Faced with the proposed moving of the upper grades from School 21 to School 6, a seventh grader asked, “Why don’t you buy more laptops to increase our learning instead of spending on buses?”  Duh.

She and several of her peers explained how the infusion of laptops [and great lessons] had increased their interest in learning and given them tools to pursue their interests. And increased their test scores, by the way. They talked about the power of having a wireless network to make learning possible anywhere in their school. “If you want to help School 6, give them laptops,” another student advised.

School 21 students gave us sound advice. Imagine what could be accomplished if we gathered the school community and consulted them about increasing student achievement. When we have completed such an exercise at the community schools [4, 5 and New Roberto Clemente], parents and children have made great leaps as their suggestions are implememted.

The transformation that we are looking for is right in front of us. Will we have the will to engage in the discussion?

Irene

No, not a person.  A conservative think tank whose legislative agenda for education includes vouchers, the expansion of charters, tax breaks for home-schoolers and private companies building and running schools.

Want to know more about ALEC? Here’s the link to the Sunday Star Ledger story.  Knowing about ALEC would just be an intellectual exercise for policy wonks, except that it is coming directly at our children.

Close a school and place a charter in it? Proposed for Paterson. Have an Educational Management Organization run a school? Proposed for Paterson.

Have private organization build and run schools? Passed! for Camden and others.

If you believe in public education for all children, this is a perilous time. What are you prepared to do to keep our public schools serving all our children?

Irene

PEF creates the report by reading the minutes of all the meetings. We don’t report from our notes [I do attend most board meetings....] but from the approved minutes. Those minutes are the legal report of the Board’s actions. Each month, the Commissioners vote to approve the minutes as accurate to the actions of the Board. The committee reports are part of the minutes.

If commissioners are dismayed by the report, they might consider entering minutes of their committee meetings into the record [and minutes] of their regular meetings. When commissioners make verbal reports, they sometimes leave the attendees out. If they submitted written minutes, there wouldn’t be any questions about who participated.

Irene

After that, we part company.

For me the question is: how do we get all our children to graduation with skills to make a good life for themselves and contribute to our communities. Our children need schools that fan the flames of their imaginations and call on them to be contributors to bettering their world. Our children require schools which are stable with educators and resources to nuture their growth. They need a community of parents and neighbors who support, monitor and advocate for their well-being.

This newest attack on our children’s future is grounded in the conviction that we spend too much money on education for other people’s children. When the Acting Commissioner accuses us of focussing on the wrong thing, “money,” he is equally guilty of the same focus. He insists that we can educate better for less.  If that is so, please explain to me why quality private education costs $20,000 plus a year in tuition.

During the legislative hearings that produced the SFRA law, experts testified that it costs twice as much to educate poor, disadvantaged children to graduation; it costs three times as much to educate special needs children to graduation. The outcome we want, graduation so students become productive adults, take resources. It takes resources that will be present across the length of a student’s educational career.

This newest attack on our children is infuriating. Fortunately, it requires legislative action. See you in Trenton, soon.  In the mean time, call your legislators.

Irene 

Today’s New York Times’ article “Education Gap Grows Between Rich and Poor, Studies Say” makes a critical point.  The gap between black and white students is narrowing; but the gap between rich and poor is widening.

From the article:

“One reason for the growing gap in achievement, researchers say, could be that wealthy parents invest more time and money than ever before in their children (in weekend sports, ballet, music lessons, math tutors, and in overall involvement in their children’s schools), while lower-income families, which are now more likely than ever to be headed by a single parent, are increasingly stretched for time and resources.”

“Meredith Phillips, an associate professor of public policy and sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, used survey data to show that affluent children spend 1,300 more hours than low-income children before age 6 in places other than their homes, their day care centers, or schools (anywhere from museums to shopping malls). By the time high-income children start school, they have spent about 400 hours more than poor children in literacy activities, she found.”

Sobering.

A family income of $29,500, before taxes, leaves very little money for the ballet lessons, music lessons and math tutors that wealthier families take for granted. So our children come to school with fewer experiences, fewer words and a smaller world. 

Quoting the article again. ‘Douglas J. Besharov, a fellow at the Atlantic Council, says “No one has the slightest idea what will work. The cupboard is bare.”’

