New Haven Independent

Posted by: LivingInEastRock | April 30, 2007 10:36 AM

The residents of Everit Street are not racist and elitist, Ms. Polan. I do not live on Everit Street but have been closely following the proceedings. Yes, the issue is about finding a suitable home for the school, but also at issue is ensuring that the City does not abuse the zoning code. It is the City that has been wasting time and money. I would like to set the record straight about the site selection process in which I participated. The #1 site selected by the neighborhood vote was the COMBINED site of the church and the Red Cross building - which would have given the school enough room for its needs without impinging on the RS1 zone in the rear. The site with just the church alone was ranked much farther down on the preference list. When the Red Cross site proved to be unavailable, no other sites on the list were seriously considered. Then the City overpaid for the church ($1.7 million for a building appraised at $1.4 million) without getting the necessary approvals.

People have been accusing the Everit Street residents of using their money to get what they want. That is unfair. The case has been argued in front of several courts, and these judges are making their decision according to the law. Are you accusing people of buying the decision, of bribing the judges??

Posted by: East Rockette | April 30, 2007 10:56 PM

I thought you had to live in the (gerrymandered) Worthington Hooker zone to attend the school. But the President of the Board of Ed could enrol all three of his daughters, despite living in Beaver Hills? How's that work?

We live a ten minute walk from the school but haven't a prayer of getting in, despite being international, Yale-affiliated, and very involved in the community, funnily enough all the things that attracted Mr Perkins to the school.

Perhaps we could have another school in the neighbourhood so we could share the love?? Will the rebuilt East Rock school open its doors to locals who didn't get in to Hooker?

Posted by: Diane Polan | April 30, 2007 11:11 PM

I agree that the word "racist" is too simplistic to describe the motivations of all of the Everit Street residents who have spent thousands of dollars to delay and derail the Worthington Hooker middle school. Some of them are motivated more by elitism and class interests. I, too, have been involved in the process since the beginning. Every time an opponent of the Whitney Avenue school site stood up at a meeting and insisted that her/his children had attended Worthington Hooker, it was clear from the age of speaker that s/he was harkening back to a time when Hooker was a lily-white school in a lily-white neighborhood. The rest of the opposition never sent their children to public school. I know that because I know where their children have gone to school - Foote, St. Thomas, and Hopkins. The opponents' anxiety about living next door to the multicultural, multiracial Hooker middle school that my children attended in the late 1990's is a function of BOTH class and racial residential segregation, and the discomfort and fear it engenders. Their argument that the school would reduce property values on Everit Street -- one of the highest priced streets in New Haven and within the East Rock neighborhood itself -- is and always has been laughable. In the 10 years that this school site has been under discussion and planning, their property values have only gone up. Indeed, one of the Everit Street denizens who funded the zoning lawsuits refused to sell her house, which was perenially on the market, until it fetched over a million dollars, which it finally did several years ago, while the litigation was ongoing. Finally, as an attorney, I remain persuaded that the state Supreme Court will reverse Judge DeMayo's improper and illegal decision. I don't subscribe to the theory that Judge DeMayo was "bought off." Rather, he simply ignored the law and substituted his own opinion for that of the Board of Aldermen. It happens all too frequently. What's saddest is that because of this obstructionist litigation, our children will have to spend an additional two years in the cramped space on State Street, which was only intended to be a temporary space, and the State and City will end up paying more to build the school once the lawsuit is over.

Posted by: THE DEAL | May 1, 2007 12:00 AM

I grew uo in this neighborhood. I went to Hooker. i played little leauge baseball on Hooker. In fact, I got sick smoking my first cigar on the fire escape overlooking Livingston Street at like 14 years old. I aslo spent many summer days playing stick ball, since they had painted bases and fou ines back then.. OK, sorry for the history. It is great to see Hooker renovated. I worked on the site selection group with many of my friends who grew up in this neighborhood and still live hear. The Whintney Ave site will work. In fact, one of the most loudmounthed opponatnts to the sale, Ms. Novick, something very close complkained she would lose tons of value, she then sold her house for one of he highest prices on that street. Did she say OPPS. Of course not she sits with a cheshire cat smile. But stinks of greed and self interest.

