Final BOE Debate Focuses on Issues of Race

"Why, when I walk down a hallway in CHS, can I tell which classes are AP and which are remedial by virtue of race?"

With questions such as this, Wednesday night's South Orange Maplewood Board of Education candidates night stood out from other debates. The event was sponsored by the Community Coalition on Race and the Q&A reflected that fact as the debate focused on issues of leveling (sorting students by test scores), the achievement gap between black and white students, and the hiring of minority teachers.

Suffice it to say, issues of race where discussed in depth. The questions were sometimes blunt. And the answers sometimes skirted the bounds of political correctness.

The first question centered around the district's goal to increase minority hires. Did candidates support this goal?

"I voted for this goal," said Beth Daugherty who is running for her second three-year term on the BOE. Daugherty went on to say that she was frustrated with the difficulties the district has had in making minority hires. She said that the district has been more aggressive this past year and enumerated efforts such as sending recruitment letters to 40 historically black colleges and placing ads in targeted publications such as the Minority College Graduate Directory. All in all, Daugherty said, "The district needs to increase the pool of minority candidates."

David Giles who is running for the BOE for the first time answered this question by invoking his own background as a mixed-race child who found inspiration in the fact that his teachers came from a variety of backgrounds themselves. Giles said he would encourage graduates of the district to go into teaching and also work to attract student teachers from minority colleges.

Incumbent Lynne Crawford (running for her 3rd term on the BOE) said, "It would be nice" to have more minority hires, but "I question whether those candidates are out there." She talked of having minority candidates turn down jobs when she was at Bergen County College because "they could make more in the private sector. Are you talking to your children about a career in teaching?" Crawford challenged the audience.

Wendy Sachs, like Giles, is running for BOE for the first time. Sachs answered, "It goes without saying that we want the brightest and the most talented teachers and we want them to reflect our community." Sachs said it sounded as if the Board was doing a good job of working toward this goal. She wondered whether the Board had made an effort to attract Teach for America grads.

The second question focused on the advantages and disadvantages of leveling as it pertained to education and equity.

Giles started, "We shouldn't get into a false dichotomy of 100% de-leveling or 100% leveling. Most people probably fall somewhere in between." Giles said that grouping together low achievers tends to enforce low achievement and he noted that de-leveling the 6th grade didn't hurt—at least according to the test scores. But he was cautious about de-leveling, saying it would have to be done carefully, slowly, with measurements in place and teacher training.

Sachs replied, "It's clear that we have a broken system. It's a caste system. There's no getting out." Sachs said the district needed a new paradigm. "De-leveling is a bandaid on a gaping wound. We need a new model to have all children achieving." Sachs said there were models and best practices elsewhere that the district could emulate.

Crawford said, "I think the time has come."

She added, "We need AP. We need honors. I do not think we need leveling in middle school. I cannot believe all of the African-American students belong in lower levels than all of the white students." Crawford said she anxiously awaited the recommendations of the Excellence in Equity task force.

Daugherty said that leveling "works well for upper level students and completely backfires for lower-level students. I also want to hear from the task force. Personally I expect to see that change in the 7th grade next year." Daugherty concluded, "I will fully support changes the Superintendent puts forth."

When asked how to change the way adults in the schools treat children of color, the candidates answered as follows:

Crawford said, "De-leveling at the middle school is the place to start." She talk about the district's poor track record on teaching students how to read and spell and how this disproportionately has a negative impact on African-American students.

Beth Daugherty noted that Nancy Solomon's Peabody-winning documentary Mind the Gap "really opened the door to this conversation, a painful conversation." Daugherty explained, "We need to focus on professional development for teachers to understand differences."

Giles replied, "Too often we think there is something wrong with the kids. We need to think something is wrong with our curriculum. We need to fix our curriculum to embrace all our kids so they can be successful. I would want to look at participation of students of color in all facets—sports, arts, academics—and see that all our kids are participating equally."

Sachs replied last: "I really think we need a cultural shift happening in all our schools. This is a really deep issue." Sachs said she has spent a lot of time at Harlem Children's Zone where the approach is "aggressive." "We want every child in our district to be college bound." She noted, "High expectations promote cultural change."

Questions from the audience had the candidates thinking on their feet. A number of questioners wanted Wendy Sachs to give more particular examples of model programs. David Giles was asked why he thought a larger number of African-American parents send their children to private schools. (Giles said he did not know that this was true but that the theory he had heard was that parents were afraid that their students would get "sucked into" the lower track levels.)

All candidates were asked for their thoughts on the value of testing. All spoke of their frustration with current testing standards but acknowledged that some form of benchmarking is necessary. "Testing is a snapshot, not the full picture," said Giles.

Said Sachs, "I think the real measure is, 'Does the child know what they need to know?'" Daugherty pointed to the Read 180 assessment: "We need to make sure we have regular formative assessments throughout the year to see how children really are performing." And Crawford noted, "We are caught in NCLB hell. That testing doesn't begin to measure what children can do and need to do. If you take a page from special education and develop a plan for each child, you will be able to show progress. That shows you how to close your achievement gap."

Candidates were also asked what was being done to retain teachers of color, and there were many questions about de-leveling: should it go to a three-tier system? Should levels 2 and 3 be grouped together? or should levels 3 and 4 be grouped together?

All the candidates said they anxiously awaited the recommendations of the Excellence in Equity task force before taking a firm stand on any of these de-leveling suggestions. All rejected the notion of allowing parents to choose their child's level, saying it would be unfair to parents who were less familiar with the system.

Community Coalition on Race Executive Director Nancy Gagnier thanked the candidates for answering questions that are "near and dear to our hearts."

The election takes place Monday, April 20. The four candidates are vying for three positions on the South Orange Maplewood Board of Education.