Attention parents and community members
PARENTS AND COMMUNITIES UNITED FOR EDUCATION
INVITES YOU TO
A COMMUNITY MEETING WITH
Dr. Epps, Superintendent of Public Schools
* Are you concerned about your child graduating from high school?
* Are high school students being prepared for college and world of work?
* What is the district doing to prevent youth from dropping out of high school?
COME AND SPEAK UP, BE HEARD, AND ASK QUESTIONS!
LOCATION: Metropolitan AME ZION Church, 140 Bergen Ave, Jersey City
(Across from PS #17, on the corner of Belmont Avenue)
DATE: Thursday, October 22, 2009
TIME: 6p-8p
Spanish Translation Provided
Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE) - SEOC
201-918-2918 -- 201-772-1122 pcue.info@seocnj.org
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Our Children / Our School's Newsletter on PCUE Rally
PCUE IN JERSEY CITY RALLIES IN SUPPORT OF "GRADUATION FOR ALL"
On the same day that President Obama addressed the nation’s schoolchildren about the importance of education, Parents & Communities United for Education (PCUE), which is the Jersey City chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee (SEOC), held a rally to kick off their citywide campaign, “Graduation for ALL.”
To read more, please click on the link below:
http://www.ourchildrenourschools.org/Newsletters/nlf_iss21_art5_detail_PCUE_Rally_JerseyCity.htm
On the same day that President Obama addressed the nation’s schoolchildren about the importance of education, Parents & Communities United for Education (PCUE), which is the Jersey City chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee (SEOC), held a rally to kick off their citywide campaign, “Graduation for ALL.”
To read more, please click on the link below:
http://www.ourchildrenourschools.org/Newsletters/nlf_iss21_art5_detail_PCUE_Rally_JerseyCity.htm
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
PCUE RALLY A HUGE SUCCESS
“GRADUATION FOR ALL” CAMPAIGN KICK-OFf RALLY A HUGE SUCCESS!
Parents & Communities United for Education, PCUE, the Jersey City chapter of SEOC, launched our city-wide Campaign, “Graduation for ALL,” by hosting a spirited rally in front of PS 11, Martin Luther King School # 11, in Jersey City on Tuesday, September 8 – the same day President Obama spoke to the nation’s children about the importance of education.
The noon-time rally drew over 70 parents, residents and school children to call on the Jersey City Public Schools and the Board of Education to make serious changes to improve the city’s high schools and respond to the drop out crisis. At the basis of the Campaign is the alarming fact that one in four of the class of 2008 did not graduate from Jersey City’s high schools and, at the same time, the NJ Department of Education has recently imposed even tougher graduation requirements without adding new resources to help all students succeed.
Not content simply to raise public awareness of the crisis faced by too many of our youth, PCUE has developed a four step program of high school reform, focused on building a true partnership between schools and parents, creating a far more effective student support system, significantly improving teacher training and coaching, and bringing Jersey City schools’ computer labs and training up to date and accessible to all students.
The Rally’s chants, marching, colorful signs and steady growth as more parents and residents joined in was a powerful message to local administrators that a new day is coming for Jersey City high schools. “We want tutoring centers, Now!” and “Dr. Epps, Don’t drop the ball, Graduation for ALL!” were among the chants that came from the growing crowd in both English and Spanish. Among the demands raised by PCUE in fact is that the Jersey City Public Schools greatly expand its publication of materials about high school graduation requirements for parents in the languages they use and understand at home.
Press coverage was substantial as well and reached many thousands with our message of hope and determination to make change for our youth: The Rally was covered by the Jersey Journal, FIOS TV, one Radio station and Fox News.
Please check our blog to learn more about our "GRADUATION FOR ALL! Campaign" and updated information and picture from the rally:
http://www.pcue-graduation4all.blogspot.com/
Parents & Communities United for Education, PCUE, the Jersey City chapter of SEOC, launched our city-wide Campaign, “Graduation for ALL,” by hosting a spirited rally in front of PS 11, Martin Luther King School # 11, in Jersey City on Tuesday, September 8 – the same day President Obama spoke to the nation’s children about the importance of education.
