Michael Lopez dashed around the soccer field at East High School. At one point, he stood on an overturned trash can in the goal area to show about a dozen teens where to aim their kick so that the ball clears the goalkeeper without sailing over the net.
Lopez’s two sons, who attend World of Inquiry School 58, were on the field, too, and a track team practiced at the opposite end. A large group of parents and siblings were gathered at the bleachers, and East’s security guards turned on the field’s flood lights so that the students could continue practicing into dusk.
Lopez, a volunteer coach, says that sports are huge for Rochester City School District students. The Griffins, School 58’s boys’ varsity soccer team, for instance, won the Section V title last year. The team’s success was cause for celebration, and one of many examples, Lopez says, of excellent activities and programs at city schools.
He says that he wouldn’t dream of moving out of the city and enrolling his children in a suburban school district, even though suburban districts perform better academically.
“Having gone through a rural, mostly white district where I was called names like Spic and taco and other stuff, I did not want my kids to go through an environment like that,” he says.
Lopez’s sons spent their elementary years at School 12, and he says that both are doing well at School 58.
“To me, it’s less about grades, not to say that grades aren’t important,” he says. “It’s more about the work ethic and learning to respect other people.”
Lopez is by no means alone in his allegiance. Despite a fairly common parable about young couples who live in the city: couple has their first child, school anxiety sets in, and up goes the For Sale sign, Lopez is part of a battalion of devoted city school district parents.
Many are two-parent professional households that could easily afford a comfortable, middle-income lifestyle in the suburbs. Some could even afford to send their children to a pricey private school. But they see themselves as urban dwellers and they want their children to have the same experience, and that includes the city’s public schools.
While they’re not blind to the harsh realities of the city school district, they don’t speak about them in what they say are too-often catastrophic terms. And they say that the Rochester school system should be seen as the city’s most important asset rather than its worst detriment.
Lopez works in the county public defender’s office as a special assistant public defender, and says that young people from both the city and the suburbs get into trouble. But people tend to think that only city schools and city families have problems, he says.
“Things aren’t always so great in all of those suburban schools,” he says. “Money often brings more access to things like narcotics, and I’m not just talking about herb. Suburban schools and families, they have their problems, too.”
Lopez frequently assists parents who have language barriers in completing applications for city schools. Many parents, especially those with language issues, don’t know what questions to ask or who to turn to for information about the schools, he says.
Harriet Fisher is mother to two children in the city school district and says that the district has long suffered from a communications problem. Her daughter attends School of the Arts and likes the school.
But Fisher had second thoughts about the district when it came to enrolling her son. Fisher and her husband were considering moving out of the city, she says, though it wasn’t something she looked forward to.
“All my very best friends have already left,” Fisher says. Their concerns weighed heavily on her and she says that she doubted her decision to enroll her son in a city school. But then, at the advice of her sister, who is an administrator in the city school district, she visited Montessori Academy School 53.
“People to this day think it’s a charter school,” Fisher says. “They don’t believe the district offers parents something like this.”
Montessori Academy has an active parent group, she says.
“Parents played a big role in hiring the principal,” she says. “We’re very involved.”
Stories like Lopez’s and Fisher’s are exactly why Rob Unckless and his wife, Heather Fiore, helped form Roc City Parents about two years ago. The network of city school district parents is committed to promoting city schools. The couple’s son attends School 10, and the family says that they’re extremely happy with the teacher and the school.
There are several active community groups composed of residents, parents, and education advocates who address issues involving city schools. The Southwest Common Council Education Committee, for instance, successfully lobbied Rochester schools Superintendent Bolgen Vargas in 2013 to reverse his decision to close School 16.
But Roc City Parents is a little different. The group of a few-dozen parents focuses mainly on recruiting and retaining city school parents and their children. Their message to city families whose children are, or will soon be, school age: you don’t have to move out of the city. You can enjoy city living and still send your children to a good public school.
One is not exclusive of the other, Unckless says.
He admits that his attitude toward city schools has evolved. He and his wife bought their home near Highland Park several years ago. They decided that they would move if they had a reason to. But they haven’t had one, they say, and don’t expect to.
“I think you have to start with the understanding that we have a huge school district with many schools and it’s an incredibly poor school district,” Unckless says. “When you put those two things together, it makes it harder. There are more challenges. But that doesn’t mean city schools are bad.”
He says that of course he and his wife hear about some of the behavior problems in city schools.
“But every school district has students with behavior problems,” he says. “This is a large district with a lot more students.”
Unckless says that Roc City Parents doesn’t condone the district’s low test scores or poor graduation rates. But they’re a byproduct of concentrated poverty, he says, and the solution isn’t for middle-class families to leave the district. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that choice has only made the challenges for city schools worse, he says.
