No Graduation for Nearly 100 Seniors at NJ school

[redheadbaker]

Graduation nightmare in Lakewood

LAKEWOOD, N.J. (WABC) -- Teddy Mack will be wearing a cap and gown in a few weeks, but his mother gives the district a failing grade after news that more than half his class may not be walking with him

"Teachers don't care, administration changes all the time, kids not dealt with one on one, parents not being talked to," Rose Mack said.

Published reports say 248 seniors at Lakewood Senior High School took the state's high school proficiency test, but only 120 passed. 128 failed. The Macks say part of the problem is too many kids missing class, either skipping or being punished. They fall behind and nothing is done to help them catch up.

Students say high school principal Albert Gilson was recently fired. We went to speak to Superintendent Lydia Silva, but we were told she wasn't available. The district's attorney did speak, but said he couldn't say much.

"Can't comment," Alan Schniman said. In response to a question about the low graduation rate, he said, "I didn't hear that. I don't know the numbers."

Graduating senior Brandon Wittmann says students and parents have to shoulder some blame.

"It's not the district's fault. Some kids try. Some don't," Wittmann said.

Teddy Mack sent a letter to New Jersey Govenor Chris Christie last November, complaining about problems here. The governor wrote back, saying the education commissioner would look into his concerns.

So far, the Macks say they've heard from no one.

"It doesn't look good. That's why I'm moving," Rosa Mack said.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

I'm saving this for "examples of atrocious reporting" for my journalism classes next year. This article tells me exactly nothing about why the graduation rate is so low here. How did other schools in the state perform? How did this school do last year? What's the demographic/socioeconomic profile of this district? Do parents think the discipline methods are inappropriate? "Some kids try, some kids don't" is not exactly a revelation.

[emilyj]

Um, so....

May 18, 2012 19:03:04 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

The Macks say part of the problem is too many kids missing class, either skipping or being punished. They fall behind and nothing is done to help them catch up.

AND

Graduating senior Brandon Wittmann says students and parents have to shoulder some blame.

"It's not the district's fault. Some kids try. Some don't," Wittmann said.

So are these kids not graduating because they are skipping class and just not doing the work? Because it sounds like even the parent is saying that.

And if that's the case...too fucking bad. Even if they are missing class because of discipline, it's still the responsibility of the student to make up the work they miss. So again...to bad.

But yeah, the reporting here is shit.

[sporklemotion]

I agree that this article is weirdly vague. It's odd to me that the reporter either didn't or couldn't talk to anyone from the school for a response to see how the administration and faculty perceive the problem.
As to the situation, I'm conflicted about it. On the one hand, ITA that the parents and students have to shoulder the blame on this one-- if they're not graduating because they don't go to class or do the work, that's on them.
On the other hand, I can see why the Macks are annoyed, because I would imagine that all of the apathy among the other students has probably lowered the quality of their kid's education. I don't think they should be mad at the school for refusing to grant the diplomas to other kids, but I can see why they're critical of the school. It definitely hurts the quality of class time when half the students are lost because they didn't do the work or haven't been in school-- how can you have a good discussion or move on in the curriculum?
Also, as a teacher, I'm expected to do a ton of legwork to inform parents that their kids are failing-- we issue progress reports in the middle of every term and all of our grades are posted online, but when I call home to talk to a parent of a failing student, they often tell me they had no idea their child was failing. Our school is pushing us to call home every time a child fails or misses a test (and we have lots of students who are "sick" on every test day). I can do that, but it will take away from the time I spend creating lessons for the students who do try and who do care.

[GailGoldie]

where is this article from? something local?

Most NJ schools are quite good - lakewood is down in monmouth county - so i'm not familiar with it (closer to the shore- i'm closer to NYC)... but i have to agree- too f-ing bad if kids aren't going to school. High school teachers should not have to hold hands.

Yes- teachers need to tell parents if they are failing --- but this sounds like a one-test situation that caused them not to graduate, no?

[heightsyankee]

May 18, 2012 19:03:04 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Graduation nightmare in Lakewood

The Macks say part of the problem is too many kids missing class, either skipping or being punished. They fall behind and nothing is done to help them catch up.

Yeah, this is hardly "reporting."

However, the bolded phrase did remind me of one of my biggest pet peeves with public schools. My mom has been the secretary to the vice principal at my high school for 20 years. She handles all the discipline cases. If I talk to her on the phone for 15 minutes while she's at work, I'll hear her say "OK, go to In School [suspension]" at least 2 times. This is a small school and there are a lot of discipline issues.

The problem for me is this--- if a kid gets caught ditching in the locker room, they clearly don't want to be in class, so shouldn't class be where you make them go? In school and out of school suspension defeats the purpose as the kids who are most often handed these punishments are the ones who probably need school the most.

I understand that we don't want disruptive kids in class, but there has to be a better way. Even if they had a tutor of some kind in the in-school room to help kids in there with homework or do something educational. All they do is sit there, maybe sleep, maybe stare in to outer space. It amounts to useless, wasted time that isn't a punishment at all because they never wanted to be in class in the 1st place. I just don't get it.

[chicken]

Lakewood is actually in northern Ocean County. It has a huge orthodox Jewish community and a large hispanic population (the employees of the Jews). All of the Jews send their kids to private, religious schools, so the public schools have many second generation hispanics who are struggling with language, poverty, and legal issues.

I have friends who teach in the large Jewish population towns in Monmouth County and they are just shocked that they pass mansion after mansion on their way to work, but teach students who have to take off Fridays in the spring to help their parents open pools and landscape yards for the upcoming summer season.

(Is "Jews" offensive? It seems weird written out.)

[steph2008]

Lakewood has gone downhill fast. Similarly to what chicken wrote, it has two groups: Orthodox Jews (who don't use the public schools) and extremely low-income poverty-sticken minority groups.

I grew up one town over and we were never allowed in Lakewood bc there is a ton of gang activity, violence, etc. The schools are a mess and not much is done about it bc there aren't too many people there with the abilities to stand up for what they need. I'm sadly not surprised to hear this about their graduating class.

[Deleted]

May 18, 2012 19:26:38 GMT -5 ChillyMcFreeze said:

I'm saving this for "examples of atrocious reporting" for my journalism classes next year. This article tells me exactly nothing about why the graduation rate is so low here. How did other schools in the state perform? How did this school do last year? What's the demographic/socioeconomic profile of this district? Do parents think the discipline methods are inappropriate? "Some kids try, some kids don't" is not exactly a revelation.

Ditto!

Was it that they didn't fail the test or did they also have crappy grades to go along with it?

How low is the attendance rate?

[redheadbaker]

May 19, 2012 9:56:17 GMT -5 GailGoldie said:

where is this article from? something local?

Sort of. I first heard the story on the news. Went to my local ABC news page and the story was about two paragraphs long. Googled, and the article I linked here was the best I could find.