An Eagle@Liberty Soars!

The most progressive thing about Englewood Board of Education's reorganization meeting on May 12, 2011 were the smiles on the Eagle@Liberty students as they posed with their plaques for winning 1st prize in a video contest. 

In the top photo they are pictured posing nervously with their instructors.

In the second from the top, I got an odd response when I asked them to strike a "homeboy poise" for me. They smiled and gave me what they knew I wanted, which was a more relaxed pose featuring teenage contest winners.

They cheered when I asked them to pose in front of a collage of President Obama. In unison, they all said, "Yes We Can!" They were proud to echo the message presented on the board at Grieco Elementary School. You had to be there.

Students enrolled in Englewood's E.A.G.L.E School recently entered a contest at The Center For Alcohol and Drug Resources: A Program of Children's Aid and Family Services. The winning video chosen was created by the Eagle Alternative High School Program which is part of the Englewood Public School District. Congratulations to Natalia Rodriquez, Aziz McCullum, Michael Chin, Domonique Pleasant, and David Naranjo. Natalia was not in attendance at the meeting.

It is a short video that runs less than 2 minutes and may be viewed at the organization's site.  http://www.tcadr.org/programs/psa-contest.html 

I must make note that the EAGLE Program's school building has been condemned for many years.

Code of Ethics for All NJ Board of Education Members

The School Ethics Act requires all school board members

to abide by the following Code of Ethics:

a. I will uphold and enforce all laws, rules and regulations of the

    State Board of Education and court orders pertaining to schools.

    Desired changes shall be brought about only through legal and

    ethical procedures.

b. I will make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of

    children and will seek to develop and maintain public schools

    that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their

    ability, race, creed, sex, or social standing.

c. I will confine my board action to policy making, planning, and

    appraisal, and I will help to frame policies and plans only after

    the board has consulted those who will be affected by them

d. I will carry out my responsibility, not to administer the schools,

    but together with my fellow board members, to see that they

    are well run.

e. I will recognize that authority rests with the board of education

    and will make no personal promises nor take any private action

    that may compromise the board.

f. I will refuse to surrender my independent judgment to special

   interest or partisan political groups or to use the schools for

   personal gain or for the gain of friends.

g. I will hold confidential all matters pertaining to the schools

    which, if disclosed, would needlessly injure individuals or the

    schools. In all other matters, I will provide accurate information

    and, in concert with my fellow board members, interpret to the

    staff the aspirations of the community for its schools.

h. I will vote to appoint the best-qualified personnel available after

   consideration of the recommendation of the chief administrative

   officer.

i. I will support and protect school personnel in proper performance

   of their duties.

j. I will refer all complaints to the chief administrative officer and

   will act on the complaints at public meetings only after failure

   of an administrative solution.

As Parent advocates and Community Members we must hold each School Board Member accountable or to his/her OATH. The New Jersey Constitution promises and assures us that our children will be provided with a thorough and efficient education. Each board member is required to attend training that prepares him/her to serve on the school board. Perhaps it is time we encourage them to go above the requirement and aspire to higher heights. Does that sound familiar? It has been suggested that we compete with surrounding Towns that have higher test scores. I suggest that we compete with ourselves to be the best that we can be. Towns that we seek to best have board members who are very active in the New Jersey School Board Association.


Certificated Board Member (CBM) - the requirement
Master Board Member (MBM) - the second level of certification
Certified Board Leader (CBL) - the highest level of individual certification

Recipient boards must demonstrate an emphasis on Student Achievement in their board actions.
Board Certification (BC)
Board Recertification (BR)
Carole E. Larsen Master Board Certification (MBC)

The Gift Of Education

The Gift of Education
© 1972
Christmas came early this year
Rocker fella played Santa Claus
Bought politicians and changed the laws
President made a lot of promises
About how things are going to be different

But empty stockings still hang
On my Johnny’s classroom walls
My son and yours still fight
In a strange school's halls

My child needs the gift of Education
It does not matter
Whether the term applied
Is integration or segregation
You cannot integrate a person’s mind
With blind, brute force

That is not the solution

Put your hand in your pocket
Stop squeezing the eagle
Send my child to school
In his own neighborhood

Busing my child away cross town
Will not achieve the integration
That I seek
Not while bias minds fight to keep his beauty down

I pay taxes
But my child is still getting hand me down clothes
Hand me down books,
Hand me down looks,
Hand me down schools
Hand me down teachers
Boys fighting boys and their father’s too

That is enough!

