Boy, GA is so proud of these Hoboken High School kids- if they really are kids, that is. So poised, so eloquent--are they adults wearing kid costumes?
NO! They're kids! Real ones!
And better public speakers than most adults I know.
The best thing is, that they came out to speak at the April 10th Board meeting without adult coercion.
They wanted to speak in rebuttal to offensive allegations about the Hoboken school district made by a Union City parent (who ironically chose the Hoboken district through the School Choice program). This parent alleged institutional racism in Hoboken public schools in a fiery speech made at the February BoE meeting; a speech which got picked up in the local press. The charges of "a pattern of discrimination against kids of color" in the Hoboken district schools so disturbed one HHS student who videotapes the meetings, he apparently shared the remarks with his classmates (a majority of whom are of color), and some may have read the article. Well, word got around the High School, and kids (again, a majority are of color) were appalled. Five of them showed up on April 10, 2018 to face the Board and the camera to bear witness against "attacks" on their school and their teachers. Again- of their own accord.
They wanted to speak in rebuttal to offensive allegations about the Hoboken school district made by a Union City parent (who ironically chose the Hoboken district through the School Choice program). This parent alleged institutional racism in Hoboken public schools in a fiery speech made at the February BoE meeting; a speech which got picked up in the local press. The charges of "a pattern of discrimination against kids of color" in the Hoboken district schools so disturbed one HHS student who videotapes the meetings, he apparently shared the remarks with his classmates (a majority of whom are of color), and some may have read the article. Well, word got around the High School, and kids (again, a majority are of color) were appalled. Five of them showed up on April 10, 2018 to face the Board and the camera to bear witness against "attacks" on their school and their teachers. Again- of their own accord.
Please watch, we all have plenty to learn from these kids.
MY TWO CENTS
Sure, individual 'bad' incidents happen in all schools including Hoboken- but that is not the same as institutional racism.
To fluidly traverse between individual incidents and use them to indict entire district is dishonest and manipulative. This mom gets props for having the balls to push people's buttons about race and education, and to do it in the public square. However, in my opinion, she's projecting a narrative on an entire school district in order to lead the fight she wants to have.
Hoboken does have an issue of racial/socioeconomic disparity between school populations- that is true. Hoboken schools do have work to do to address our current demographic racial/socioeconomic imbalance throughout our district. Connors has a disproportionately high number of free and reduced lunch and black/Hispanic students as compared with Wallace, Calabro or Brandt;our Charters are disproportionately white and affluent- HoLa having the most extreme demographic disparity with the Hoboken District. How does a Dual Language School educate such a low proportion of Hispanics?
To fluidly traverse between individual incidents and use them to indict entire district is dishonest and manipulative. This mom gets props for having the balls to push people's buttons about race and education, and to do it in the public square. However, in my opinion, she's projecting a narrative on an entire school district in order to lead the fight she wants to have.
Hoboken does have an issue of racial/socioeconomic disparity between school populations- that is true. Hoboken schools do have work to do to address our current demographic racial/socioeconomic imbalance throughout our district. Connors has a disproportionately high number of free and reduced lunch and black/Hispanic students as compared with Wallace, Calabro or Brandt;our Charters are disproportionately white and affluent- HoLa having the most extreme demographic disparity with the Hoboken District. How does a Dual Language School educate such a low proportion of Hispanics?
MY EXPERIENCE IN THE DISTRICT
GA speaks as the parent of a biracial kid who was educated through the Hoboken district (PreK-3 through 8), and an involved parent, I witnessed the opposite of institutionalized racism. My kid's classes were majority Hispanic with one or two African American kids; all the classes per grade level were similarly racially mixed. Her teachers were kind to all. Kids who were having trouble with the work were helped. When my daughter finished her classroom work, she would volunteer to help any other kid having difficulty. Her classrooms were filled with support. The teachers encouraged the students irrespective of their race. The school allowed a low cost after-school program to operate on the grounds for low-income working parents where kids were helped with their schoolwork. I saw no evidence of racial tracking, saw no evidence of kids being treated differently based upon race- teachers pushed all the students to excel, saw no evidence that classrooms were "segregated."
My daughter concurs.
My daughter concurs.
Finally, watching the maturity of those kids, I am reminded of all that the Hoboken School District did for mine; not just education but the nurturing, supportive environment within which she blossomed; the educational and confidence-building opportunities like the Johns Hopkins program, the Aquaponics garden, Harvard Model Congress. So thank you, Hoboken District schools, teachers, administrators, board members, and of course, Superintendents Toback and Christine Johnson.
And thank you kids, for standing up for your school.
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