"Schools Need Improvements"- Recent Letter to Hoboken Reporter

The following is a letter to the editor that was published in the Hoboken Reporter on February 13, 2011 entitled, "Schools Need Improvements" and was recently brought to my attention. The letter is written by Ms. Theresa Burns, a public school teacher and a former member of the Hoboken Board of Education. In this letter to the editor, Ms. Burns discusses the results of recent student testing and AYP status from both a teacher's perspective as well as a former Board trustee. Her manner of establishing a data driven argument as well as a firm grasp of policy and practical classroom implications is notable and something I feel readers of this blog from across the country will find informative.

Dear Editor:

On November 3, 2010 the New Jersey Department of Education released their annual Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report for the Hoboken Public Schools. The report is part of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation that aims to have all students achieving at grade level by 2014. AYP is a measuring tool with many components that accesses the quality and progress district level leadership is making toward educating the children they serve. The results for Hoboken deserve immediate attention. Three schools (Connors, Wallace, and Hoboken High School) failed to make AYP. To put this in context, in August of 2009 the current Kids First Board of Education inherited a district from Superintendent Raslowsky and the former Board leadership with a single school that did not achieve AYP (Connors). We now learn under Kids First leadership, not only has Connors not improved, but two additional schools in Hoboken have now failed to make AYP - bringing the total number of schools to three. But, the picture is much more troubling. Because of the consolidation of Demarest and all 8th graders into HHS (two controversial decisions to say the least), the impact on the entire district student population has been incredibly magnified. Looking at the data by "children impacted" rather than by "number of schools impacted," we see a much more troubling state of affairs. In August of 2009 roughly 14.5 percent of Hoboken Public School children attended a school that failed to make AYP. By January of 2011, 9 out of 10 Hoboken children now attend a public school that has failed to meet adequate yearly progress. The decline under the political group known as Kids First has been sudden and dramatic. In 2009, before Kids First took over leadership, Hoboken High School was identified by US News and World Report as a 2-time High School Bronze Medal winner. A year earlier, HHS was recognized by New Jersey Monthly as the second most improved high school in the State of New Jersey. Wallace School was the informal K-8 academic “flagship” for the district and an academic gem for over a decade. Now, both schools have failed to make AYP. Parents and taxpayers of Hoboken deserve an explanation for this system wide failure and a coherent plan for its immediate improvement.

Yours truly,

Theresa Burns

Editorial Note: That there was a reply to Ms. Burns' letter a week later by a Board member in the same publication. Unfortunately, that letter included no supporting data for its claims.

Picture: "Wordle" generated from the text of Ms. Burns' letter to the editor.