Lopez isn’t a member of Roc City Parents, but he shares Unckless’s view.
“The biggest impediment to success in city schools isn’t teachers or lack of programs or the unions,” he says. “It’s the flight of the educated, middle-class parents. By that I mean the flight to suburban, private, and charter schools.”
He even objects to the much lauded Urban-Suburban Interdistrict Transfer Program, which he says exports some of the brightest and best city school district students to the suburbs.
“Kids learn from other kids,” Lopez says. “And their parents, just like me, advocate for someone else’s kids, not just their own. That’s what makes Pittsford a great school system.”
Roc City Parent member Meghan Reddington has three children in city schools. She can walk through her southeast Rochester neighborhood and point to home after home with children in city schools. Not all of them are RCSD students, she says, but most are.
She says that she’s actively courted parents to stay in the city and to send their children to city schools. Some have and some haven’t, she says. But the real reasons why some families decide to leave are often based on fear, she says, and not facts.
The media has created a frightening and distorted image of city schools, Reddington says.
“The negative press is sweeping,” she says. “It just feeds on itself. We’re not martyrs. There are amazing things going on in every one of these schools that no one hears about. They [students] are not the monsters they’re painted out to be.”
There’s a self-fulfilling prophecy with the media and the Rochester school district, she says. Media reports are at times salacious and unbalanced, she says, which prompt more families to pack up and leave.
“It’s as if they don’t want to hear anything positive about city schools,” Reddington says. “You never hear about the great things happening in these schools. All you hear about is all the stuff that goes on in central office.”
And she stresses that when families leave, they’re not just leaving the city school district. They’re leaving the city behind, too.
Reddington’s neighbors, Roger Janezic and his wife, Lori Brice, have three children attending three different city schools.
“We were going to move [out of the city] and we put an offer on a house a year ago,” Janezic says. “Right afterward I wanted to call and say we made a mistake. But the deal didn’t work out and we were glad it didn’t.”
He says that the public’s perception of the city school district is that the schools are dangerous and that teachers aren’t teaching.
“We find just the opposite is true,” he says. “I think these teachers are the most committed. I feel for them every time I hear [Governor] Cuomo speak.”
The fearmongering only makes learning and teaching more difficult for students and teachers, Reddington says.
“Imagine what it feels like to be a student in a city school or a teacher and hear this all the time,” she says.
The district’s school choice policy — families are asked to list their top five school choices — also plays a role in why many middle-income families leave the district, Reddington says. The policy is too complicated for many families, she says, and there’s too much uncertainty in whether a family will get its preferred schools.
“The unknown is causing anxiety,” she says. “You rank five schools, but the truth is you really don’t even want the fifth school at all, so up goes the For Sale sign.”
Some schools, like School 58, are so over-chosen that there are waiting lists, Rochester school board member Willa Powell says. She helped create the district’s school choice policy and says that implementing the program is a balancing act. But she says that she is planning to have the policy reviewed to see how it can be improved, and that she wants parents like Reddington to be involved.
Daniel Delehanty and his wife, Laura, are teachers at East High School and have two children in district schools. They’re also Roc City Parents.
He says that he’s not troubled by the district’s school choice policy.
“What suburb in this area gives parents five schools to choose from?” he says. And there are multiple offerings within some secondary schools, such as the popular culinary and Teaching and Learning Institute programs at East, which help prepare students for careers.
“The three big issues parents want are safety, to know their children are cared for, and quality academics,” Delehanty says. “But many parents write city schools off solely on the safety issue.”
There are three points where families leave, he says: when children enter kindergarten or before they enter junior high or high school.
Delehanty says that behind the concern about safety for some parents is a concern about race, since about 90 percent of city school district students are black or Latino.
He says that the only way city schools will become more integrated is if parents take the initiative.
“It’s difficult for people to speak to this,” he says. “But if you’re not open to speaking about race, you’re nullifying someone else’s culture. I’m a social studies teacher. I believe students in segregated communities lose out.”
Considering that the city school district’s student population has been in a slow, but steady decline, have parents who support the district been effective?
Many of the schools attended by the children of Roc City Parents’ members, for example, are the usual southeast favorites: School of the Arts, School 23, School 12, and School 58. Some district critics say that those aren’t true city schools — ones that might benefit from the economic and racial integration advocated by Roc City Parents.
But group members say that they have definitely made progress. They’ve met with most school board members and Superintendent Vargas. They know many of the teachers and principals in the schools and, most important, they’ve been able to provide many city parents with information about their options when it comes to schools, including the area’s charter and private schools. The group has information meetings and a website: www.RocCityParents.org.
