New Haven Independent

As part of an ongoing series of “In-Reach” events at Yale University, the forum aimed to encourage New Haven community members and Yale students and faculty to engage in a dialogue on educational reform. The seats of the Hall were filled with representatives of various non-profit organizations at Yale as well as residents and leaders from the greater New Haven community. Yale senior Jessica Bialecki, a member of the Dwight Hall student executive committee who organized the event, expressed gratitude to the panelists and moderator Jack Gillete, director of the Yale Teacher Preparation and Educations Studies Program, for being part of the community forum.

Burt Saxon, who recently retired from teaching at James Hillhouse High School after working in the New Haven Public Schools system for 35 years, encouraged his audience to consider a career in the classroom over other more lucrative jobs. “The classroom to me is where much of the action happens, where you can really have an impact,” he said.

Gillette posed four difficult questions to the panelists regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the New Haven Public Schools system, the effect of the No Child Left Behind act, and Yale’s involvement in educational reform in New Haven. Panelists emphasized the need to close the achievement gap in not only New Haven but all of Connecticut, which has the highest achievement gap of any state in the country. However, they pointed to New Haven’s many assets — its relatively small size, the presence of Yale, the largest school construction program of any city in the state — as reasons that closing this gap is within reach.

The challenge, said Camille Cooper, who currently serves as the cirector of teaching and learning for the Comer School Development Program, is for teachers to develop a philosophy of what high achievement means beyond scoring better on tests.
“We really advocate looking at all aspects of a child instead of just looking at them as a brain on a stick,” Cooper said.
The Comer School Development Program is an organization charged with implementing the Comer Process, a school and system-wide intervention formulated by James Comer that aims to bridge child psychiatry and education in school communities.

Later in the evening, panelists fielded questions from audience members, who expressed concerns about the lack of funding for public schools and the challenge of supporting a family on a teacher’s salary. Saxon acknowledged that choosing a career in teaching can be difficult when your college roommates are making significantly more money in investment banking. Apart from raising salaries, he pointed to giving teachers a stronger voice in society and allowing them a diversity of experience as ways to make teaching a more desirable professions.
Emily Barton, a Yale graduate who currently serves as executive director of Teach for America Connecicut, agreed that money is only part of the picture.
“I am a teacher, and I say that with a lot of pride,” Barton said. “Getting to do work your love doing with people you love working with is a major blessing.”

In closing, Johnston offered a final plug, especially for those confused college seniors currently trying to figure out what to do with their lives.
“As you’re coming out of your undergraduate experience, you have the greatest array of opportunities before you,” he said. “Now is your chance to make a difference.”

To find our more about the New Haen Public Schools system and the organizations to which these panelists belong, check out the following websites:
NHPS official site
Yale Teacher Prep and Education Studies Program
Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now
Comer School Development Program
U.S. Department of Education website on NCLB