In a public statement that raises more questions than it answers, the English Department at New Rochelle High School published an anonymous letter on the New Rochelle High School web site yesterday which neither explains nor defends the actions of the school district in censoring Susanna Kaysen’s best-selling memoir Girl, Interrupted. The statement goes to great lengths to avoid taking any direct responsibility or assign blame for the actions of staff at New Rochelle High School.
In 2004, there was a lapse in judgment to abridge a literary work; that decision is a regrettable one that can be explained but not defended. The recent revisiting of this event has given us cause to review our policies and to re-evaluate our inventory.
The City School District of New Rochelle has come under widespread criticism when this web site revealed on Monday that several pages of the book, deemed “inappropriate” by school officials, were ripped from somewhere between 50 and 90 copies of the book. The memoir was recently assigned to a 12th grade film class.
The Board of Education and Superintendent Richard Organisciak issued separate statements on Wednesday
The Board said, “This action was not authorized by the Board of Education.”
The Superintendent said, “The original decision to excise the pages was made at the building level, and would not have been reviewed either by the central administration or by the Board of Education.”
The Superintendent said the censorship came about “when a staff member raised questions about some portions of the book as being inappropriate for students, the decision was made to excise some minor portions of the work.”
Taken together the statements from the Board, the Superintendent and the High School tell the public absolutely nothing about the individuals involved so there is no basis for an independent evaluation as to the motives or agenda of the person or persons who first challenged the use of the book in the school district, the basis on which the decision was made to tear pages out of the book, who did the actual deed of tearing out the pages, what objections were raised within the school by faculty, staff, students or parents and how those objections were handled.
This is in keeping with the common practice within the district in which individuals or groups within the district seek to shift responsibility away from them without actually identifying any particular individuals as responsible in the face of public criticism.
There is also a “dog not barking” here. What has been left unsaid throughout has been the exact nature of the district’s book selection and book challenge process. In a letter to the school district yesterday the National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression both recommended an open, transparent process through which book challenges are formally submitted in writing, clearly state the complainant has read the book and that the decision on a book challenge is made through a public hearing process.
There have been many calls for the City School District of New Rochelle to publicly and prominently explain its book selection and book challenge process.
My son was taught the
My son was taught the complete history of Thanksgiving this year with the native Americans and the pilgrims fleeing persecution for their religion, and their suffering, etc. He learned about Squanto, corn, etc. All at Trinity Elementary!!!
Mr cox is right on the
Mr cox is right on the money, If its an opposing view from the left, and lets make no mistake our education system is far left in New Rochelle,is called disgruntled! But when its the lefts viiew its reightious. Also When Students are tought about the country Turkey instead of the history of Thanksgiving during Thanksgiving week thats when I say enough is enough!
Active Voice
If I ever told my partner, “It is regrettable that the cookies were stolen, laundry neglected and toilet paper not replaced. Actions which, you know, HAPPENED and can be explained but certainly not defended,” she’d ask, “Are you apologizing? I can’t tell. Also, who exactly stole the gingerbread men for our holiday party? Was it you?” I’d reply, “Um … yes. I’m sorry and regret MY actions. I stole and ate the g-men, ignored the drying cycle and forgot to replace the toilet paper because I’ve been spaced-out, frankly, by this New Ro censorship fiasco. It was MY lapse of judgment and again, I am sorry.”
*
I commend the Board of Education and English Department for their swift response to this unfortunate incident and I’m positive all their members are well-intentioned and principled human beings. However, I do want to make a simple point about the language in their official statements to the community and press.
Mr. Organisciak’s words:
“When a staff member raised questions about some portions of the book as being inappropriate for students, the decision was made to excise some minor portions of the work which presented sexual content which was deemed not age-appropriate for the students. Accordingly, those pages were removed.”
The English Department’s:
“In 2004, there was a lapse of judgment to abridge a literary work; that decision is a regrettable one that can be explained but not defended.”
Both these statements use a commonly-employed linguistic maneuver–the passive voice construction, my favorite example of this being the phrase “war broke out.” A responsible journalist would write, for example, “U.S. invaded Iraq.”
Passive voice allows the bowdlerizing (if you will), or simply, the excision or expurgation [fancy five dollar words!], or more directly, the REMOVAL of a sentence’s subject, the person or party accountable–if not responsible–for the verb or action of the clause.
And this is what I mean by eluding accountability.
