The Mayor of New Rochelle, Noam Bramson has joined the discussion with an Op-Ed in the Journal News:
Allegations of favoritism harm pupils
Allegations of favoritism harm pupils
Journal News, The (Westchester County, NY) – Thursday, August 14, 2008
Author: staff, Noam Bramson
Re “North-south divide untrue,” an Aug. 7 article about purported inequalities among New
Rochelle public schools, as alleged in a new blog, “New Rochelle Community Pulse,”
www.nrcommunitypulse.org:As a mayor, resident, graduate of the New Rochelle public schools and parent who will soon proudly send two children to the New Rochelle public schools, I write to express my concern about the journalistic judgment that produced your recent article on supposed north-south disparities in the New Rochelle school system.
A prominent front-page article in The Journal News, particularly one focused on a subject of such great sensitivity and importance, should have some basis in objective fact, beyond the assertions of personal opinion in a blog.
All the available evidence suggests that the New Rochelle schools distribute financial, human and programmatic resources in a fair and appropriate fashion, aimed at providing each child in every part of our city with academic enrichment and an opportunity for success.
The false narrative of geographic favoritism is especially harmful to the fabric of our community. Most residents of New Rochelle are grateful for our remarkable diversity, recognizing that it contributes to the richness of our lives. But diversity also brings with it a vulnerability to divisive appeals. While an honest discussion about fairness in the delivery of
services is always appropriate, stoking resentments, to the point even of branding a
particular street as our “Mason-Dixon line,” is playing with fire.All of us in New Rochelle, whatever our differences, are bound together by a common set of public institutions, a common economy, a common environment and a common civic image.
We are going up or down together, and have a responsibility to forge our future in this spirit.
The writer is mayor of New Rochelle.
May we suggest the Mayor ask the City School District to turn over all data available on the subject . Have an independent party evaluate and report their findings. This should be performed in a transparent manner. The results of such a report would disprove any allegation, stated or implied. May we suggest:
Fergus Edward Ph.D.
Director of Applied Research and Evaluation-Metropolitan Center for Urban Development
NYU-Steindart School of Culture, Education and Human Development
e-mail: edward.fergus@nyu.edu
home page: www.steinhardt.nyu.edu/metrocenter
726 Broadway, 5th Floor
New York New York 10003
We understand that Dr. Fergus and his organization was contracted by the City School District to perform a sensitivity training last Spring. If it is the truth we are seeking, there are simple ways of finding it.
Tex said…
To anon @7:59
Tex said…
To anon @7:59 —
The tutoring to which I refer goes beyond homework supervision, which I believe is the responsibility of all parents. I’m referring to a situation where a high percentage of elementary school kids in an affluent school district are being tutored. While the school administrators would argue that this is due to the ultra-competitive parents, my view is that the teaching methods used in the classrooms are inadequate. I could go on about that, but let me just briefly describe it as “crayola curriculum”.
Additionally, those children who currently need extra help might not need it if they received good quality direct instruction in the fundamentals instead of spending so much classroom time in groups talking about how they “feel” about global warming or other such topics.
My point is that if public schools continue to deliver a mediocre (or worse) education to all our children, the rich will continue to take up the slack by tutoring while the gap between rich and poor will grow.
BTW, I may be out of my mind . . . .the jury’s still out. 🙂
To Tex: Are you out of your
To Tex: Are you out of your mind? Do you just drop your child off at school and hope for the best? If so, then you are not doing your job as a parent. Do you even sit down and go over assignments with your child. Plus, a good portion of “tutored” children need the extra help so they are not behind with their peers.Don’t we want our children to become well rounded, respectful and even “wealthy” for their families in the future? But, today you criticize the ones that are …..how hypocritical…….
Tex said…
If New Rochelle
Tex said…
If New Rochelle were going to conduct an analysis of the equity issue, it would be informative to learn about the amount of tutoring that goes on.
It may be found that there is a higher incidence of paid and/or parent tutoring in the higher income areas compared to the poorer areas. This would be consistent with what goes on in some other Westchester school districts. It makes you wonder about the quality of a school’s instructional practices and curriculum when so much re-teaching is going on outside the school. And, it leads to more inequity if only the wealthier families can afford it.
Maybe the District should
Maybe the District should consider a different model for assigning students to elementary schools. For instance, White Plains uses a Controlled Parent Choice approach, while other districts use the Princeton model.
The point is not to choose one model over another, but to explore other approaches that will aid to address the needs of all of our students.
It’s obvious from the comments I’ve read that there are problems. When do we stop just talking about them to doing something about them?
To Makenewrobetter: You hit
To Makenewrobetter: You hit the nail on the head “zoned”. Now we fault people who went throught this school system for owning a house that is not in those school districts. Who’ fault is it the Columbus is 90% Hipanic?. It was once 90% Italian and German and they did not cry inequalities. It is no secret that the system has been put under extreme dificulties in the last 15 years or so due to the influx of first generation Spanish speaking immigrants. The comment made that the parents of Davenport RD pays$30k in taxes is probably true, but the reality is that most second generation New Rochelleans that lived in the East End, South Side And West End do not send their children to their district schools because of these demographics and not because of the quality of education period. These students enter the system without any knowledge of the language or culture but their own.Those programs are not held in those schools because they have other programs ie. Italian and Spanish CILA programs @ Jefferson. Math and Science @ Columbus and CILA @ Trinity,Ward also offering the CILA program. Be very careful in suggesting that the parents of Jefferson students are not already proud. What would their PTA of Jefferson think of that comment?
MakeNewRoBetter said…
I,
MakeNewRoBetter said…
I, with great regret, have to disagree with our Mayor. The City School District of New Rochelle “IS DIVIDED” and the term that everyone loves to use “Diversity” is anything but. All that a person has to do is visit three South End Schools (Columbus, Jefferson & Trinity) and then go and visit the North End schools (Ward & Davis). Once you have, than make the comparison.
Question: Why are “gifted” students from Jefferson, Columbus, Trinity, Webster and Ward that fall under the “Kaleidoscope Program” go to Davis school? Why not hold the program at Jefferson School, the school that is rated last amongst all New Rochelle Elementary Schools, in terms of academics? This would turn Jefferson into a school that students and parents would be proud of.
As for Columbus, why are demographic numbers falsified? The school is clearly 90%+ Hispanic. Is that diversity, I think NOT!
The New Rochelle Board of Education along with the Mayor’s Office must take off their rose colored glasses and see the reality that is New Rochelle.
If the Mayor is so gun-ho about our great school district then I would like to see him enroll his children in Jefferson or Columbus Schools and then Isaac Young Middle School. It is very easy for a person to say that there children will be attending the New Rochelle Schools when they are zoned in North End!
This is not just a “personal
This is not just a “personal blog” as the Mayor stated in his response to the recent article on the Journal News. I’ve been visiting this blog since inception, and as more and more visitors express their opinions and experiences about the current educational system, it is very clear that this forum is building a community of individuals, parents and taxpayers in New Rochelle with valid concerns. Interesting enough, these concerns are reflected throughout the County with the recent release of the 2007 New York State Report Cards.
The Mayor claims that “All the available evidence suggests that the New Rochelle schools distribute financial, human and programmatic resources in a fair and appropriate fashion, aimed at providing each child in every part of our city with academic enrichment and an opportunity for success.”
But, if it is fair and appropriate:
How come some schools have certain programs while others lack them?
Where’s the data to support his claim?
Who has access to the data and/or the evidence? Is it just the District?
The Mayor passes judgement on others opinions, when he himself offers nothing more than his own opinion.
Perhaps he should be more in tune with the reality of the educational system in his own town.