SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATES FORUM TONIGHT

With the school board race, and election signs, heating up, tonight is the last chance to question the candidates for the three open seats on the Board of Education.


The release below says it all....7 p.m. at Marshall School...The election is April 17.

The Schools Committee of the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race is proud to present our 7^th annual forum for candidates for the Board of Education on Thursday evening, April 12, 7:00PM at Marshall Elementary School in South Orange.

As the Coalition continues to focus on the minority achievement gap and integrated schools, it seems to us an ideal time to present a series of questions to the candidates that challenge them to consider the relationship between school policies and integration in our community. Candidates will be asked to respond to questions regarding the middle and high school restructuring, the minority achievement gap, and about ways to provide professional development for teachers, particularly in cultural competency and differentiated instruction.

While we are a strictly nonpartisan organization that does not endorse individual candidates, it is our opinion that a candid and open dialogue about race in our school district is an imperative step toward full integration in our  community. We want the candidates to consider how policies they propose will affect integration within the schools. 

We are interested in true integration and a school system that supports rigor, demands excellence, and provides an environment in which each student believes they can succeed.  Our Board of Education should be acting to assure that our schools bring the entire community together to create schools that are the first choice of families of all races and socio-economic backgrounds.  We want to see the minority academic achievement gap closed, and we look forward to a day when the school district is stably integrated overall, within academic levels, and schools– to a time when students of all races are expected and encouraged to excel in a community that joins together in pride and support of its schools.