This is a great school that benefits from drawing from a population of familes that teach the value of education. I suggest the abondones Star Supply site. If it was OK to cappe it and build apartments, whay not buils a school. Then you have the fields, the East Rock school, the Cross Annex, the skating rink, centarlized scholl bus traffic, tons of parking.

Keep Hooker K-5, or whatever, keep using St Stans and build a new concept in Urban School Development...centralized locaction, after school programs, great sports fields, talented community. I mean how hard is it to see that comforming uses when all supporting facilites are directly vailable. I hate to say it but since that changes the district, more Fair Haven kids would get precedent and some East Rockers would lose a spot.

I agreed with the Whitney Ave site, and that cost the city a ton of money. Hooker is an asset to this neighborhood and the real outrage should be risen by the people who will lose the spot allowed for their location, becuas ethe Whitney Ave location opens more dedicated seats to Everitt and Livingatone and takes from Linden, Avon, Cottage and Lawrence. That is the only reason I suggest crating an education campus using East Rock and Star Supply

Posted by: Frank Iezzi | May 1, 2007 10:28 AM

Ms Polan, I am curious. How many children do you have, and what school did they attend?

Posted by: ESS | May 1, 2007 1:33 PM

THE DEAL
Sick on your schoolyard cigar aye? Well, speaking of fumes, come down to Star Supply and suck in some other sickening fumes, some highway fumes. Having attended the East Rock Community Bunker for four years I wouldn't want anyone's children to breathe that air either -- ironically, while at ERCS we only used Blake field about once per year for Presidential Physical Fitness Day. At the very least, we should endeavor to locate schools where children can safely breathe the air while providing some outdoor open play space.

The 691 Whitney Ave. site opponents have also recommended that the school be put down by the highway, next to OTHER people's homes -- too bad if OTHER people's children get to breathe I-91 exhaust all day year in and year out.

Nancy Alderman, president of Environment and Human Health Inc., wrote the forum piece in the June 15th, '06 edition of the NH Register supporting the 691 Whitney Ave. site; it basically states that HEALTHWISE, schools should never be located near highways due to the harmful effects of vehicle exhaust.

She reported that "Many studies have shown that children who are exposed to vehicle exhaust near motorways have reduced lung function and many of them develop asthma."

Also, The Urban Design League did not support the magnet high school near the highway because the air is toxic, and could worsen asthma rates as well.

St Stans and the Star Supply site are both located next to Interstate 91 where cars and diesel trucks idle for long periods and are also next to State St. (Rte. 5) traffic. Each child that attends grades 3-8 would breathe this polluted air for the 7100 normal school hours alone.

Keep shoehorning grades 3-8 into the crumbling 1922 St Stans with a tiny black top parking lot to play on? Among many other things, of the 22 sites considered, St Stans is the furthest away from the Canner St. School.

A 691 Whitney Ave WHS location doesn't mean more students from Everit and Livingston and less from Linden, Avon, Cottage and Lawrence -- regardless of WH School location the Worthington Hooker student body typically contains about 40 percent out of district children.

These children, from throughout greater New Haven, have patiently waited more than long enough for reasonably healthy and safe school facilities.

LIVINGINEASTROCK, The 691 Whitney Ave, Whitney Life Church was considered both "combined or separate" with/from the Red Cross parcel in the Site Selection Process. The NH City Plan Advisory Report #1315-01 made the following related findings and recommendations for the preferred school site, in order of preference, after having reviewed the WH Site Selection Process Report and the materials submitted at and shortly after the City Plan Commission hearing:

#1) Preferred site: The combined parcel of 691 and 703 Whitney Ave's (Red Cross)

#2) Preferred site: The separate parcel of 691 Whitney Ave.

