Am I Optimistic About the Future?

A comment was made on my previous post by Eric S (thank you for commenting) that read:

If you take out the modern day references, i.e., Taco Bell, Ipod, Lindsay Lohan,
et al.. This article could not be specifically dated within the past 50 years.
What were you like as a teenager? Did you turn out like the majority declaration
of your deeds? If I listened to all of the bottled hype like this I would not be
the person I am today.Context, perspective and statistical reference can be
positioned to the end of either argument in this debate. I, for one, am
optimistic about the future, Are you?

Here is my response. I thought it was a very good question and worth its own post. Please let me know if you are optimistic about the future of the US and why.

Eric,

I am not sure what to expect from the future at this point in time. I do believe we are living in a period of excess decadence where mediocrity is rewarded and exemplified. Maybe it is the same as 50 years ago, and I am just becoming a bitter old man before I turn 40.

However, I work with a lot of Asian born people (Chinese and Indians primarily) who are brought up to believe that getting an education and trying to better one self through hard work. It is my perception that this strong educational philosophy was prevalent in the US 50 years ago, but does not seems to be the case anymore.

A few months back I posted two modern day pictures of college students, one from the Beijing University which could have been from the US in the 50's. All students were wearing suits and very serious faces. The other was from the University of Colorado and had naked woman and booze galore. Now I realize they were probably both taken out of context (and those who know me, know I drank my fair share in school), but the point is that students today (and even 20 years ago when I was in school) are more interested in partying, rather than really trying to better themselves while in school. Do you honestly think we can put a man on the moon today, when we can barely get a space shuttle up and back with any consistency?

This is not to say we don't have great minds, and we will continue to have great minds in this country. Those people will always succeed. But what about the above average or average student who with some proper incentive or motivation could do great things, rather than seeing that taking a test and achieving mediocrity is considered successful in our education system today.

From my perspective, it seems that my generation is slightly worse off than my parents generation. If the current education trends continue, with NCLB, a disenfranchised group of parents who see no value in educating their children, then my children's generation will probably have a harder time keeping up with their parents or worse they will never even be able to achieve as much as their grandparents.

The question I ask is simple, how do we reverse this trend, so we can all be optimistic for the future. How we do get society to value education and hard work, rather than chasing a pipe dream of winning the lottery, being a pro ball player, or becoming the next Hollywood fad?

I apologize for the lengthy response, it is my blog after all, but you ask a very good question, that I felt deserved a thoughtful and complete response. Thank you again for the comment.

American Kids: Dumber than dirt

This was sent to me by a friend (Thanks Lee), who I have been talking to about the current education problems locally and nationally. After reading this article by Mark Morford , I recognize some of the same issues about non-involvment and no thirst for knowledge in today's society. It just begs the question, of how to we actually begin to reverse these trends? I suppose if we can figure that out, you might be considered a genius in some circles.

Let me know what you think!!

I have this ongoing discussion with a longtime reader who also just so happens to be a longtime Oakland high school teacher, a wonderful guy who's seen generations of teens come and generations go and who has a delightful poetic sensibility and quirky outlook on his life and his family and his beloved teaching career.

And he often writes to me in response to something I might've written about the youth of today, anything where I comment on the various nefarious factors shaping their minds and their perspectives and whether or not, say, EMFs and junk food and cell phones are melting their brains and what can be done and just how bad it might all be.

His response: It is not bad at all. It's absolutely horrifying.

My friend often summarizes for me what he sees, firsthand, every day and every month, year in and year out, in his classroom. He speaks not merely of the sad decline in overall intellectual acumen among students over the years, not merely of the astonishing spread of lazy slackerhood, or the fact that cell phones and iPods and excess TV exposure are, absolutely and without reservation, short-circuiting the minds of the upcoming generations. Of this, he says, there is zero doubt.

Nor does he speak merely of the notion that kids these days are overprotected and wussified and don't spend enough time outdoors and don't get any real exercise and therefore can't, say, identify basic plants, or handle a tool, or build, well, anything at all. Again, these things are a given. Widely reported, tragically ignored, nothing new.