And Vargas says that some of the most significant improvements in the district have been driven by parents.
“Just like Wegmans has to listen to its customers, we’ve had to listen to ours,” he says. “We have had to become a listening and learning organization.”
He credits parents with recommendations such as moving the Office of Student Placement from 690 St. Paul Street to the district’s central office.
“They told me the building was so large, like a city block, some of it with broken windows and you couldn’t even find the entrance,” Vargas says. “I thought they were kidding me at first. They said, ‘Is that the first impression you want new parents to have of city schools?'”
Vargas says that parents also recommended that he hold public meetings for parents and teachers to approach him in a casual, free-form setting. He holds his Coffee and Conversations meetings twice monthly.
“They didn’t bring special-interest concerns to me,” he says. “They brought children’s issues to me.”
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 2, 2015.
It is fair to say that there are some good city schools and living in the city if you are in the right neighborhood is also cool. There are also parents who have the means to move but instead like and fight for city schools, but that number is very low and the specific schools they embrace are the exception and not the norm. There are five or so very desirable city schools. There are some that are Ok but most are horrible and an article that implies things are OK or fine is damaging to those students, parents, teachers , principals and other employees working in schools that are unsafe and where chaos is the norm. The same parents who claim things are fine would never send their child to # 17 or # 3 or Charlotte or dozens of other schools where there are more tears than smiles. Standing up for City Schools? I don’t think so. What Savvy Parents can do to Navigate the System would have been more appropriate.
It is difficult not to agree with Gotta Say It here. If anything, the case is being understated and the “desirable” city schools, upon deeper scrutiny, fall far short of the standard being set by their suburban peers (or even charter peers with similar populations). I say this as someone with a deep concern for and interest in city schools. It is great to shine a light on the positive, but we do great harm if we insist on living in denial of the radical changes needed. The kids are not alright.
You have to speak from what you know. Both in my work, and as a parent, I have been privileged to meet students, teachers and administrators in the following schools and would be willing to send my children to any of them.
School 1
School 3
School 10
School 12
School 15
School 25
School 28
School 33
School 35
School 46
School 50
School 52
School 58
Montessori School
School Without Walls
East High School
Wilson Foundation
Wilson Commencement
Integrated Arts & Technology
School of the Arts
Early College Prep
Young Men’s Leadership Academy
The New Edison
Keeping in mind there are over 60 schools in the district, my list is incomplete (to the excellent schools I have missed, please chime in and let us know about your school!). But knowing that a committed family is the key to success of any student (read the seminal Coleman Report), and knowing that a committed group of parents who are willing to step up, get involved and make a difference, can help transform any school, I take a condemnation of city schools personally. Have you been to all city schools? To those of you who have had a difficult experience, my heart goes out to you. But to the critics, there are just too many people making good things happen to suffer a blanket condemnation. Let’s build on, and replicate, our successes to help those who need help. But to do that we need more players on the field and less critics in the peanut gallery.
Daniel Delehanty
Referencing previous comments about “desirable schools”. There are a myriad of magnet programs spread out across the district making every school desirable for families that are looking for that program. Most of the people I know including myself have kids in different schools because you can find a school to fit the kid instead of forcing the kid to fit the school. One of the many things I love about this district. No one is denying that there are problems in the city but what we are all saying is that the schools are not the problem, the concentrated poverty is. I don’t think any district would have much more success with a population that consistently lives below the poverty line. That is where the real problem lies yet people spend so much time bashing the schools and their students. As many of us already know, the schools are good now we need to change attitudes so we can better balance the socioeconomic demographics and not just improve the school performance but also improve the strength of our city.
Great article! My three children attend RCSD and I’m constantly amazed at the professionalism, care and commitment of each of their teachers and the schools’ support staff — despite the vitriol to which they’re subjected on a daily basis.
I am a city school district parent, and yes, it can be tough. You learn to be an advocate for your children, their peers, your school…The feeling of instability brought down by changing administrations at central office is tough. Placement office is tough to deal with. Not knowing year to year if your school’s programs will remain in tact is tough. The pervasiveness of poverty, and it’s effects, are heartbreaking. These are things that drive some to the suburbs, and I understand that. However, I also know that the amazing schools my sons attended, and now attend, have shaped them in ways a suburban school would not have – and I teach in a suburban school. They have a full spectrum, world class view of life, the world, and a group of peers that are diverse and amazing. They have been given wonderful opportunities, and are succeeding in ways I would have never imagined. Guess what “gotta say it”? In ANY district, you need to advocate and navigate! I for one, just want to say I am grateful. and grateful to read an article that for once focuses on the positives. As Daniel D. states, let’s continue to build on the successes with more players on the field like Michael Lopez, and less negative “peanut gallery” critics. 🙂
I am always amazed at how angry some people get when they hear me talk about why my kids love their schools. Every time I praise our city school, the failings at another school get pointed out to me. No RCSD parent is unaware of the problems in this system, but these problems do not negate the positives. The positives happen at the school level with resilent and beautiful children being taught by committed and generous teachers. If we are lucky, we have an intelligent and gifted administrator at the helm of the school. The breakdown happens at the levels above.
