There has been some notable discussion on H411 recently on the controversial Hola! program from some informed Hoboken residents:From Skateparkmom:
jcirish27
The Hoboken public school system early years experience - PreK to 3rd grade are stellar. There is actually a waiting list for the children to get in to Wallace and Calabro. I had a very good experience in Connors, too. The children test very high. The district also teaches Spanish in their general curriculum. My son has taken Spanish since first grade. He’s in sixth grade now, and I’m still happy with his teachers and the school we chose.
However, there are special programs which he (and over 100 other students) qualifies for - Gifted & Talented Saturday U, and the Johns Hopkins program, which vastly need improvement and attention. The G&T program is mandated by the state to provide more challenging work to those students who qualify through academic and intelligence testing. The high school (about 500 students) SAT scores are unacceptably low, and I’m watching very closely the improvements being made there. I am very happy that they have Dr. Cella on board. She needs more support to get those test scores up. The high school is improving, but it still needs more support.
My problem with HoLa is not their idea, but that the board is planning to direct even more funds to an already successful early elementary experience - that is already crowded. Spanish Immersion is not required by the state. Spanish Immersion is a great idea, but it can wait at least a year until the BOE gets the established programs running adequately for the existing students already in the district.
Regarding Spanish Immersion, I question HoLa’s consultants, who have absolutely no background in education - they were marketing execs. They are simply not qualified to be the administrators of a Spanish Immersion program for a public school system. As far as the conflict of interest, their young children will qualify for their own program once it starts in September 2009 - there’s a narrow window. It’s being rushed through so quickly so their own can get in. If they are paid consultants, it shouldn’t matter - they’re in business to perform a service for the betterment of the district.
I was challenged because I was told I only follow the interests of my son in his own school. Yes, I’m acting president of the Calabro P.T.O. However, I’m a VOLUNTEER. Shining difference.
In closing, jscirish27, I’d still opt for the public schools here when your little ones reach the age. There are a lot of dedicated parents ahead of you striving for a quality education in the Hoboken public school district.
From jcirish27:
Skateparkmom, thanks for the info, but I probably know as much as anybody about the inside politics of the Hoboken school district (I was formerly married to a Hoboken schoolteacher who is still a close friend). The HoLa program seems to me to be another example of misappropriation of funds to satisfy a political/social agenda; I honestly feel the money can be better spent. I am a huge backer of public education, btw. I want my son to attend public school. I am also for the expansion of educational programs, provided that we can show proficiency in the basics. When we accomplish that, I will welcome more advanced initiatives.
From Maureen Sullivan:
I don’t have a problem with the women (one of whom has already moved out of town) who came up with the idea of a dual-language program. I DO have a problem with the superintendent and BoE ramming it through the system so quickly (introduced and voted on all in one meeting). There was so little vetting that they wound up doing it illegally and without any bids.
The women who created Hola got the royal treatment up until Raslowsky, his assistant supt, his board lawyer and the majority he controls on the board actually brought the topic up in public. Now that some other residents are pointing out the glaring flaws and open-ended costs associated with Hola, we are accused of being whiners and complainers. Why can’t we just be happy that Raslowsky has the vision to hand $400,000 over the next three years to some self-proclaimed “consultants”? How dare we give them “grief” when they merely want to teach the children of Hoboken in Spanish instead of English?
The people behind the program had no interest in sending their children to the Hoboken public schools until they got paid ($150,000 for two consultants for six months) to do so. But I guess they have more faith in the system than Raslowsky does: he gets paid about $150,000 and he still doesn’t think the schools he runs are good enough for his kids. Michelle Rhee, the innovative new superintendent of the notoriously bad Washington, DC, schools put her young kids in the system (after first replacing the principal).
I do wonder why the Hola moms feel that they can put their kids into Hoboken schools if they are taught in Spanish but not if they are taught in English?
My opinion:
From a taxpayer perspective I would like to see money diverted to addressing the core skills first rather than an optional second language program with another bloated bureaucracy. At $30K per student I feel the school system needs to be more efficient than it is currently.
