Committed to Providing a Safe and Supportive Environment

Recent news reports of violence among the high school students are extremely troubling. Multiple arrests for aggravated assault against police officers. Two fifteen-year-olds brawled on school grounds resulting in a broken jaw as their schoolmates watched. One student was caught with a knife.

This was on the tail of a separate incident involving school athletes that’s gone unreported but resulted in the suspension of five high school football players. And these follow other reports of an uptick in school violence and bullying.

The school’s mission statement declares “We are committed to . . . providing a safe and supportive environment where educators inspire, empower, and encourage students to excel.”
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Go Huskies!

Congratulations to the Huskies on winning the state championship at the NJSIAA Central Group II title game on Friday, crushing Manasquan 28-12.

Thanks to Coach Martucci and all the coaches for leading our team to victory.

A big cheer for all the community support. 350 students rode school buses to the game. Over 2,000 people attended to support our team. A victory parade is planned for Sunday afternoon.

For game highlights, you can check the APP's coverage or watch some video at AberdeenNJlife.

Below is a list of our football champs. Congratulations again.

#	Name	POS	Yr	Ht	Wt
38	Agosto, Rich	FB,LB	Sr	5-8	210
7	Allison, Jared	QB,DB	Jr	5-7	165
66	Alvarez, Jim	OL,DL	Sr	6-2	245
5	Antwon, Brian	LB,FB	Sr	6-1	200
19	Bartlett, Justin	WR,DB	So	5-8	135
3	Beaty, Keith	RB,DB	Jr	5-10	190
36	Bellamy, Juwaan	WR,DB	So	5-8	135
90	Carter, Ian	TE,DE	Sr	6-2	195
74	Castell, Joel	OL,DL	Jr	5-10	220
34	Cleary, Tom	LB,RB	Sr	5-9	170
92	Clinton, Kendal	DL,TE	Jr	5-10	145
32	Crombie, Bill	LB,FB	Sr	6-0	185
11	Davis, Austin	WR,DB	Jr	5-10	170
77	Durantt, Marcos	OL,DL	So	6-2	230
51	Faccas, John	OL,DE	Jr	6-0	190
70	Garland, Derek	OL,DL	Sr	5-10	235
72	Garner, Shakier	OL,DL	Sr	5-7	245
35	Gleason, Sean	K,P	Sr	5-8	200
44	Gray, Dion	LB,	Jr	5-10	160
9	Green, Mike	TE,LB	So	6-10	200
52	Gumbs, Malik	OL,DL	Sr	6-0	265
82	Hagan, Kareem	WR,DB	Jr	6-0	165
56	Hodge, Andre	OL,LB	Jr	6-1	225
55	Incle, Dave	OL,LB	Sr	5-11	205
75	Inguaggiato, Brandon	OL,DL	Sr	6-2	255
60	Lazar, Andrew	OL,DL	Jr	5-11	210
69	Liebowitz, David	OL,DL	So	5-11	185
25	Maamouny, Ahmed	RB,DB	Jr	5-6	146
15	Malta, Michael	QB,DB	So	5-9	150
88	Masonius, Albert	DE,TE	Jr	6-2	175
76	Morenz, Matt	OL,DL	So	6-0	195
2	Neal, Greg	TE,DB	Sr	6-3	210
45	Newsom, Aaron	RB,DB	Jr	5-7	155
8	Nicholson, Deaven	QB,DB	So	5-10	150
73	Palumbo, Francis	OL,DL	So	5-10	225
53	Quaglieri, Anthony	OL,DL	So	5-8	175
65	Rafferty, Sean	OL,DL	Jr	6-0	280
33	Reyes, Dillon	DL,FB	Sr	5-8	165
50	Richmond, Andrew	OL,DL	Jr	6-0	210
54	Rocco, Nick	OL,LB	Sr	5-9	180
24	Rodriquez, Terry	WR,DB	Jr	5-9	155
57	Santana, Justus	OL,DL	So	5-10	200
23	Santimauro, Ken	WR,DB	Jr	5-6	145
20	Short, John	DB,WR	Sr	5-7	140
22	Simpkins, Solomon	WR,DB	So	5-8	150
68	Slay, Ted	OL,DL	Sr	6-5	360
21	Smith, Jon	WR,DB	Sr	6-2	175
31	Smith, Tyrone	DB,WR	Sr	5-7	145
4	Underwood, MacArthur	RB,DB	Jr	5-6	160
30	Urciuoli, Joe	DB,WR	Jr	5-11	170
14	Vega, Zeke	WR,P	Jr	5-8	150
29	Walton, Chris	TE,LB	So	5-10	180
78	West, Brandon	OL,DL	So	6-0	225
10	Wilkins, Tim	WR,DB	Jr	5-7	140
28	Williams, Cassius	RB,DB	So	5-7	150

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The Black-White Student Gap

True or False: Blacks in our neighborhood, on average, are dumber than whites.

