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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Home away from home
 
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H'm, let's see what a Google search turns up....
http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index ... y_schools_experience.html "Incidents of reported violence, vandalism and drug use in Jersey City?s public schools are down almost 30 percent from last year, their lowest level in six years, according to a new state report." And no, I don't buy the idea that someone is burying the truth. There was just as strong an incentive to cover this stuff up in past years as there is today. Quote:
If she isn't doing a good job managing education, then let's criticize her work on that basis. That's a separate issue from the OP's claim that she is neglecting security. (On a side note, if you're going to fault her for this, keep in mind that the problem of excessive focus on testing clearly extends beyond just one superintendent. E.g. she could get fired if she doesn't get test scores up; a replacement could take the same approach, etc.) Quote: Don't dish it off just because you personally don't know if it's true. It's not a matter of my knowledge. It's that the OP is unable to prove his/her claims. (Separately, the OP doesn't seem to be using effective tactics.) Quote: You have a teacher in a school telling you the school is in crisis. Again... Pass. Are we really supposed to uncritically believe what s/he says because s/he is a teacher? I don't think so. You want me to act, then let's have some proof that it's a real issue or a trend, and that the causes really are school policies and/or can be addressed by school policies. Quote: If one school is suffering this crisis, it serves to reason that others may be as well due to the neglectful, test-obsessed attitude coming from Claremont Avenue. Your logic is flawed. If violence is falling at another high school, why wouldn't we thus conclude that JC's schools are getting better? Or: If I said "There were a dozen car thefts in Paulus Hook last month, therefore crime is up all across Jersey City," would you uncritically accept that claim, too? In a city as big as JC, you cannot look at one school. You have to look at all of them. If there is a city-wide change that is an actual trend, that's one thing. If there is one school where the problem is being ignored, that's a very different issue, with potentially very different causes and/or different solutions. So don't give me anecdotes, don't give me screeds, don't give me "it feels worse!" Just give me the facts. Which, so far, do not seem to support the OP's claims.
Posted on: 2014/5/9 11:32
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Newbie
 
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I don't know who is suggesting anything draconian, and I see no fear mongering from the OP. The point is that Lyles' focus is standardized test scores - not culture, not climate, not community outreach, not parent involvement - test scores. Did you know that she instructed principals in JC to stop teaching science and social studies two months ago, and focus solely on test prep, district wide? What about community service? Intergenerational partnership programs?
Don't dish it off just because you personally don't know if it's true. You have a teacher in a school telling you the school is in crisis. If one school is suffering this crisis, it serves to reason that others may be as well due to the neglectful, test-obsessed attitude coming from Claremont Avenue.
Posted on: 2014/5/9 2:55
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Pass. If I'm going to get riled up over this, I want to know whether or not it's a legitimate problem. If it is, then by all means let's tackle it. If it is not a legitimate problem, then we should direct our efforts elsewhere. In addition, the OP doesn't seem to be pursuing a particularly effective strategy. Quote: some of you would just as soon see poor kids given manual labor jobs so you wouldn't have to pay for their education any more. I most certainly do not fall into that category. I fully support public schools, and want every student to get a good education. I also don't want students to be subjected to lot of wasted effort and/or draconian measures because a teacher does not realize that not every increase in incidents constitutes a trend. Quote: To respond to the OP with cynicism is embarrassing. To let the OP manipulate you with fear-mongering, however well-intentioned he may be, is not very impressive either.
Posted on: 2014/5/9 2:34
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Newbie
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Here we see a teacher imploring the community to press the sup't for safer schools, and that teacher is greeted with cynicism and hole-poking. Give me a break - some of you would just as soon see poor kids given manual labor jobs so you wouldn't have to pay for their education any more.
Shame on that cynicism. No, the superintendent can't control the children at a level that might prevent a sex tape. Yes, she can find ways to make the schools safer and healthier places for our kids. and YES, she can at the very least be honest and stop obfuscating the truth by omission and radio silence. To respond to the OP with cynicism is embarrassing.