Posted by: The deal | May 1, 2007 2:13 PM

ESS,

Great criticism, but any solutions, or do you just sit around pointing out others flaws to avoid seeing you own. This is a city. Where do you suggest the school be? Should we stop using school buses since they are major sources of poor air quality? The basic truth is that most buildings have indoor air quality control systems and kids are more exposed to poor air when not in school. Our air quality is most adversely effected by the air flow pattern of Long Island Sound which funnels fumes from NY and NJ directly into southern CT

Posted by: ESS | May 2, 2007 6:18 AM

The best solution was expressed in my last line above -- the 691 Whitney Ave. site is not only the best choice for the long run but myself and many others hope that a 691 Whitney Ave. school can be provided for grades 3-8 ASAP because, among other important deficiencies, St. Stans has NO indoor air quality control system(s), just windows open to I-91 etc., and a tiny black top play area next to I-91, so the sooner the better for all these children.

Why 691 Whitney Ave?
- Not a residence -- community process and public hearings indicated a strong preference for not taking residential property.
- Currently tax-exempt and will not further reduce NH's tax base.
- The site is the most central to the district and within easy walking distance to the Canner St. WHS. The 3rd - 8th graders wouldn't have to walk (or be bussed) 15 - 20 blocks from Prospect St. etc., 4 blocks past the edge of the district to the polluted Star Supply site and back everyday. We used to have walk all the way from the center of the district, to the old Edwards St. School (corner of Foster St.) and Lovell School (Nash & Lawrence St's) a block closer than Star Supply and this is too far for the small children.

Some important criteria in reviewing the 22 sites were:
- Minimum of 2 acres, (i.e. large enough to accommodate a school building, open space and off street parking -- 691 Whitney Ave. is 2.58 acres).
- Proximity to the Canner St. WHS, along with being centrally located in the district.
- Pedestrian accessibility to some portion of the district.

Park land sites were not recommended because:
- Park land taken by a state or local gov't has to be replaced by park land in the same neighborhood.
- Opposition was expressed to using parkland.

Environment and Human Health Inc's recommendations re. vehicle exhaust:
http://www.ehhi.org/reports/exhaust/recommendations.htm

http://www.ehhi.org/reports/diesel/recommendations.htm

Posted by: pinkbicycle | May 2, 2007 8:25 AM

Ahh the issus of class and race. Great response Atty Polan. As you know most folks who are racist and class driven, can argue that they are not, therein making it all too clear that they are. These white folks will use all their resources, and intellectual capital to keep Black and Latino children out of their neighborhood, for fear of drugs, and violence and whatever else they think this children and their families may bring. They don't even have the good graces to be ashamed. I bet these folks will sit in churches and other places of worship and beleive that they are fine and decent people. I bet they give to charities and beleive that they have done their part in contributing to the less fortunate. They will fight, as does the KKK, as does skin-heads, as does the republican party because they beleive they are right and have the courage of their conviction to stand up for what they beleive is right. How do you fight that type of hatred and ignorance. The bone-deep kind of racism and class segregation that killed Dr. King, and JFK and Robert Kennedy. Sure the priveldge of wealth and powere is having access to lawyers and the willingness to tie this matter up for years if need be. I know this, good and just trumps eviel and stupidity every day. It may take some time, but in the end...well you know.

Posted by: common sense | May 2, 2007 11:12 AM

So Diane Polan knows racism when she sees it. Hmm. She sure seems certain that those Hooker parents who dare to oppose her idea of where to site the school have to have racist, elitist motives.

Let's reflect on this for a minute. Would it surprise Attorney Polan to know that one of these anti-Whitney-site parents sent her child to Hooker, and then to East Rock, the school that was built as the middle school for Hooker and the rest of the East Rock neighborhood, and then to the Fair Haven Middle School? Or that when this child graduated from Fair Haven, he was one of a handful of non-minority children at the party his parents hosted for the entire grade? Or that this story is not atypical?

Would it surprise Attorney Polan to know that another of these anti-Whitney-site parents is the widow of the Board of Education President who presided over the integration of the New Haven Public School system? That her children went to Hooker and East Rock and Betsy Ross, and Fair Haven?

Would it surprise Attorney Polan to know that the petition opposing the rezoning of the Whitney Avenue site was signed by 150 residents throughout the East Rock neighborhood? Would it surprise her to know that other people were afraid to sign it because they feared they would be attacked in the press, or because they feared the cold shoulder their Hooker child would receive, or because they feared their child, or grandchild, wouldn't get in to Hooker if they spoke out? Would she be surprised that parents of minority children, parents who are minorities, signed this petition?

