A Failed Education

Covid-19 has exposed the financial instability and struggles of many of the residents of the Town, highlighting the disparity along economic lines between the educational offerings afforded to our students. We continually witness the failures of the school district, as highlighted by Superintendent Chase, and with long time School Board members whose agenda for consolidation does nothing to address improving education over a marginal one. The diminishing test results saga over the last umpteen years highlights the failures of the district and the Board of Education. English Language Arts (ELA) scores have faltered despite the fact that immersion in English is a proven, successful educational standard adopted throughout the world for over a century, but just not in Greenburgh. Similarly, math scores continue to plummet, further exposing these two increasingly problematic failures.

Yet through all of the “feel good” discussion of graduation scores and college admissions, we're asked to believe that every child, whether enjoying breakfast and lunch at school, or those who simply turn on their computer for 5 seconds during the school day, are accounted for and learning. These same students, we're told, will graduate at the end of the year with an academic degree, although that degree will hardly be worth the paper it's printed upon. These success stories are as disingenuous as saying we have a thriving Mandarin program!

Incredibly, no child in the Greenburgh Central School District is ever left behind. Indeed, they move through the system and graduate every year collecting their high school degrees, ready to enter the reality of hopelessness and despair as they learn it has little value in the "real" world. This practice of graduating students who fail needs to end no matter how catchy the "no child left behind" mantra sounds! Some observers of the system choose to blame the teachers, but clearly the fault for the conditions of the school system and its graduates resides in the conduct, demeanor and callousness of the Greenburgh Superintendent of Schools and the Greenburgh Board of Education members. Those teachers who fail to stand up for their students must shoulder some of that blame. But how many have been intimidated and coerced to accept these policies or fall out of favor with the district and jeopardize their livelihood? Could this be why we experience such a high turnover of teachers in our schools?

Parents cannot be blamed for not understanding test score results or the subject matter. In some cases parents have difficulty understanding the English language or dare we say, were a product of the Greenburgh School system? This basic flaw of failure to meet the basic educational needs of most of our children needs to be addressed before we lavish praise on initiatives such as a Baccalaureate program or Mandarin language courses. Having a 35% success rate in Math and English is an abomination. Work on transforming and improving the standard courses that most of our children take and only then should we look to expand into others. Stop projecting the image of a small group of  children that are academically gifted as the face of the entire school system!

Society has promised it was all knowing and capable of teaching our children proficiently so that the children could succeed upon graduation and delve into the "real" world. But parents and guardians have clung to a promise that the school no longer fulfills. Society in general is at fault; as well as are our parents who falsely believed that the school system would do right by their children. It has not. Parents have shirked their responsibility to ensure that the school system works for our children. Our collective mistake is that we believed the District knew better than we did as to how to educate our children and we left this crucial responsibility up to them. Even though it began with good intentions, Greenburgh Central has failed those of us seeking a better life for themselves and their children.

It's been said that education is the elixir of success. And, while we can certainly place blame for our failing school on the District, the Superintendent and the Board of Education -- and we should -- we must also blame ourselves. We forgot to demand what our grandparents and parents expected our schools to offer our children, which is a well-rounded education, enabling them to be able to earn a living and be productive in society. Our forgetting is not an excuse. Resolution of the deficiency exhibited by the present Greenburgh Central School Board of Education, is imperative. The Board, who are in fact the “employer” of Greenburgh Schools District Superintendent Chase, have not only dropped the ball, and still seemingly struggle in correcting the circumstances they've allowed for too long.

Parents, taxpayers and all stakeholders must make it known to the Greenburgh School Board of Education that they have failed to deliver on our collective trust of them. It is time we force them to step up their game plan and for us to do the same. Let's stop lip-syncing, "For the children!” Nothing less than change at the Board level is acceptable, academic improvements must take place to wake up this current Greenburgh Central School District and nothing else, such as consolidation, will improve our children's educational well-being. It's time we make a significant change and remove the long time trustees who have wallowed in their own self-grandeur and archaic functionality. We need new ideas, new blood and new people who can help to improve our schools and propel our children into a successful future. It's the only way to get A Better Greenburgh School District!