Hoboken & Jersey City Models of Public School Segregation in 2018                                                         GetGoogleCustomSearch(); AdGroup1(); AdGroup2(); AdGroup3(); AdGroup4(); checkStickyAdCookie();  AdGroup14();             GetHorizontalMenu1();  AdGroup15();  GetLogo();   GetDate(null, '');     #1 Source For Hudson County Political Insider News    GetUnauthorisedAccessText();  start(); GetSubMenuHeader166();  Hoboken & Jersey City Models of Public School Segregation in 2018  GetArticleDate("1/7/2018");             In 2018, Hoboken and Jersey City dominated the political headlines as examples for progressive leaders and models of diverse and inclusive cities. The truth is both Hoboken and Jersey City continue to perpetuate generational and pervasive marginalization of Black and Brown children in their respective public school districts.The new Mayor of Hoboken, Ravi Bhalla, the first Sikh elected Mayor in New Jersey, in one of his first acts as Mayor signed an Executive Order announcing the Hoboken will be a "Fair and Welcoming" city to immigrants. But what about the people who migrated to Hoboken looking to escape extremely oppressive and dangerous conditions in the South in search of a better, safer, and more equitable quality life in the North only to be subjected to the same, more subtle forms of oppression and cruelty for generations to come? Mayor Bhalla must now follow his first action of creating a Fair and Welcoming City by including a plan to dismantle and eliminate once and for all forms of systemic and institutional racism from Hoboken Schools. Mayor Fulop in Jersey City was vociferous in advocating for the return of full local control of the Jersey City Public School District. After 30 years of state control, Mayor Fulop got his wish. Fulop's political advocacy for education reform has history and a proven track record. He played a very visible role in running candidates for multiple school board elections as both Mayor and as a Councilman. As a Councilman, Fulop orchestrated the ousting of late Dr. Charles T Epps Jr. as Superintendent of Schools. And through a series of backroom deals, Mayor Fulop worked with Governor Christie and the NJ Education Commissioner at the time, Christopher Cerf to appoint Superintendent Marcia Lyles, in despite city wide support for Acting Superintendent Franklin Walker.While Fulop has effectively moved certain parts of his education agenda forward, the residents of Jersey City have yet to hear what his vision and plans are for the Jersey City Public School District once the transition to local control is complete. And given that he has a history of flip flopping between running education reform candidates to backing teacher union candidates in order to maintain control and influence over the district, no one seems to know to what end.Mayor Fulop is very well aware of how pervasive systematic racism is in government. The Croson Study outlined discriminatory practices Jersey City engaged in by intentionally disqualifying minorities and women in the awarding of city contracts and grants. The Mayor shouldn't be surprised to hear how embedded racism is in the school district. If the Mayor does indeed have blind spots on this issue, he should look no further than how neighborhood segregation informs school segregation and then consider the possibility that there may be a direct or indirect correlation between various forms of segregation and the racial achievement gap.Sure both Mayors may suggest that segregation de facto and poverty is the true culprit. However, a recent measurement tool was created by Dr. Sean Reardon of Stanford University to help districts with high poverty measure effectiveness through growth rates. This tool does two things: 1.) it debunks the myth that black and brown kids can't learn and 2.) it enables districts to measure effectiveness through growth rates instead of proficiency scores. In other words, how much are kids learning on a year over year basis.In a recent, New York Times article that discussed growth rates, Chicago Public Schools was recognized as having the highest growth rates in the country, outperforming every school in the nation. Poor black and brown kids are learning a lot on a year over year basis despite college readiness scores being low. So the only question Chicago has to answer now is how do they turn kids learning a lot and handling rigor to becoming college and career ready and conditions must be fostered in order to achieve these outcomes.Both Bhalla and Fulop cannot use poverty as an excuse because while Jersey City is outperforming Hoboken in growth rates, neither City is fairing well in terms of educating our most underrepresented and underserved children, specifically black and brown children. Additionally, while it is easy to point to segregation de-facto (people self segregating) as the main culprit, there are other forms of segregation such as racial tracking and the use of heavy and biased discipline practices to impede a black child's academic growth.Much like the Croson Study, both Mayor Fulop and Mayor Bhalla must now follow that example and expand their education agenda by addressing racial inequities, disparities, and systems, and various forms of segregation and tracking in their public school districts. A task force should be convened by both Mayors, in which an independent authority conducts an unbiased audit that examines these issues, how these issues have affected the education of black and brown children, and a plan to once and for all address the racial achievement gap. This is not the time for hollow gestures of concern in the form of lip service or clandestine meetings between political operatives masked as civil rights leaders with no track record in dismantling systems of oppression and the Superintendent of schools, where compromised reports are formulated under the guise of secrecy and bias.Fulop and Bhalla's progressive values could be realized by leading the way to revolutionize education through equity and educational excellence for children regardless of their circumstances. They can also start by announcing plans to desegregate public education, creating an independent commission to address forms of systemic oppression, implicit and complicit bias, and the lack of equity and Inclusion in their districts. For so many children in our communities, the only choice they have is the public school system and it is time these institutions started working for them instead of against them.     submit your comments    1 .pagedropcap {float:none;}  GetSubMenuFooter166();  AdGroup11(); GetHighlights2(); AdGroup13();     GetFooterMenu61(); GetContactInformation(); { powered by bulletlink.com }  GetGoogleAnalytics('PAGE:hoboken_&_jersey_city_models_of_public_school_segregation_in_2018');