Would it surprise Attorney Polan, a Yale College and Yale Law School grad, to know that Hooker is the most diverse school in the city because so many of its students are the children of professors or fellows at Yale University--and Yale University (with its international faculty and student body) is the most diverse institution in New Haven?

Would any of this surprise Attorney Polan? Would it make any difference to her? Would she care?

I doubt it.

There is a group of Hooker parents and City officials whose strategy from the beginning has been to deliberately and knowingly swift-boat those who disagree with them. They've been remarkably successful at smearing people who speak out, turning neighbor against neighbor, and presenting a distorted picture of the nature and circumstances of this dispute to the city. They have no shame, and probably no regrets.

Posted by: pinkbicycle | May 2, 2007 4:17 PM

Common Sense, this is now and that was then. The more you rty to justify your racism, the more racist you become. Sure Hooker is the most divers, all the asian kids in the City go there. You know the ones who's parents work for Yale or attend Yale. Please, even you can't say this stuff without choking. Call it what it is and be done with it. It's a school for God's sake not a concentraction camp. It is a school, not a casino, it is a school not a strip club. It's a school not a drug house, It's a school where children will learn to grow and think and become all that we need and hope and want them to be. They will be the leaders...the future. So are you saying you don't want to be a part of fostering that type of positive change for the world. Fuck you!

Posted by: Esbe | May 2, 2007 4:55 PM

To "Commonsense": I agree that the use of ad-hominem by the Whitney school proponents is not fair, but of course your own vicious ad-hominem counter-smear falls in much the same category.

The Everit street folks are all "good liberals," at least some of whom sent their kids through the New Haven public school system at a time when the middle and high schools were much rougher than they are now. They are not overt racists.

But they do have a vision of Everit Street as a kind of suburban oasis, free of urban influence. They have a deep fear of "the city" and think they have to raise a kind of moat to protect themselves from urban decay and chaos. They think they are doing the city a favor by preserving their heavily taxed enclave in its historic condition.

I think they are just factually wrong. East Rock has always been desirable and has always been filled with urban schools, churches, apartment buildings and so forth. There used to be even more schools. The Everit homes themselves are not actually suburban and have long bordered churches, non-profits, apartment buildings and so forth with no problem. All urban uses that would be opposed if they didn't already exist.

In fact, the demand for urban living is increasing and, as noted, property values have risen in the face of the "threat" of the school. Proximity to good public schools in fact raises property values. Exiling Hooker to an industrial edge of the neighorhood will drive down property values throughout the neighborhood.

It is time to put fear, and old-fashioned ideas about cities, aside and build the school in the way that is best for the neighborhood.

Posted by: Diane Polan | May 2, 2007 9:22 PM

It's striking that none of the people who have posted comments on this story (except for me) are willing to attach their names to their opinions. Why is that?

Posted by: pinkbicycle | May 3, 2007 8:13 PM

Because we are cowards. Because we don't want the world to know just how fucked up we really are. Because we know if we used our real names decent people would look at us in disgust and horror. Because you can act out under disguise. Because we are spineless. Because the price may be to high to keep it real.

Posted by: ericaholahan | May 3, 2007 11:14 PM

Wow.
Here's a (28 of my 31 yrs.) resident of New Haven willing to use her full name.

I think we should all really go back to basics on this one, and by all means, let's avoid the profanity, pinkbicycle. We're talking about kids, here.

I have said before in this debate that I grew up on Whitney a block away from Everit St. I was so envious of what I perceived to be the Everit St community-kids playing together, biking and skating in the church lot, block parties. We did not have that on Whitney Ave.

I have also said before that I babysat for many families on this block of Everit, and not one of those families is racist. Wouldn't white flight have taken them in the 80's and 90's to the suburbs if they were truly racist? They are people who want the best for their kids, and want to live on a peaceful, quiet street. I disagree with them that a school would necessarily infringe on that, and I think the Whitney Ave site is appropriate for the Hooker Middle School.

Hooker is a wonderful, diverse school. I do think that the international diversity is due largely to Yale's presence in NH, but there is racial and ethnic diversity at the school that is due to NH's otherwise diverse nature.

