| Author | Message | ||
     fringe Citizen Username: Fringe Post Number: 655 Registered: 5-2001 |
According to the Fall Report, the Class of 2005 has transformed from first grade in 1993-94 to 2004-05 as follows: white males - 140 > 68 white females - 139 > 95 black males - 73 > 123 black females - 62 > 144 other males - 17 > 15 other females - 17 > 10 See http://hometown.aol.com/njfabian under Demographics | ||
| Rod Citizen Username: Skimrod Post Number: 34 Registered: 4-2004 |
WOW! What about 3 years from now? | ||
| Tom Reingold Citizen Username: Noglider Post Number: 4739 Registered: 1-2003  |
I suppose the biggest trend affecting this change is that white parents are more likely to send their kids to private school as the kids get older. Is that about right? | ||
| msuewillis Citizen Username: Msuewillis Post Number: 85 Registered: 7-2001 |
More interesting to me is the racial make-up of the total enrollment of the school district over the last ten years or so, also available on J.T. Lamkin's site at http://hometown.aol.com/njfabian/changing_racial_make.htm If you look at this chart, you see a general stability over the last several years, although the absolute number of African American students has decreased, and "others" have increased. | ||
| msuewillis Citizen Username: Msuewillis Post Number: 86 Registered: 7-2001 |
The chart below that one on J.T.'s site is about the racial make-up at CHS. It shows shows the white population taking a dip four years ago-- and now rebounding. | ||
| silkcity Citizen Username: Silkcity Post Number: 270 Registered: 5-2001 |
Who supplies the info about racial background? Is it from the kids? There are so many kids here who aren't one box or the other that I wonder. My nephews alternate what they check, this form, this box, that form, that box...how does that get reported? | ||
| fringe Citizen Username: Fringe Post Number: 661 Registered: 5-2001 |
Last year the CBAC did some prelim research into the area of student departures. As I recall for the Class of 2004, while more whites left the district between 8th and 9th grades, more black students departed between 8th and 12th grades. This was based on a comparison of individual students at each year. A quick racial comparison of the Class of 2008 (this year's freshmen) between SY 1999-00 when they were in 4th grade and this year shows: whites 226 > 186 blacks 258 > 342 other 22 > 31 Part of this may be explained by the relatively new (and yet to be publicly discussed) retention policy at CHS. | ||
| Debby Citizen Username: Debby Post Number: 1422 Registered: 5-2001 |
I never realized just how thin a veil could be. | ||
| Copperfield Citizen Username: Copperfield Post Number: 100 Registered: 1-2004 |
Curious what the stats are for kindergarten and first-graders. I ask because there has been a large influx of young, mostly white, families into Maplewood and I was wondering how that affected the racial balance. Mostly because I've heard numerous rumors that realtors often sell the town by implying that the aforementioned influx will greatly change the racial make-up of the schools by the time the prospective buyers' kids reach high school. | ||
| silkcity Citizen Username: Silkcity Post Number: 271 Registered: 5-2001 |
And I've similar rumors that realtors tout our towns' openness to multiracial families. So I ask again...who reports the #'s? | ||
| Copperfield Citizen Username: Copperfield Post Number: 101 Registered: 1-2004 |
...not that the two are mutually exclusive, silkcity. Especially in a business whose motto might well be "tell them what they want to hear." | ||
| yabbadabbadoo Citizen Username: Yabbadabbadoo Post Number: 183 Registered: 11-2003  |
Debby, You really think it's veiled? FF | ||
| mwoodwalk Citizen Username: Mwoodwalk Post Number: 235 Registered: 9-2001 |
yabbadabba and debby--why don't you come out and say what you're hinting. Playing cute doesn't contribute to this debate, such as it is. Moreover, I took this thread as simply a discussion of the demographic change in our school system in the past decade. Reporting facts is not racist. | ||
| fringe Citizen Username: Fringe Post Number: 663 Registered: 5-2001 |
NJDOE and NCLB require racial breakdowns from districts for various reasons. The data here comes from freely available district sources. Comparison of 1st grade enrollments SY 99-00, 02-03, & 04-05 White 206 > 212 > 272 Black 201 > 217 > 204 Other 41 > 38 > 48 The thread titile has a typo - should be 68. | ||
| kathy Citizen Username: Kathy Post Number: 1026 Registered: 5-2001 |
Fringe, Yes, facts are facts, but the issue is which one fact you chose to advertise with a banner headline. The information in your last post would suggest a very different picture of the district than the information with which you began this thread. | ||
| fringe Citizen Username: Fringe Post Number: 669 Registered: 5-2001 |