No, my friend takes it all a full step — or rather, leap — further. It is not merely a sad slide. It is not just a general dumbing down. It is far uglier than that.

We are, as far as urban public education is concerned, essentially at rock bottom. We are now at a point where we are essentially churning out ignorant teens who are becoming ignorant adults and society as a whole will pay dearly, very soon, and if you think the hordes of easily terrified, mindless fundamentalist evangelical Christian lemmings have been bad for the soul of this country, just wait.

It's gotten so bad that, as my friend nears retirement, he says he is very seriously considering moving out of the country so as to escape what he sees will be the surefire collapse of functioning American society in the next handful of years due to the absolutely irrefutable destruction, the shocking — and nearly hopeless — dumb-ification of the American brain. It is just that bad.

Now, you may think he's merely a curmudgeon, a tired old teacher who stopped caring long ago.

Not true. Teaching is his life. He says he loves his students, loves education and learning and watching young minds awaken. Problem is, he is seeing much less of it. It's a bit like the melting of the polar ice caps. Sure, there's been alarmist data about it for years, but until you see it for yourself, the deep visceral dread doesn't really hit home.

He cites studies, reports, hard data, from the appalling effects of television on child brain development (i.e.; any TV exposure before 6 years old and your kid's basic cognitive wiring and spatial perceptions are pretty much scrambled for life), to the fact that, because of all the insidious mandatory testing teachers are now forced to incorporate into the curriculum, of the 182 school days in a year, there are 110 when such testing is going on somewhere at Oakland High. As one of his colleagues put it, "It's like weighing a calf twice a day, but never feeding it."

But most of all, he simply observes his students, year to year, noting all the obvious evidence of teens' decreasing abilities when confronted with even the most basic intellectual tasks, from understanding simple history to working through moderately complex ideas to even (in a couple recent examples that particularly distressed him) being able to define the words "agriculture," or even "democracy." Not a single student could do it.

It gets worse. My friend cites the fact that, of the 6,000 high school students he estimates he's taught over the span of his career, only a small fraction now make it to his grade with a functioning understanding of written English. They do not know how to form a sentence. They cannot write an intelligible paragraph. Recently, after giving an assignment that required drawing lines, he realized that not a single student actually knew how to use a ruler.

It is, in short, nothing less than a tidal wave of dumb, with once-passionate, increasingly exasperated teachers like my friend nearly powerless to stop it. The worst part: It's not the kids' fault. They're merely the victims of a horribly failed educational system.

Then our discussion often turns to the meat of it, the bigger picture, the ugly and unavoidable truism about the lack of need among the government and the power elite in this nation to create a truly effective educational system, one that actually generates intelligent, thoughtful, articulate citizens.

Hell, why should they? After all, the dumber the populace, the easier it is to rule and control and launch unwinnable wars and pass laws telling them that sex is bad and TV is good and God knows all, so just pipe down and eat your Taco Bell Double-Supremo Burrito and be glad we don't arrest you for posting dirty pictures on your cute little blog.

This is about when I try to offer counterevidence, a bit of optimism. For one thing, I've argued generational relativity in this space before, suggesting maybe kids are no scarier or dumber or more dangerous than they've ever been, and that maybe some of the problem is merely the same old awkward generation gap, with every current generation absolutely convinced the subsequent one is terrifically stupid and malicious and will be the end of society as a whole. Just the way it always seems.

I also point out how, despite all the evidence of total public-education meltdown, I keep being surprised, keep hearing from/about teens and youth movements and actions that impress the hell out of me. Damn kids made the Internet what it is today, fer chrissakes. Revolutionized media. Broke all the rules. Still are.

Hell, some of the best designers, writers, artists, poets, chefs, and so on that I meet are in their early to mid-20s. And the nation's top universities are still managing, despite a factory-churning mentality, to crank out young minds of astonishing ability and acumen. How did these kids do it?

How did they escape the horrible public school system? How did they avoid the great dumbing down of America? Did they never see a TV show until they hit puberty? Were they all born and raised elsewhere, in India and Asia and Russia? Did they all go to Waldorf or Montessori and eat whole-grain breads and play with firecrackers and take long walks in wild nature? Are these kids flukes? Exceptions? Just lucky?