Here we have, “In 2004 there was a lapse of judgment” and not, “In 2004 [whoever spaced-out] had a lapse of judgment.”
“The decision was a regrettable one,” could be written, “We regret our decision.”
Finally, “[a decision] that can be explained but not defended” could be stated more concretely. I recommend, “We cannot defend Mrs. Altschul’s explanation (‘we took the liberty of bowdlerizing’) because we do not, in fact, condone that practice. Her statement was simply an instance of unfortunate word choice.”
Like Mr. Organisciak’s clause: “the decision was made to excise some minor portions of the work” versus “the English Dept. headed by [whoever at the time] wrongly decided to physically remove approximately five pages of GIRL, INTERRUPTED.”
Alas and “[a]ccordingly, those pages were removed.” I would rather Mr. Organisciak write, “Accordingly, [so-and-so] removed the pages.”
I don’t even believe it’s necessary to reveal the the accountable parties’ identities anymore. I’m sure the Internet and international media (no less) have taught the New Ro school district a valuable lesson in … um, online reputation management.
Lastly, Board of Ed, the notorious work’s title is misspelled twice in your official statement. GIRL, INTERRUPTED: note the comma. And I don’t mean to nitpick, but I address you as a graduate of the New Rochelle school system and highly regard the education I’ve received (for example, “Avoid passive voice where possible,” Mr. Schultz [faculty advisor of the Herald in my day] once taught me).
That’s all.
The passive voice
Tara, please realize that I, too, taught you to avoid, whenever possible, the passive voice. I like that you are discussing the subject; I appreciate your reasoned perspective in this post. What I do not appreciate, however, is the effort on the part of Mr. Cox to humiliate people who are largely doing their best to juggle the conflicting sensibilities of the residents of New Rochelle. I’m now retired, but I remember vividly parents complaining that THE CRUCIBLE exposed children to witchcraft or that THE CATCHER IN THE RYE was full of profanity. I tried not to be defensive, but the fact is that I felt defensive. (I taught both works; the students involved went to the library and read alternate texts that I assigned. I think the parents missed the point; I believe their children missed a great opportunity to engage in a spirited discussion in a classroom.) I do not condone the expurgating of texts, but I do think Mr. Cox ought to recognize why it is so hard to be straightforward when pressure mounts. You have said that you appreciate the education you received in New Rochelle. Please realize, then, why witch hunts are vile ways to accomplish one’s goals. Ms. Altschul has apologized. The Board of Education has apologized. Why keep up the threats? Why not just move on to a constructive discussion of the problems facing an administration that is accountable to the varied perspectives of the New Rochelle community?
Do you have any idea how hard it is to teach in an environment that is so heterogeneous in its political, religious, and cultural values? Maybe some of your teachers made it seem easy, but it isn’t. And it’s even harder for administrators to make decisions when conflicting values are the reality. You’ve all made your point. People have listened to you. Now let’s get back to celebrating what is remarkable about the accomplishments of the New Rochelle schools.
I wanted to go to tonight’s meeting; I wanted to speak. Former colleagues have said that since I’m no longer a part of the New Rochelle community — I live in Manhattan — my point of view is irrelevant. I hope that you, as a former student of mine, will not think of my perspective as irrelevant. Mr. Cox is urging Ms. Altschul to resign. He is scapegoating. Ah, yes, “mistakes were made” is not the best way to express a thought. I’m reminded of Polonius’s discussion with Ophelia: ” ‘Tis told me he [Hamlet] hath very oft of late/Given private time to you, and you yourself/Have of your audience been most free and bounteous….” I told your class, I’m sure, that it’s as though he were saying that “a little birdie told me.” Polonius manipulates Ophelia and indirectly (or directly) destroys his own daughter. But the indirectness of the Board of Education or of the English Department does not have selfishness as its root, Tara. This is not Watergate either. It’s time to rally the troops, yes, but not in support of destroying the reputations and careers of people who are genuinely and generally well-meaning educators, fallible but not unforgiveable.
Sincerely,
Martha Weissberg
Martha Weissberg
As my former English teacher.Mrs. Weissberg the many minutia of books i read in your class and in other English classes helped me become more of an analytical and broad thinker. i felt your statement hits the nail on the head as they say, but the fact of the matter is that this whole hoopla is nonsense and i will not stand idle by and listen to someone who has not a clue of the tight rope that teachers walk every single day they step into that classroom. especially those teachers, you and Ms. Alstchuel who taught me well
Sincerely, Jonathan Nwaru
p.s i went tonight and we all held our ground and stood with the school and pressed that yes mistakes were made and the school has corrected that however it is all of us responsibility to make sure it never happens again its dead horse lets bury it.