The positives are real and should be pointed out as a counterweight to the overwhelmingly negative image in our area of the children who attend RCSD schools. If I did not live in the city and send my kids to city schools I too would be dismissive of or frightened by the idea of my children spending the day with city kids. What a shame that would be, to live in ignorance of the beauty, talent, courage and determination of our children. When was the last time you read an article about the students in the RCSD that highlighted their humanity instead of starting from the assumption that their outcome had already been decided and they were poised to be a victim or a perpetrator of violence, hunger or despair?
There is an enormous amount of work to be done in this community to fulfill to all our children the promise of a fair and equal public education. Instead of castigating parents who choose not to leave the city, who choose to roll up their sleeves and be a part of the educational aspirations of all our children, we should give them credit for seeing past the fear, anger and sheer ignorance that permeates the discussion around city schools.
I am and will be forever grateful to the RCSD students and teachers who have taken care of my children all these years. They are the better for it, and I am as well.
My husband and I live in the city. When we have children I plan on sending them to school in the RCSD.
I appreciate the tone of the article here because it doesn’t make it sound like white people and their money are the answers to the RCSD’s problems as is the usual tone with most articles discussing white flight.
I honestly believe replicating the success of the popular district schools is possible, but only if the parents who want those things can advocate for their children in the schools that need it most.
As a teacher, the strongest change makers were always the parents – especially when they organized. Districts are obsessed with keeping parents happy not unlike a business and while some parents take it too far into helicopter-parent land, the majority are just fighting for what they think is best for their kids. My husband and I plan to be those parents for our kids and I am sure the education provided by the RCSD will be amazing.
wingsofcolor,
“…it doesn’t make it sound like white people and their money are the answers to the RCSD’s problems as is the usual tone…” WHAT??? Did you really read the article thoroughly? That’s exactly the “tone,” i.e.,
– “The biggest impediment to success in city schools isn’t teachers or lack of programs or the unions,” he says. “It’s the flight of the [MOSTLY WHITE] educated, middle-class parents. By that I mean the flight to suburban, private, and charter schools.”
– “Delehanty says that behind the concern about safety for some [MOSTLY WHITE] parents is a concern about race, since about 90 percent of city school district students are black or Latino.He says that the only way city schools will become more integrated is if parents take the initiative,”It’s difficult for people to speak to this…”
Do you get it? I hope so, and if not — then more than likely, you (like so many others) are in deep, deep, denial regarding obvious, objective, reality.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Articles such as this one are potentially dangerous — because it clearly attempts to downplay the old, old, deep-seated, historic ACADEMIC CRISIS that exists for the majority of Rochester City School District (RCSD) students and families.
The basic approach of the article is utilizing a handful of predominantly white, middle class parents (as if they are a broad representation of the RCSD, which clearly, they are NOT) — who are so-called “standing up for city schools,” but the truth of the matter is that they are NOT “standing up for city schools.” Instead, they are standing up for the relatively few elitist schools and programs that have been designed specifically for them and their children. This really is mainly a case of those who need less — getting more — relative to distribution of resources, as well as district officials bending over backwards to satisfy this particular minuscule group’s demands and expectations — while at the same time, largely ignoring and rationalizing about the horrendous conditions that have existed for decades, and continue to exist, especially where the economically-poor, black and brown masses are concerned. As I read the article, I couldn’t help but wonder — since the small group claim to be “standing up for city schools” — where have they been regarding issues (for example) such as the one discussed at the following link? http://www.rochestercitynewspaper.com/roch…
The potentially dangerous article contains some truly mind-boggling quotes. A few of the most outstanding ones are below. Also, please take the time to read some of the amazing comments associated with this article.
UNBELIEVABLE QUOTES BELOW (please know that utilization of ALL-CAPS has absolutely NOTHING to do with the Eurocentric concept of so-called “SCREAMING”). Instead, ALL-CAPS ARE USED SOLELY FOR PURPOSES OF EMPHASIZING CRITICALLY IMPORTANT POINTS — PERIOD.
