A number of letter writers in recent weeks raised some interesting issues regarding the quality of the Edison school district. It has been pointed out that school quality is the primary determinant of real estate prices. In fact, the value of schools goes beyond that. It is an intrinsic measure of the quality of our children and, in turn, a reflection of who we are as a community. Just to keep the perspective, there is no doubt that Edison has good schools, but there is also no doubt that we can be better. Below are a few suggestions.
Great leaders set lofty goals. Examples abound, from President Kennedy’s "first man on the moon" challenge to New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s relentless drive to win every single game. Our kids and teachers are too good for our high schools to be ranked 82nd and 155th in the state. Start by improving elementary schools and work our way up to the middle and then high schools. Find a set of "best practices" by studying the top 20 elementary schools. We are sure that they have less crowding, but perhaps they also have different curriculum, or more staff training, or more involved parents, or offer a different set of programs.
Create a blueprint to make us a top 20 school district in five years and a top school district in 10 years. Then challenge parents, students, teachers and seniors to meet those goals. It may require extra tax dollars or donations of equipment or simply helping out at school for a couple of hours a week.
One of the mysteries in Edison is that most parents balk at paying an extra $200 per year toward school construction, but the same parents do not mind spending hundreds of dollars per month at tutoring agencies. This dichotomy results because people inherently get excited about the quality of education and not about school buildings. School construction, while absolutely necessary, can’t be an end goal in itself but has to be part of this larger goal of making us a top school district.
Ritu Sinha
Edison