I hope all is well with you in your retirement
If you are going to come to the defense of your English teacher:
Try running the grammar and spell-checker on your post first.
I sincerely agree, Mrs.
I sincerely agree, Mrs. Weissberg and now believe that Mr. Cox is out of his mind. Thank you for writing this.
Sour Grapes
One of the most interesting aspects about any blog is that it gives anyone with time and energy the chance to voice his or her own wildly subjective perspective about anything. What is so worrisome here, in Mr. Cox’s blog, is that Mr. Cox uses the guise of journalism, moral righteousness and objectivity to further his own self-aggrandizing agenda. It is clear from what I’ve read, here in this blog, that Mr. Cox seems to be a disgruntled individual who wants revenge, not necessarily what is best for his community and the schools that his own children attend or have attended. I can only hope that people who read these comments, and anyone truly concerned for New Rochelle Schools, which are among the best in the country, understand and support what the schools are doing on a day to day basis to deliver excellent educational opportunities to all students in New Rochelle. Do not judge our schools by one isolated incident that has been addressed and rectified. Do not join one man’s crusade to malign.
Marty Daly…Come Out, Come Out Where Ever You Are!
Marty,
We SEE you!
For those new to this site, in August of this year the Journal News did a front page story on the topic of inequality between North End and South End schools. The blog featured in the story was New Rochelle Community Pulse which is a part of New Rochelle Talk of the Sound. Even though the founder of New Rochelle Community Pulse was clearly identified in the article – his photo was also on the front page – there were similar attacks to those by “anonymous” above.
On of the commenters on the LoHud web site at the time of the story was Martin Daly who is both the President of the teachers union in New Rochelle and President of the PTA. New Rochelle, according to Board President Cindy Babcock Deutsch is the only school district in New York State where the head of the teachers union is also the head of the PTA. Ms. Babcock Deutsch announced this at a board meeting in August and found it to be a wonderful thing that demonstrated the great relationship between parents and teachers in New Rochelle. Apparently it never occurred Cindy Babcock Deutsch that having the head of the teachers union also act as head of the parent-teacher association might create the appearance of a conflict of interest (parents with a problem with a teacher or the school district go to the PTA for help and find that the man who is legally responsible for defending the interest of teachers is sitting in the room at the head of the table).
Here is what Martin Daly has to say over the summer.
It is easy to hide behind the anonymity of cyberspace. I wish these “concerned citizens” would state who they are and what their associations—past or present—are with the school district. This information can help readers to determine the veracity of their statements and the agenda of the site.
Martin Daly, President of the New Rochelle FUSE
August 1st, 2008 at 7:06 am
Mr. Daly has made similar public and private statements, using similar language, including an email sent to over 100 district employees in October:
I have no desire to read the distortions, half truths, twisted logic and unproven accusations that are the essential elements of any blog which is associated with Bob Cox.
Flash forward to the present where an “anonymous” commenter has been posting to this site for the past few days with similar sounding statements. Last night more such comments were posted:
One of the most interesting aspects about any blog is that it gives anyone with time and energy the chance to voice his or her own wildly subjective perspective about anything
I can only hope that people who read these comments, and anyone truly concerned for New Rochelle Schools, which are among the best in the country, understand and support what the schools are doing on a day to day basis to deliver excellent educational opportunities to all students in New Rochelle.
If you hate the district so much then why don’t you move to another city.
and
Your children go to the district so why do you feel the need to trash it. Set a positive example for your children and do something worthwhile with your time. New Rochelle has a wonderful reputation and your children will be graduating from there. Why make a mountain out of a molehill. Move on and make a positive donation to your school system.
Setting aside the irony of someone complaining about people hiding behind “the anonymity of cyberspace” and then publishing comments online, perhaps Mr. Daly can explain why his response to even the most valid criticism of the school district is simply to shout “My New Rochelle, love it or leave it” from the nearest cyber soap box.
If Martin Daly really cared about what’s best for the parents and students at New Rochelle schools he would clear up his blatant conflict of interest and resign as President of the PTA and leave that position to people who are not paid a good deal of money to represent the interest of school teachers.
