November 2010
1 post
How long will we ignore the connection?
November 10, 2010
(Trenton, NJ) How many people living in predominately Black inner cities were surprised by number of births to Black, unwed mothers in 2008? Not many. A new government study reports 72% of all births of Black children that year were to single mothers. The number for the entire nation was 41%. Various accounting for Our Town nearly mirrored that Black birth rate a year ago. What...
October 2010
4 posts
Why "public" education no longer means "free"...
October 23, 2010
(Trenton, NJ) Last month, the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the State of California for asking parents to pay for their children’s supplies (crayons, notebooks, etc.), some textbooks and even classes they will take during this school year. The social stigma a student may suffer because their parents may not be able to pay such costs was one reason, in my...
There IS some learning going on around here
October 13, 2010
(Trenton, NJ)In one room, I met a future astrophysicist, psychologist, pediatrician, and forensic scientist. Four students in a Trenton Public School Advanced Placement Biology class. Of the quartet, I was only able to secure permission from three of the parents to be able to identify them, so, even with the principal’s permission, I’m not naming any of them, for to leave one out...
A great piece of reference
October 8, 2010
(Trenton, NJ) If you can remember my inaugural post, one of the aspirations for this blog space was that it would become a place where people would identify what’s wrong with the public schools in Our Town, then intelligently exchange ideas on how to make things better which, in turn, makes a better, stronger city and population. A reader recently shared with me this...
Was it something I said?
October 2, 2010
(Trenton, NJ) As an aspiring Negro male teacher in the Trenton Public School System, I admit to taking certain liberties whenever I find myself before a classroom of boys and girls who all look like me. As a matter of fact, most Negro teachers do, sharing Iife experiences, quotes from famous Negroes from the past and present, rap lyrics, etc., all in an attempt to make a connection...
September 2010
1 post
Public school will be what we make it
September 12, 2010
(Trenton, NJ) We’ve done it.
In an attempt to adequately educate our children, and save some money to apply toward future educational and enrichment endeavors for which my wife and I aspire instead of private school tuition, we have placed a child in the Trenton Public School System. First grade, to be exact.
The blessing that allowed us to place our child in the best possible...
June 2010
1 post
You're suprised?
June 17, 2010
Trenton, NJ - First things first: Someone please describe what an authentic diploma for Trenton Central High School’s Class fo 2010 should look like, then offer an opinion on how the one to be conferred upon those finishing 12-years of academic study without showing they have developed- and can display in the learninig environment and beyond, some type of apitude -should...
May 2010
1 post
May 18, 2010
Trenton, NJ - It’s been a while since I’ve shared musings, facts and/or quotes concerning our public schools in this space. Ironically, so much has transpired during this lapse of time. Right now, the biggest story is security guards, employed by Trenton Public Schools, learning they will be among the city’s unemployed, as The School District has formally decided to...
April 2010
9 posts
Candidates starting to weigh in
April 21, 2010
Trenton, NJ - Dismal. Failing. Deplorable. Sad. These are the adjectives mayoral candidates have used to describe the Trenton Public Schools during the recent debates. While it isn’t the first time I have heard our city’s public schools characterized as such, the timing seems all too common. That is, people seeking our votes and using whatever strategy they can to get...
“You can’t arrest the problems away. You’ve got to educate them.”
– Tony Mack, Trenton, NJ mayoral candidate
Questions and concerns
April 18, 2010
Trenton NJ – I have had numerous conversations with fellow Trentonians over the last two weeks about what they see and hear about the current learning environment that is a Trenton Public School classroom. A few concerns are becoming common. My wife says this is called an ethnographic study when you‘re doing post-graduate study (Hmmmm):
1) What are we going to do about our male...
Learning, outside the box
April 15, 2010
I recently visited a small school right here in Trenton and saw something that blew me away: a three year old boy writing his name. I have a three year old who, in his own learning environment, is beginning to learn to do the same. But the child I saw, according to the man who runs this school, knows his alphabet and his numbers, and is beginning to read. There is learning going on...
So, What Did I Miss?