The noon-time rally drew over 70 parents, residents and school children to call on the Jersey City Public Schools and the Board of Education to make serious changes to improve the city’s high schools and respond to the drop out crisis. At the basis of the Campaign is the alarming fact that one in four of the class of 2008 did not graduate from Jersey City’s high schools and, at the same time, the NJ Department of Education has recently imposed even tougher graduation requirements without adding new resources to help all students succeed.
Not content simply to raise public awareness of the crisis faced by too many of our youth, PCUE has developed a four step program of high school reform, focused on building a true partnership between schools and parents, creating a far more effective student support system, significantly improving teacher training and coaching, and bringing Jersey City schools’ computer labs and training up to date and accessible to all students.
The Rally’s chants, marching, colorful signs and steady growth as more parents and residents joined in was a powerful message to local administrators that a new day is coming for Jersey City high schools. “We want tutoring centers, Now!” and “Dr. Epps, Don’t drop the ball, Graduation for ALL!” were among the chants that came from the growing crowd in both English and Spanish. Among the demands raised by PCUE in fact is that the Jersey City Public Schools greatly expand its publication of materials about high school graduation requirements for parents in the languages they use and understand at home.
Press coverage was substantial as well and reached many thousands with our message of hope and determination to make change for our youth: The Rally was covered by the Jersey Journal, FIOS TV, one Radio station and Fox News.
Please check our blog to learn more about our "GRADUATION FOR ALL! Campaign" and updated information and picture from the rally:
http://www.pcue-graduation4all.blogspot.com/
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Jersey City Register: PCUE Rally in Jersey City
Today, several residents gathered in front of Martin Luther King, Jr. School (PS 11) on Bergen Avenue (few blocks from Journal Square PATH Station) and rallied for a better education. Kids and adults were marching in front of PS-11 chanting “Education not incarceration!”
To read more, please click on the link below:
http://www.jcregister.com/2009/09/08/pcue-rally-in-jersey-city.html#more-1896
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Jersey Journal: Better education is demand
Better education is demand
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
By PAUL TAKAHASHI
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Around the same time President Barack Obama delivered his back-to-school pep talk in Arlington, Va., yesterday, roughly 50 Jersey City residents rallied in front of School 11 on Bergen Avenue, demanding improvements in the city's high schools, especially the dropout rate.
The rally was organized by Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE), the Jersey City chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee, which advocates for better education in low-income school districts.
"We want graduation for all students in Jersey City," said Loyda Golston, vice president of PCUE, surrounded by people chanting "Graduation for All" and "Education, not Incarceration."
"There's a schoolhouse to jail-house mentality here," Golston added. "We want kids to have the equal opportunity to graduate and go on to college or trade school."
According to PCUE's lead organizer Mahmood Ketabchi, more than 450 students dropped out of city public high schools last year.
"We're here to highlight some of the shortcomings of the Jersey City school districts," he said.
According to the state Department of Education's Web site, the Jersey City high school dropout rate for the 2007-2008 school year was 6.2 percent, down from 8.1 percent the previous year.
The dropout rate in the state for the 2007-2008 year was 1.7 percent, according to the Web site.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
By PAUL TAKAHASHI
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Around the same time President Barack Obama delivered his back-to-school pep talk in Arlington, Va., yesterday, roughly 50 Jersey City residents rallied in front of School 11 on Bergen Avenue, demanding improvements in the city's high schools, especially the dropout rate.
The rally was organized by Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE), the Jersey City chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee, which advocates for better education in low-income school districts.
"We want graduation for all students in Jersey City," said Loyda Golston, vice president of PCUE, surrounded by people chanting "Graduation for All" and "Education, not Incarceration."
"There's a schoolhouse to jail-house mentality here," Golston added. "We want kids to have the equal opportunity to graduate and go on to college or trade school."
According to PCUE's lead organizer Mahmood Ketabchi, more than 450 students dropped out of city public high schools last year.
"We're here to highlight some of the shortcomings of the Jersey City school districts," he said.