Martin Daly is the head of the teachers union in New Rochelle. His first concern is always the interest of his union members. EVERYTHING else takes a back seat to that. This is as it should be. In fact, he is legally obligated to represent and defend the interests of the union. Nothing wrong with that.
But let’s be clear here. Mr. Daly has attacked this web site because he is afraid of it. He realizes as do others in power in New Rochelle that the stranglehold on the free flow of information created by Ms. Babcock-Deutsch, Mr. Lacher, Mr. Organisciak and others is forever compromised by the existence of this site. Mr. Daly benefits from that stranglehold because one of the key elements of it is the claim by the school board that NO criticism of any teacher can be made during a public board meeting. All complaints or criticism of district personnel must supposedly be made up the chain of command to Mr. Organisciak. The standard procedure is for each person in that chain to back the person below against the parent. Once Mr. Organisciak rejects a complaint, parents have no recourse but to go to the board but the board will not hear any complaint except in a closed session. In this way no one ever need know about a complaint against any school employee.
It is why, for example, that a man who hung THREE nooses at Isaac Young Middle School is still employed by the district.
In the case of Girl, Interrupted, the fact is that the school district DID know about the censorship of the book the week BEFORE my story ran and did NOTHING. Had I not posted that story last Monday that would STILL be the the case as it always is.
The lesson that Mr. Daly, Mr. Lacher and others would like me to take away from this experience is apparently that I should be grateful the district replace the censored books and be happy with that – anything else is “beating a dead horse” or “making a mountain out of molehill”.
I have news for them. The lesson I take away from this experience is that the only way to achieve change in the New Rochelle School District is to work outside of what is, at its heart a corrupt, dysfunctional system by going public with problems and complaints and not allowing people like Mr. Daly to try and hush them up.
In this case, Mr. Daly’s real concern is the interest of Ms. Altschul who is the person who actually ripped the pages out of the book or the unidentified teacher who complained about the book. It would not take a great leap of imagination to conclude that Mr. Daly’s goal here is to make sure there are no ACTUAL repercussions for any union member. Rather than acknowledge his rather transparent motives he hides beyond the anonymity of cyberspace, casting aspersions, in the hopes of distracting attention from the fact that, according to the school’s own statements, two teachers did something very wrong in this case.
Mr. Daly, you are more than welcome to register and comment or even blog under your own name. Coward.
The Suozzo Report
In early December Tom Suozzo released his committee’s report on NYS School/Property taxes, etal. It is a monster — well over 170 pages. The Governor has it for his input and consideration.
Maybe we should focus some more on this and simply accept some things — for example, Lacher and Reddington should more substantive things to worry about than Cox’s hat. Bongo is a bit idiosyncratic; his legendary Rocky and Einstein portraits, Springsteen records actually kind of fit with his cigars. All are wrong to be sure, but the focus on the Suozzo Report, the insights the board should receive from the community and students alike on 12.18, the national and international press coverage point out the need for substantive systemic changes. Lacher is Lacher, Reddington is Reddington, Bongo and Organisicial are what they are and the real issues will be more what they represent than who they are. Do we want a transparent system? Do we want an experienced and responsive district leadership, do we want a board that understands oversight and policy and is willing to abide by terms limts, is our city administration willing to invest in the future of this great City by tacking this sensitive sets of issues simply from the standpoint that our current set of organizational arrangements and personnel in the school district are detrimental to growth and development and so, the board and many of our administrators and principals are excess to requirements. Someone wisely said “you get the government you deserve” — the same holds up for the infrastructure and leadership managing our district. Bob Cox, who I never met in person, in much more of the solution than he is the problem. You know I remember reading one of the last letters written by the Reverand Dietrich Bonnhoeffer before the Nazis executed him in 1945. This great and good man indicated the perhaps the greatest of all sins was the sin of pride. The ancient greek scholars in Athens would have signed up for this as well based on both their philosphy and religion. Many of our educators, pedagogues and social engineers are infested with pride; no comes the fall. I encourage no reader to take pleasure over this; it is more of a time for sadness than joy.
2004?
I’m really confused. What happened in 2004? Is this Girl, Interrupted thing not from this year?
The book was assigned a couple weeks ago…
A student in that 12th grade class noticed the pages missing and reported it to Talk of the Sound.
The school board, Superintendent and Principal have also since claimed that although they first learned about in December 2008, the actual tearing out of the pages occurred in 2004. However, the Principal, Don Conetta, has told the Journal News he does not exactly what happened.