Posted on: 2014/5/9 2:10
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Home away from home
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When the data isn't collected nor published, it's hard to look at trends. In 2011, Snyder were model students, with zero suspensions and expulsions.
http://ocrdata.ed.gov/Page?t=s&eid=230019&syk=6&pid=732 At least Dickinson admitted to 19 school-related arrests and some suspensions. http://ocrdata.ed.gov/Page?t=s&eid=230022&syk=6&pid=732
Posted on: 2014/5/8 23:49
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Home away from home
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Quote:
1) Write letters 2) Work with existing community groups, PTA 3) If so inspired, start your own group 4) Start writing letters to elected officials She didn't read it last time; she isn't likely to read it this time. A change in tactics -- or to be more precise, relying on multiple tactics -- is much more likely to work. Now, if you want to attract OUR attention, that's a different story. In which case, you should not be trying to claim you are trying to attract HER attention. Quote: As far as ?data? ?proving? a trend of increase of violence. I am going to assume you have some basic understanding of what happens at your job everyday and you should assume I do as well. What I know is that actual numbers trump subjective impressions. Quote: I am not going to pretend to remember the data from last year and the year before to indicate a trend but is this acceptable to you regardless? No. As far as I can tell, you are one teacher at one school. It's not clear what is happening at other schools. It's not clear how overall violence rates have changed in the schools over the past 10 years. It's not clear whether the type of violence has changed. It's entirely possible that some schools are getting better while others are getting worse. Plus, in many cases what may seem like a huge run-up in violence can be temporary. You might not have noticed how things were calmer at some earlier time, and then there's a number of incidents one right after the other. Plus, short-term aberrations are not necessarily indicators of trends. And of course, we tend to remember negatives much more strongly than positives. And no, anecdotes are not a substitute for data. If I tell you how that Soaring Heights has had fewer fights over the past 5 years, is that meaningful? Not really. It doesn't tell me how many fights they had in the past, it doesn't tell me any objective facts about whether that really is true, let alone a trend), it doesn't tell me what's happening at Dickinson or Lincoln or Cordero. In short: Subjective evaluations are unreliable. If you want me to believe that there really is an escalation in school violence in JC, then I need to see some cold hard numbers. Quote: Even without a data trail the line of causation is very simple. It really isn't. Are kids more violent because of lapses in school security? Because of economic conditions changing at home? Are they somehow procuring weapons that cause more harm? And so forth. In general, figuring out the causes of violence just aren't simple. Quote: Now it just gets swept under the rug because they are told by leadership that it is not important. I'm sorry, but I really just don't believe that is the case. I can certainly believe that specific, or even numerous, individuals are incompetent. But I find it highly unlikely that anyone is shrugging off an escalation in school violence. Which, again, is far from a proven claim. Quote: Marcia Lyles is our leader and that is why I am calling her out in this venue of free speech. If she isn?t going to listen to me maybe she will listen to the community. That's fine, but again, I highly recommend: 1) You take the time to gather up the facts. 2) You find a better way to capture her attention. 3) If you want JC List readers to actually do something, you should at least have a concrete plan of action.
Posted on: 2014/5/8 18:30
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Home away from home
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I think it should be the concern of every parent, and if you fail at that you should be held accountable. Lets say your on public assistance and your child is not behaving as they should in school, the city should cut off that assistance until that problem is rectified.
Posted on: 2014/5/8 16:20
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ಠ_ಠ
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Newbie
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School violence is not important.