If I'm following suggested reasoning immediately above correctly, interested parties should have been able to predict the final ratio of the Class of 2005 from its 1st grade stats in 1993-94: white 279 black 135 other 34 Perhaps the crystal balls in DC are better, but to me the 2004-05 1st grade numbers indicate only that more first graders enrolled this year than last. According to the demographer hired by the district the number of students in the Class of of 2016 will decrease in each year through 2009-2010 (end of projections). Total district enrollment is also projected to fall in each year but one. On the other hand, the demographer's track record is below that of a weatherman's. | ||
| Spry Citizen Username: Spry Post Number: 153 Registered: 7-2003 |
What does it say about our community that IF it is true that this apparent trend is continuing (i.e., the high school "balance" is such that classes are becoming less "white" and more "black"), that white flight into the private schools will continue? Many (I know, not all) of the new SOM residents (we've been here for four years) moved into Maplewood with our eyes wide open about diversity. We don't care what the racial/ethnic composition is as long as the kids are getting a good education. My friends with children at Columbia High School claim their kids ARE getting a good education, despite the reported "fact" (in this thread) that there are now more black than white kids, and, may I add, the omnipresent criticism of our school system and its leadership on this Message Board. One example of how new parents in our community are embracing diversity (i.e., schools that are more than 50% black) is Seth Boyden. The success of this school, and the resources put into it, are now attracting many white parents, who, again, are aware of the challenges of diversity but believe, on balance, their children are receiving an excellent and vibrant education. Finally, how would you feel if you were an African American citizen of this community and read this thread? I'd feel angry and crummy. The implications of this kind of discussion are, to me, shameful! | ||
| bobk Supporter Username: Bobk Post Number: 7038 Registered: 5-2001 |
Fringe is a numbers guy, but sometimes he doesn't give you all the numbers. From the 1990 census to the 2000 census the percentage of blacks in both Maplewood and South Orange about doubled to a third of the population. Obviously this had a big effect on the school population as the number of dwelling units remained flat. Since 2000 from studies of mortgage records and from ancedotal comments this trend doesn't seem to be continuing. This is beginning to be reflected in the school census information. Personally I haven't seen a big change in the number of families sending their children to private schools over the last four years, especially as respects CHS, although I have little confidence in the information on this subject in the 2000 census since there appear to be a lot of estimates. | ||
| fringe Citizen Username: Fringe Post Number: 671 Registered: 5-2001 |
How should one "feel" about these comments on Seth Boyden? Is this how the new residents embrace diversity? Comments to the Environment subommittee, State of the Schools committee, Strategic Planning initiative (Attachment M) 5) Dear State of Schools, I am concerned about the racial balancing of the classes at Seth Boyden. My daughter is in Ms. Bates 1st grade class. She is one of two biracial children in the class; the rest of the class is all black. My wife and I noticed that other traditional classes have a similar balance. Upon looking into the multiage classes we found that the racial balance is dramtically different! In at least one of the multi-age classes the majority of the students are white! There are "white" classes and "black" classes at the school. Even if this is not intentional, it looks very bad and needs to be fixed pronto. What kind of signal does this send to the students and parents? As a black man I find this insulting. Are the black students not good enough to be mixed in with the white ones? How can we have "black" classes and "white" classes in a town as diverse as Maplewood? I am sure there are plenty of black students in Seth Boyden that could have been put into the multi-age classes to make them better balanced. And some white students could have been put into the black classes. When our daughter attended kindergarten at Seth Boyden in Mrs. Eiring's class last year, we noticed a similar issue. Her class was predominantly black while Mrs. Murphy's (a "preferred" teacher) class was predominantly white! Last year we thought this was a coincidence, but this year we weren't so naive. We took a trip to the principal's office and learned that the school's past practice was to honor some parents' requests for class/teacher placements. As a result white parents and out-of-district parents (or "opt-ins") were able to get preferred teachers--namely Mrs. Murphy and the mutli-age teachers! Are we revisiting Brown v. Brown? Are the white students getting the best teachers?!? This is a terrible injustice