In case you missed it, Governor Christie's town hall meeting in Union City last week produced yet another emotional exchange. This one wasn't combative, not in the least. Instead, it was very moving and tugged at the heartstrings. If you haven't seen it, then I highly recommend that you go to my wall on Facebook. Just scroll down a little bit and you'll see the link. Trust me, it's well worth seven minutes of your time.
During the question and answer session, a young single mother from Newark took the microphone and practically begged the governor to help her. Her sixth-grade son, Isaac, was struggling in school. She was raising him all alone in Newark's tough Central Ward, working to support them both. One day, Isaac's teacher called to inform her that her son was not doing well with his grades. The mother, whose name was Yvonne, assured the teacher that she would spend extra time working with Isaac on his homework. According to her, she spent 3-4 hours every night working with her son to get him up to speed.
But in the end, it got him nowhere. Yvonne was just spinning her wheels, for Isaac's academic performance did not improve one iota. She even pulled him out of public school and placed him in a private school. But that didn't help either. It was at this point that Yvonne was informed by Isaac's teacher that they now believed he was suffering from dyslexia. Since the private school did not have the resources to help him, the teacher suggested that Yvonne place Isaac back in public school and access the resources needed to assist her son.
So she did, but Yvonne received a rude awakening when she contacted the Newark Public Schools' Office of Special Education. Upon inquiring about resources for children with dyslexia, she was supposedly told, "We don't have anything like that." Now left with nowhere to turn, Yvonne decided to attend the governor's town hall meeting to see if she could solicit the governor's assistance.
Apparently she had done her homework, for she cited that the Newark Public Schools were receiving approximately $85 million from both the state and federal governments to help children with special needs. Her sincere emotional plea that followed is enough to bring tears to anyone's eyes. Yvonne begged for help, telling the governor that Isaac was her only son, that raising him in the inner city and keeping him on the straight and narrow was a difficult task, and that she did not want to lose him.
Then it was Governor Christie's turn to speak. You can imagine what he said, so I'll just leave the rest for you to hear in the last five minutes of the video clip. Let's just say that I would not have wanted to be anywhere near Newark's Office of Special Education last week.
Amazing. How is this even possible? Granted, we're assuming that everything this woman said was true. There's always a chance that she's lying, or at least stretching the truth. But if you listen to her voice on the tape, you can't help but believe the sincerity of her tone during her emotional plea. Unless she has a background in acting, I buy every word she said.
Through my many years of working in education, I have extensive experience dealing with the Newark Public Schools. In the program I ran at Saint Peter's College, we had more teachers from Newark than from any other school district. The stories I heard would knock your socks off, and all of them came straight from the horse's mouth. I also collaborated with Newark on a professional development program for their teachers when I worked at New Jersey City University.
There's no question that Newark, as well as other large urban districts in the state, faces unique challenges in educating its students. I am well aware of those challenges. I know that there are plenty of children attending these schools who return home to a horrific situation. Gang violence and drug dealers in their neighborhoods. Parents who don't care, or may even be drug addicts themselves. Parents who are incarcerated. It's like starting out in life with two strikes against you, and I can't even imagine what life is like for these children.
But you have to give the governor credit for refusing to accept excuses. He stated in the video that the folks in Newark continuously tell him that the parents just don't care, and that the schools can't do it all themselves. But then he pointed to Yvonne and said that she is living proof that not all parents in Newark are indifferent to their children's education. There's no question that he's right. Even in the roughest neighborhoods of the inner city, you will find parents who care and are trying their best to give their kids a chance in life.
These are the kids that the governor does not want to lose. He believes that they can be saved, that they can have the same opportunities to pursue their dreams that suburban students have. At the town hall meeting that I attended last month, he used the example of Robert Treat Academy. Robert Treat Academy is a charter school in Newark where children have demonstrated levels of achievement comparable to kids in the wealthiest school districts. Their scores on standardized tests are nothing short of stellar. When the governor sees what is happening at Robert Treat, he sees hope for all inner city kids.
