Dismantle the district Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 02/25/07 There seems to be no end to the depressing stories coming out of the Asbury Park School District. In the past two weeks alone, there have been allegations of padded enrollment figures and bid rigging, a vote of no confidence in the high school administration by the teachers and a document raid on the Board of Education offices by investigators sent by the U.S. Attorney.
Add to that the stubbornly low test scores despite the highest per- pupil costs of any K-12 district in New Jersey and a student-to-staff ratio of more than 5 to 1 at the high school. The violence in and around the schools. The on-again, off-again sniping on the school board. The disastrous lack of leadership at the middle school and the chaos in the halls and classrooms there and in the high school. The superintendent the board tried to fire, was forced by the state to hire back, then tried to oust again, suspending him instead with pay at the insistence of the Department of Education. There have been some glimmers of hope over the past several years, but they have proved fleeting. For the most part, the school system has been a disaster. It is broken. Stronger leadership might help. But finding it and keeping it has been a persistent challenge. A state takeover isn't the answer either, as experience in other districts has shown. Given the hurdles the district faces, dismantling it and starting over offers the best chance of providing the city's students with a quality education. It's time for a new approach to educating children in Asbury Park one that involves creating a desegregated regional district that includes Asbury Park, Monmouth Regional, Ocean Township and Manasquan. Asbury Park High School should be turned into a county magnet school for the arts. The middle school should be converted into a trade school under the jurisdiction of the Monmouth County Vocational School District. At least two of the elementary schools should be left open, but operated by the regional district and desegregated. And Asbury Park students should be sent in proportionate numbers to other schools in the newly created regional district along with increased per-pupil aid. At the same time, steps should be taken to separate those students who are not interested in learning, or who prove disruptive to the learning environment, from those seeking a good education. That will likely require expansion of the county's alternative high school, or the creation of a branch of the high school at a central location in the newly formed regional district. The state must ensure the regional district creates an environment in every school that is conducive to learning. State officials can't allow the Asbury Park schools to continue to fail the children they are responsible for educating. They can't continue to waste taxpayers' money by pumping millions of dollars in state aid into dysfunctional schools. A new, regional model is needed. They can't keep doing what they've been doing. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Check out the new improvements in Yahoo! Groups email. http://us.click.yahoo.com/4It09A/fOaOAA/yQLSAA/Y2tolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
