Who cares about New Jersey suburban education?

Urban education gets a lot of attention.  Rightfully so: students in urban schools frequently face poverty, overcrowding, a lack of resources, inadequate facilities, subpar teachers, or charter schools competing for space and funds.  These are real issues and deserve serious attention.

But New Jersey's suburban education deserves a spotlight, too.  Suburban schools are the quiet kid near the back of the class.  They are attentive, don't make trouble, and seem to be working.  But get to know them one-on-one, and you may find a different story.  Suburban schools have genuine struggles.  While they may not seem as urgent and dire as the problems urban districts face, they are real.

Some of the struggles suburban schools face include:

• Diversity.  New Jersey is decentralized and our identities are town-focused.  Kids think they know what it means to be from Newark, or Millburn, or Maplewood.  Schools reflect this sense of identity.  As towns become more diverse--racially, ethnically, sexually, and socioeconomically--schools must accommodate the values, culture, identities, and agendas of the entire community.  And kids must as well: How many of us have seen all the black, latino, or otherwise non-white kids sitting together in the cafeteria?  Hanging out together in the hallways? Lumped together in the same level of class?
• Leveling.  Educational equity is not just an urban issue.  Look around an inclusion class or basic skills class.  What kids are placed there?  Why?  Are we shortchanging, over classifying, and underestimating the kids who are less affluent, less white, or who behave more like stereotypical boys?
• Drugs and alcohol.  How many of us have "coded" kids in the past school year, have watched in dismay as drunk kids are arrested at sports events, or have gritted our teeth at the prospect of potentially chaperoning a school dance?  How can we partner with parents and the community to ensure that kids are safe, whole, and intact while under our care--without turning into a police state?
• Pressure.  The "dark side" of excellence is the pressure some (not all!) students feel to please, excel, and achieve.  What do we truly believe education is for and about?  How can we educate according to our values, rather than caving into our fears for our kids' futures?
• Testing.  PARCC, in many parents' minds, symbolizes the pressure their kids are under as well as everything that's "wrong with education today"-- outside/government control, teaching to a test, inordinate amounts of testing, and the fear of failure.  How can we keep high standards, allay fears, and maximize genuine, deep learning?

Suburban New Jersey educators aren't refugees from urban districts. We aren't using teaching as a steppingstone to loftier achievements.  And we sure aren't facilitators of "failure factories."  What we are is dedicated to a career in the classroom, care deeply about our students, and see their needs as genuine and valid.

Join me in a conversation about New Jersey suburban education today.