According to the state Department of Education's Web site, the Jersey City high school dropout rate for the 2007-2008 school year was 6.2 percent, down from 8.1 percent the previous year.
The dropout rate in the state for the 2007-2008 year was 1.7 percent, according to the Web site.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
PCUE statement at the rally on Sept. 8
PCUE Statement
Graduation for All
September 8, 2009
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for coming to this rally and being a part of this great event. My name is Milagros Delacruz. I am a mother of a child in Dickinson High school. I am also a member of Parents and Communities United for Education -- SEOC.
We are here today to highlight the urgent call to improve the academic performance of our high schools so that all our youth successfully graduate from high school, go to college, or continue a career track that will get them a meaningful job with living wages.
We are alarmed by the continuing failure of our high schools in providing our youth a quality education. When our youth are underserved by our school district, our communities also suffer from its consequences. When our children fail to graduate, if they are black or Latinos, they have a 50/50 chance to end up in the prison system. We cannot lose even one child to violence and prison system. We won’t take it any more!
Here is why we are out here to day and organizing for change in Jersey City:
• Under No Child Left Behind, four out of six high schools in Jersey City are failing our children.
• In 2008, more than 450 youth dropped out of high schools.
• In 2008, one out of every four seniors did not graduate from high school. And many of those who did, it took them five or even six years to get their high school diploma.
• One out of every three graduates, in 2008, received their diploma not by passing the High School Proficiency Assessment or HSPA, which is the standard test for graduation, but through an alternative means
• Many graduates are not ready for college, work or even able to fill out a job application
• Many youth end up out of school, whether graduating or dropping out, and see no future to look forward to
Our youth are bright and smart. They are ready to learn no matter who they are and what background they come from. Yet, our school system lacks the ability to engage them, keep them interested and focused on their education. Inadequate and half-hazard academic support programs in our high schools is holding them back, preventing them from excelling, and crippling the lives of far too many of them. When they face emotional challenges, there is little or no support at all to assist them through their difficulties.
As parents we understand we have a role to play in our children’s education. We know our children do well when we are involved. That is why we are organizing. Our presence here today speaks for itself. But lack of respect for parents’ concerns, unwelcoming school environment, and denigrating attitudes hold back many parents from engaging in their children’s school. Dealing with schools often becomes a frustrating and unpleasant experience for many parents.
We have gathered here not only to point out to the problems and challenges but also to be positive and provide solutions. Without bold and innovative actions our high school performance is poised to deteriorate in the face of new higher standard graduation requirements mandated by the state.
We call on the Jersey City Board of Education and the School District Superintendent Dr. Charles Epps, to seriously consider and implement proposals in PCUE’s high school campaign platform. We are calling on district officials to build genuine partnership with parents and the community, to provide effective student support programs, to support our teachers and school staff, and to upgrade computer technology labs and make them accessible to all students.
In particular, we want six specific improvements for our youth:
(1) A Tutoring center, with after school hours, in each high school so that it can assist students, who are falling though the cracks, to catch up and move forward.
(2) We want Guidance Counselors to have a more intensive face to face quarterly meeting with students during accessible, after school hours. Such support can help our students to have individualized learning plan, develop goals, stay on track, and prepare for college or seek other meaningful career.
(3) We are asking for scholarship fund specifically to assist undocumented immigrant children planning to go to college. Far too many of our Latino and other recent immigrant students cannot go to college because they cannot afford to pay two or three times more in tuition fee than their classmates.
(4) We want our school district to truly listen to us as parents and allow us to annually evaluate our children’s school. We want them to include our evaluation in any efforts to improve our high schools.
(5) We want an annual one-page school report card that shows us how our high schools are doing in educating our children.
(6) Finally, we want all communication to be in the languages spoken at home by parents. Jersey City’s public school children come from homes where dozens of languages are spoken. Unless the School District makes a serious effort to get the information to parents in languages they can understand, the chances for parent support are greatly weakened.