My friend would say, well, yes, that's precisely what most of them are. Lucky, wealthy, foreign-born, private-schooled ... and increasingly rare. Most affluent parents in America — and many more who aren't — now put their kids in private schools from day one, and the smart ones give their kids no TV and minimal junk food and no video games. (Of course, this in no way guarantees a smart, attuned kid, but compared to the odds of success in the public school system, it sure seems to help). This covers about, what, 3 percent of the populace?

As for the rest, well, the dystopian evidence seems overwhelming indeed, to the point where it might be no stretch at all to say the biggest threat facing America is perhaps not global warming, not perpetual warmongering, not garbage food or low-level radiation or way too much Lindsay Lohan, but a populace far too ignorant to know how to properly manage any of it, much less change it all for the better.

What, too fatalistic? Don't worry. Soon enough, no one will know what the word even means.

Notes from Board of Education Candidates Forum on 10/25 at Toquam Elementary School

Here are my notes and thoughts from the Board of Education candidates forum last week, in no particular order:

Monica Hoherchak, a former teacher and parent of 4 Stamford Public School students. Only candidate that has skin in the game, with children in the school. Has been very active in PTO's and school activities for many years. Has passion and committment. Believes that more analysis needs to take place before a decision on closing an elementary school. Also concerned about labeling schools as failing, by the NCLB standards, since if one category is behind then the entire school is also brought down. She is also not convinced that closing an elementary school will actually save any money in the long run.

Jeff Analysis: seems to be status quo candidate, will fit right into the current board structure, also seems predetermined that the Board of Finance is not going to provide necessary funding in the future, based upon previous situations.

Ed Matthews, a retired school teacher, principal and former BoE member. He has been through the budgeting process and understands how to make educationally based decision to balance a budget. Wants to focus on successful schools, determine how/why they are successful and apply those lessons at other schools. Closing schools would be a "rush to judgement" as more analysis needs to be done. Need to restructure underperforming schools.

Jeff's Analysis: seems willing to shake up the current Board. Comes off as a bit of a crumudenly old timer, who knows the system and what needs to be done. Very short direct answers, but to the point. Will bring needed organization to the Board of Education.

Barry Haines, a reinsurance pricing analyst, wants to audit to find out what works at successful schools like Toquam and Westover, and how that can be applied to other schools. Very strong financially and will be able to assist the BoE in dealing with a $200M+ budget. He has no agenda regarding school closings. He wants to base decisions on real data and real information, not on speculative findings.

Jeff's Analysis: Not a great speaker, not a natural born politician. If you are looking for someone with strong financial experience on the board, then he is your man. If you are looking for someone who has committed himself to keeping Toquam open, he is your man.

Karen Murphy, a lawyer, wants to focus on improving Stamfords academic performance and believes that by imrpoving the schools across the board, more people will choose to stay in stamford, not send kids to private schoools and thus increase property values. If there is a solid plan to increase educational performance, the BoFinance will approve reccommended budgets since Stamford schools are now succeeding. She beleives the schools should be audited first to determine the best way to improve them, before any school is closed. Is also concerned about the poor communication between BoE and BoF.
Jeff's Analysis: Angry person with some very good ideas. Not sure how well she will work with others on the BoE. Honestly, this might be a good thing in order to shake things up.

Bob King - Retired from IBM, mentors High School students, believes in increasing attendance zones (instead of bussing neighborhood kids to other schools) around Westover to improve integration and expose more educationally disadvantaged kids to the success at Westover. Curriculum needs to be rigourous for all students, in order to reduce the imbalance between high and low acheiving students. Wants to determine how to involve more parents in the schools activities, concerned that things are happening behind close doors.

Jeff's Analysis: Fine candidate. good ideas. Spending time in the schools, keeps him in touch with what is actually happening on the ground.

Paul Steed, a financial planning specialist, is young, organized and very intelligent. He brings professional board experience that might help bring some additional organization to the BoE. Believes in better use of school resources and critized the idea of shifting children among schools. Believes Technology can help tailor lessons to students abilities. Against closing an elementary school, does not believe it will make a big financial difference.

