When my husband and I were looking for a place to build our home years ago, the quality of the public school system showed up first in our priority list. Savvy enough, our agent whipped out the ranking of New Jersey public high schools when trying to convince us to purchase a home in WW-P. I believe many families, who value education, decide to settle down here for the same reason.
Different public school rankings may take various factors into account, but one most common and important factor is Academic Performance Index (API) or alike, such as scores in standard tests, AP courses, and average weighted GPA. Children who excel in academics have contributed to our school rankings, indirectly held up the housing value of our neighborhood even in the hardest times, and stabilized the local economy. We have a nice home because we have diligent and intelligent children in our neighborhood.
However, instead of rewarding these children, people are trying to punish them. The popular argument is that they are causing pressure and tension for other children who cannot do well on exams or compete in the academic enriched programs such as A&E, and therefore the exams and such programs should be limited or removed.
I believe every child is smart and special in their own way. By having academic performance only as one of the criteria, our college entrance process has already fully respected those children whose abilities cannot be evaluated by academic standards alone. It is unjustifiable to deprive children with the academic abilities of the opportunity to stand out and flourish with their strength.
There are contemptuous remarks made about children who are tutored into the A&E program. Most children get into the program by pure talent, and even children who are tutored have nothing to be ashamed of. It takes great discipline and meticulosity to solve a math problem, write down the answer logically, and calculate without an error. That training prepares them to solve problems in the real world. There are so many people in the work force nowadays who can talk the talk but cannot walk the walk. That in part is because our academic programs in general lack rigor. It is unjustifiable to disparage other children’s success just because one’s own children do not have the desire, discipline, or ability to achieve it. Unfortunately, some people in our school district are supporting and encouraging those remarks.
Since the topic of racial composition has already been brought to the table, it is hard to finish my points without touching on it. Every decision on resource allocation by the school district may favor one group of children and disfavor another. What is the racial composition of both the favored and disfavored groups when A&E is eliminated? It is painful to hear children in the disfavored group cry out — that is unfair! Our children make the pledge every day — justice for all. The idea of our founding fathers makes our country great and strong. But in reality, it is sad to see that children are still stereotyped by race and favoritism is still played among the racial groups.
J. Yao
Plainsboro
Can you imagine that midterm and final exams are being eliminated in our schools? This is one of a series of surprise changes that were implemented when school started one month ago.
I couldn’t have believed it had I not heard it from my son, who is now a freshman at High School South. This is an absurd decision that can only hurt the students. What is more bizarre about this decision is that it seems to have come from nowhere. Even the teachers were taken by surprise and confused. This decision has a profound and wide impact. Was adequate study conducted? Was the public given the chance to voice their opinions? Had teachers been consulted? Had students been consulted?
This is not an isolated decision. In fact, “elimination” has become a trendy word in our school district in the past year or so, and surprise decisions like this have become a pattern. Just as I am writing this, word has come out that the Village School (very likely Community School too) group lessons and rehearsal time for chamber students during school hours were eliminated! It is said the program has been moved to after school. But the after-school program is mostly for rehearsals and has no school buses, meaning this high quality and popular music program is being eliminated. Students and parents alike are scrambling to find out what is happening and what to do.
Decisions are made before debates can start. This is the tried-and-true method that guarantees that what is done cannot be undone.
Examples are abundant, from restricting Option II, to letting a beloved art teacher leave the district, to throwing money on chrome books, etc. Last month, a new plan was also being proposed to eliminate the highly successful math A&E program in grades 4 and 5!
This administration seems obsessed with changes and has a very busy agenda of changes. But changes are not always good. WW-P has been a very successful school district with many excellent programs and choices for students, thanks to years of collaborative effort among previous administrations, teachers, parents, and students. So the question is, what kind of changes do we really need?
We are cutting those top quality programs one by one. We are taking away students’ choices piece by piece. We are eliminating midterm/final exams that have been the bread and butter tool of education quality assurance. Those are definitely not the changes this district needs.
In the proposal to eliminate current 4-5 math A&E program, I heard the argument that this program serves very few. That is a very narrowminded and shortsighted argument. First of all, 10 percent is not few. I would agree that this program indeed serves fewer than it should — because there is actually more demand out there than it currently can accommodate. The external report by an independent educational research institution estimates that about 30 percent of the students in our district would be considered gifted and talented and need more rigorous and challenging academic programs. Many of our kids in the regular math classes are bored.
To the contrary of the proposed elimination, the A&E program actually needs to be expanded, or similar programs need to be created to adequately meet our kids’ needs. Secondly and more importantly, A&E is a specialty program. Like any specialty programs, it is of course not for everyone. Children vary in their interests, talents, strengths, and development. Specialty programs and different levels of programs are created to meet their individual needs. Some kids do well in math or science. Some outperform in music or arts. Some excel in sports. Some flourish in communications or writing. Some develop early. Some catch up later, etc. Each program serves only a few, but all programs together serve everyone. By eliminating each program that serves “only a few,” none will be served.