Today is just the beginning of our Campaign for Graduation for All Jersey City youth. We thank you for coming out today to stand with us. We ask you to sign up with us for a step by step Campaign to win these important changes for our youth.
Remember, one by one, the longest march is won! We will win! Si se puede!
Thank you!
Graduation for All
September 8, 2009
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for coming to this rally and being a part of this great event. My name is Milagros Delacruz. I am a mother of a child in Dickinson High school. I am also a member of Parents and Communities United for Education -- SEOC.
We are here today to highlight the urgent call to improve the academic performance of our high schools so that all our youth successfully graduate from high school, go to college, or continue a career track that will get them a meaningful job with living wages.
We are alarmed by the continuing failure of our high schools in providing our youth a quality education. When our youth are underserved by our school district, our communities also suffer from its consequences. When our children fail to graduate, if they are black or Latinos, they have a 50/50 chance to end up in the prison system. We cannot lose even one child to violence and prison system. We won’t take it any more!
Here is why we are out here to day and organizing for change in Jersey City:
• Under No Child Left Behind, four out of six high schools in Jersey City are failing our children.
• In 2008, more than 450 youth dropped out of high schools.
• In 2008, one out of every four seniors did not graduate from high school. And many of those who did, it took them five or even six years to get their high school diploma.
• One out of every three graduates, in 2008, received their diploma not by passing the High School Proficiency Assessment or HSPA, which is the standard test for graduation, but through an alternative means
• Many graduates are not ready for college, work or even able to fill out a job application
• Many youth end up out of school, whether graduating or dropping out, and see no future to look forward to
Our youth are bright and smart. They are ready to learn no matter who they are and what background they come from. Yet, our school system lacks the ability to engage them, keep them interested and focused on their education. Inadequate and half-hazard academic support programs in our high schools is holding them back, preventing them from excelling, and crippling the lives of far too many of them. When they face emotional challenges, there is little or no support at all to assist them through their difficulties.
As parents we understand we have a role to play in our children’s education. We know our children do well when we are involved. That is why we are organizing. Our presence here today speaks for itself. But lack of respect for parents’ concerns, unwelcoming school environment, and denigrating attitudes hold back many parents from engaging in their children’s school. Dealing with schools often becomes a frustrating and unpleasant experience for many parents.
We have gathered here not only to point out to the problems and challenges but also to be positive and provide solutions. Without bold and innovative actions our high school performance is poised to deteriorate in the face of new higher standard graduation requirements mandated by the state.
We call on the Jersey City Board of Education and the School District Superintendent Dr. Charles Epps, to seriously consider and implement proposals in PCUE’s high school campaign platform. We are calling on district officials to build genuine partnership with parents and the community, to provide effective student support programs, to support our teachers and school staff, and to upgrade computer technology labs and make them accessible to all students.
In particular, we want six specific improvements for our youth:
(1) A Tutoring center, with after school hours, in each high school so that it can assist students, who are falling though the cracks, to catch up and move forward.
(2) We want Guidance Counselors to have a more intensive face to face quarterly meeting with students during accessible, after school hours. Such support can help our students to have individualized learning plan, develop goals, stay on track, and prepare for college or seek other meaningful career.
(3) We are asking for scholarship fund specifically to assist undocumented immigrant children planning to go to college. Far too many of our Latino and other recent immigrant students cannot go to college because they cannot afford to pay two or three times more in tuition fee than their classmates.
(4) We want our school district to truly listen to us as parents and allow us to annually evaluate our children’s school. We want them to include our evaluation in any efforts to improve our high schools.
(5) We want an annual one-page school report card that shows us how our high schools are doing in educating our children.
(6) Finally, we want all communication to be in the languages spoken at home by parents. Jersey City’s public school children come from homes where dozens of languages are spoken. Unless the School District makes a serious effort to get the information to parents in languages they can understand, the chances for parent support are greatly weakened.
Today is just the beginning of our Campaign for Graduation for All Jersey City youth. We thank you for coming out today to stand with us. We ask you to sign up with us for a step by step Campaign to win these important changes for our youth.
Remember, one by one, the longest march is won! We will win! Si se puede!
