Last Tuesday night November 12, listening to the members of the Board of Education voice their concern regarding funding constraints, I heard a genuine concern for the children they serve and for our community. However I believe their efforts may be currently misdirected. It is important to keep in mind that positive change in communities is an organic process, and that when community members are able to come together to create an institution, such as HoLa Charter School, that enriches our city educationally and culturally, that this should be supported and cultivated for the common good. Budgets can appear to be a zero sum game, but progress in communities is made possible by conceptualizing beyond these immediate constraints.
The challenge the Board of Education faces is deeper and more complex than finances, crumbling infrastructure and student attrition in the later grade school years. The challenge the Board of Education faces is how to build resilience in the youth they serve who are at risk due to economic and social inequality. This challenge cannot be addressed by classroom teachers and principals alone; we would see a lot more success in the Board of Education if it were that simple, because overwhelmingly the Board of Education is composed of competent and caring professionals who make a difference for the children they serve every day. The Board of Education needs the community wide resources that birthed HoLa Charter School; innovation, evidence based interventions, and the infusion of thousands upon thousands of volunteer hours donated by HoLa's founders, board members and parents. I am a parent of an HoLa fourth grader; I am also a clinical psychologist who has been involved research about and the care of at risk youth for over 20 years. I feel so grateful for the educational and developmental opportunities that my 9-year old son has at HoLa, but I also want this caliber of opportunity to exist for every child in Hoboken. The best outcome of this debate will be the birth of a new movement in Hoboken - a community wide movement to provide optimal resilience building opportunities for all of our children by making use of all of the expertise and resources that already exist within and outside to Board of Education in this wonderful community. Let's not just start the conversation - let's start the work.
Daphne Anshel Ph.D.