For some reason I always expect OP's to answer the questions they pose first lol

For me it’s not about rocking the boat or the way to do things. The task before them is gigantic - basically trying to make up for all the problems in American society: lack of housing, food insecurity, criminalization of poverty, lack of livable wages, erosion of the safety net, etc etc. So far, every teacher my kid has had has been wonderful, dedicated, overworked. Some kids won the privilege lottery and others didn’t. Education is supposed to give everyone a level playing field - but it’s impossible when everything else around them is a shit show. A kid in my child’s class shows up every day to class with pants that are too short and his sweater is full of holes. But he’s there. His mom, who shows up in dirty clothing and looks high half the time, makes sure he is there on time. She needs help beyond what the school is equipped to provide. You can tell that this kid will not get a fair shot at life and will probably end up dead or in jail before he’s 25. The schools need additional funding from the state to administer social programs to help the parents get out of poverty - more social workers, job trainings, parenting classes, etc. Im not going to judge why someone is in a bad situation. I don’t see poverty as a personal failure but as a societal failure. We collectively are failing these children by not providing what their families need to succeed. I would rather my tax money go there than in military spending or expanding highways.

I'll probably get downvoted, but i would remove the newly introduced academia on multiple genders given to friggin elementary school students. At that age they're easily confused and are not mature enough to make a decision such as "choosing your own gender".

Edit: I'll also introduce finance, tax, and investment courses in highschool.

Well I absolutely don't believe that's happening on a level or scale you believe it is.
Furthermore schools should be accepting of all kids regardless of any defining characteristics and not blamed for their existence.

I never said anything about not accepting... All because we don't teach the Quran at school doesn't mean we're not accepting of Muslim kids. Or is that how it secretly works in your mind?

And I don't know the scale it's happening on, but i believe it's newly been approved for the public school system and will slowly be introduced throughout the state if I'm not mistaken.

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There should be some basic life skills class that teaches all the stuff you actually need to know, like you said taxes, finance, balancing a budget (though god help us if anyone on the BoE teaches that)

Also, and this would probably be beyond the purview of a single school, try to give kids a reason why they might want to pay attention. We were always told "you'll need this in life" for math, but never why. So try to teach the subjects in a way that can help them, where they know what jobs math can get them, or science, etc. I bet many kids would take math more seriously if they were told "see those stock brokers in huge houses and nice cars, they need some understanding of math"

As a teacher, I thank you! It’s this. Schools have to deal with the failures of SOCIETY. We are incredibly overworked. We get the brunt of the most criticism because we are the ones on frontlines.

The comparison here would be you not wanting the Quran taught in schools because kids are easily confused and not mature enough to choose their own religion. Yet undoubtedly both Muslim and trans students exist.

Here's the law you're railing against.

"An Act concerning diversity and inclusion instruction in school districts and supplementing chapter 35 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

C.18A:35-4.36a Curriculum to include instruction on diversity and inclusion.

1. a. Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, each school district shall incorporate instruction on diversity and inclusion in an appropriate place in the curriculum of students in grades kindergarten through 12 as part of the district’s implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards.
   b. The instruction shall:
   (1) highlight and promote diversity, including economic diversity, equity, inclusion, tolerance, and belonging in connection with gender and sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, disabilities, and religious tolerance;
   (2) examine the impact that unconscious bias and economic disparities have at both an individual level and on society as a whole; and
   (3) encourage safe, welcoming, and inclusive environments for all students regardless of race or ethnicity, sexual and gender identities, mental and physical disabilities, and religious beliefs.
   c. The Commissioner of Education shall provide school districts with sample learning activities and resources designed to promote diversity and inclusion."

Yes , I'd rather my money go there too. But does it? I'm willing to bet that if there's an audit of all BOE spending, every member of BOE will go to prison.

Well said! However, i disagree with the thought that the kid will probably end up dead or in jail before 25. The cards are stacked against him but he can still make something of himself.

How? My super smart kid needs help with math homework every week - because the teacher has to cover x amount of material, whether they understand or not. Every week that the kid does not get help he will fall further behind. Soon enough they stop caring and paying attention. It just goes from there.

I absolutely agree there needs to be a better explanation of the budget and an evaluation of whether the funds invested are having the expected ROI. There’s a concerning lack of transparency around the whole process at the BOE and City level.

Plenty of examples out there of kids in these situations overcoming these obstacles. Not saying its easy but its also not impossible. Writing this kid and other kids in similar situations off so early in their lives is part of the problem.

No, I'm not "railing" against that law.

The majority of it sounds fantastic.

There's no reason why we can't have all of this ->

An Act concerning diversity and inclusion instruction in school districts and supplementing chapter 35 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

C.18A:35-4.36a Curriculum to include instruction on diversity and inclusion.