The fact is, NH is a hugely segregated town despite our diversity, and much of that segregation is economically based. You can find all colors of poor people in Section 8 housing (where is still exists) but you will not find many of the lower-income folk in East Rock. It is simply very expensive to live there.

Every parent and child advocate wants the best for their kid(s). I applaud the parents who do what they feel they have to to ensure their kids get the best possible education. The problem in New Haven is that not every parent will get the best for their kid if they choose to send them to public school, or if public school is their only option financially.

What I would love to see is all of us educated, concerned parents advocating for every child in NH-especially those who do not have the resources and support that Hooker kids have. If you want to talk about school reform, lets make bussing mandatory like it was in Boston.

True integration does not exist in NH's public schools, at least not right now.

Posted by: jms | May 4, 2007 1:57 AM

Just FYI...

I live in Westville and I am THRILLED to have Edgewood School right in the middle of my neighborhhood. I am THRILLED that my son attends this school along with children of all shapes, sizes and color. I am THRILLED with the fact that my house has pretty much doubled in value since I bought it within the decade.

The opposition to the new Hooker school is just downright strange to me.

Posted by: Jeff Klaus | May 4, 2007 10:28 AM

If we could redirect all of the intellectual and emotional energy being spent on the Hooker relocation, and instead focus it intensively on closing the academic gap between Hooker students and the rest of New Haven's students, we would see:
- A resurgence of neighborhood schools (because folks wouldn't feel the need to send their kids across town);
- Increased property values (A great school district leads to high demand for housing);
- Lower reliance on residential property taxes due to new business creation within the city (businesses really, really like an educated work force);
- A reduction in street crime (it's amazing how kids behave if they know that they have a future)

New Haven has more potential than any city of it's size that I know....let's unlock it!

Posted by: pinkbicycle | May 4, 2007 5:25 PM

Hooker is a public School sugar. It sits on the borders of one of the richest neighborhoods in the entire COUNTRY! Jeff, Jeff your killing me. I am beginning to think you are starting to beleive your own press. Pick up the Covenant with Black America, by Tavis Smiley and Co. And grab the Covenant in Action while your at it. Then come back and say something honest and real.

Posted by: Gary Holder-Winfield | May 5, 2007 7:16 AM

PINKBYCYCLE:
Maybe I am a bit slow but what is it that Jeff said that is dishonest and unreal? You spoke about him reading 'The Covenant' but did not specify what exactly you feel is wrong - that would be helpful for other readers.

Posted by: pinkbicycle | May 5, 2007 9:15 AM

Jeff isn't saying anything that is new or innovative. However he doesn't say how to get to all those lovely niceties. Yes of course we all want great schools and great neighborhoods and great families and a great president and great legislators. But we have a prison system that has more Black people in them than anywhere else in the entire world. We have whole neighborhoods that are concentrated pits of poverty that sit justa few blocks form some of the most affluent neighborhoods in this Country. If it was just about education. Sure you can self-select 200 kids who have parents that have the ability to get the application filled out, but what about all the other 5000 kids in the New Haven school system. The some with all types of problems that education alone is not going to solve. If it was just about education. Jeff likes to talk about education, but he never mentions his banks commitment or lack thereof to the community growth of New Haven. And if there weren't poor black kids to teach his school wouldn't exist. Poor being the operative word. I don't fault him, he is a well-meaning white man, who beleives he is saving those poor Black kids and perhaps on some level he is. The problem I have is that everyone thinks they have the universal answer and work to implement their brand of world saving in isolation for everyone else's brand of world-saving. So what do we do. Everyone wants one definitive plan, one magic potion. But the reality is there ought to be many many plans in play. The trick is getting all the "know it alls" to the same world table. Now that's the prize!

Posted by: Andrew Yim | May 6, 2007 9:39 AM

Come on Everit Street People.

These are 8th graders they want to bring to Whitney Avenue. A middle school, not a methadone clinic or jail or home for reformed pedophiles (apologies in advance to those on Methadone maintenance; we love you, but, well, you know..). Plenty of other neighborhoods in New Haven are host to much more unsavory institutions. If you choose to live in an urban environment, then, to an extent, you ought to be willing to share in the various responsibilities and obligations of the city.