The question is undoubtedly offensive but the responses I’ve gotten are far more abhorrent. Based upon conversations I’ve had with residents of the community and people connected to the school district, I feel confident saying that most people in our neighborhood, at every level, believe we should have lower expectations for our black students. Sure, they’ll couch their inclinations in politically correct terms – “Diverse Community”, “Economically Disadvantaged”, “Working Poor”, etc. – yet, they’re always referring to the African American community in Cliffwood. Buttressed by low test scores, these people view themselves as realists or “Progressives”. I view those same test scores and see nothing but self-fulfilled prophecies.

First, a note a caution: The facts I’m presenting are from 2006 and do not reflect the school’s noticeable improvement this past year in all areas excluding SAT scores. Still, I believe the following information is relevant if not quite timely.

In 2006, following guidelines under “No Child Left Behind”, the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District exceeded the state average in the percentage of students making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The one group whose progress was conspicuously below the state average was Black.

Black students didn’t make AYP in HSPA Grade 11 – Math, GEPA Grade 8 – Math, NJASK4 – Language Arts Literacy, NJASK4 – Math, and NJASK3 – Language Arts Literacy. Among Elementary schools, Cliffwood has the lowest scores in Reading, Language, and Math. A disproportionate number of students receiving Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are African American.

The discrepancy is greatest in Math. In New Jersey’s Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment for Math, among 52 African American students, zero achieved advanced proficiency compared to 23.4% of white students. As a category, black students also have lower test scores than the “Economically Disadvantaged” in virtually every assessment exam above 3rd grade.

Every reason I’ve heard (and I’ve heard quite a few) can be characterized as follows: Blacks are “Different”. There’s the biological difference promoted in “The Bell Curve” by Hernstein and Murray. There’s the cultural difference promulgated by the late Dr. Ogbu, an anthropology professor at Berkeley who theorized that Blacks view education as “White”. There’s the oft-cited correlation between the number of books at home and test scores. Poor black families can’t afford the same resources. Black children are more likely to come from “broken” families. The tests have an inherent cultural bias. Etc. and so on.

When taken together, these arguments are supposed to somehow explain why, out of 52 black students in 8th grade, not one was advanced proficient in math.

Others are quick to argue that test scores aren’t everything to which I like to paraphrase the old sports line “If grades don’t matter, why keep score?”

If people believe that African American students in our community are dumber than whites, they should have the courage to say so. Otherwise, they need to admit we are failing our black students. I recognize that, first and foremost, parents are responsible for educating their children. However, when parents neglect their responsibilities, it then becomes the community’s obligation to teach that student.

I believe our children are suffering from the “soft bigotry of lowered expectations”. Rather than constantly pulling black children out of the classroom for “special education” and reinforcing a negative stereotype, I would prefer to see more at-home tutoring. Our community has an army of semi-retired and other able-bodied folk looking for meaningful work. Rather than have them working at the local ShopRite, why not train a contingent of tutors to provide at-home tutoring. 100 tutors providing 10 hours of tutoring a week at $20 an hour would cost $700,000 – about the same as the district’s Response to Intervention (RTI) program and far less than we spend on Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).

When it comes to success, we would all do well to heed Sam Walton, founder of Walmart – “High expectations are the key to everything.” All our students can do far better but especially our African American students. We need to expect more and work for it.

>>> Read more!

Not Your Daddy's American History

Special thanks to Kimberly Honnick, Assistant Superintendent of C & I, for providing me a copy of Glencoe's "The American Vision".

• George Washington – Commonly hailed as the “Father of our Country”
• John Adams – Author of our nation’s oldest constitution (Massachusetts) and defense attorney for the British soldiers of the Boston Massacre
• Benjamin Franklin - the Renaissance man of his day, he was a writer, philosopher, inventor, businessman, statesman, and diplomat
• James Madison – Credited as being the “Father of the Constitution”
• Thomas Jefferson and John Adams – Both men died within hours of each other on the 50th anniversary of our nation’s declaration of independence

These are just a sampling of facts you’ll never learn from reading our high school’s American history textbook.