1. a. Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, each school district shall incorporate instruction on diversity and inclusion in an appropriate place in the curriculum of students in grades kindergarten through 12 as part of the district’s implementation of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards. b. The instruction shall: (1) highlight and promote diversity, including economic diversity, equity, inclusion, tolerance, race and ethnicity, disabilities, and religious tolerance; (2) examine the impact that unconscious bias and economic disparities have at both an individual level and on society as a whole; and (3) encourage safe, welcoming, and inclusive environments for all students regardless of race or ethnicity, mental and physical disabilities, and religious beliefs. c. The Commissioner of Education shall provide school districts with sample learning activities and resources designed to promote diversity and inclusion."

And just ensure this small tiny part ->

sexual and gender identities

is left off for at least when they're older, say in highschool. When they could properly comprehend what they're hearing.

I said probably, which allows for one offs of success. Drop out rates have declined since 2012 due to increased funding, which supports my post about providing help and resources so you are way off base on saying I am writing kids off.

Why not an audit of the city that took months to pass an increased backdoor budget in the 4th quarter? The city was tasked with collecting payroll tax and the board of education has said over and over the city is not transparent with amount collected. In addition, the city should be collecting more from abated properties and sharing that with district to make up for lost state funding under SFRA. SFRA was passed with payroll tax intended to prevent a massive tax hike and we should all know why it failed. Was it because Fulop did not vigorously enforce it to protect his superpac donors from having to pay more in taxes? The people going to jail should be the people who appointed Sundam Thomas as the head of JCETP to fire former governor Mcgreevy with vicious unprovable slander.

try the local library, you'd be surpise what services they offer for free. peer-to-peer tutoring, free wifi and computer use top help study. you can use websites like khanacademy, abcmouse, and many others(just youtube "online school help/review/ websites like khanacademy for teenagers or children

for this reason, don't forget to vote

Taking a financial crimes class now, and the amount of money unaccounted for in several companies hidden behind altered financial statements is ridiculous; its hard to get a hold of where funds are actually being spent. I do agree with more transparency but still accountability for the funds and budget spending is whats needed

Make sure every grade school has a real playground.

If that's not possible, create an honors class at each high school in the county, that has some protection provided by some kind of super independent board, where each student does a school or educational issues paper based on interviews with students, parents, teachers or support staff at the public or private pre-K-12 schools in the area around the high school.

So, each high school becomes an education information and transparency engine.

Thank you for your brutal honesty. The school decided to introduce it to 9 year olds while stats show students are struggling with core academics. Their misguided priorities are maddening. Wait for middle school or high school maybe to introduce this stuff and allow opt outs for parents. Let kids be kids at that age for crying out loud.

That’s a great suggestion and something tangible for taxpayer to see where the money is going and will be put to great use. They have a near $90 million of surplus state money that per trustee Alexander Hamilton’s AMA they don’t know where to spend it on. You should email him as he’s been pretty good with listening and communications. Also in my experience if one’s child is excelling his or her peers the system is too rigid for bright kid to be appropriately challenged so parents get outside tutors or change districts.

Sorry if I was late to post my own as I had to put out some fires my kiddo’s school being in recent news about the pedo security guard. Anyway, there are many things I would like to change but if I am allowed only one I would implement a complete cleanse of leadership at the top levels in administration and bring in more experienced private sector experts and corporate leaders who are not damaged by being in the toxic culture of nepotism bubble and who can build new culture of excellence, responsibility and accountability. We need at least one technology expert in that leadership room who can really save a ton of money by streamlining repetitive administrative tasks and redesign digital curriculum to a single sign on simplicity. It’s maddening how inefficiently run the schools are.

Sorry I am late as I got sidetracked. I just posted.

This is an excellent observation and suggestion. They need to privot from dry curriculum to real life money management classes kids can better understand math in their world. I wish Ray Dalio type retiree from wall street can design our curriculum. His videos are amazing.

Ban cell phone usage during school hours. There’s literally no reason why teens should be browsing TikTok or Instagram during class when they are expected to listen and learn the course material being taught in front of them.

That’s a great one. I’ve also seen group of students smoke weed during lunch time outside Dickinson HS and walk back right back into school. So many unhealthy distractions and temptations this generation have. I feel for them.

Not a parent, just someone who grew up in JC public schools, there's a whole lot to change, but one glaring problem is the ESL system. I've seen so many promising classmates get forgotten and given barely any resources simply because they did not have great English skills to begin with. The ESL teachers at my schools treated their classes like it was a chore, no actual care for the students or their successes.

That is highly unprofessional and disgraceful how they treat immigrant children. I’ve heard the same from a family friend who attended PS5. The culture of no accountability needs to be exposed. Thanks for sharing.

https://jcitytimes.com/letter-vote-for-board-of-ed-candidates-who-will-put-the-kids-first/

It is not happening. And it is good that it is happening.

Gurf durf, look Ma I'm posting.