CALL TO ACTION: GRADUATION FOR ALL!

We are parents and members of various communities in Jersey City. We come from all walks of life. We are alarmed by the continuing failure of our high schools in providing our children/youth a quality education that prepares them for college and the world of work. When our youth are underserved by our school district, our communities also suffer from its consequences. Youth are our future.

• Under No Child Left Behind, four out of six high schools in Jersey City are failing our children.
• According to official statistics, more than 450 students drop out of schools. The real number is even higher.
• One out of every three high school students in Jersey City does not graduate on time from high school.
• 29% of high school students graduate through Special Review Assessment (SRA), an alternative route to graduation, which is in fact a second tier high school diploma. In Ferris High School this number is as high as 45%.
• The average SAT (college entrance exam) score in Jersey City is 86 points below the state average in math, and 91 points below the state average in verbal. More than 30% of students in JC do not take SAT at all.

We are even more concerned now that our children and our schools are facing more challenging graduation requirements recently mandated by the State:

• New rigorous courses in math, sciences, and English have raised the bar for graduation.
• High-stake end of the course exams for graduation are other measures being developed by the NJ Dept. of Education.
• New policies will restrict the procedure and administration of SRA, making it a challenging route for graduation.

Based on our review of data and information, we are certain that the business as usual approach employed by our school district will not bring any significant change in our high schools and in the education of our youth. Under the new requirements, our school district cannot even maintain the status quo. The academic performance of our high schools will deteriorate if bold and innovative measures are not implemented. In order to bring any real transformation in our high schools, we call for new policies and practices with high standards focusing on our youth and particularly those who are vulnerable and we call for building genuine partnership with parents without whom serious changes are inconceivable.

We URGENTLY CALL on Jersey City Board of Education and our School District Superintendent, Dr. Epps to consider and implement following policies we are proposing. We are ready to fight for our youth and our communities, and we are willing to work with our school district to transform our high school and provide ALL our youth an education they well deserve.

I. We want a true partnership between parents, teachers, and our schools. We call for a Parent Resource Center at each high school that genuinely serves as a welcoming and helpful place for parents in the school. We want regular systems of two-way communication between the school and parents about school quality. This includes an annual parents’ evaluation of the school, an annual school report-card sent home that includes the results of the parents’ evaluation, and record-keeping about parent involvement in schools and school outreach to parents. We also call for the school’s commitment to communicate with parents in the language spoken at home.

II. We want an effective student support system. Support activities must primarily target vulnerable students who are most likely to fall through the cracks. We call for a Student Success Center at each high school that is flexible and accessible to students after school. The Center should have a team of qualified support staff so it can serve as a site for one-stop-shopping. The Center would feature social support and individualized academic counseling. All students must have an Individualized Student Academic Portfolio (ISAP) that includes a four-year academic plan and college preparation counseling that helps students along each step towards graduating, college or training for living wage careers, and entering the world of work. The district needs to improve the current ratio of students to academic counselors to no more than 150 students per academic counselor. The Center would also house an effective after-school Tutoring Center. Beyond this, we call for mandatory extended day and summer school for students falling behind and/or in danger of not graduating on time. We want our school district to develop a scholarship fund specifically to assist undocumented immigrant children planning to go to college.

III. We need the very best teachers for our youth. We call for more school-based teacher coaches, adequate technology training, and other measures, including common planning time, that support teachers and help schools develop the best teaching staff possible. Hiring consultants for professional development should primarily serve to build district capacity, and it must be strictly based on student outcomes. We also call for measures to improve teacher understanding of the communities they’re working in, including a community orientation tour for new teachers, as well as measures to recruit more teachers from the community. We want all our teachers and school staff to be fairly compensated when they go above and beyond the call of duty.

IV. We call for updated computer technology labs. We want one computer for every five students in every classroom and additional computer labs to accommodate ALL students even if they are not in magnet programs. We also call for regular maintenance and upgrading of computers in the classrooms and computer labs, as well as improved internet connection, so the computer technology can work as intended to improve teaching and learning.