Posted by: ericaholahan | May 6, 2007 10:31 PM

Pinkbicycle,

I understand your passion about these issues, because I also feel passionately that NH is not working as a "livable city" for way too many people. But your anger and frustration comes across as hostility, and I'm not sure where that's getting you. Do you really want positive change, or just to complain? What would change involve?

I read what you write, and I agree with a lot of what you say (not how you say it, however). I don't know why you have a monopoly on "real life". How is your life more real than anyone else's? And why are you scared to use your real name?

My feeling is that if we want to change all of the social dysfunctions of our world, and to start that right here in New Haven, we have to be willing to work together-and that means with the Everit Streeters of the world. One way to create positive change is to be brave and stand up for what you believe, say and write. You are not doing that by hiding behind a pseudonym.

Posted by: Jeff Klaus | May 7, 2007 11:41 AM

PB, The anonymity of the responses doesn't bother me because I think it does allow people to speak the hard truth without fear of reprisal. However, it also allows folks to make stuff up without risking anything except their handle (I would hate to see "Pink Bicycle" not taken seriously anymore. I imagine that your pseudonym represents something very dear and personal to you, perhaps signifying something from childhood much like "Rosebud" was to Citizen Caine. If you had to use "Orange Tricycle" it just wouldn't be the same.) Anonymity can also cause distraction because readers rightly wonder about the writer's actual motivations.

In any event, I'll keep the dialogue going but only will address the question you posed re: how to get those "niceties".

Ready? The exact answer to the problem IS...(drum roll please)....I don't actually know. BUT I do have some ideas on how to begin a serious community dialogue:

1. We need to have leaders that will say, no, yell loudly, that we have a crisis in urban education. That the achievement gap is the most persistent and divisive social inequality that exists today in our city and state, and if we don't fix it we will continue to perpetuate a community of haves and have nots; That our goal will be to graduate students who are on academic par with students from the suburbs. That we know that closing the gap is a really difficult job, but that New Haven needs to make faster progress towards closing the gap; That we need to take bolder measures, that we will weigh the interests of students and their families above everything else; That the task of preparing more children from low income families for a successful college career is the most important thing that we can do for ourselves in the next ten years, and that this will be our primary mission; That we have brand new school facilities now in place and now it's time to build a great school system;

2. And that there is also good news! First, we know that all children can learn at a high level regardless of family income, social status, and their parent's primary language; That we live in the wealthiest state in the country and that we have sufficient resources available to take this on; And that there is no excuse for failure; That this is the civil rights issue of our time.

Without this candid self-assessment and bold initiative, I think it would be very hard to have a have a productive conversation about specific solutions.

Posted by: ericaholahan | May 7, 2007 1:28 PM

Jeff,
I think your ideas are great and well thought out, and well written. I just think we can't wait for our supposed leaders to make these changes. We, as New Haven parents, citizens, and students! need to be loud and make change. Why is it that Hooker couldn't be a total lottery school, like a magnet. Is the answer that it would no longer be the great school it is today if that were to happen? Well, then let's leave it alone and work to make other schools great. Let's fight for higher teacher salaries across the board, and smaller class size. These needs are universal. Let's get music class and environmental ed in every school in the city, and let's get recess back while we're at it. I know you're name, and you know mine. Let's start a grassroots campaign!

Posted by: Jeff Klaus | May 7, 2007 3:12 PM

Erica, your ideas on school reform make me want to adopt a pseudonym! Didn't Pink Bicycle warn you about me? Don't call us, we'll call you.

Seriously, I'm all for paying significantly higher salaries to effective teachers. But higher salaries across the board without accountability in the classroom did absolutely nothing to improve educational outcomes in CT. 15 years ago (The Educational Excellence Act). And smaller class sizes without high quality instruction are not good investments (see: Jay Matthews, "Education Myths"). It's far better to invest in high quality teachers. Music and environmental studies are great. But sadly most children in New Haven are very far behind in the basics like reading, writing, and math so put those subjects on the front burner. Extend the school day and work through the summer. And for goodness sake, when we only have a 6 1/2 hour school day, recess would not be at the top of the list. (Kind of tough to imagine recess as the civil rights issue of our time.)