Thank you!
Jersey Journal: Rally to demand better high school graduation rates
Group rallies in Jersey City to demand better high school graduation rates
by Paul Takahashi/ The Jersey Journal
About 50 Jersey City residents protested in front of Public School No. 11 today calling for the school district to improve the city's high schools.
Residents, school-age and older, gathered at the Martin Luther King, Jr. School on Bergen Avenue, toting signs and yelling chants such as, "Graduation for All" and "Education, not Incarceration."
The protest was organized by Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE), the Jersey City chapter of the larger Statewide Education Organizing Committee that advocates for improvements in the education system of low-income school districts.
"We're here to highlight some of the shortcomings of the Jersey City school districts," said Loyda Golston, vice president of PCUE.
"We want graduation for all students in Jersey City. There's a schoolhouse to jail house mentality here. We want kids to have the equal opportunity to graduate and go on to college or trade school."
PCUE also called upon the Jersey City school district to set up tutoring centers in every school, to hire more guidance counselors and allow college scholarships for undocumented students to allow them to attend in-state colleges for the same rate as citizens.
School officials didn't immediately respond to comment.
by Paul Takahashi/ The Jersey Journal
About 50 Jersey City residents protested in front of Public School No. 11 today calling for the school district to improve the city's high schools.
Residents, school-age and older, gathered at the Martin Luther King, Jr. School on Bergen Avenue, toting signs and yelling chants such as, "Graduation for All" and "Education, not Incarceration."
The protest was organized by Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE), the Jersey City chapter of the larger Statewide Education Organizing Committee that advocates for improvements in the education system of low-income school districts.
"We're here to highlight some of the shortcomings of the Jersey City school districts," said Loyda Golston, vice president of PCUE.
"We want graduation for all students in Jersey City. There's a schoolhouse to jail house mentality here. We want kids to have the equal opportunity to graduate and go on to college or trade school."
PCUE also called upon the Jersey City school district to set up tutoring centers in every school, to hire more guidance counselors and allow college scholarships for undocumented students to allow them to attend in-state colleges for the same rate as citizens.
School officials didn't immediately respond to comment.
Video clip on Jersey Journal website
Rally for better education in Jersey City
A rally for better education is on-going today (noon, as of this writing) in front of Martin Luther King Jr. School on Bergen Avenue.
Several people holding posters that said “No more dropouts” or “Graduation for all” were chanting “Education not Incarceration” as they marched in front of PS-11.
The rally was organized by “Parents and Communities United for Education” or PCUE, the Jersey City chapter of an organization called “Statewide Education Organizing Committee” (SEOC), which aims to unite the community for the benefit of the children’s education.
Please Check the link below:
http://journalsquarejc.com/archives/2213
A rally for better education is on-going today (noon, as of this writing) in front of Martin Luther King Jr. School on Bergen Avenue.
Several people holding posters that said “No more dropouts” or “Graduation for all” were chanting “Education not Incarceration” as they marched in front of PS-11.
The rally was organized by “Parents and Communities United for Education” or PCUE, the Jersey City chapter of an organization called “Statewide Education Organizing Committee” (SEOC), which aims to unite the community for the benefit of the children’s education.
Please Check the link below:
http://journalsquarejc.com/archives/2213
RALLY: Parents Demand Better High School Education
Parents & Communities United for Education
Contact:
Loyda Goldston, 1st Vice-president-- 973-204-4121
Rosemary Nwabueze, 201-388-7913
GRADUATION FOR ALL!
Parents’ rally calls for bold and innovative actions
for better high school education
On Tuesday, Sept. 8, from 12 to 1pm, Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE) held a rally in Bergen Ave. on the corner of Academy Street in Jersey City to highlight the urgent call to graduate ALL our youth/children from high school and provide them with a quality education that prepares them for college and the world of work. The current Jersey City educational policies and practices are not working as evidenced by the alarming rates of drop-out and failure to obtain a high school diploma – rates that are crippling the future of too many Jersey City youth.
