N.J. District is Segregating Black Students, suit says

Hoboken,NJ. - Mayor Cooke was the mayor of Hoboken
from 1912 to 1915. That is Demerest High School in the background.

In a story that will do doubt be of interest to many people who follow what is going on in education- the South Orange Maplewood School District in New Jersey is being accused of systemic deprivation of adequate education to its African American students. Of course such claims require data - both objective, 3rd party quantitative as well as qualitative data- like testimonials and stories of how various aspects of segregation may or may not have played out over time within a school district. -Dr. Petrosino  

By Karen Yi

kyi@njadvancemedia.com,

NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

FULL STORY: Inside the suburban South Orange Maplewood School District, parents for years have accused the district of systemically depriving African American students of access to challenging classes. 

Now they've taken their grievances to federal court. (Click for video/audio)

The Black Parents Workshop filed a civil rights lawsuit against the district on Tuesday alleging the decades-long practice of placing students in tiered classes based on test scores or their perceived abilities (known as leveling) was discriminatory and disproportionately hurt African American students.

The suit also accuses the district of maintaining de facto segregation with one predominantly black elementary school and five elementary schools that are overwhelming white. That percolates through to the district's high school, where black students are more likely to be placed in lower-level courses when compared to their white peers, the suit said. 

"What we have in the South Orange Maplewood School District is a public school system where children are segregated by race in its elementary schools, (and) experience few black teachers in their classrooms," said Walter Fields, chairman of the parent advocacy group that filed the suit.

"African-American children are subjected to punishment for offenses that their white peers also commit but receive lesser punishment, and where all students walk through the same front door at Columbia High School but are then segregated by race in classrooms due to the district's embrace of tracking and leveling."

During a school board meeting last week, the district moved to eliminate 11 levels in math and science courses at the high school and middle schools, instead offering academic or honors courses for most core STEM classes.

At the meeting, Interim Superintendent Thomas Ficarra said it was time to start making changes, given that 2016-17 data show 65 percent of African American students were enrolled in the two lowest levels of Geometry, and none met expectations on the state standardized exam.