Long Island schools need a lesson in diversity

My daughter's school, in western Suffolk, looks much like mine did when I was growing up on Nassau's North Shore: blackboards and books, tests and teasing, kids playing tag during recess.

[LI Forever]

What are you talking about?

Look at the updated data from New York State Departrment of Education for the 2006-2007 school year. It clearly shows that almost all districts on Long Island are becoming more diverse. There are only about 30 districts that are 90%+ white
out of about 120 districts on Long Island. Long Island districts are more diverse than ever and are becoming more so, the trend is inevitable with a large diverse New York City next door.

[never buy newsday]

NEWSDAY has been advocating forced integration for many, many years. usually through a one large school district plan. white parents that WANT THEIR CHILDREN ATTACKED should meekly go along with this program. because that's exactly what will happen. to certain SAVAGES, a white student is nothing but EASY PICKIN'. attempts to stop the attacks will be called racist. NEWSDAY WILL AGREE! so if you want to prove you're not a racist and are willing to sacrifice your children by all means sign on.

[who pays]

Don't know what Kern-Rugiles backround is to lecture on diversity, racism and multiculturalism. I guess she doesn't get out too much from her white North Shore neighborhood. Maybe she doesn't understand the fact that people of all races don't need to mess with things that work and diversity is overrated. The great egualizer is education not diversity.

[Jane from Babylon]

There are kernels of truth to what the first two posters have written. Most school districts have become more diverse, and at the same time--no one wants their child's school to transform into a district with so many social problems that their child can't use the restroom without being jumped or is in a classroom with disruptive students who prevent others from learning. And, as I was reading this op-ed piece I wondered why (with all the statistical data readily available) the author didn't just buy a home in a district with a higher percentage of minorities. She sounds to me like another limousine liberal--not directly affected by problems in society and eager to feel guilty about it.

[ChristmasTree]

Take a couple of courses in Anthropology! Diversity, also called culture ALWAYS divides, it NEVER unifies. What PC claptrap! Blame ex-mayor David Dinkins with his "glorious cultural mosaic" nonsense years ago. People tend to associate with people like themselves, the real world isn't the phony UN.Edu cation and travel are the only ways to combat stereotypes and racism, not forced integration or feel-goo liberalism.

[mommaroo]

who pays wrote:

Don't know what Kern-Rugiles backround is to lecture on diversity, racism and multiculturalism. I guess she doesn't get out too much from her white North Shore neighborhood. Maybe she doesn't understand the fact that people of all races don't need to mess with things that work and diversity is overrated. The great egualizer is education not diversity.

i don't know what her background is either, but i find it unbelievable that she feels that the only noticable difference between a second grade class from 1968 and one from 2008 are computers in the classroom.

[Not Racial Steering]

I would tend to say Long Island is more segregated by socioeconomic status than racism. If you can afford it, you live in a nicer town. If you can't, then you don't. Isn't that an effect of capitalism, not racism?

[John Gelormino]

Hey Jenna I grew up in Levittown, all white. My father was accepting of all races, and my mother is religious. I wasn't harmed. Let's face it, Blacks don't want to live with whites, So instead of whining about how lousy it was growing up in an all white neighborhood, be thankful you didn't go to school in Wyandanch, or any of the other crappy schools on Long Island. And if you are so concerned about your kids lack of contact with people of color, move to East New York.

[Sparky]

Why don't all these white liberals, who decry this "horrible segregation", just move to places like Hempstead or Wyandanch?

There you go Liberals! You have a chance to put your money where your mouth is. Those "minority" schools will become integrated with your white kids.

Anybody want to bet money that any of these libs will actually move into those minority areas? You see, the munber one requirement to be a liberal is to be a total hypocrite.

[Chris]

What kind of crap is this.Most people just want to live in their own culture and keep their heritage.

[Chris]

John Gelormino wrote:

Hey Jenna I grew up in Levittown, all white. My father was accepting of all races, and my mother is religious. I wasn't harmed. Let's face it, Blacks don't want to live with whites, So instead of whining about how lousy it was growing up in an all white neighborhood, be thankful you didn't go to school in Wyandanch, or any of the other crappy schools on Long Island. And if you are so concerned about your kids lack of contact with people of color, move to East New York.

you're lost black's do want to live with white's,Look at every black neighborhood they were once white and got bussed into the white school's because they say we had better school's and neighborhood's.Now look at the school's and neighborhood's. you tell me.The white's don't move so fast anymore so we are not giving up the neighborhood's so easliy anymore.White people don't panic anymore they realize that they are not all bad and can tell the difference of good one's and bad one's.Also east ny was once all white and now look at it and canarsie also.

