WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. By Stephen Taft, Candidate for School Board. May 17, 2004: On the eve of the City School District Vote, Stephen Taft has given WPCNR a response to the White Plains Alliance for Vision in Education endorsement of his opponents Rick Tompkins and Michelle Tratoros. Here is Mr. Taft’s reply:
Dear Steve, René, other members of “WAVE”, and All Citizens of White Plains,
As you well know, I have lived in White Plains for almost all of my 50 years. I work from my home and am available on a 24- hour basis for any school-related issues. For more than 20 years, I have owned my own business and in the course of performing the multitude of tasks necessary to survive and make a profit in my business, I have worked with many different types of people.
You are taking my comment about not wanting to sit at the same table with the members of the Board of Education totally out of context. My very next comment was that I would sit down with anyone for the benefit of the children of White Plains. I will strive to achieve the best for all of the children in the White Plains School system, no matter who I work with.
This is my city. I returned here to raise my family because I wanted them to have an educational experience that reflected the outside world, in all its diversity. My children all have good friends coming from many different racial and ethnic groups. My grandson is a bi-racial product of that philosophy and I could not be more proud of him. As Harry O. Bright, Jr., the Executive Director of the White Plains Commission on Human Rights for 18 years says, “What we have to remember first is that we are all human beings.”
I graduated from White Plains High School in 1971, probably the darkest year in the school’s history. We actually had riots in our high school that year, necessitating its closing for several days. Relationships between the races in White Plains had hit an all time low.
Although this situation has not reoccurred, many problems remain. There are still enormous disparities between the number of Regent’s Diplomas awarded to white students and minority students as well as in standardized test scores. In the high school, honors and advanced placement courses contain few non-white students. This has always been White Plains Schools’ biggest failure.
Now, as the total number of minority students begin to exceed white students, our schools stand at a crossroad. There is simply no way our school system as a whole can succeed unless an all out war is fought for the minds of all the children of White Plains, regardless of their color. All of our children must succeed in school. I think that this is the real meaning of the “No Child Left Behind”.
I personally dislike the idea of standardized testing. I think that teaching to a test destroys much of the creativity of the teachers in the classroom. No tests are infallible. This was recently demonstrated in the Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics B Regents. All public school children must take these tests though, and they are used for comparing different school systems. This influences all residents of White Plains as reflected in the families who want to move here and the value of our real estate.
What purpose does it really accomplish to lower the passing grade on the Regents exam for another year? The situation next year will most likely be the same. I think our answer lies in even more teaching time spent on our most “at risk” students. Additionally, a task force must be formed to begin lobbying our government that it is simply too much to expect a child who arrives in this country with limited education from their country of origin to pass these rigorous tests so soon after their arrival in the United States. My heart goes out to all of these students and their teachers who care so much about them, but the answer lies in more time, not in lowering standards.
As a parent, I object to the secrecy of our current School Board. Although there are valid (legal) reasons for personnel actions to be discussed and implemented in private executive sessions, there is no reason why public opinion on this or any other issue should only be sought after a final vote has been taken. This makes a fool out of any person with the courage to speak out in public. It says that citizens’ opinions do not count.
There is also no reason why a majority vote must prevail on every issue. Do all seven board members really think and act as one? Who is representing my concerns and my opinion? Who is representing my neighbors’? Since when does the Board of Education always follow the directives of the Superintendent of Schools? I can understand the concept of not wanting to “micromanage” a CEO, but surely you disagree at times. The secrecy in which the School Board acts leads to distrust, rumors and paranoia. It is not a property of a democratic society.
When I say that I will be the “No!” vote, I mean that my vote will be public whether it is in line with the rest of the Board members or not. Residents will be urged to email me with their concerns.
My experiences with the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Schools has taught me the futility of complaining to an eight member team that thinks and acts as one, and does not have to account for their actions to anyone. If elected to the Board of Education, I promise to be the person on that Board who will listen to you, to everyone, I will discuss my thoughts and research on that issue with other Board members, perhaps change my mind, but always vote my conscience.
Respectfully Submitted,
Stephen P. Taft