I like your energy though. Check out www.conncan.org, www.teachforamerica.org
and Whitney Tilson's school reform blog for some good ideas. Let me know what you think!

Posted by: pinkbicycle | May 7, 2007 7:39 PM

I love the way folks feel the need to analyze any post. Look, the coolest thing about America is the right to say whatever I want. Erica cut it out--if I want to be fucking angry I can be--you don't know me, nor do you live my life, you have no idea about my passions. Jeff my handle ain't that deep--so save the Citizen Kane crap for your highbrow friends. This however could become a decent conversation, if folks stop trying to show off their middle class upbringing and their ivy league education. Your damned right I am angry--when I have to tell my son (honor roll student) to be careful of the police--everywhere in America. When guidance counselors advise my daughter that perhaps hairdressing school would be better than medical school--and she has the grades for medical school! Please until you are willing to hear the stories that drive the so-called anger then don't act like you know something I don't. This is the problem, this is the great race and culture divide. Because the mamner in which I say what's on my mind is foreign to you, you feel uncomfortable and therefore need to proceed to label me and my so-called emotions. I am a well educated person--perhaps moreso than most of you posting, so save the drama. And let me do my thing and you do your thing. It'a all good...or it can be if you stop tripping on the window dressing and really pay attention to the merchandise...feel me!?

Posted by: ericaholahan | May 7, 2007 8:32 PM

Okay, I think this will be my last entry b/c you all are just mean. Too much time working in a bank has jaded you, perhaps, Jeff. Of course I agree that we need accountability in the classroom-the things I included in my "wishes' for schools are not a panacea for what ails all kids' education in New Haven.

But the school my daughter goes to will have a small teacher to student ratio. It will have music, it will have recess. Recess is very important to kids' learning! Socialization? Running and climbing, and oh-playing? And can't music and art and environmental education HELP kids learn to read and do math? Paying higher teachers salaries should help attract better qualified teachers who could turn the lifecyle of a tree into, say a math exercise. Or an art projest. Or a reading lesson.

I'm not saying I'm an expert on school reform. But clearly those experts are nowhere to be found, since our schools are failing our kids. What I mostly hope for is that we can learn to treat these great social ills in a more communal way-not in the the "only my kids count" way.

Posted by: Jeff Klaus | May 8, 2007 9:09 AM

PB, The experience that your kids had is precisely what I object to in New Haven today. As our fearless president says "The soft bigotry of low expectations". Perhaps we're closer in our views than you think....Erica, this can be a rough and tumble message board..relax and keep the quality posts coming. If you want to see what a gap-closing school looks like, call Elm City College Prep charter school and sign up for a tour. They're on Greene street just off of Wooster Square. See you around. Peace out.

Posted by: ericaholahan | May 8, 2007 1:05 PM

Pinkbicycle,
I hope your kids have all of the best opportunties in life. I just hope they don't share your disrespectfulness and bitterness. Of course I don't share your experiences. But my experiences are just as valid as yours. Anger is fine-but what about progress? don't just sit around and be angry-use your "emotions" for positive change. If you want to call me naive, lily white, ivy educated, call me whatever. I'm proud of my diverse education-public and private. And I'm working to make New Haven a better place. For the next gerneration.

Posted by: ESS | May 8, 2007 1:06 PM

Re. class, race, bussing and achievement gaps -- in 1968 through the early 70's a group of certain white bread families living in the Hooker district made the all-important effort to join The Great Society and have their children bussed to the Head Start - Follow Through school project consisting mostly of children living in the Dixwell and Newhallville neighborhoods -- I'm sure they have their reasons, but the fact is that an Everit St. litigant and some of the Everit St. opposition to the 691 Whitney Ave. school chose NOT send their children to join us at this truly integrated school.

For years, my siblings and I, along with other neighborhood children, were bused from (lower) Everit St. to pick up our Dixwell and Newhallville classmates and then out to the Cooperative Educational Center on Whitney Ave. - just one of more than 10 Whitney Ave. schools between Edwards and Skiff Streets, along this "serene entrance into the city."