[tha hood]

Honey why don't you transfer your kid to our school district?

[UM NO]

I haven't read anything else from this supposed "frequent Newsday contributor" but I can guess that the "contribution" on redistributing wealth is not far off.

Thanks for your platitudes and holier than thou garbage. My guess is that your dream of forced integration would happen after your child has graduated so you won't have to watch the wholesale destruction of your schools, which would crack under the weight of the new world order you dream about.

Why is it that you bleeding hearts are always so willing to destroy that which is working to fullfill your utopian dreams? Why is it that sacrificing the children of others for your social experitments is so seductive?

Dream on lady, but leave us out of it - we are no prepared to pay your price!

[TomIslander]

Sparky wrote:

Why don't all these white liberals, who decry this "horrible segregation", just move to places like Hempstead or Wyandanch?
There you go Liberals! You have a chance to put your money where your mouth is. Those "minority" schools will become integrated with your white kids.
Anybody want to bet money that any of these libs will actually move into those minority areas? You see, the munber one requirement to be a liberal is to be a total hypocrite.

You're absolutely correct. Let's get the people who believe this crap, let's say in Garden City school district, and bus them to Roosevelt. Give them more of a taste of diversity. You know why those school districts are better? They pay higher taxes. But these same people who piss and moan about their inferior school districts are the same ones who piss and moan about raising taxes. What should we do? Take from the richer school districts and give to the poorer? That's called communism.

[Roger]

Every "forced diversity" program has failed miserably. Need proof? Read about the great Kansas City experiment. Inner city schools were built with state of the are facilities. No expenses were spared, even for aftershool activities. The results? Test scores and grades continued DECLINING. Why? Because all the money in the world can't get kids to take their schoolwork seriously, have parental involvement, do homework and fight peer pressure to "under-achieve". This is cultural, not monetary. All the greenbacks in the world won't fix this problem until certain "cultures" embrace education and achievement.

[Ed u Kay tor]

You all know my experiment. Trade school districts. Send the Roosevelt kids to Garden City and vice versa. Keep the same facilities, books, teachers, etc. just change the kids. After a year, examine the results. Would scores go up or down for the two groups at different locations? Get back to me, please.

[mommaroo]

Roger wrote:

Every "forced diversity" program has failed miserably. Need proof? Read about the great Kansas City experiment. Inner city schools were built with state of the are facilities. No expenses were spared, even for aftershool activities. The results? Test scores and grades continued DECLINING. Why? Because all the money in the world can't get kids to take their schoolwork seriously, have parental involvement, do homework and fight peer pressure to "under-achieve". This is cultural, not monetary. All the greenbacks in the world won't fix this problem until certain "cultures" embrace education and achievement.

you are right on the cultural aspect, but money does factor in to the extent that what's available winds up being spent in areas to combat the problems caused by certain cultures, to the detriment of the kids that really do want to get an education. the kids that want to achieve are last in line. that becomes the straw that breaks the camel's back. the families in those districts either move or start sending their children to private schools.

[flatt1942]

As an educator, I am astounded that Ms. Kern-Rugile would use a word like "segregation" when talking about today's school districts. This word has strong racial connotations and should not be used lightly. Schools, in fact, are not segregated. Blacks, Hispanics, Whites, and Asians all attend the same classes, use the same bathrooms and water fountains, and eat in the same cafeterias. Diversity (or lack-there-of) in certain districts is simply a matter of socio-economic status. Races are not actually forced out of districts. If we want to talk about making communities more accessible, then we need to discuss housing costs and property taxes, not racial discrimination.
Also, you cannot simply "fix" racial issues in districts by hiring a teacher because s/he is not Caucasian. This is also discrimination and should not be tolerated, especially when we are talking about the education of our children. Turning away qualified individuals because of race is a very serious issue, and is actually happening in certain districts across Long Island.
Ms. Kern-Rugile, you need to think before you make your next "contribution" to Newsday. Racial tolerance cannot be forced, but can be learned. Hopefully, we will reach a point in our society when we do not even have to think about "tolerating" another race.

[Jane from Babylon]

Old definition of a liberal: someone who has not been mugged yet.

New definition of a liberal: someone whose child has not been jumped yet.

[TomIslander]

Ed u Kay tor wrote:

You all know my experiment. Trade school districts. Send the Roosevelt kids to Garden City and vice versa. Keep the same facilities, books, teachers, etc. just change the kids. After a year, examine the results. Would scores go up or down for the two groups at different locations? Get back to me, please.

That will never happen.