Jeff's Analysis: Very Organized. Very professional. Brings intelligence to the table. Not sure what he will do for the kids, or the teachers, or the community.

Julia Wade: absent

Jeff's analysis: In several discussions she has been unable to articulate any particular ideas on what she is going ot bring to the BoE. She continually turns the question around and asks what we as parents are going to do, or how many board meetings we have attended in the past.

Jeff's Vote: Matthews, Haines, Murphy

Reference:
Advocate Oct 30 - School Board Hopefuls Debate
Advocate Oct 28 - Redistricting at the Forefront of school races
Advocate Oct 27 - In debate, board candidates avoid details on school closure

Red Sox attempt to break Leskanic Curse

Red Sox Attempt To Break Fabled 'Curse Of Relief Pitcher Curtis Leskanic'

BOSTON—The Boston Red Sox, who have failed to win a single World Series since the departure of relief pitcher Curtis Leskanic in 2004, are attempting to defy the odds and do the impossible: reverse the curse of the journeyman reliever whose...

Everything I need to know about business, I learned from Noah's Ark...

Everything I need to know about business, I learned from Noah's Ark...

1. Don't miss the boat.
2. Remember that we are all in the same boat.
3. Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
4. Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
5. Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
6. Build your future on high ground.
7. For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
8. Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
9. When you're stressed, float a while.
10. Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.

Great Music Video on My Name is Earl

So I know I have not been blogging about non-Toquam related stuff these days, but I just watched this week's My Name is Earl. Overall, I thought the episode was pretty lame.

I am not sure how this season is going to progress with Earl in jail, they have certainly taken a turn for the unexpected and it is certainly a good idea to take a fresh approach every few season.

Anyways, I digress, back to this weeks episode. The video of Crabman singing "Respect the Meat: about how uncomfortable he is killing and cooking the crabs, was absolutely brilliant. It almost seemed as if I had left Earl, and switched over to the Flight of the Conchords on HBO. That scene was by far the best part of the show.

Check out the video here and compare it to a video from the Conchords

Response to Comment on Dr. Starr's Blog

Here is a comment I made on Dr. Starr's Blog (the Stamford Public School Superindent) in response to an anonymous comment, regarding the position of the Save Toquam organization.

Dear Dr. Starr and Anonymous,

I cannot speak for all Toquam parents, but I am proud to speak on behalf of the Save Toquam parents group, and we are in fact in favor of the new integration policy and support the redistricting initiative that the Board of Education has undertaken to help continue Stamford’s policy of having diverse and integrated classroom’s in every school.

We understand that this is a difficult process where the board has to balance the fiscal responsibility with the educational needs of all the students in the district and attempt to reorganize using the new integration standards.

Our position is that Stamford currently has one elementary school that should be examined as the model for diverse and integrated success in the future - Toquam today.

Our goal is to help demonstrate that Toquam does succeed with a population that Dr. Starr and the Board of Education would like to see in all schools and we welcome the opportunity to bring this successful model to other schools in the district. We are not about distancing ourselves from any other schools. As a magnet, we draw scholars from all over Stamford from every socio-economic background that speak different languages and come from every neighborhood across Stamford. That is one reason why Toquam today is the model for the future of Stamford Public Schools and should be reviewed and replicated, not dismantled and dissected.

As anonymous says, there are children that are getting an unequal education environment. This is unacceptable!

These students should be given every resource and opportunity to succeed, the same as every other single student across the district regardless of language spoken at home, socio-economic background or neighborhood they reside. We agree, until we find a solution that will help bring education standards up at all schools, for all students, then the entire system is broken.

The Save Toquam community is hard at work trying to assist the board in finding solutions, not just stating problems. We welcome productive input from other members of the community who believe that improving the entire district is in the best interest of Stamford.

Yes, we are interested in preserving our school community, because I believe every parent wants what is best for their children. But we are also seeking out ways to take the model that has succeeded for our children, our students, our scholars and determine how that success can be grown organically within Stamford, so that everyone is proud of and can succeed in the Stamford Public Schools district, regardless of socio-economic background, language spoke at home or neighborhood they reside.