Getting a handle on the burgeoning kiddie porn industry that has sprung up in schools is more important at least based on the front page of the Jersey Journal today Dickinson Students Create Sex Tape, "doesn't meet expectations" says District Spokeswoman If it doesn't meet Maryann Dickar 's expectations I bet she already has a detailed paperwork trail for it. without sarcasm: safety and violence should be the top priority of every educator
Posted on: 2014/5/8 12:50
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Not too shy to talk
 
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How shall I ?attract her attention?? She is more a politician than an educator. Should I make enough campaign contributions to Christie, Fulop and his friends campaigns? Maybe I should get myself on the board of Amplify, Rupert Murdoch?s Ed Tech company where good hatchet men get positions after staying in position just long enough to create churn and disruption but not long enough to actually make any positive changes (see Chris Cerf). I have written two letters already outlining my concerns about violence and discipline. One received a standardized reply (but not until the second time sending it). Marcia Lyles reputation for non-responsiveness to those in the community (at least the ones without political connections) is pretty established.
As far as ?data? ?proving? a trend of increase of violence. I am going to assume you have some basic understanding of what happens at your job everyday and you should assume I do as well. ?Data? is so popular with politicians these days because it is so easily tweaked. But in the interest of data, this year I have been involved in breaking up 9 fights. 7 of them were ?jumps? where 2 or more children were involved in beating a single child. I had one child unconscious in a pool of blood. I have ruined 2 shirts this year because blood got on them. I recognize these are not the sanitary faceless ?data points? so in fashion right now but this is how I see it and this is why I am crusading for this issue. I am not going to pretend to remember the data from last year and the year before to indicate a trend but is this acceptable to you regardless? Even without a data trail the line of causation is very simple. Administrators don?t have enough time to handle all of the senseless new initiatives such as the ridiculously labor intensive teacher evaluations and the onslaught of standardized tests. They used to have some time to handle discipline. Now it just gets swept under the rug because they are told by leadership that it is not important. Student safety and violence is barely a part of the conversation. And by the way . . . kids heckling and cursing out Mayor Fulop does count. Especially weeks after a video goes viral of the kids throwing their principal to the ground. It shows a lack of respect for authority and that is a leadership problem. Marcia Lyles is our leader and that is why I am calling her out in this venue of free speech. If she isn?t going to listen to me maybe she will listen to the community. But then again, I doubt it, unless they are on the board of Amplify or a political player. Quote:
Posted on: 2014/5/6 16:38
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Home away from home
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...and safety in JC schools is the foundation for improving academic success.
Posted on: 2014/5/3 14:31
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Home away from home
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Quote:
And how do you think we'd measure violence inside schools when it's largely kept hidden and handled internally? To me there's enough ongoing publicized incidents, like recent street gun battles involving schoolkids, to say it's a problem that needs tackling, regardless of whether it's decreasing or not.
Posted on: 2014/5/3 12:19
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Then perhaps you should find a different way to attract her attention. Quote: I'm also concerned because it seems like it is getting worse... In what, the last 2 months? Do you have any data to show the actual trends? Let's not forget that crime has been dropping since the 1990s. While it may be possible, it seems unlikely that crime is rising in the schools while dropping everywhere else. And no, anecdotes about a kid heckling the Mayor doesn't count.
Posted on: 2014/5/3 11:43
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Home away from home
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Thinking outside the box...
A bit of tech introduction and a bit of savvy business dealing might tackle multiple issues. Why not carve out money from the school budget to give every student a Kindle Fire (about $100 each)? Put webcams into classrooms, to enable disruptive kids to attend class remotely, using their Amazon Fires from special supervised classrooms, or even from home. Cut deals with Amazon and local publishers like Wiley for much needed textbooks, transferable each year to new students. For example if enough regular income parents sign-up for Amazon Prime, Amazon may subsidize membership for the low-income families - giving access to thousands of free books. May need to get parents to sign an agreement to pay for lost/damaged Amazon Fires. A big part of the problem may be schools are reluctant to classify a violent student as "special needs" given the costs involved - 3-4 times the cost of regular education. Introducing tech may lower this costly significantly.
Posted on: 2014/5/3 11:10
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Home away from home
Joined:
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Quote:
Lets not forget these winners. 
Posted on: 2014/5/2 12:23
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Home away from home
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Sadly, a lot of it comes down to parenting. Would a school admin have prevented the vandalism when 60 young adults trashed their high school in Teaneck at 2:30 the other morning?