April 14, 2010
I’ve been away for a few days, celebrating the life of my grandmother, who spent more than 40 years teaching on plantations, homes of those for whom she cleaned and washed, and conventional classrooms in the state of Louisiana. She, and many of my relatives who are educators, is the reason teaching has always been a career possibility for me. I spent most of my visit listening to...
Finally, a teacher talks
April 5, 2010
Under the condition of anonymity, a Trenton Public School teacher of 10 years shared thoughts on their job and teaching the children in our city. They have taught in the same school, a K through 8, their entire career, and are a product of the Trenton Public School system. They currently teach in the lower grades. First, a question I have asked many teachers since I began working as...
An update, and some irony
April 1, 2010
As of this date, I have yet to be contacted by administrators from the Trenton School District concerning an incident earlier this week, during which a student put his hands on me in a classroom. The following day, I was told I would not be able to teach until administrators review the incident. I choose not to share any details of the incident in this space at this time, but I do...
March 2010
12 posts
All Bets Are Off
March 29, 2010
I’m normally unable to file a report to this blog space this early in the day, but I recently had that experience that no teacher, especially one who decides they want to be part of the solution, wants: A student put his hands on me, resulting in me contacting Trenton Police and filing an assault charge. I’ve just filed the formal report, detailng for the administrators at the...
I Hear Ya
March 27, 2010
When I decided to take this journey, offering insight and opinion to The Trentonian’s Media Lab as a Citizen Journalist, I had a list of topics I wanted to visit, then allow you, the reader, to respond based on your own experiences, professional or personal. Well, with all that has taken place relating to education in the Capital City recently, I have yet to touch those. I am...
Whose fault is it?
March 25, 2010
When you read the content in this space, there’s one thing on which you can definitely hang your hat: I will pursue and research every question I need to ask before I begin typing, thereby satisfying not only the reader’s thirst, but my own. That said, it was hard to grasp the idea that more than 200 seniors at Trenton High, who recently learned they will not graduate unless they...
“We cannot depend on anyone to educate our children but ourselves”
– Marcellus D. Smith Jr, Boardmember, Trenton, NJ School District
March 22, 2010
Bad News for City Schools
March 23, 2010
Monday night, the Trenton School Board was supposed to vote on its budget. What happened, instead, was the people of Trenton learned the State of New Jersey plans to pretty much leave the task of funding the education of Trenton’s children to the city and its people. Superintendent Rodney Lofton informed the Board and a packed audience of the State’s plans to cut at least $20...
A reminder, and Admission
March 21, 2010
Before I make another stroke on this keyboard, I wanted to make sure you are all aware of the Trenton School Board’s meeting schedule. Meetings are held the second and fourth Monday of each month, at the Board headquarters, at 108 North Clinton Avenue. The meeting on the second Monday is the Board conference, starting at 6:30pm. During this meeting, agenda items for the fourth...
Governor Chris Christie has announced some drastic cuts to the state’s allotment of funds toward education in school districts across the state. Locally, Trenton’s school budget could be about 12 million dollars lighter, money they were expecting from the state. Trenton School Superintendent Rodney Lofton says such a decrease would result in elimination of after-school programs,...
A Learning Experience
March 16, 2010
Recently, I listened to a first grade student read. The little girl read “Curious George Goes to the Movies”, and had difficulty recognizing only three words. She proudly said no when I asked if she read the book before. One of the words was concession, as in the concession stand containing refreshments George sees when he and the Man in the Yellow Hat enter the movie theater to...
Parental Involvement Pays Off
March 13, 2010
I just finished reading a study titled “The 10 Billion Dollar Man”, which itemizes the annual cost to taxpayers in our United States for services extended to fatherless households. That astronomical total includes everything, from the monthly aid in real dollars a mother receives for food and non-perishables, to government-provided health insurance, to counseling a child may...
The Elephant in the room.
March 10, 2010
I come to you not only as a concerned resident of the City of Trenton, New Jersey, but also as a parent and aspiring educator. My name is Skip Harrison. I answered the call of the The Trentonian, serving New Jersey’s capital city and surrounding area, to contribute facts, insight, and first-person accounts concerning the Trenton Public Schools via this blog as a Citizen...
“Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.”
...”