Sincerely,
Jeff Herz, Toquam Parent

Panel drops plan to close middle school - Advocate Oct 19

By Chris Gosier Staff WriterPublished October 19 2007
STAMFORD - The school board's redistricting committee last night voted to drop the idea of closing a middle school or merging Westover and Hart magnet elementary schools.

The possibility of closing an elementary school is still on the table, but board members are going to consider other schools, not just Toquam Magnet Elementary School.

The committee, which is exploring ways to reduce overcrowding and socioeconomically balance schools, decided yesterday that closing Turn of River Middle School - or any middle school - would not save enough money to justify the disruption to students and families.The committee also decided merging Westover and Hart magnet elementary schools isn't the best way to balance the two schools' populations.

Those ideas had arisen from the committee's monthslong discussion about redistricting, or revamping district boundaries so that no schools are crowded and that all have about the same socioeconomic makeup as the entire city.

School closures are on the table because the district will get another school building in 2009 with the opening of a new prekindergarten through eighth-grade interdistrict magnet school, built mostly at state expense, and the committee is looking to save facilities costs in a time of tight budgets.

"It would be irresponsible not to consider closing an elementary school," board President Martin Levine said.

Changes generally would not take place until 2009, board member Richard Freedman said.

The committee also wants to maximize the number of children who walk to school and cut down on transportation costs, said Susan Nabel, chairwoman of the committee.

"We'd like to be able to spend some of those millions on instruction," she said.

The board is spending $12.5 million on student transportation this year, or 6 percent of its total budget.

Freedman said having more families living close to their schools is "one of the few tangible ways that we can increase family engagement in the schools."

Committee members addressed parents gathered last night in the auditorium at Westhill High School. The committee meetings are not open to public comment, but the topic has generated so much concern that numerous parents have come to recent meetings just to listen.

Parents yesterday carried signs reading: "We support Hart Magnet School." Others carried "Save Toquam" signs. Others wore black shirts emblazoned with the letters TOR, for Turn of River Middle School.

Last night's vote only changed the discussion among committee members and administrators. The committee will have public hearings - the first one coming up on Oct. 30 - before crafting a final plan so the full board can vote on it, possibly early next year.

Nabel noted the outpouring of calls and e-mails from parents concerned about school closings. Any further discussion of school closings would come up at meetings of the redistricting committee in the near future, she said.

Committee members had been considering closing Turn of River, in part because of the high cost of running the building, and redistributing Toquam's students so that building could be used to expand Dolan Middle School, which is nearby.

Administrators said yesterday that closing Turn of River under that scenario would save about $728,000. But closing an elementary school, by contrast, could save as much as $5.6 million by the 2011-12 school year, so board members kept that option open.

Nabel said the board should involve the Board of Finance and the Board of Representatives' leadership in its discussions about how to proceed. School board Vice President Rosanne McManus said the committee needs to decide soon which school, if any, it's going to close.

"We cannot redistrict until we've decided what to do about our facilities," she said.

The committee was considering merging Westover and Hart - by putting different grades at each school - to bring both schools into balance and spread the practices at high-achieving Westover to another school. The imbalance between the two schools "has to be addressed, but I don't think this is the way to address it," Levine said.

The members decided to examine the costs of expanding the Westover model to Hart without the reconfiguration, and how to balance the two schools through changes to their attendance zones.

Toquam parents were happy to hear the discussion moving away from closing their school. But they didn't take it as a reprieve.

"We need to continue to extoll the value of Toquam," said Jeff Herz, a member of a parents' group organized to keep the school open. "I think we're doing well. We cannot stop. This is good news for us, but we need to keep going."

Another Toquam parent, Karen Cammarota, said, "it was just mind-boggling" that a school's educational performance was not mentioned as criteria for opening or closing a school.

Herz agreed. "Where was academic performance in today's discussions?" he asked.
Nabel said part of the reason for redistricting is to equalize the opportunities among all schools to excel academically."

Academic performance is not the result of what building the learning is taking place in," she said.

Freedman said all the budget discussions can sound clinical and detached from education, but said "you can't separate the two."

"Fiscal policy is educational policy . . . because if you can't pay for something, you can't do it," he said.