What kind of parents let their teens out vandalizing at such a time in the middle of the night? And to read some of the comments a few parents at least think it was 'no big deal'? Or the teens in Newark who had a near riot the other day over the dismissal of a teacher? The same kids whose graduation rate is barely over 50% getting incensed over a teacher being let go?? What kind of parenting led to that? These 'parents' will be screaming bloody murder when their spawn are denied marching to get their diplomas, or barred from proms, or made to perform community service. It all starts from home, and other than posting armed guards I don't see a true remedy to protect the good kids from the bad and badly raised kids.
Posted on: 2014/5/2 12:19
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Not too shy to talk
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No Dolomiti she did not reply last time. There still hasn't been one new initiative, in a deluge of new initiatives (most of which are very difficult to see as anything other than intentional annoyances) that is focused on decreasing violence in our schools. I figure if there is all this change going on at least some of it should be focused on something that everyone should agree is top priority.
I'm also concerned because it seems like it is getting worse. As teachers are forced to spend a ridiculous amount of time juggling arbitrary data they have less time to do the security work that isn't a part of their contract yet they continue to do because 90% of all teachers in the district can't let kids pound on each other for even 30 seconds more than they can prevent. It is bad enough with my middle-schoolers but I have it from two separate reliable sources that when Mayor Fulop visited Dickinson High School to discuss his recreation panacea he got cursed at and criticized by a student in front of an auditorium full of people and told off by teacher. It was so bad he told the cameraman from JC1 to stop filming. Quote:
Posted on: 2014/5/2 11:50
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Agree 100%.
Posted on: 2014/4/30 20:36
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Re: Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Home away from home
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Did she reply last time?
Posted on: 2014/4/30 16:52
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Marcia Lyles: Please make student safety your first priority. STOP THE VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS.
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Not too shy to talk
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I had high hopes for Marcia Lyles but after two years in position I have to say I am deeply disappointed. She has proven to embrace the status quo when it comes to the most vital (in my humble opinion as a parent and a teacher) and important issue for our children: Safety. She has continued to ignore the violence and weapons in our schools and to sweep significant crimes under the rug. She has continued to pretend that there are not gangs in our schools. Every single day students in our schools are intimidated, beaten, and traumatized. How can we do anything for our students if we can?t even keep them safe from violent assaults? It is still the exception rather than the rule for violent offenders to face any consequences for their actions.
We can?t pretend that these things aren?t happening anymore. In the digital age these fights are documented on video for the world to see and students are forced to watch their most embarrassing moments go viral. Students no longer simply have to worry about being beaten, stabbed, or shot but now they have to worry about watching this happen to them on the web after the fact. Their most painful moments are preserved for ever as entertainment for their peers. While Marcia Lyles has invested precious time and treasure into the educational issues du jour of teacher evaluations and high stakes testing she has done nothing meaningful to ensure the safety of the children in her charge. In fact, she has created a less safe environment as many teachers no longer feel supported enough to risk everything by breaking up these violent melees. Additionally, Principals and Vice Principals now have zero time for disciplinary duties because they are told that the only thing that is important is evaluating teachers through a system that there is literally not enough time in the day to implement. Although most of the violent incidents in our schools are not reported (this is one data point suspiciously missing in our data obsessed Superintendent?s spreadsheet) it has been my experience and the experience of all colleagues and parents I have spoken to about this that VIOLENT INCIDENTS ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY COMMON IN OUR SCHOOLS. Marcia Lyles: Please take some time away from your politically prescribed agenda and do something meaningful to ensure the safety of our kids. IF YOU AGREE THAT CREATING A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR CHILDREN IN OUR SCHOOLS SHOULD BE THE TOP PRIORITY PLEASE REPLY TO THIS THREAD AND GIVE MARCIA LYLES A MANDATE!
Posted on: 2014/4/30 16:50
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