A Selection of SEOC Accomplishments
Statewide/Cross-City
*School buildings in need of repair and reconstruction: SEOC as a whole got the state School Construction Corporation to speed up desperately-needed school repairs in Newark, Camden, and Plainfield, and our Asbury Park chapter got the local district to speed up school repairs in their middle school. Our Newark and Paterson chapters got particularly needy schools on the top of the priority construction list to combat decisions about priorities made for the wrong reasons, and our Newark chapter helped the district save land for new schools when private developers tried to take advantage of the school construction funding slow-down. SEOC parents, especially from Newark, were also very active in the successful statewide campaign to re-start funding to finish long-stalled school construction projects across the state
*Parents’ right to a voice in school decision-making: SEOC campaigned to make parents and state officials aware of the lack of implementation of state and federal parent involvement mandates. Through a combinations of efforts, we’ve made inroads towards greater transparency and parent voice in district and school decision-making.
*School funding: In September of 2008, over 200 SEOC parents and members rallied at the state capitol complex to fight the attack on the “Abbott” school funding formula originally developed to provide adequate resources to low-income districts across the state. Though the state congress passed a new school funding formula by a very narrow margin, our organizing work helped keep that margin small and will enable us to build the community base necessary to fight for adequate school funding over the long haul.
*We have recently started to focus on the state’s high school reform initiative in an effort to make sure high school reform focuses less on high stakes testing and more on improvements that students and families really need in order to be successful. The state DOE passed a high school reform initiatve that we opposed, but as a result of our organizing, together with our coalition partners, the high stakes testing should be more flexible and be less likely to lead to increased drop-out rates. Each SEOC chapter is now starting a high school reform committee to examine and combat any negative implications in their districts as the new initiative is implemented.
*We have created a unique environment for parents to come to where they are respected, their voice is heard, and they have an equal seat at the table to share their concerns and develop solutions. We have helped hundreds of parents better understand education policy issues and better understand the benefits of working as an organized group for school reform. As a result of this work, we are building step-by-step an organization of parents and communty-members that will be able to provide true and long-lasting leadership in the long-term effort for school reform. Top
Newark SEOC chapter – One Newark Education Coalition (ONEC)
*The Special Needs Committee successfully campaigned against the practice of busing special needs students far from their homes to in-district schools with special services. The rides were sometimes up to several hours a day and significantly cut into students' class time, after-school program time, homework time, and play time. The committee set out to get children returned to their home sub-districts – schools closer to their home – while keeping their educational programs intact.
As a result of their organizing, the majorty of the students were returned to schools closer to home while maintaining their educational programs intact, with only a minority of students requiring such specialized instruction that the sub-district could not provide it.
*When parents in the School Safety Committee got fed up that thirty required crossing guard posts at dangerous street corners across the city had remained empty for too long, with four school-children hit by a car at one corner alone, they campaigned to get the posts filled. As a result of their work so far, they have gotten the district to fill twenty of those posts, budget for 34 additional crossing guards, and make several improvements in the school safety system to make it more efficient and include more parent involvement.
The School Safety Committee also helped the district get a major grant to update safety features around the outside of 10 Newark Public Schools, and the committee will continue to monitor how the district and city spend this and other money allotted for school safety. Their long-term campaign involves looking too at issues related to safety inside the schools, including the district use of security guards and the need to identify promising conflict resolution programs.
*ONEC recently started a Healthy Food Committee in response to common complaints about the quality of food served in the schools. The parent who spear-headed this effort didn’t believe her daughter’s complaints until her daughter showed her the wrapper from a slim-jim-with-cheese-stick she was fed on “sausage-and-cheese breakfast” day. Other complaints revolve around overly processed foods, food that’s inadequately cooked, and other nutrition and food safety concerns. The ONEC committee’s campaign revolves around making sure that each school’s required “nutrition committee” provides space for parents’ voices and is effective at improving nutrition. Participants have reported already seeing changes in the quality of food served in some schools. Top
Jersey City SEOC chapter – Parents and Communities United for Education (PCUE)
*When 6 schools tested for unsafe levels of lead in the drinking water, the district did not go public with the information for 18 months, when national news sources publicized the information. Lead is particularly dangerous in children, where it can lead to cognitive development problems. PCUE successfully campaigned to get the district to test the rest of the schools' water for lead, mail results to the homes of parents in English and Spanish, and shut off the contaminated sources. The parents further got the district to promise to develop a remediation plan.
*PCUE collaborated with a UMDNJ-SPH (School of Public Health) Environmental Health scientist to develop an annual health-and-safety school report card and, through much effort at collaboration and community pressure, finally got the district to adopt the report-card in February of 2009! PCUE has continued its collaboration with UMDNJ-SPH to find innovative ways to involve parents and community members in school environmental health research.
*One elementary school, PS 20, got the district to allocate funds for an instrumental music program – in the form of an after-school program – that was eliminated over 10 years ago due to budget cuts. Top
Paterson SEOC chapter – Paterson Education Organizing Committee (PEOC)
*Our newest chapter already has succeeded in bringing several positive changes to the Paterson school district. First, the parents in one school successful organized to get the district to fix the school sound/announcement system, which had been broken for years. They also got the district to prioritize that school’s extreme construction needs for when state construction money becomes available, as well as involve parents more in school decision-making in general.
*Paterson SEOC parents successfully petitioned to get the district fix up and better maintain a pre-school playground in terrible and unsafe condition.
*Our Paterson chapter is currently working on a campaign to create a fairer system for admitting students into the district’s several high school academies – schools with smaller classroom environments and specialized themes. Special needs and bilingual students are rarely admitted despite making up 35% of the school population. PEOC leaders are reaching out to parents about this issue, developing relationships with allies in the community, and building a campaign to question the confusing application and the criteria by which students are admitted. Top
Asbury Park SEOC chapter – Parent Listening Project (APPLP)
*When the ceiling fell in in one of the elementary schools, exposing asbestos, the PLP parents got the district to start a one-year busing program to safely transport elementary students across town. This was an important consideration in a city where there have been murders in front of schools during the daytime.
*When PLP parents found out that suspension rates in their district were far higher than even in Newark, Jersey City, or Paterson – 33% in one of the elementary schools and 78% in the high school – they embarked on a year-long campaign to get the district to re-write the discipline policy to provide for more alternatives to suspension. To date, after much PLP work, the district has finally included this goal in its annual plan, the Board of Ed committee to re-write the policy has begun to meet, the high school has introduced peer mediation as an alternative to suspension, and several other schools have implemented new plans focused on reducing suspensions and creating a learning-focused and effective discipline policy.
*As a sub-set of the discipline campaign, the PLP sought to improve district notification of parents when students are struggling, to help prevent situations from getting out of hand in the first place. Many parents complained that the first time they heard of a problem was when their children were suspended, even if that came after a long series of events. After much pressure from the PLP, the district has finally started an automatic home-calling system to notify parents when students are absent, or with other important messages that have been falling through the cracks. In addition, the high school principal updated and streamlined his home contact lists and system and provided incentives for teachers to call home more.
*When parents complained that there was no readily-available source of information about after-school and summer programs in the city, the PLP did the research to create, print, and distribute such a source. This work not only provided needed information to the community but also embarrassed the city government and prompted both the city and several local nonprofits to create and distribute similar brochures. Top
