Even though it’s about 40 degrees out and raining, I spent about an hour today handing out palm cards urging local citizens to vote Julie Baskin Brooks for Stamford Board of Education. I’ve spent the last 3 or 4 years heavily involved in local parent advocacy and school politics through SCOPES. I did graphic design for a candidate last year. But this is the first time I’ve ever stood out in front of a supermarket for someone. Julie and I met about 3 years ago. She interviewed me for PLTI (Parent Leadership Training Institute). I’ve always respected the work she’s done and the ideas she has, particularly on issues around diversity and fairness for all students. She has a history of working in human resources for large companies, and now she’s on her own consulting with companies on how to deal with their diversity issues. I think her combination of keen business sense, interpersonal skills and expertise on the issues of a diverse environment make her an ideal person for the Board of Education.
Stamford has a mighty big problem in an achievement gap. It’s a very diverse student population of over 15,000 kids, 65% of which are minority. More than half of the minority students are not meeting state goals (vs. less than 15% of the white/asian population). It goes as low as 35% of the Hispanic students meeting state goals in 10th grade. That’s a *huge* problem for our community, and one that I don’t think our soon-to-be-ex Superintendent takes seriously enough.
Over 20% of the families with school-aged children here opt to place their children in private school. I think that’s a shame, as I believe communities should support their public schools. Parents send their kids to private school, vote down all school board budget requests and then complain about the crime rate. You can’t have it both ways. If you want to live in a safe, prospering community you have to make sure that the kids aren’t dropping out and turning to drugs and crime. Plain and simple.
Related posts:
- Opening new doors
A few months ago, I said I would never blog... - Bar Mitzvah lessons
Laini’s Bat Mitzvah is scheduled for March 7, 2009. This... - Salesforce NYC Nonprofit User Group
It’s been just about a year to the day since... - Using the new web for good things
I’ve been the webmaster for the Connecticut Council on Developmental... - Out of the Mouths of Babes
We’re in the midst of a complete psychosocial/educational evaluation with...