– “Lopez works in the county public defender’s office as a special assistant public defender, and says that young people from both the city and the suburbs get into trouble. But people tend to think that only city schools and city families have problems, he says.Things aren’t always so great in all of those suburban schools, he says. Money often brings more access to things like narcotics, and I’m not just talking about herb. Suburban schools and families, they have their problems, too.” THUS, I WOULD ASK THE PUBLIC DEFENDER — SINCE THE INFORMATION QUOTED ABOVE IS IN FACT TRUE — HOW THEN DO WE LOGICALLY EXPLAIN THE FACT THAT THE JAILS AND PRISONS ARE FILLED WITH AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF ECONOMICALLY-POOR, BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE — MANY OF WHOM GO DIRECTLY FROM THE SCHOOL HOUSES OF THE RCSD AND OTHER DECREPIT, URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS (IN EVERY DIRECTION) THROUGHOUT THIS THOROUGHLY RACIST, WHITE SUPREMACIST NATION-STATE — STRAIGHT TO THE JAILHOUSES??? LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT.
– “Unckless says that Roc City Parents doesn’t condone the district’s low test scores or poor graduation rates. But they’re a byproduct of concentrated poverty, he says, and the solution isn’t for middle-class families to leave the district. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that choice has only made the challenges for city schools worse, he says.” WHAT??? I AM SICKER AND MORE TIRED-OF BEING-TIRED THAN MOTHER FANNIE LOU HAMER WAS — RELATIVE TO THE SHALLOW, SIMPLISTIC, OBJECTIVELY INCORRECT, AND IN MANY CASES EXCUSE THAT “the district’s low test scores or poor graduation rates [ARE EXCLUSIVELY] a byproduct of concentrated poverty.” STOP IT ALREADY!!! CONSIDER, FOR EXAMPLE, SO-CALLED CONCENTRATED POVERTY WAS MUCH, MUCH, MUCH WORSE, ESPECIALLY FOR BLACK PEOPLE DURING THE YEARS IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THE U.S. CIVIL WAR. YET, DURING THOSE YEARS, ESPECIALLY FROM 1866-1877, AND ACTUALLY, BEYOND — WE WITNESSED PROBABLY THE HIGHEST AND FASTEST GROWTH RATES RELATIVE TO LITERACY IN THE HISTORY OF BLACK PEOPLES’ EXISTENCE IN THIS THOROUGHLY RACIST, WHITE SUPREMACIST, NATION-STATE. SO AGAIN, PLEASE STOP WITH THE SIMPLISTIC, ERRONEOUS, “EXPLANATIONS” REGARDING SO-CALLED “CONCENTRATED POVERTY.” OF COURSE CHALLENGING ISSUES AND PROBLEMS THAT FREQUENTLY ACCOMPANY ABJECT POVERTY MAKES THE JOB OF EDUCATING PEOPLE MORE DIFFICULT, BUT POVERTY DOES NOT REPRESENT CAUSATION. INSTEAD, IT REPRESENTS CORRELATION. IT IS BUT ONE FACTOR RELATIVE TO A WHOLE RANGE OF FACTORS THAT ARE IMPACTING THE INABILITY AND/OR UNWILLINGNESS OF THE RCSD AND DECREPIT URBAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS ACROSS THIS THOROUGHLY RACIST, WHITE SUPREMACIST, NATION-STATE (IN EVERY DIRECTION — NORTH, EAST, SOUTH, AND WEST) TO ADEQUATELY AND PROPERLY EDUCATE THE BLACK AND BROWN MASSES — PERIOD. WITH REGARD TO PROVIDING QUALITY, PUBLIC EDUCATION FOR THE BLACK AND BROWN, URBAN MASSES, IT’S TIME TO PUT THE STAND-ALONE, “CONCENTRATED POVERTY” ARGUMENT AND (IN MANY CASES, CLEAR EXCUSE) TO REST. WE MUST (ONCE AND FOR ALL) CHANGE THE DOMINANT DISCOURSE AND DIALOGUE — SO THAT IT INCLUDES MANY, MANY OTHER FACTORS IMPACTING MASSIVE BLACK AND BROWN ACADEMIC FAILURE — SUCH AS (FOR EXAMPLE) – INDIVIDUAL AND INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM, AS MANIFESTED VIA ATTITUDES AND BELIEF-SYSTEMS OF MANY EDUCATORS;THE SPECIFIC CULTURAL AND RACIAL MAKE-UP OF THE EDUCATIONAL-WORKFORCE; INADEQUATE, INEFFECTIVE TRAINING, PARTICULARLY AS IT RELATES TO CULTURAL/HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE AND COMPETENCE; INADEQUATE, AND IN MANY CASES, RACIST CURRICULA, ETC… ETC… ETC… IN ORDER TO GAIN A CRYSTAL-CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE OLD, OLD, HISTORIC, PERVASIVE, WORSENING, URBAN EDUCATION CRISIS, WHICH IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, RELATIVE TO SOLUTION — WE MUST LEARN AND TALK ABOUT ALL OF THIS.