Those of us who are community schools and arts education and informal science advocates are surprised by this. We know better. Our cupboard is filled with ideas. Our children are as smart and capable as any other children. They will achieve when given the supports they need to succeed. Rich, varied curriculum in schools, extended days and community based activities that support both children and their families narrow the gap.

The question is, do we really want to narrow the gap?

Irene

Imagine: Paterson and Ridgewood in the same category: using their public schools.

Irene

I also wish that we would stop trying to “fix” our Paterson schools with smoke and mirrors.

There are all sorts of reasons to oppose the voucher legislation known as the “Opportunity Scholarship Act” from the denial of special education services to the lack of accountability for student performance. I won’t go over all the objections to the current bill as the current version of the bill  is changing as you read this. For Paterson students, there is also a very practical problem: where are the schools for them to attend?

Within Paterson itself, there are few private schools who could accept voucher students. The two remaining Catholic parochial schools in Paterson indicate they have 129 openings. Other religious schools in Paterson don’t have websites to provide any information on openings, cost, or student achievement data.

Moving beyond the Paterson borders, access for poor families is a big challenge as well as cost. Many families don’t have cars and must rely on inadequate public transportation.  Four Clifton parochial schools have 160 openings; Academy of St. Francis of Assisi in Totowa has 53 openings. De Paul Catholic High School in Wayne has 178 openings if the OSA voucher can cover the combined tuition and fees of $12,000 with nearly an hour bus ride from Paterson.

Or let’s say you want a private school education for your child. Your OSA voucher will only cover 1/3 of the costs. Montclair Kimberly Academy costs over $30,000 for tuition and fees; Dwight Englewood costs nearly $36,000 for tuition and fees.

The “Opportunity Scholarship Act” is presented as a lifeline for poor Paterson students.  In fact, most of the children who need it most will be unable to utilize the vouchers for very practical reasons.  It’s a cruel hoax to pretend otherwise.

So what to do? Call your legislators and tell them to oppose the “Opportunity Scholarship Act.” There will be one more attempt to pass this bill on Monday, January 9.  Let’s be sure it fails.

Irene

We have research that shows that there are 3 key factors that influence reading success by third grade.

First is readiness for school, whether pre-k or kindergarten.   Readying a child for school is the work of a child’s first teacher, the parent or caregiver. How are we supporting parents and caregivers to help them do this important preparation? How can we increase the number of children in Paterson attending pre-school? Our data suggests that while over 3,000 children attend our free pre-k programs, over 500 children are missing out this great resource.

Second is actually attending school. Research also shows that children who have missed 10 days or more are also more likely to become drop outs. A shocking 10,000 children in the Paterson schools missed 10 days or more last year.

Finally, children who do not spend time learning in the summer actually lose knowledge. That loss can leave then 3 years behind by the time they reach 6th grade.

All three of these issues have solutions that sit outside of the schools. Our job now is to better understand what resources we have, better coordinate them and then look for the resources to bridge the gaps.

Are you ready to help? Let’s be sure that Paterson Reads!

Irene

The report provides a comprehensive look of Paterson children in key areas, including poverty, health, child protection, education and adolescent well-bein

How are the children? Stuggling.   We all know that. However, Paterson Kids Count shows us a detailed, rounded picture of our children’s conditions over the past five years.

For us at PEF, the critical point is the low literacy achievement by fourth grade. As you look at all the data, we can suggest that the answer to improvement is not only in teaching and learning, but in meeting basic needs.  Too many of our children are hungry and sick and unsecure, conditions which keep them from learning.

Improving the situation will take all of us.

Click Here to view Full Paterson Kids Count Report.

Today, we have a new opportunity to make big smiles. A family foundation is providing a last dollar match to pre-K to third grade projects posted on Donors Choose website. Here’s how it works. A teacher submits a proposal to Donors Choose. You, the donor, make a donation in any amount towards the project. Once several of us have donated half the funding needed, the family foundation provides the other half.  Really neat!

If you go to www.donorschoose.com today, you’ll see 19 Paterson projects posted.  Not all of them are eligible for this special match. But look at them all to see what teachers are planning.  As days go by, more Paterson projects will be posted for your consideration.

If you are a teacher reading this, please post a project to help your students.  If you are a PEF supporter, consider this Donors Choose opportunity as another avenue of service to Paterson’s children. We’ll keep you posted as more projects become available. 

Let’s make lots of children smile [and learn!]

Irene