According to the NJ Department of Education data, Jersey City high schools have made little or no progress in improving test scores over the last four years. From 2004 to 2008, Jersey City progressed just about 6%, from 42.7% to 48.6%, in the Math section of the High School Proficiency Assessment, (HSPA), and slightly declined in Language Art, from 64% to 63.9%.
Jersey City high schools drastically under-perform compared to the rest of the state, and this performance gap remains wide and persistent. In 2008, the City performed 21 percentage points below the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmarks in language arts, and 25 percentage points below AYP in math.
Loyda Goldston, PCUE 1st Vice-president and parent of three children in school # 34, stated “We are here to stand up for our youth to get a better high school education. When youth do not make it through high school and are not well prepared for college and world of work, it is a failure for everyone.”
“Despite all the myths that parents don’t care, we as parents are present for our children. Our school district must do its part. As parents we want to find out more about our schools. We need a one-page annual report card for each high school that tells how our schools are doing in educating our children. Also, we would like to be able to evaluate our schools progress,” added Ms. Goldston.
Yvonne Weaver, another parent who has a child in Snyder High School, said “If our high schools have not met the relatively low standards over the last several years, how will they prepare students for college prep English and more rigorous courses in math and sciences and most probably several high-stake end of the course exams that will replace the HSPA?”
Ms. Weaver continued, “We need intensive and more structured student support system in place. A lot of students fall through the crack with little or no support for them to get on their feet and move forward. These are the students who leave the schools, don’t graduate on time, and aren’t prepared for college or decent career. There must be a Tutoring Center in each high school which is available to students after school, as well as more intensive individual advising at least on a quarterly basis.”
Milagros Delacruz, a PCUE member and parent of a student in Dickinson High School in Jersey City said “I know many undocumented immigrant families who have children in high schools. These students do not qualify for in-state college tuition. Their tuition will be almost 2 ½ times more than their classmates. What kind of future awaits them? How many of them will drop out? What kind of motivation do they have to take their schooling seriously? We have to make sure these students have a future to look forward to. Our school district can help by creating a scholarship fund for these children.”
In its platform, “GRADUATION FOR ALL,” PCUE has called on the Jersey City Board of Education and School District Superintendent, Dr. Epps, to take bold and innovative actions to drastically improve Jersey City high school performance. The proposals call on district officials to build a genuine partnership with parents and the community, to provide effective student support programs, to support our teachers and school staff, and to upgrade computer technology labs and make them accessible to all students.
PCUE is a grassroots organization of parents, grandparents, and concerned members of the community. It is a chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee of NJ (SEOC). PCUE is committed to organizing parents in all Jersey City communities to improve education for our children. Over the course of last year PCUE launched a successful campaign to assure that school officials test all our schools for lead in the drinking water, notify parents and the community of the testing schedule and test results, and provide all public school children with safe water.
Contact:
Loyda Goldston, 1st Vice-president-- 973-204-4121
Rosemary Nwabueze, 201-388-7913
GRADUATION FOR ALL!
Parents’ rally calls for bold and innovative actions
for better high school education
On Tuesday, Sept. 8, from 12 to 1pm, Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE) held a rally in Bergen Ave. on the corner of Academy Street in Jersey City to highlight the urgent call to graduate ALL our youth/children from high school and provide them with a quality education that prepares them for college and the world of work. The current Jersey City educational policies and practices are not working as evidenced by the alarming rates of drop-out and failure to obtain a high school diploma – rates that are crippling the future of too many Jersey City youth.
According to the NJ Department of Education data, Jersey City high schools have made little or no progress in improving test scores over the last four years. From 2004 to 2008, Jersey City progressed just about 6%, from 42.7% to 48.6%, in the Math section of the High School Proficiency Assessment, (HSPA), and slightly declined in Language Art, from 64% to 63.9%.
Jersey City high schools drastically under-perform compared to the rest of the state, and this performance gap remains wide and persistent. In 2008, the City performed 21 percentage points below the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmarks in language arts, and 25 percentage points below AYP in math.