– “The biggest impediment to success in city schools isn’t teachers or lack of programs or the unions,” he says. “It’s the flight of the educated, middle-class parents. By that I mean the flight to suburban, private, and charter schools.” THE LATTER QUOTE IS REALLY VERY ALARMING — BECAUSE THE CLEAR AND POTENTIALLY VERY DANGEROUS IMPLICATION IS THE IDEA THAT, UNLESS WE CAN STOP MAINLY, BUT NOT EXCLUSIVELY WHITE “educated, middle-class parents” FROM ENGAGING IN “flight to suburban, private, and charter schools” — THEN THERE IS NO HOPE FOR THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF THE BLACK AND BROWN MASSES. WE MUST NECESSARILY, AND VEHEMENTLY REJECT THIS FLAWED PREMISE ON IT’S FACE. INSTEAD, WE MUST TAKE THE POSITION THAT WE (COLLECTIVELY) ARE GOING TO DEVELOP CONCRETE, FEASIBLE, EFFECTIVE, EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS FOR ALL OF OUR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES — PERIOD. ALSO, WE CANNOT, MUST NOT, BURY OUR HEADS IN THE SANDS OF DEEP DENIAL (AS AN OSTRICH WOULD DO), AND PRETEND THAT THERE ARE NO PROBLEMS INVOLVING “lack of [EFFECTIVE] programs or the [OVERLY POWERFUL] unions” — THERE ARE.
“I’m a social studies teacher. I believe students in segregated communities lose out.” IF THIS IS TRUE — THEN CERTAINLY, THE STUDENTS OF PITTSFORD, BRIGHTON, PENFIELD, PERINTON, ETC… ETC… ETC… MUST NECESSARILY BE “LOSING OUT.” HOWEVER, I AM QUITE SURE THAT PREDOMINANTLY WHITE, MIDDLE AND UPPER CLASS, SUBURBAN STUDENTS ARE NOT THE ONES THE SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER HAD IN MIND REGARDING HIS LATTER QUOTE.
TIME DOES NOT PERMIT, BUT THERE IS MUCH MORE TO SAY ABOUT THIS ARTICLE. IT’S ONE WORTH REVISITING. IF THE ARTICLE HAS ANY REDEEMING QUALITIES AT ALL, THEY ARE CAPTURED IN THE STATED REALITY THAT “behind the concern about safety for some parents is a concern about race, since about 90 percent of city school district students are black or Latino. It’s difficult for people to speak to this,” he says. But if you’re not open to speaking about race, you’re nullifying someone else’s culture.” EXACTLY!!! SO, NO MATTER HOW “difficult [IT IS] for people to speak to this” — WE MUST TALK ABOUT THE DUAL-HEADED MONSTER AND DISEASE OF INDIVIDUAL AND INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM — SINCE IT IS AN UNDERLYING, FUNDAMENTAL FACTOR THAT CUTS ACROSS EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THE ISSUES RAISED HERE.
The Struggle Continues…
Howard
Howard Eagle– I think you have nailed it here. My question is, what happens when we all realize the inherent racism in public education? Then what do we do? If we could predict NOW what needs to happen AFTER we understand the institutionalized problems, we could proceed with those changes and fake it till we make it. So often we read, it’s the parents; it’s the poverty; it’s the unions; it’s the racism. And all of those reasons are true. But it always comes back to “Now what?”
Now what?? Lets tell some truths. We must ask ourselves so concrete questions. Why are some schools in the city school district better then others? Why real true black history is not taught in public schools? Why the majority of teachers in predominantly black and brown urban schools are white, teaching black children? When we know that most of these white teachers live in the suburbs and/or rural areas, and have no idea of the culture and/or how to communicate with black or brown children. Why are teachers Pensions tied to private Prison Stock? This in itself speaks volumes for me, how about you? Why special needs children in the city school district, are not receiving what they need academically and/or the means to become productive citizens, when the city school district is receiving extra funding for this purpose? Yet, special needs students in the city school district, graduate without knowing how to read, count money, or how to fill out a job application, just to name a few. However, it not like that for children of the suburban school districts, they not only receive what they need in academic instruction, but also they attend a trade school. Where is the budget of $800 million dollars allocated to…??? These are just a few questions we as a community should be asking ourselves and getting answers to, if we are deadly serious about doing the right thing for our children, families and our community.
What do the people commenting in the article have in common? They are married and their children are thriving.