TOQUAM IS THE MODEL SCHOOL FOR THE FUTURE

The Stamford Board of Education’s recent proposal to close Toquam Magnet Elementary School is very puzzling. It is understood and appreciated that the Board of Education is under intense pressure to improve test scores city wide at a time when the school budget is under severe scrutiny and shrinking.

It is incomprehensible how, in light of the recent US Supreme Court decision regarding school segregation, the Board of Education would not look more closely at how and why Toquam succeeds with an already existing diverse and integrated population.

The premise behind the magnet schools was to use these select schools as a way to create a racially balanced school system that matches the entire school population. The magnets have also been used (or have been proposed to be used) to provide an outlet to overcrowded neighborhood schools as the populations have ebbed and flowed. The Board of Education has decided to use factors such as students who receive assisted or free lunch, English Language Learners (ELL) and students from public housing as a basis for keeping our schools diversified. If this is the model school that the BoE wants to implement across Stamford, then they need to look no further than Toquam since it is already here.

According to GreatSchools.net, an independent not-for-profit company that compiles information and statistics regarding schools nationwide, Toquam is already diverse with a population of 40% white, 32% black (non-Hispanic), 21% Hispanic and 7% Asian. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced priced lunch (a proposed measure of socio-economic factors) is 46%. For comparison, two district elementary schools have over 60% of their students receiving these benefits and three schools are under 35%. When you consider these statistics, coupled with the success this school has produced year after year, the board should look at how they can duplicate this model at other schools rather than simply closing it down. The district should consider looking at redistributing students from these schools which are out of line with the schools acceptable integration levels, rather than a succeeding school that is already within city standards.

Closing the school that already achieves the very model of diversity that the board is looking to build across the entire district makes no sense. Simply moving the teachers and administrations to another school is certainly no guarantee of success. In order to replicate something, you need the original model alive and well, available for reference.

Spending one day on the campus, seeing the students and meeting the parents would drive home the point that Toquam is a beautiful mosaic of cultures and communities that thrives and succeeds.

Please help us save Toquam. See other letters that have been written at http://savetoquam.blogspot.com/.

Toquam parents mobilize to keep school open - Advocate Oct 8, 2007

Toquam parents mobilize to keep school open

STAMFORD - Parents at Toquam Magnet Elementary School have launched a campaign to keep it from being closed as part of a redistricting effort.

The Board of Education is considering closing Toquam or other buildings as it seeks to redraw district boundaries to balance school populations and minimize expenses.

A board committee will review the proposals at a meeting Oct. 18 and at an Oct. 30 public hearing.

The Toquam parents' group drew more than 60 people to a meeting Thursday, and hundreds more have shown interest, members said.

They're planning petitions and demonstrations to sway school board members and city officials. The group has set up a Web site, SaveToquam.com, with instructions for getting involved. The group is considering hosting a candidates' forum for the November school board election, said Owen Nieberg, one of the parents.

Parents said the Toquam should be preserved because it is a high-achieving school that draws students from many racial and socioeconomic backgrounds.

"Our belief is that Toquam very much epitomizes what the Board of Education is trying to establish in the entire school district, and to disassemble that is wrong," said Steve Polo, a parent. "We're looking to make sure that a successful school, both racially, socioeconomically and language-wise, is not disassembled but in fact nurtured, replicated and perhaps used as a model to expand.

"Toquam was one of four Stamford public schools that performed well enough to avoid sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind Act this year. The others were Westover Magnet Elementary, Scofield Magnet Middle School and the Academy of Information Technology & Engineering, an interdistrict magnet school.School board members say they are far from deciding whether to close Toquam. The board's redistricting committee has been meeting since February to devise a plan for achieving racial and population balance in the district.

School closures are being considered in part because the board will have more classroom space in 2009 with the opening of an interdistrict magnet school in the Cove, mostly funded by the state and serving 660 students in prekindergarten through eighth grade, about a quarter of them from Stamford.

With school enrollment projected to be flat for the next decade, board members considered closing schools to cut operating costs and give taxpayers a more manageable budget, said Susan Nabel, chairwoman of the redistricting committee.

