New Jersey Hispanics Demanding School Choice

[Mar LeVine]

Very Interesting perspective...

WDC MEDIA NEWS
Christian News and Media Agency

New Jersey Hispanics Demanding School Choice

-- WDC Media News --

(AgapePress) - A non-profit Hispanic education group is supporting a school-choice lawsuit filed last month against poorly performing New Jersey school districts.

The suit asks the court to allow black and Latino students in 95 failing New Jersey public schools to receive tuition vouchers to attend a different public or private school of their parents' choice. The Washington-based Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options (CREO) says the lawsuit will permit Latino parents to select the school that best benefits their children's education.

Isabel Santa, a spokeswoman for Hispanic CREO, says the four urban Latino school districts that are failing have a 44 percent Latino population, and half of those students are not graduating from high school. That is a "huge disparity," she says, when compared to white and black students who live in "wealthier" districts and have access to higher-performing public school.

"And then those who are forced to live in lower-income areas in New Jersey are forced to attend schools that are filled more with violence, with teacher discrimination, [where] there aren't enough books in the classroom -- and it's not fair," says Santa.

According to the CREO spokeswoman, the state of New Jersey is not providing a "thorough and efficient" education for every child, as the state constitution mandates. "f you're in a [New Jersey] school district that's failing, the chances are the rest of the schools are also failing, and so are the neighboring school districts within that county," she explains.

For example, says Santa, many Latino students in the communities of Camden and Vineland are being forced to remain in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program for four years, instead of moving to a regular learning classroom to practice the English they are learning in ESL classes.

"So really, there's a lack of choice going on in New Jersey, even though they're saying we have this inter-district transfer," Santa continues. "But the seats available aren't sufficient enough for the kids who are trying to apply for them."

Santa says the mainstream media greatly underestimates the amount of support in the Latino community for school vouchers.

[Libyan Sibyl]

Mar said:

Very Interesting perspective...

I am sure that many people in towns without a high hispanic population are seeing another perspective, like lowering their own schools performance by an influx of poorly performing hispanics.

People in Freehold may be in favor of it as are schools are considered failing NCLB. But imagine if you are a person who moved specifically to a town because of its school system, and now people from other districts that are not performing well want to move to your schools (and make the classrooms more crowded, to boot). You probably wouldn't like that, would you? Right, not in my back yard...

[Marc LeVine]

This is why it is an interesting perspective.

The Advocates seem ready to set their sites on our neighboring, upscale communities, whose residents largely believe that illegal immigration should be confined to towns like Freehold Borough. Unfortunately, these towns have what the advocates want for their flock - higher quality education.

It would seem that the advocates are already looking at moving their supporters into our surrounding towns, for the purpose of getting a better quality education for their children. Of course, they fail to acknowledge that the associated challenges these families present to our school districts, ultimately reduces their overall effectiveness. Look what we are battling here.

With vouchers in hand, most of the immigrants, who cannot afford to live in Marlboro and Manalapan, may soon be able to send their children to school there.

The residents of those towns will not be very happy, to say the least. Remember, when FRHS tried to redistrict by sending their kids to Freehold High School? How about the ongoing battles to keep affordable housing out of their towns? It will be interesting....and it may be coming up next.

Yes, illegal immigration is a national issue.

Marc

[richardkelsey]

Mar said:

Very Interesting perspective...

WDC MEDIA NEWS
Christian News and Media Agency

New Jersey Hispanics Demanding School Choice

-- WDC Media News --

(AgapePress) - A non-profit Hispanic education group is supporting a school-choice lawsuit filed last month against poorly performing New Jersey school districts.

The suit asks the court to allow black and Latino students in 95 failing New Jersey public schools to receive tuition vouchers to attend a different public or private school of their parents' choice. The Washington-based Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options (CREO) says the lawsuit will permit Latino parents to select the school that best benefits their children's education.

Isabel Santa, a spokeswoman for Hispanic CREO, says the four urban Latino school districts that are failing have a 44 percent Latino population, and half of those students are not graduating from high school. That is a "huge disparity," she says, when compared to white and black students who live in "wealthier" districts and have access to higher-performing public school.

"And then those who are forced to live in lower-income areas in New Jersey are forced to attend schools that are filled more with violence, with teacher discrimination, [where] there aren't enough books in the classroom -- and it's not fair," says Santa.

According to the CREO spokeswoman, the state of New Jersey is not providing a "thorough and efficient" education for every child, as the state constitution mandates. "f you're in a [New Jersey] school district that's failing, the chances are the rest of the schools are also failing, and so are the neighboring school districts within that county," she explains.

For example, says Santa, many Latino students in the communities of Camden and Vineland are being forced to remain in the English as a Second Language (ESL) program for four years, instead of moving to a regular learning classroom to practice the English they are learning in ESL classes.

"So really, there's a lack of choice going on in New Jersey, even though they're saying we have this inter-district transfer," Santa continues. "But the seats available aren't sufficient enough for the kids who are trying to apply for them."

Santa says the mainstream media greatly underestimates the amount of support in the Latino community for school vouchers.

You mean a voucher different than the one that allows them to transfer from failing schools in Mexico, El Salvador, and Honduras to U.S. Schools? LOL (Obviously not all hispanics are illegal aliens -- lest I be accused of that.)

Vouchers are great idea -- they are also the mortal enemy of the education union.

If there is one state in teh U.S. where vouchers will never take root -- it is in the state with the most powerful, most ruthless, least helpful Teachers' union. That is, of course, the Garden state.