Our Schools Are In Crisis: Evolve!

Posted on northjersey.com and reprinted here with additions...

There you go proving our point again. The real deal here is that the children from other towns are better

prepared educationally than Englewood children. That is the important point here. The needs of the many far outweigh the needs of the few. There are only 193 children from Englewood registered in the Academy. We, as taxpayers are supplementing the education of School Choice students to the tune of approximately 1.7 million dollars per year. That does not include litigation, which is an undisclosed amount. "Academic Segregation" is coming to an end in Englewood. It is not benefiting enough Englewood children It siphons off resources in order to survive in the state that it is in currently. Note how the entire school is described by the Department of Education.

"This school's academic performance lags in comparison to schools across the state. Additionally, its academic performance lags in comparison to its peers. This school's college and career readiness is about average when compared to schools across the state. Additionally, its college and career readiness is high when compared to its peers. This school's graduation and post-secondary performance lags in comparison to schools across the state. Additionally, its graduation and post-secondary readiness is about average when compared to its peers." New Jersey Department Of Education  (emphasis is theirs)       http://www.state.nj.us/education/pr/1213/03/031370040.pdf  

It should be noted again, that there is no plan now and there has been no discussion of changing the content

A 6th grade Science class from the Dwight Englewood
School participates in a STEM activity at the 3rd
Street Community  Garden

or makeup of Academy Program classes. There has been no discussion of changing the teachers that you love so much. None. The Propaganda that has your head spinning around is based on lies. Ultimately one must face the fact that the majority of the parents at the April 10th meeting do not reside in Englewood and do not vote here. We did not try to fill the room with children or parents from Englewood. We saw what the deal was and we did not take the bait. We did not want the riot that would have occurred after parents and students from Englewood listened to the remarks made at that meeting. Change will come. The Program must evolve. The entire school district must be reorganized for the sake of all students.

It is a low place to go when discussing this situation to blame a population of children who have been told since 3rd grade that they are not good enough, because of their Math scores. My 27 years in the classroom are not going to waste here. In the 3rd grade, one group of children is given an affectionate pat on the head, while the others are ignored. The situation that exists at the high school is exactly what happens when the district, teachers, administrators and Board members have "high" expectations for one group and "no" expectations for another. Every single parent in the district should sign that contract that is handed out to the IVY children. Englewood children must be better prepared from Pre-K up. It is a tragedy that you feel the way you do, but change must come in order for the entire district to survive.

The students are going to Achieve just as well regardless of the building in which they study. Parents need to

They got a little dirty as they turned the soil in their
chosen raised bed.

calm down and let the professionals do what has to be done. The School Board does not run the district. The parents certainly do not run the district. The parents from out of town come to one Board meeting and everyone goes "wow". I have missed only 2 Board meetings since February 2011. I have seen maybe 3 School Choice parents in attendance. Get a grip on reality. We are not slaves and there are many different types of intelligence. For the record, I prefer a STEAM building. Art cannot be separated from Architecture, Design and Engineering. It is shared by the disciplines.

Change should have come in 2008 when the Board realized that the Equity & Excellence millions were no longer available. It is not okay with me that my property taxes supplement students who heckle Englewood parents, "class Act Fatty". I heard that with my own ears and saw the mouth that it was coming from. I love the way the problems in the Academy are sanitized. Did students earn the right to be disrespectful when they scored higher on the test? Do students deserve the right to crack into the server in

They tested the soil  in the beds. 

order to collect tests and grades of all students in the district? That child/hacker was made a hero. Was he following in the footsteps of this guy who graduated from BA? Are they heroes when they commit the same infractions that north building children are demonized for even thinking about?  Let us just discuss how there are also problems in the Academy Program. Stop talking about an imperfect failed Educational Model as if there are no faults. David Matthews has been complaining about the stagnation for at least 3 years. Which one is it? Is it stagnant or perfect. Stagnant is not good. plagiarized or no.

Albert Koloff, northjersey.com did a comparison study of Englewood's School Choice and the Manchester school district's School Choice Program and concluded that our model is not sustainable. Other districts make a profit on School Choice, EPSD incurs a deficit. That deficit is shouldered by the taxpaying residents. These same residents are being discriminated against in too many ways to list here. Our children are being disenfranchised year after year. Taxpayers from all 4 Wards are losing out on having a successful School District, because our Board vilifies our professionals in public instead of giving them the support needed to educate all children. Learned and trained professionals have given excellent advice on how to raise test scores and overall Academic Achievement, but this Board cannot admit that it shot itself in the foot with a cannonball when this program was constructed this way. I was here and the residents of Englewood were not consulted about the establishment of this Educational Model.

                           

                                    How are the children? How are ALL of the children?