Even though the proposed 691 Whitney Ave. school doesn't include bussing, drop-offs or even student access from Everit St, the presence of our Co-op buses on Everit St. had no real negative affect on traffic, quality of life, or property values but the school had a very positive affect on countless children; Amistad Academy's great success in closing the achievement gap shares roots with our Co-op -- Direct Instruction, part of their Achievement First elementary reading curricula and the single most effective method for raising skill levels originated in Project Follow Through, the most extensive educational research study in history.
While some curricula may be better than others, teachers were certainly more important than curricula [because a curriculum does not teach students, teachers do -- and nearly 40 years later, we are still close friends with some of our wonderful, dynamic co-op teachers, like the one who utilized a zoo of classroom animals for lessons or let his whole class permanently paint ALL of his new car the colors of the rainbow at the Elm Haven Projects, and the ones who took us on (unpaid) field trips, play soccer and swim etc. on the weekends].

W. Hooker has become even more integrated over the years, who wouldn't want this school near them? -- 2005/2006 W. Hooker data from CT DOE:

"EFFORTS TO REDUCE RACIAL, ETHNIC, AND ECONOMIC ISOLATION
Connecticut law requires that school districts provide educational opportunities for their students to interact with students and teachers from diverse racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. This may occur through programs with other schools, distance learning, or other experiences. Below is the description submitted by this school of how it provides such experiences.

In an effort to increase and expand interactions among students with varying backgrounds, our school draws from outside the neighborhood. 35% of the student population lives outside the neighborhood. We also have students from 24 countries and many parts of the United States. More than 20 students come from China so we have developed a Chinese Bilingual Program. This program focuses on the acquisition of English as a Second Language and Chinese Language Support across the academic areas. Chinese culture is integrated throughout the classrooms and the school. In order to share those backgrounds, the school community has an International Day Celebration with an International Dinner for all families. Many families share their traditions in the classroom. We take pride in our multicultural and international population. We celebrate many holidays throughout the year. These include Kwanzaa, Christmas, Three Kings Day, Chinese New Year, and Hanukah. Other celebrations include our salute to Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. and a Black History Program. Every year our 4th graders perform an original opera. All arts programs have a strong literacy component. Through a grant from the CT Commission on the Arts, teachers have participated in professional development to integrate arts into the curriculum. This year as part of the HOT School program resident artists worked with classroom teachers.

Students in grade 8 participated in a grant called Archeological Pathways. The teachers and students studied the Mashantucket Pequot Indians with students and teachers from another city school. The 7th grades participated in CPIN Conn. Project in International Negotiations at UCONN. They communicated via the internet with many middle schools across the state and the country. This simulation culminated in a dialogue among students at UCONN.

We are pleased with the results of these programs and are working on plans for more collaboration."

Re. Recess/Wellness and the WHS Physical Fitness Achievement Gap:

The WHS children showed that they wanted recess more than any other school in CT (and won a $5,000 grant - which we can't spend on a climbing structure for the 3rd and 4th graders because we can't put any equipment up on the tiny St. Stans parking lot)
http://www.pta.org/archive_article_details_1142027724093.html

We started a Recess/Wellness Committee at WHS that is interested in following the guidelines re. Recess / Physical Activity from the CT DOE's 276 pg. Action Guide for School Nutrition and Physical Activity Policies, downloadable at: http://www.sde.ct.gov/sde/cwp/view.asp?a=2626&q=320754

In an effort to help close the WHS Physical Fitness Achievement Gap a few WHS parents had the extra time and energy to organize and coach off-site, intramural basketball and baseball programs but the 3rd-8th grade children need a HEALTHY school BUILDING and healthy outdoor PLAY/ATHLETIC AREA ASAP -- more 2005/2006 CT DOE data:
- Only 20% of WHS 4th grade children passed the Four Physical Fitness Tests; 46.7% lower than other NHPS.
- Only 17.5% of WHS 6th grade children passed the Four Physical Fitness Tests; 31.8% lower than other NHPS.
- Only 27.9% of WHS 8th grade children passed the Four Physical Fitness Tests; 31% lower than other NHPS.