The Matawan Regional High School uses Glencoe’s “The American Vision”, probably the best of the four nationally recognized American high school textbooks. A victim of political correctness, the textbook is over 1100 pages long, weighs over 5 pounds, and has lost all sense of narrative.

America’s War for Independence, from 1776 – 1783, receives a scant 8 pages (5 if you discount the pictures and charts). A war of tremendous sacrifice and extraordinary heroism has been reduced to a simple timeline of events.

Consider the Battle of Trenton. Here’s my version:

After the British captured New York City (and accidentally burned it down), they headed for Philadelphia, home of the Continental Congress, but had to stop early for winter.

Washington’s army was inexperienced, untrained, poorly equipped, and of low morale from the recent defeats in New York. Plus, most of the soldiers’ enlistments were due to expire on Dec. 31st. Washington needed a victory or his army would disband.

He called for support from General Lee and General Gates but both men were scheming to take Washington’s position and withheld support (though Washington did ultimately receive reinforcements). Undeterred, Washington planned a dawn attack on a military outpost of Hessian mercenaries in Trenton. He chose the day after Christmas, hoping the enemy would still be recovering from a night of revelry.

The password for launching the offensive was “Victory or Death”. As immortalized in a painting by Emanuel Leutze, Washington crossed the Delaware River amid the raging waters, heavy ice floes, and pitch darkness. Washington then led his men for nine miles through a sleet storm that rendered many of their rifles inoperative; two of his men froze to death during the march.

When they arrived, Washington’s soldiers achieved complete surprise. In 45 minutes, the Continental Army had captured or killed over 900 men. A few days later, Washington was again victorious in some minor skirmishes outside Princeton.

Flush with victory, most of the Continental Army re-enlisted.

Here’s how “The American Vision” recounts the Battle of Trenton:

At this point, Washington tried something daring and unexpected – a winter attack. On December 25, 1776 [sic], he led approximately 2,400 men across the icy Delaware River. The army then attacked a group of Hessians at Trenton in the middle of a sleet storm. They killed or captured almost 1,000 men. Several days later, at Princeton, Washington’s forces scattered three British regiments. Having achieved two small victories, Washington headed into the hills of northern New Jersey for the winter.

The textbook version completely misses the significance of the Battle of Trenton and the challenges Washington faced (not to mention getting the date wrong).

Nowhere is Washington recognized for extraordinary bravery or leadership as when he rode his horse between British and American lines at Brandywine Creek. Nowhere is he credited with single-handedly holding together the Continental Army despite Congress’s inability to supply the army or pay the soldiers’ wages.

Following the war, Congress not only refused to pay back wages to the soldiers, but slandered the officers and denied them any recognition for victory. Washington alone prevented a military uprising. None of this is recounted among the textbook’s 1100 pages.

I’ve used George Washington as the prime example but all of our founding fathers receive short shrift. Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac (“A penny saved is a penny earned.”) never gets a mention. Nor do his scientific accomplishments (electricity, bifocals, Franklin stove, etc.) warrant a footnote. As an aside, he also founded the country’s first public library, first firehouse, and the University of Pennsylvania.

The Federalist Papers, the arguments underpinning our nation’s constitution (”If men were angels, no government would be necessary”) are relegated to a few samples in the appendix.

Even the myths that have become part of American lore are never mentioned (i.e. Washington chopping down the cherry tree or Hancock signing large enough for King George to read without his glasses). Nor is there any recognition that the founding of our country marked the greatest advance in human civilization since the invention of the printing press.

The “missing history” goes far beyond the examples I’ve given and far beyond the American Revolution.

Do our students learn beyond what’s in the textbook? I don’t know. While each teacher is free to use supplemental materials, there is no standard curriculum beyond what appears in the textbook.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned, our textbook is likely the best one available. What to do? Retain a panel of historians from local universities/colleges to formulate a list of the most significant persons and events in American History. Then, make that list available for public comment. Once finalized, adopt excerpts from popular books (with prior approval from the publishers), creating a simple reader as a supplement to the textbook.

“The American Vision” has serious shortcomings. We can do better and should. >>> Read more!