel part of something big- The question was raised about the As part of renovations being Specially Written for The Times Gwen Cleaves, parent. ger.” message that is sent when sporting done to the building, an architec- “Raising Children of Tolerance, Other panelists were: The Rever- Noted Mrs. Cleaves, “Ideally, it’s activities are scheduled in conflict tural feasibility study was com- Values & Purpose” was the theme of end Dimitrios Antokas of Holy Trin- the parents’ job. They’ll do a much with religious worship. pleted to provide cost estimates the roundtable discussion held Mon- ity Greek Orthodox Church, David better job if the community supports “During soccer season,” explained on renovating the space for an day, June 19 at the Westfield Munici- Mueller of the Westfield Y, Principal them.” Reverend Antokas, “I started losing arts center. pal Building. of Redeemer Lutheran School Roger Mr. Borchin had a different take my altar boys.” The reverend tried to Mrs. Walsh said the volunteer The program was the third in a Borchin, former Westfield Council- on the notion of being part of a accommodate the children’s sched- committee is looking for an en- series of four Monday night man Donnell Carr, and Town Attor- village. ule by moving his services up 15 dorsement of the project from the roundtables co-sponsored by the ney William S.