Loyda Goldston, PCUE 1st Vice-president and parent of three children in school # 34, stated “We are here to stand up for our youth to get a better high school education. When youth do not make it through high school and are not well prepared for college and world of work, it is a failure for everyone.”
“Despite all the myths that parents don’t care, we as parents are present for our children. Our school district must do its part. As parents we want to find out more about our schools. We need a one-page annual report card for each high school that tells how our schools are doing in educating our children. Also, we would like to be able to evaluate our schools progress,” added Ms. Goldston.
Yvonne Weaver, another parent who has a child in Snyder High School, said “If our high schools have not met the relatively low standards over the last several years, how will they prepare students for college prep English and more rigorous courses in math and sciences and most probably several high-stake end of the course exams that will replace the HSPA?”
Ms. Weaver continued, “We need intensive and more structured student support system in place. A lot of students fall through the crack with little or no support for them to get on their feet and move forward. These are the students who leave the schools, don’t graduate on time, and aren’t prepared for college or decent career. There must be a Tutoring Center in each high school which is available to students after school, as well as more intensive individual advising at least on a quarterly basis.”
Milagros Delacruz, a PCUE member and parent of a student in Dickinson High School in Jersey City said “I know many undocumented immigrant families who have children in high schools. These students do not qualify for in-state college tuition. Their tuition will be almost 2 ½ times more than their classmates. What kind of future awaits them? How many of them will drop out? What kind of motivation do they have to take their schooling seriously? We have to make sure these students have a future to look forward to. Our school district can help by creating a scholarship fund for these children.”
In its platform, “GRADUATION FOR ALL,” PCUE has called on the Jersey City Board of Education and School District Superintendent, Dr. Epps, to take bold and innovative actions to drastically improve Jersey City high school performance. The proposals call on district officials to build a genuine partnership with parents and the community, to provide effective student support programs, to support our teachers and school staff, and to upgrade computer technology labs and make them accessible to all students.
PCUE is a grassroots organization of parents, grandparents, and concerned members of the community. It is a chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee of NJ (SEOC). PCUE is committed to organizing parents in all Jersey City communities to improve education for our children. Over the course of last year PCUE launched a successful campaign to assure that school officials test all our schools for lead in the drinking water, notify parents and the community of the testing schedule and test results, and provide all public school children with safe water.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Jersey Jounal: Parent to rally for better high school education
by Amy Sara Clark / The Jersey Journal Wednesday September 02, 2009, 3:34 PM
No better way to start off the school year than with a rally.
Parents and Communities United for Education is organizing a rally on Tuesday, Sept. 8 to protest what they see as the poor education provided to Jersey City high school students.
They say that four our Jersey City's six high schools are "failing our children," more than 450 students drop out each year, one out of every three high school students in Jersey City does not graduate on time and the average SAT score in Jersey City is 86 points below the state average in math, and 91 points below the state average in verbal.
Ready to join their cause? Here are the details of the rally:
Where: Public School No. 11, 886 Bergen Avenue
When: Tuesday, Sept. 8, noon - 1 p.m.
For full text and follow up discussions, please click on the link below:
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2009/09/parents_to_rally_for_better_hi.htmlPress Advisory: Rally -- Graduation for All!
RALLY
URGENT CALL: GRADUATION FOR ALL!
Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009, 12 to 1pm,
The city’s grassroots public school reform organization, Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE) is calling for a rally to highlight the urgent call to graduate ALL our youth/children from high school and provide them a quality education that prepares them for college and the world of work. The current
What:
PCUE will call on the Jersey City Board of Education and the School District Superintendent Dr. Charles Epps to implement bold and innovative actions being proposed by the PCUE’s high school campaign platform. The proposals call on district officials to build genuine partnership with parents and the community, to provide effective student support programs, to support our teachers and school staff, and to upgrade computer technology labs and make them accessible to all students.