Put your hand in your pocket
Stop squeezing the eagle
Build my child
A Good school
In his own neighborhood.

For the past week I have been reading the various Doctoral Dissertations written about the over 50 year attempt to integrate Englewood Schools. Dr. Leroy McCloud's stuck with me the most. It is probably the most controversial. I dug back into some of my activist poetry from my college days in the early 1970's and found the piece that I share above. I guess Dr. McCloud and I had more in common that I ever knew.

In 1980, I moved back to Englewood when my daughter was in the 4th grade. She was getting taunted a lot in the Fort Lee School she attended. At Cleveland School, her first marking period report card had all A's. It was just too good to be true. I felt in my heart that she would do better when more of the children looked like her, but that was too much of a change. At the parent conference I questioned her teacher about the A's. She exuded pride while extolling my daughter's great qualities. Mind you, I love my daughter, but I have always been realistic in my expectations. I asked the teacher to describe the child for whom she had written that glowing report. She described someone totally different who shared the same first name as my child. That wonderful report card was for someone else. She had neglected to add my child to her class roster. When I complained to Dr. McCloud, he was only a little perplexed. He insisted that my daughter keep those great grades for that marking period and that teacher was to start fresh with her the second marking period.

It was my first experience with the Englewood School system as a Parent. That incident did a lot to shape the way I interacted with my own students for the next 27 years. I was determined to know all of my students, even the ones I supervised in Study Halls and other activities. Everyone needs affirmation and recognition. Children need it most of all. Getting or not getting affirmation shapes their lives for years to come.

Someone Falls Short

In the discussion of tying teacher tenure and salary to student's test scores and overall achievement something has been constantly overlooked. No matter how unpopular the concept is, teachers are NOT the only ones directly responsible for student achievement.

Boards of Education, Superintendents, Principals, Coordinators, Supervisors, Financial Planners, Parent/Teacher Organizations, Accountants and everybody else fails everytime a child does.

So get it straight America.
Everytime a parent is unresponsive when a child needs homework help
someone falls short.
Everytime a teacher is unresponsive to the needs of individual children or their parents
someone falls short.
Everytime a principal is unresponsive to the needs of a teacher
someone falls short.
Everytime a Superintendent is unresponsive to a capable & dedicated principal
someone falls short.
Everytime a Board of Education is unresponsive to the needs of a
diligent and conscientious Superintendent
someone falls short.
Everytime a State Board of Education is unresponsive to the fact that school districts ignore their reports,
someone falls short.

To The Man Who Wants Governor Christie to run for President

Dear Jim Yardley,
You are very charming and I admire you from afar.

You embody the essence of the sensitive, strong,
Square faced men like Clint Walker and John Wayne
Whom I watched on television in my youth.
I dreamed of meeting a thoroughly likeable and heroic guy like you.

"How are the children"

Then I turned my fairy tale page and realized that you were not real.

You present a very convincing argument as to why we must continue to make a painful sacrifice

And support the man you describe in President Barak Obama.

Thank you.

Your words inspired in me a dynamic resolve to do whatever I can

to keep that charismatic young leader in the same White House as Thomas Jefferson.

He is only just beginning.

The fairy tale is over.

Perhaps the resolution will allow you to maintain your delusions of grandeur.

Good luck to you.

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for reminding me to do my best.

                                        Smell a flower