Governor Christie provided a brief explanation of how they're doing it, with longer school days and a longer school year. Teachers at Robert Treat do not get tenure, which in his mind motivates them to work harder. It all makes for a heartwarming story, but sadly the governor knows that this same story can't play out at the rest of Newark's public schools. Why? Because the teachers' union will not go for any of the policies in place at Robert Treat.
And so the government continues to throw money at the district in the hope that it will solve the problem. But the practice of "flooding," as it was once called, has never worked effectively. The more money you throw at a district, the more it gets wasted. Funds intended to help children with dyslexia, like Isaac, now get applied to other areas. In some cases, it may even go toward buying the administrators bigger desks and more comfortable chairs. Sadly, there have been plenty of instances around the state where funds have been misallocated or even stolen. How terrible is that, for taxpayer money intended to help educate children to go toward lining the pockets of the educators themselves?
It's just a sad fact that the more money there is, the more abuse that takes place. One need look no further than our federal government for evidence of that. The waste that has built up over the years has resulted in a $14 trillion deficit. $14 trillion. And now we're on the brink of hitting our debt ceiling and possibly headed for another government shutdown. Unbelievable.
In the end, the governor assured Yvonne that Isaac would get the help he needs. They took her contact information and Gov. Christie promised to call the Commissioner of Education the minute he got back in Trenton. I would love to know the final result, because I can all but assure you that some heads rolled over this one. When the state government is handing the Newark Public Schools $800 million in total aid per year, situations like Yvonne's are completely inexcusable.
But as the governor pointed out, he can't fix these problems one at a time. As gratifying as it might be to see Isaac get the help he needs, there are thousands of Yvonnes and Isaacs throughout the state who are in a similar predicament. How can we reach them? How can we give them the assistance they so desperately need?
It really irks me when liberals try to paint Gov. Christie as a man who doesn't care about kids. If you could have been at the town hall that I attended in Paramus, or even if you just view this seven-minute video clip, you will have seen a man who cares very deeply about the children of New Jersey. But he is facing two enormous challenges in improving education. The first one is our state's huge deficit. Failure to cut spending will lead to our state going bankrupt some time in the next decade, so there's no way to turn the tide without biting the bullet. The second one has to do with the teachers' union. Whereas the NJEA puts teachers first, the governor is putting kids first. He is fighting the good fight, but it remains to be seen if he can emerge victorious from this epic tug of war.
In the meantime, we have to do something. If I were in Gov. Christie's place, I'd immediately appoint a task force to sit down with Newark's Office of Special Education. The task force should consist of people with a strong background in school finance (preferably well-respected, retired school business administrators) and several others who have the requisite expertise in special education. I'd want to know exactly what is happening with the $85 million that the state is sending to Newark exclusively for children with special needs. Why isn't there a program for students with dyslexia, especially if it affects approximately one in five kids? The state government and we, the taxpayers, have the right to know.
I've said many times that I am proud of the fact that I voted for Chris Christie as Governor of New Jersey. I become even more proud by the day when I witness exchanges like the one that occurred at his last town hall meeting. Those who disparage him do so with ignorance, for if they took the time to hear him speak, they'd know his true intentions. Instead, the unions prefer to lambaste him, ridiculing him for being overweight, depicting him as being anti-education, and wishing for his death. It's sad, really.
Because of my background, I have many, many friends in education. Needless to say, not all of them see eye to eye with me when it comes to Governor Christie's agenda. But a couple of them actually attended the town hall last week. Later, they contacted me to admit that they now had a much better understanding of who this man really is and what he stands for. Though they didn't change their convictions after listening to him speak, they realized why he was doing what he was doing. They left Union City with a different view of the governor, and respected him far more than they did before. If only the rest of New Jersey's educators would give him the same opportunity. If they did, then maybe they too would learn something.
No comments:
Post a Comment