Where:
In front of Public School # 11, 886 Bergen Avenue, Jersey City
When:
Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2009, 12 to 1pm
PCUE is a grassroots organization of parents, grandparents, and concerned members of the community. It is a chapter of the Statewide Education Organizing Committee of NJ (SEOC). PCUE is a grassroots and direct action organization working to improve
____________________________________________
Contact:Loyda Goldston, 1st Vice-president -- 973-204-4121
Roslyn Gibbs-Muse, Secretary – 201-240-1123
Thursday, September 3, 2009
PCUE HIGH SCHOOL PLATFORM
CALL TO ACTION: GRADUATION FOR ALL!
II. WE WANT A TRUE PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN PARENTS/COMMUNITY, TEACHERS AND OUR SCHOOLS:
· Establish a
· The Center can be staffed by Parent Liaisons with assistance from parent volunteers and the parent group in the school – these Centers would be welcoming places for parents who now are too often not welcome in our schools.
· Include parent and student evaluation of teachers in annual review of teacher performances.
· Annual one-page school report card (including results from parent evaluation) sent to parents
· All communication to be in the languages spoken at home by parents
· Collect data regarding parent participation in each school and schools’ effort to contact parents—this data can be used to assess parent involvement in each school and improve relationship between parents and schools.
· Arrange face to face conferences with parents well in advance of students failing courses or lacking requirements for graduation.
· Improve and expand relationship with community organization that can bring school–based needed services for our public school children.
· Establish a program of additional paid hours for teachers who choose to strengthen school/family relationship by visiting students home.
II. DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE STUDENT SUPPORT SYSTEM:
- Student Success Center with flexible and accessible hours in the evening:
a. One-Stop-Shopping:
· Social Worker, Guidance Counselors, Crisis Intervention Teacher, and Service Broker working together in one space accessible to students.
b. Academic advising:
· One Academic Counselor for every 150 students.
· Counselors to have at least one regular quarterly meeting with each individual student.
· All students must have an Individualized Student Academic Portfolio (ISAP) that reflects personalized students learning plan including a four-year academic plan and preparation for college or other career track.
· Academic advising available at accessible hours for students and parents after the school day.
c. College and post-secondary preparation for ALL our youth:
· Aggressive outreach and enrollment of students for PSAT and SAT.
· Train high school students to support and counsel other students through the college process.
· Initiate early awareness college activities in 9th and 10th grades.
· Develop career awareness events and workshop so young people can explore various career options.
· Recruit college students to assist students with college application and financial aid process.
· Engage parents and guardian of children in the college preparation efforts.
· Provide interested students effective help in entering living wage apprenticeship and technical training programs.
· Connect with Equal Opportunity Fund (EOF) programs at the colleges
· Develop a scholarship fund specifically to assist undocumented immigrant children planning to go to college.
· Support and advocate for DREAM ACT.
d. Tutoring Program
· Establish a
· Hire a coordinator with experience in providing academic support for underserved students to coordinate the program. The ideal coordinator should be able to relate to program participants.
· Expand and develop an effective peer tutoring program.
· Hire and train qualified college students as tutors in all areas needed by students.
· Work with local colleges and universities to identify and train tutors.
· Create links between tutors/tutoring program and school teachers. Encourage tutors sit in part of the class to become familiar with what teachers are doing.
- Mandatory extended-day academic support program for HSPA, SRA, and other subject areas needed by students
- Mandatory summer schools for students who fail courses required for graduation.
III. WE NEED THE VERY BEST TEACHERS FOR OUR YOUTH!
· Redirect and invest money to build district’s capacity in teaching and learning by developing a cadre of school-based Teacher Coaches.
· Consultant hiring should be strictly based on student outcomes.
· At least one Technology Coach for each school, two for Dickinson because of its size.
· At least one Teacher Coach for each school, two for Dickinson.
· Computer training for teachers so that computer technology can be integrated with teaching and learning in the classroom.
· Once a week paid common planning time for teachers in each Small Learning Community, exclusively for joint planning to improve teaching and assist students who need additional support.
· Community walk-through for all newly hired teachers with parents and students participation
· Increase the number of highly qualified and competent teachers from communities where students come from by working with local universities and colleges.
IV. UPDATED COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY LABS:
· One computer for every 5 students in every class room.
· Additional computer labs to accommodate ALL high school students not just magnet students.
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