As a concerned parent I have absolutely NOTHING positive to say about the Rochester City School district, with the exception of SOTA. My feelings are based on FACTS that were evident since my arrival here in 1994. My experiences speak of the dumb down education and LACK of true diversity to the degree that there are NO Spanish speaking people readily available for those needing it. I gladly took my children out, sent them to Charters or suburban schools. If given the choice, my son would rather deal with snobby white kids, versus a curriculum that is not the least bit challenging, with teachers that couldn’t care less. In fact, my youngest daughter attended Poughkeepsie Community College for a semester after graduating from SOTA. It is a well known fact downstate that RCSD students cannot construct a proper grammatically structured paragraph, NOR verbally express themselves in a college level manner. Check out all the students needing remedial classes. My daughter politely expressed that her mother made certain that she was not part of the RCSD failures.
I guess when the Rochester City School District is the only school one has ever attended, it’s difficult to decipher how bad it is when you have nothing to measure it against. I am not a native nor did I attend this districts school. Therefore, my views are completely on another level.
@thetruth: And then what? If we answered all those questions, then what would we have to put in place to make the necessary changes? We spend SO MUCH time blaming and almost no time acting. What are the actions we need to take to get our kids educated? Do we need more teachers of color? Let’s go get them. Do we want our teachers to live in the city? Let’s make that a litmus test for school board candidates. Railing at the system ain’t cutting it anymore.
“Nearly one in three ninth-graders is absent on any given day” says the D&C today. How can you educate kids that don’t show up for class? Instead of “standing up for city schools” how about sitting down and figuring out what can be done to fix the attendance issue – the mother of all problems in the Rochester City School District. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/…
You are 100% spot on Animule. And if they ever got a job, they would do the same thing there too. If you have a job, you need to show up 99.99999% of the time, if not more. When people complain about lack of opportunity, I laugh. The opportunity is there if you’d just show up.
Winston Churchill once said, “The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it and ignorance may deride it, but in the end, THERE IT IS!” Some folks just can’t handle the truth! KEEP PREACHING THE TRUTH HOWARD! Now I will count my dislikes! 😊
Kathryn Quinn Thomas,
You are dead-right regarding your assertion that “often we read, it’s the parents; it’s the poverty; it’s the unions; it’s the racism. And all of those reasons are true”
Your question: “what happens when we all realize the inherent racism in public education?” — is a very important one. However, “all [of us] realizing the inherent racism in public education” is NOT a simplistic matter. That is to say, many, many people, including many educators, continue to deny this basic fact, and often, even when people “realize” that it IS TRUE — realization (in and of itself) does not necessarily mean that they UNDERSTAND CLEARLY AND SPECIFICALLY how racism has, and continues to manifest, which is why specific, informed, anti-racist professional development is critically important for ALL urban educators (everyone working directly with students — in any capacity), as well as anyone else who really wants to understand the nature, essence, and pervasiveness of the problem — so that we ALL can gain clear, full, understanding of the historical and contemporary nature, essence and impact relative to the interconnectedness regarding the dual-headed beast and monster of individual and institutionalized racism. Such focused professional development will serve to help ALL of us understand that the decrepit conditions, which exists for the overwhelming black and brown majority within URBAN schools and districts vis-a-vis the norm of overwhelmingly white, SUBURBAN, and predominantly white, elitist, urban success stories (across this thoroughly racist nation-state) — is NOT just one, big, coincident — nor is it a freak of nature, but instead is the historical product of past and ongoing policies, practices, procedures, rules, regulations, laws, and traditions. Thus, the solution ultimately lies within examining and CHANGING policies, practices, procedures, rules, regulations, laws, and traditions that serve to uphold and perpetuate the SYSTEMIC, socially, economically, politically, and culturally — engineered conditions that we are currently witnessing. That is to say, in order to understand current overall reality — we must necessarily place our examination into historical perspective — so that we can gain clear, comprehensive knowledge regarding what (specifically) has been done, and is being done to create / perpetuate current, overall conditions. Then we will understand exactly what needs to be done in order to reverse the conditions. This is not a simplistic matter, and there are no simplistic SOLUTIONS. We must necessarily began with widespread, ongoing, dialog — in order to develop a common understanding. Once it has been developed, WE MUST ACT ON WHAT WE KNOW. If we don’t, then there will be no fundamental change or improvement. Some of the broad areas that must be examined regarding necessary changes include funding schemes and mechanisms, curricula, educational preparation and training programs, recruiting, hiring, and retention practices and policies, etc..
