We have serious issues affecting our nation. It is up to us to face them. We at New Rochelle Community Pulse have chosen to focus on the issue of equity in education here in the City School District of New Rochelle. All this in an effort to develop solutions to some of the problems that are perpetuating the vicious cycle of poverty and underachievement in our community. We believe that the task is doable and has greater applicability to our nation. There are practical reasons for doing this in New Rochelle. One of many is due to the reality that it is the place where our children were born, are educated and live. To perform this task we must ask ourselves and our neighbors very difficult questions. Furthermore, we must be ready to accept answers we will not like. We believe that when we are ready to face some of those answers, we will be ready to move forward.
One of the major roles of schools is to produce good citizens. This task becomes exponentially more difficult in environments where inequalities and unfairness abound. The fact is that injustice, when left unchecked, eventually finds its way around and victimizes anybody it choses, including those who ignore it.
There are those within our schools who do not act in the best interest of our children, but pretend they do. If you have an issue or an experience you have had with the City School District of New Rochelle and would like to share it with others, post it here or e-mail us at nrcommunitypulse@gmail.com. If you are aware of any specific acts of discrimination, illegal, unethical or unprofessional activity by anyone within the City School District of New Rochelle we encourage you to step forward. If you are an employee who has something to report, we welcome your input. In addition, if there is a topic or question you would like to present to the community, let us know as well. We have stepped forward because we believe it is the right thing to do. “It is not my job” simply will not do. It is everybody’s job to improve our schools. We have no expectations that others will do the same. Nevertheless, as responsible parents, educators, citizens we find ourselves obligated to do so.
The irony of all this is that those who have abused our school system go about their days without remorse nor shame. Nobody holds them accountable. As a result, why should any of us worry about doing what is right? We have nothing to loose and everything to gain. Regardless of the outcome, our children will know that we performed our most important mandate, to protect them.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
– Franklin Delano Roosevelt
csd nr teacher said…
csd
csd nr teacher said…
csd nr teacher said
I have taught in the south and now teach in the north.
Many people have a misconception of the schools in the north part of the city are wealthy and white. This is not true. Ward School is probably the most diverse school in the district. Students there have friends of all races and socioeconomic classes. The dual language program,CILA, produces students who are truly bilingual by third grade. Part of the success is the fact that English Language Learners are bussed in from the south to make the school more diverse. The parents make a choice to have their children attend Ward. An effort to make some degree of choice available to all New Rochelle students would be beneficial to all concerned as well as to break down misconceptions that residents on both ends of the city harbor.
mbds said…
As a parent of a child who attended Barnard, Trinity and Isaac E. Young, I can honestly say the teachers and administrators, with the exception of a former female principal at Trinity, were and continue to be very concerned for the welfare and well being of all their young charges. In fact, my child tells me that most kids in her class wouldn’t attend Albert Leonard for anything in the world, she and her classmates are perfectly happy with the level of education and attention they are getting at Isaac. She’s been on the honor roll and is in the Nat’l Jr Honor Society, thanks to those teachers and administrators. To blame the Board of Ed and other administrators for inequity and inequality between the two divisions is wrong. Blame should be placed on the parents who don’t raise their children to respect authority and value education. Children who continually act up and out disrupt the learning process for everyone – they force teachers to stop teaching to enforce rules and stop administrators from doing their jobs to focus on discipline. It’s even worse when the parents justify their bad behavior by claiming favoritism.
If you are really interested in righting the perceived wrongs, make your case in person, not on a blog. I’ve seen more change for the positive in the NR schools as a direct result of person to person interaction – my own and that of others…try it without a chip on your shoulder, you might be surprised at the results!
1. All children should be
1. All children should be given access to an equal education regardless of the location of their school within New Rochelle.
2. Raising the North-South issue is just another way to split rather than unify New Rochelle.
3. The tax method used to support New Rochelle’s schools is also unfair (split if you will along North-South lines). Instead of a real estate tax which unfairly burdens the “North” how about a graduated resident tax, so that everyone who is eligible to vote for the school budget pays for the school budget.
Common Sense-51
nrcommunitypulse said…
Sonam,
We are not sure what subdivision you are referring to. Nevertheless, we can understand your frustration with people who believe rules do not apply to them. Furthermore, we can also relate to not having a place to voice your opinion. That is a main reason why this forum was created.
sonam said…
Does anyone live in a subdivision where there are several people who ignore the subdivision rules?
I do. No one is supposed to have those ugly fences on the top of their pools, and it seems that everyone in the sub with a pool has one of those. My neighbor has one, and I have to look at that hideous thing every time I look out my window. Then there is my other neighbor who has three dogs. The maximum number of dogs is supposed to be two. I wouldn’t mind the three, but two of them are pit bulls who viciously snarl and growl and act like they are going to eat my dog when they are outside. Even the owners scream at them to stop. It is very unnerving. Then one of the board members is delinquent by 3 years on the dues because she has decided she doesn’t need to pay since she is on the board. I can’t take the neighbors around here. I was looking for a forum to vent about the jerks around here and I came across this site called http://urajerk.com and I sent all of those idiots on the board and all my lovely neighbors with the ugly pools an anonymous card. LOL I loved it. I know it sounds stupid but I feel better. He he he.