All we know for sure is that the issue came to light two weeks ago and now school officials are distancing themselves from what happened.
so, In less words, the
so, In less words, the matter at hand happened in 2004?
Accountability?
I think it is hilarious that all the people who are supposedly screaming here for accountability are not willing to sign their real names to their posts. For all we know, it is the same person posting over and over.
There is nothing wrong, Bob, with covering the story, but you are doing more than that: you are covering the story while seething with rage. This episode may merit the coverage, but it doesn’t merit this degree of villification and outrage.
I couldn’t have said it
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
The Issue is Resolved – the blog worked here
I think the blog worked on this issue. It brought an issue to light that very few would have known about. The topic spread quickly forcing the district to resolve it. I think they resolved it properly and it will not likely happen again.
Punishment of the teachers or administrators is not called for, in my opinion. And all this gloating by the original source is silly.
Onward!
By all means, let’s have
By all means, let’s have zero accountabily!
The School Board has no oversight responsibility for the administration.
The Superintendent’s desk reads “the buck stops somewhere else”.
The NRHS Principal doesn’t know how it happened but that “doesn’t matter”.
The English Department can explain what happened but won’t.
We are told the person who originally requested the books is no longer working for the district as if that is somehow relevant.
Meanwhile, we are not told the policy for selecting books, for challenging books, who challenged this book, whether they had read the book, their motive, and whether either policy was followed.
What you propose is that when something is done that is widely condemned in and out of the district, that brings shame to New Rochelle, for which no one takes personal responsibility, something that may have violated the civil rights of student, that it is suffecient to simply remedy the defect (replace the books) with no repercussions for those involved, without a detailed explanation of what exactly happened and no actual changes made in policy and the exact people in charge.
If nothing has changed then why should anyone expect things will be different in the future?
Bob Cox
What do you want from this,
What do you want from this, Mr. Cox? The board has denied blame, but has already bought and distributed new books with the pages intact. You’ve made the change necessary, the issue is resolved. To have someone removed from their position is just unnecessary.
There has also been a clarification of policy, as covered in the Board’s statement:
“The Board has directed that the full text of the book, as originally published, shall be substituted immediately, and that no further modifications of this type, i.e., removal of pages, shall be permitted under any circumstances. …. As for Girl Interrupted, the Board of Education does not specifically endorse any of the author’s language or content, but the Board respects the integrity of the complete work and will direct that it be made available to any student who desires to read it.”
Furthermore, an investigation has already been issued concerning other books, as stated in Mr. Organisciak’s statement, as you also called for:
“While I understand that this is the only literary text from which pages have been excised, as a District we will undertake a review of our policy and practices as they relate to the selection of materials in all formats.”
If I were you, I would simply take this as a win for your cause. Nobody has to lose their jobs for a matter long past that has been solved. The department has been ravaged these past few days, and that’s bad enough.
However, if you continue to pursue the matter, you will simply be beating a dead horse.
Bob, stop the bleeding pleeeese…
Why is it that when arrogant individuals see themselves taking a beating, all of the sudden want to be rational? You reap what you sow. Don’t blame Bob for this.
Fortunately, you are not me…
…otherwise this censorship issue would never have to come light, right?
In fact, no criticism of the school district would ever be made.
There continues to be news coming out on this story and as along as that is the case we will continue to report that here. Yesterday, we had a letter from the National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers as well as a statement from New Rochelle High School. Do you propose I not report this news? Sorry to disappoint. There is a board meeting Tuesday where this issue is on the agenda, should I not report that or attend the meeting and report what transpires there? Isn’t your real point that I should never have written the original story on Monday? For that matter, isn’t your real desireu that this site go away all together? That would suit the school district just fine but would not be so good for the rest of us who live here.
You can help resolve MY concerns by answering a few simple questions:
1. What is the school district policy regarding book selection? I have been attempting to obtain a copy for more than a week.
2. What is the school district policy regarding book challenges? Can’t get a copy of this either.
3. Who made the challenge to “Girl, Interrupted”? Why?
4. Do you believe that a person who see no reason not to tear pages out of a book is someone who should be running the English department at New Rochelle High School?
There are steps short of termination that may be appropriate here. If the head of the English Department wanted to show REAL leadership she would sign her name to the statement from her department. That statement would include her resignation as department chair. New Rochelle deserves its most senior English teacher to be a person who does not believe this sort of vulgar censorship is even up for consideration let alone would be willing to personally engage in what amounts to literary vandalism.