Part of the reason this district has top-rated schools is that the schools offer a variety of top quality programs at students’ choice. Those excellent programs and choices attract students, challenge them, and motivate them. Our children excel in every area — math, science, music, sports, debate, just to mention a few. They consistently give outstanding performances in state and nation-wide competitions. We have been so proud of our students and our district. However, at the speed those programs are being eliminated or cut, it takes only a few years to see our children suffer, our schools nosedive, and our property values plunge.
Concerns about student stress are often cited as the reason behind the many changes, but common sense tells us that eliminating variety and choice as the way of reducing student stress is illogical. Maybe bringing our schools back to average or “normal” is what is really intended? Maybe egalitarianism has become the new and more politically correct theme? Given the opacity of the district’s decision making process on educational matters, especially curriculum design and changes, one can only wonder exactly what is driving so many bizarre changes these days.
One shocking thing I do notice and is that “racial imbalance,” alongside “serves few,” is also cited in the district’s internal report as the reason behind the proposal to eliminate 4-5 A&E. I wonder if those are the same reasons behind the latest changes to our excellent music programs, essentially the cutting of advanced chamber music programs? And by the same logic, many of our schools’ varsity sports programs are “serving few” and “racially imbalanced.” Are we going to eliminate them too?
We do face student stress issues, and the issues are especially serious in high school. But eliminating A&E programs, cutting advanced chamber music programs, or restricting Option II is not the solution, and neither is eliminating mid/final exams.
To me, the stress issue is to a large extent related to another serious issue this district is facing, which is teacher quality and morale. Experienced, high quality, and hardworking teachers are leaving our district at accelerated speed, while those who stay do not feel encouraged to insist on holding the students to high standards by following rigorous and engaging curricula and teaching practices, things that have worked well.
As Jordon DeGroote, the high school senior who is running for school board next month, has pointed out, there are serious problems in our teacher evaluation system. There is a big gap between the administration and the student body. There is an obvious disconnect between the administration and the teachers. The communication in our district has become one-way — decisions being made for students and orders being given out to teachers. It is the students who interact with their teachers day in day out. They know better about their teachers than anyone else. But when it comes to evaluating their teachers or new hiring, they don’t have the voice that they deserve. Just a few months ago, we witnessed one of their beloved teachers being let go despite massive students pleas and protests both in schools and during Board of Education meetings.
We can afford spending lavishly on Chromebooks (which are not only waste of money, they are also do more harm than good to our kids), why can’t we spend a little more to hire more good teachers, or to better train our teachers?
Homework has been linked to stress, and there has been a big push to reduce homework. Attention and efforts by the district toward this issue are very much welcome, but the approach is questionable. I saw a parent survey by the school district on homework a few months ago. By reading those suggestive questions, you can tell what solution the surveyor already had in mind, which is to reduce homework. I am not against reducing homework, but reducing homework just for the sake of reducing homework will not solve the problem.
The purpose of homework is to help students practice and master what is taught in class. An experienced teacher knows how to structure and integrate classroom activities and homework assignments, making homework short but effective, much like a high quality, intense workout. The common problem of the homework nowadays is that our children are spending hours and hours on homework assignments that are meaningless. They seem to work hard and manage to complete the homework, but they still struggle with the subject. Quality and effectiveness are lacking.
I’ve seen my child doing math homework by playing silly math games for a long period on the school Chromebook, and what she could remember afterwards are only those colorful birds and dogs on the screen. I’ve also seen my child spent hours on science homework, mostly searching cool pictures on internet and editing and formatting. I’ve seen my child make the same kind of mistakes on the same kind of questions repeatedly, or getting correct scores for wrong answers. Many teachers rarely check students’ homework, let alone follow up. They simply let students cross check and score each other’s homework.
Many times I have to step in to help my children on their homework, not because the homework is challenging, but because they need the guidance and the follow up that are supposed to come from the teacher. To some extent, homework is being given out carelessly, without careful design and selection beforehand and without true follow up afterwards. The result is endless and meaningless homework. A good homework assignment does not always need to take hours to finish.
Direct our resources to better train our teachers and to hire good teachers. That will be more effective than draining our money on things like Chromebooks or layers of supervisors/superintendents that can only add to bureaucracy and hurt our children.
We have seen enough cutting of good programs and teachers that have made our district great and successful. We have seen enough restrictions on students’ choices that have give them the freedom to flourish. We don’t need this kind of changes.
As Jordon DeGroote says, we need quality education, we need board transparency, and we need to listen to students and let them have a say for their own education. Those are the good changes this district really needs.
Mike Jia
West Windsor
