Deboarh Marinsky, West Windsor
I am writing in response to a letter to the editor from George Borek that was printed in the Oct. 14 issue of The Princeton Packet. I do not know Mr. Borek and he does not know me. Yet, in his letter, he claims to know my motivations and my beliefs and asserts that I am unable to discern reality from fiction.
In his focus on gross, numeric measures of school quality and course participation, Mr. Borek misses the essential points and objectives of the Herts and Marinsky campaign. They are: (1) the WW-P school system, regardless of its ranking, and as good as it is, still needs to be improved; (2) compressing more students into honors courses is not necessarily a good thing, as it increases stress, leads to dissatisfaction and encourages grade inflation; (3) the quality of specific programs, particularly ESL, special needs and, yes, music have declined, to the point where our students in these programs are underserved; (4) teachers’ morale is very low, which is why many teachers have chosen to retire or to resign; and (5) communication and the civility of discourse need to be increased and improved.
These are not matters that are readily determined by a ranking, evidenced by the total number of teacher resignations or revealed by the percentage of students taking honors courses. These are the kinds of issues that occur in the daily school lives of our students, teachers and parents. These issues are real. They have been experienced and expressed by students, teachers, parents and our many supporters. Dedicated, committed supporters who Mr. Borek has chosen to describe as “a handful of surrogates.”
Mr. Borek is correct on one point. Neither Carol nor I currently have children in the schools. My children attended the WW-P schools from 1987–2004. And, I worked as librarian/media specialist at High School South from 1999–2015. I retired last June. Since then, I have remained in close contact with current and former teachers, administrators and students.
My evidence for teacher and student dissatisfaction comes directly from my own experience and from their feedback. And, my current assessment of the performance of the school system is informed by the perspective I’ve gained through 29 years’ experience in and with our schools.
Mr. Borek poses a number of questions to the community in his letter. I also have questions.
When and how did you learn about the curriculum changes that were instituted in the schools over the past few years? When and how did you learn about the proposed elimination of midterm and final exams in high school? When and how did you learn about the new, proposed homework policy? When and how did you learn that the school board plans to hire a consulting firm to evaluate all of the school libraries? If your answers to any of these questions are (1) I didn’t know about this at all; or (2) I learned about it from a friend, neighbor, teacher or my child after it had already been implemented, then you understand why Carol and I feel so strongly that the communication and discussion process must be improved.
In concluding his letter, Mr. Borek misrepresents my qualifications by stating that two other candidates have attributes that are “in sharp contrast” to mine, namely “experience, objectivity, civility and a record of dedication to community service.” That is wrong. I have 25 years’ experience teaching in schools, from grades K–12. During these years I have spent some 4,000 days with children in classrooms. I am objective. I have a record of community service and I am civil. There is no “sharp contrast” between his preferred candidates and me on these points. The “sharp contrast” is in our assessment of the current state of our schools and the appropriate courses of action to improve our school system.
If you’d like to find out more about our campaign, please go to our website at www.hertsandmarinsky.com or our Facebook page, Herts and Marinsky for WW-P School Board. If you agree that we can do better, please vote for us on Nov. 8.
Deboarh Marinsky
West Windsor