So, we CAN ” predict NOW [at least to some degree and extent] what needs to happen AFTER we understand the institutionalized problems.” However, as I noted, the entire effort MUST begin with the baby-step of open, honest, widespread, face-to-face dialog. SOME OF US STAND READY, WILLING, AND ABLE TO FACILITATE THE BABY STEP. WE’RE ASKING YOU AND EVERYONE ELSE TO JUST LET US KNOW WHEN YOU’RE READY.
@thetruth — YOU ARE DEAD-RIGHT, and ALL of those questions you raised are historical questions. That is, we cannot possibly gain full and/or clear understanding relative to objectively correct answers — unless we place our examination of each question into historical perspective. When we do, it becomes crystal-clear that NONE of the questions are associated with mere coincidence or “happenstance.” Instead, the answers to each one is related to the specific manner in which the DUAL-PUBLIC-EDUCATION-SYSTEM was developed (historically), and how it’s being SYSTEMATICALLY maintained and perpetuated.
Guy Welsher,
As is usually the case, your simplistic assertion adds nothing of value to the conversation.
Would you mind “talking” to us about your thinking relative to the historical and ongoing impact of individual and institutionalized racism on public education?
Teraysah Barker,
With regard to your observation about “LACK of true diversity to the degree that there are NO Spanish speaking people readily available for those needing it” — MY HEAD STILL HAS NOT STOPPED SPINNING AS A RESULT OF THE COMPLETELY CRAZY STORY EARLIER THIS YEAR (SEE LINK BELOW), WHICH LITERALLY REPRESENTS A CRIME:
http://www.rochesterhomepage.net/story/d/s…
@thetruth,
You are correct that — ONLY “Railing at the system ain’t cutting it.” However, JUST SAYING “lets” make change — also doesn’t cut it. Who specifically are we referring to when we say “lets”? The truth of the matter is that unless, and until a substantial number of us who are DEAD SERIOUS about change and improvement COMMIT (FOR THE LONG HAUL) to organizing ourselves, and developing specific plans to produce change — it will not happen. One sure fire way of determining who is and/or is not DEAD SERIOUS about helping to bring about much-needed change and improvement is to call for the first of (necessarily) MANY gatherings — in order to get organized and develop — then implement — a strategic PLAN. Who ever shows up (REPEATEDLY) is DEAD SERIOUS. ALL ELSE IS MERELY RHETORIC AND NOISE. That’s just the way it is.
Animule ,
I hear you, but attempting to look at attendance — as being separate from a myriad of other critically important issues and problems — won’t solve much. Again, there is NOTHING simplistic about solving the old, old, deep-seated, HISTORIC, SYSTEMIC, URBAN EDUCATION CRISIS . Instead of looking at issues as being separate from one another, we need to do the exact opposite, i.e., figure out how ALL of the issues are interrelated, and BUILD A MOVEMENT to address as many of them (simultaneously) as possible. This is not a rhetorical assertion. On the contrary — not much is likely to change or improve unless and until we build a deadly-serious, ongoing, movement of parents, grandparents, guardians, students, extraordinarily committed educators, politicians, including and especially Board members, and anyone else who is really serious about widespread, fundamental change and improvement — working cooperatively, collaboratively and constantly around concrete, well defined, measurable goals strategies and tactics, which is in essence what a movement is.
Attendance is no more or less “the mother of all problems in the Rochester City School District” — than the fact that MANY WHO ATTEND DAILY, OR ALMOST DAILY ARE STILL FAILING MISERABLY: http://wxxinews.org/post/publication-ranks…
Sorry Johnny, but “Animule [ is NOT] 100% spot on” — NOT even close. I have already explained (below) why he is not,
.”And if they ever got a job, they would do the same thing there too.” WHO (SPECIFICALLY) ARE THE “they” THAT YOU ARE REFERRING TO?
“When people complain about lack of opportunity, I laugh. The opportunity is there if you’d just show up.” WHAT??? WHAT???
Thanks Josh,
I wish more educators had the intestinal fortitude to weigh-in — relative to that which anyone working in the SYSTEM knows to be TRUE.
Gosh, Howard, “they” is the one in three 9th graders that don’t show up for school. You always seem to be looking for a negative angle. Why don’t you look for the positivity in things and look forward instead of backwards.
Gosh Johnny,
Since there are very few comments here that are more “negative” than yours —apparently you are not familiar with the concept and reality called HYPOCRISY.
Also, since you apparently have a magical crystal ball that helps you predict what “9th graders” will do, and since you believe they will act in a negative manner — then part of the work, is to change that — right?
It is NOT necessary for me to “look for a negative” — since, as you have helped to elucidate — “NEGATIVE” is all around us.
As it relates to your question about “looking forward instead of backwards” — it MAY be helpful for you (though it’s doubtful) to examine the African Principle of Sankofa.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sankofa