The panel is trying to get more children walking to school and fewer riding the bus, she said. Toquam is being considered for closure because it has relatively small enrollment, and most of its students take the bus, she said.

"The discussion about not using any particular school building is entirely based on budgetary concerns," she said. "It's the board's job to take a districtwide view, and while that may look as though we are purposely singling out a specific school, our job is to manage the district, facility-wise and budget-wise."

The Toquam program could be replicated at another school through professional development, staff reconfigurations and other measures, she said.

Toquam parents group disputed that.

"Yes, you need to be fiscally responsible, but where does the academic question fit in?" asked Jeff Herz, a parent. "It's the community within Toquam that helped make the program successful."

Committee members decided last week to further analyze the possible cost savings in the scenario that includes closing Toquam. That proposal also calls for closing Turn of River Middle School, using the Toquam building as an adjunct to Dolan Middle School, and combining Westover and Hart Magnet elementary schools.

The scenario likely will be reworked into other options, Nabel said.

Mary Lou Rinaldi, chairwoman of the Board of Finance, released a statement Thursday questioning it.

"Why are the most drastic steps being tossed around as the first solution?" Rinaldi wrote. "Slow down, take a breath and let's take the time to think this issue through."

Nieberg said parents "appreciate the challenge in front of the Board of Education."

"They have many factors they need to figure out," but keeping Toquam should be part of the solution, he said.

The Toquam parents' group wrote a letter to local and state officials including Mayor Dannel Malloy, U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Bridgeport, U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and Gov. M. Jodi Rell.

The letter also went to U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination along with Dodd.

"It's an election year, and education is important to both of them," Polo said.

Nabel said closing Toquam has only been discussed.

"Not only have we not made this decision, but we have not really gone to the next step of finalizing any possibilities," she said.

My new Venture: Save Toquam

So the Stamford Board of Education has decided to close the school that my oldest son attends, and I have now been drafted into the Save Toquam movement. Needless to say we are very disappointed that the board would make a decision primarily for fiscal reasons, rather than trying to improve the districts academically.

If you are a local reader, I would appreciate you voicing your concerns to the Board of Education, superindent, or mayor about closing a very diverse and integrated school that is succeeding with No Child Left Behind Standards. It is only one of three schools in the district to make Annual Yearly Progress.

Net/Net this should keep me busy for a bit, and not really able to blog too much about the injustices of the world. I would appreciate if you keep peaking in, since I will try to keep you updated on the progress. Until then, here are some links if you are interested.

Ensuring the redistricting would be best
Parents Remain Wary of redistricting scenarios
Redistricting could close two schools, add preschool space
Board considers closing schools as part of redistricting
Diversity dilemma Parents, RISE committee disagree over influence of race on options
AYP: 12 Schools in need of improvement

Save Toquam - Letter to Advocate - Jennifer Lambert

To the Advocate Editor:

The Stamford Board of Education is proposing closing Toquam School as one of the primary strategies to redistrict and "improve" the school system (Advocate news story, Sept. 27). We are shocked and baffled as to why the board would consider the elimination of the second-highest-performing school in the city - as measured by standardized test scores under No Child Left Behind standards - to be a successful strategy for improving the poor performance of our district.

The current plan seems driven primarily by a desire to save money, as opposed to serve students. And from a logistical standpoint, it is unclear why the board would propose closing schools and redistributing students before the new intercity magnet has even opened and the impact on district student performance can be evaluated.

A more logical solution would be to close the lower-performing schools and integrate those students into higher-achieving environments.

Toquam's success can't be replicated overnight. It comes from a long history of experience, hard work, trial and error, and the dedication of administrators, teachers and the parent community, working as a team.

Without all of these factors present, the students and faculty would struggle. Understanding and supporting, not dismantling and diluting, that success should be of the highest priority if the board is truly to make an impact at the lesser-performing schools.

Toquam is a bright spot in a challenged public school system. Our family feels privileged to be a part of it. Although we have been strong supporters of the school board in the past, it can rest assured that if the current plan is executed, we will be taking our children out of the Stamford Public Schools systems and exploring any and all legal options against the city to ensure that our tax dollars follow.

Jennifer Lambert
Stamford