that needs to be remedied. Please look into this matter immediately and do something about it. Please feel free to contact me anytime. [This writer's contact information was included. Please contact the Environment Subcommittee chair for its release.] *** 17) Physical environment My classroom is bright, spacious, and well-equipped. However, the building, including my room, has a big problem with heating issues. My room is almost always cold in the winter. I have taken to bringing two space heaters in from home to keep it reasonably comfortable. Other parts of the building seem to overheat if the heat is turned up high enough to get other areas moderately warm. It is a major problem which never seems to be addressed by the district. Other minor maintenance concerns, like replacing fluorescent bulbs and ceiling tiles, and care of the carpeting, seem to take forever to accomplish. Artistic Environment Art at Seth Boyden is connected to what goes on in the classroom. For instance, last year I saw clay figures of buffalo made by a class in art while they were talking about the West in class. Any loss of art instruction at the elementary schools would be a great loss to the students. Social Environment My first point regarding the social environment at Seth Boyden is about the public's perception of the school. I have felt real criticism of my personal decision to send my child to Seth Boyden. Pointedly, I received a call from a PTA representative of my neighborhood school last year in regard to that school's orientation. When I told her that I was sending my child to Seth Boyden, I felt I had to defend my decision to her. Her point, quite understandably, is that Seth Boyden is drawing much needed white families, and the level of involvement they offer, from our neighborhood school. She went further and said the Board of Ed wants families from Marshall/Jefferson and South Mountain to choose Seth Boyden, not families from schools that already have a diverse population. I know of other families from another school who have also felt that they were being accused of drawing resources away from their neighborhood school by choosing Seth Boyden. I believe the result has been reservation on the part of Seth Boyden families to show any Seth Boyden pride in public. I chose Seth Boyden for my family because I believe it offers an educational experience more in line with the learning style of my child. I also fully support the district's attempt to integrate the Seth Boyden school. I have the same right as any member of this community to choose this alternative school for my child. No family should be made to defend the personal choices they make for their children whether it be Seth Boyden or their neighborhood school. I think the Board of Ed could show more support for Seth Boyden by better educating our community on the mission of Seth Boyden and what it means for our towns in terms of racial balancing. Racial integration/segregation at Seth Boyden appears to be a real issue. The "preferred" kindergarten teacher in the morning session appears to have more white students in her class than the 'less preferred' teacher. My understanding is that the afternoon session is more equally balanced. A large part of this problem stems from opt-in parents requesting specific teachers for their children and getting them. I am concerned that neighborhood children are being denied access to the most seasoned kindergarten teacher at Seth Boyden. However, the issue seems to affect the 1st and 2nd grades more critically. The multi-age classes are coveted by the "opt-in" families. The racial imbalance between the multi-age classes and the regular first and second grade classes is evident and alarming. One possible explanation for this is the pressure our principal is under to keep "opt-in" families happy. These families always have the option of going back to their neighborhood school so the pressure to meet their demands could be staggering without proper administrative support. The other question this issue begets is, what do the Seth Boyden neighborhood families want? Do they want the multi-age classrooms? Do they want the "multiple intelligences" classes, or do they prefer a more traditional format for their children? It seems evident that the Seth Boyden principal faces different challenges than other elementary school principals in the district. Personally, the feature that most makes for a positive social environment at Seth Boyden is parent participation and involvement. Parents are made to feel welcome at the school and are given many opportunities to be in the school and share in their child's educational experience. | ||
| wharfrat Citizen Username: Wharfrat Post Number: 1459 Registered: 6-2001 |
Tucker- I understand your lawsuit was dismissed. I also understand your lawsuit cost our school district about $21,000 in legal fees. When are you (and the individuals who fund your little empire) going to reimburse the district, and indirectly, the taxpayers? |
