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 not able to continue, though, without thanking The Trentonian, and all those who have read “Schooled…”, and responded thus far. Since my first entry two weeks ago, I have also crossed paths with people who have read my content and shared their opinions during face to face exchanges. While I am thankful for that response, I must ask those people to write responses. Believe me when I tell you that, nine times out of ten, there are at least 10 others who share those same thoughts you verbalize. Write them in the response area provided in this space, please, so that others who may agree (or disagree) can join in the discussion. I must say that I am surprised at the absence of response from those vying for elected positions in the upcoming Trenton municipal elections.  Anyone who wants to be mayor or serve on City Council will have to, sooner or later, face the harsh reality that our schools are not what they should be when it comes to offering a stable, peaceful learning environment that prepares young people to become self-supporting, gainfully employed citizens who make positive contributions to our city and abroad.

I know, I know, there was an emergency Trenton School Board vote yesterday, during which they voted to privatize the school district’s security detail, which could send some men and women looking for work, and close at least three schools, sending students to other schools, thereby increasing the student-to-teacher ratio. I’m gonna talk about all that, but I must first seek insight and get the facts from those in the know before I create a blog offering about those issues. Right now, I want to take time to respond to some of the people who have read my pieces, then shared their opinion or were left with questions:

After reading the March 10, 2010 post titled, The Elephant in the Room, Samantha asked:

….if you could expand on the theories you have developed about the societal factors affecting the quality of education in Trenton’s schools?

There are a few reasons which, unfortunately, are intertwined. At the base, Samantha, is the predominance of a culture throughout our country, particularly in the inner cities, that does not place as much emphasis on education as it used to. There are also basic skills and habits (respect for self and one another, sitting still, listening, etc.) that parents no longer make sure their children learn before they start school. The result is learning environments in which students see no immediate justification for being there. Conversely, it’s making many good teachers wonder why they are there, and not somewhere teaching students who want to learn. There used to be an “I challenge you, you challenge me” relationship between teachers and students, with parents encouraging that exchange. With fewer parents taking an active role in their children’s scholastic careers, there will be more teachers who chose to practice their craft elsewhere, or just teach in a Trenton classroom to earn a check. Worst case scenario would be a school district predominated by the latter.

Responding to “Whose Fault is It?”, posted March 25, 2010, Chimaobi Amutah, a 2003 graduate of Trenton Central High, wrote:

…81% of my peers failed the HSPA as juniors and had to go through the SRA process in order to complete their education at Trenton High. The problems have been stated and re-stated ad-infinitum—particularly by individuals such as yourself who are not products of the Trenton Public School system and/or do not have children in the school system. Thus, you are an outsider looking in. Quite a different perspective than lifelong residents of Trenton who have attended these schools and were reared in these neighborhoods and households where the crux of many educational problems lie.

I must ask you then, Chimaobi: How have life-long residents of this city allowed their system of education to become this dysfunctional? You have, in your response, offered an answer to which teachers and many social scientists will agree. If, within a home environment, there is no foundation of discipline or focus on education, then a child will most likely operate at a disadvantage in the classroom that only widens as he or she matriculates through school and chooses not to learn. Many people blamed school systems for years in such situations. Now they can’t. About four years “No Child Left Behind” legislation was implemented, there were studies done to see just how students, teachers, and school systems were faring. What they found was this: Teachers can implement curriculum and teach from 8:30am to 3:00pm every day to infinity, but at the end of the school day, if a child goes home to an environment that contains no books, in which there is no regimen involving a set study time, where no one is asking “what did you learn today?”, one in which a child hears three times as many negative words than positive words, then the teachers are fighting a losing battle in the quest to educate the child. As for the outsider’s commentary on what they see here in Trenton, do you want us to join the life-long residents, many of whom are also graduates of Trenton Central High School, and not say anything? Many of them don’t have the advantage that you and I have, having lived somewhere else and attended college.  What we see in Trenton now is the result of silence of those who may feel like they have no voice, while those who can, for the most part, send their children to the private schools in the nearby suburbs to escape this issue. I have chosen to teach, and be an active participant in my home, church and community as a method of affecting change. I look forward to your return to help us out. That is, if you do return.

Skip Harrison is an educator, freelance journalist, and parent, who resides in Trenton, New Jersey.