Asbury Park, NJ - Our Generation Bungled Education & the Kids...

Welcome to TishTrek - THE JOB BLOG!

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis said, "If you bungle raising (your) children, nothing else matters very much." The same standard applies to our country... For decades we have bungled raising America's children in Bruce Springteen's backyard and beyond... In my view, it means our generation has failed these kids.

How could this happen in Asbury Park, NJ - a sleepy oceanfront community located just miles from the epicenter of one of the most affluent markets in the world? How could this happen in the iconic town where Springsteen's glory days began at the famous Stone Pony?! 

I'm posting this blog for the 17 & 18 year old kids who literally cannot write for themselves... and who find themselves frozen and failing in the dysfunction of a mandatory educational system that has not lived up to the values, tenets and commitments of our U.S. society. No winners here - everyone is at fault except the innocent students who are relying on our generation to right what went wrong.

For too many years, the vitriolic debates have raged on between school administrators and government agencies; between unions and politicians; and they have left parents from statistically 'good' school districts deaf to the desperate cries and blind to the tears of parents in the 'at risk' districts from Washington, DC to Camden, NJ to Newark, NJ to Detroit to my beloved New Orleans... At this point, all the adults engaged in the contrived 'philosophy of failure' war need to stop. 

To put this demand in context, allow me to start with a long-overdue apology to the students, parents and teachers associated with the Asbury Park High School System: I'm so sorry. 

Here are the devastating and disturbing facts as they were reported by the NJ Department of Education on 10/27/10 in the Asbury Park Press for the 2008-2009 school year: This wake up call from America's high school students in Asbury Park is heart breaking... 

1) 72% of its students failed the High School Proficiency Assessment in language arts 

2) 86.1% failed the math portion

3) After three tries, ONLY 34.9% were able to pass the HSPA 

4) Average SAT scores are 325 in math and 330 in verbal 

5) In 2008-2009, the total cost spent per pupil per year = $21,177

6) In 2009-2010, the total cost per pupil per per year = $26,782, (Updated this Blog Post with Opinion Page Data from the The Asbury Park Press, May 2nd, 2011)

On April 27th 2011, the fate of more of our kids came into focus as the Associated Press reported data from U.S. Census figures: 

"Among adults in the United States 25 and older, only 10.6 million U.S. women & 10.5 million men have master's degrees or higher. Measured by shares, that's about 10.2 percent of all U.S. woman have advanced degrees compared to 10.9 percent of men.**"

** Please Note: Women still trail men in professional sub-categories such as business, science and engineering.

"When it comes to achieving a bachelor's degree, roughly only 20.1 million U.S. women and 18.7 million men have reached that goal." That means that only 38.8 million out of 350 million people in the United States have accomplished the educational requirements in a bachelor's program." What do these facts say about the current curriculum requirements and government mandates; and all the fancy teaching tools, technologies, processes and methodologies we refuse to change?

Hundreds of billions of U.S. tax dollars have been invested in both statistically 'good' and 'bad' schools every year for decades... so how can it be that a whopping 311,200,000 of our citizens completed no 4 year post-secondary education programs at all? Maybe we have to rethink what we are preparing (prepping) these kids for in high school during these valuable years they can never get back? 

Not every child aspires to go to college and that's fine when it's their choice and/or if they have the skills to opt for an entrepreneurial path. But we're not talking about having 'choices' today. We're talking about stubborn adults and people in charge whose refusal to change created the very systemic environmnet that has left too many kids unfairly locked in a savage system of failure. Given these facts, why on earth are all the so-called 'good' K-12 school districts cheerfully patting themselves on the back so hard? Answer: They avoid statistics they don't want to be measured on.

FACT: The public screams they don't want U.S. jobs moving overseas at the same time POST-high school failure rates continue to sky-rocket for districts across the nation. I've been a global recruiter for two decades and I know first hand that this fact is undermining the U.S. talent pool and at a minimum it will take more than a generation for our nation to recover from what we've done to ourselves. 

It's wrong that as soon as college acceptance letters arrive @ high school guidance departments,'another group' of students become 'somehow' immediately unaccounted for. I call them the lost generation of the 'high potential / privileged kids' who just drop out of college & out of sight. 

I've witnessed helicopter parents drop off the face of the earth from the exhaustion brought on by 'their' own behaviors during those high school years, while K-12 school districts simply desert these tweeners in droves** (**the teens operating be'tween' high school & adulthood) for fear they'll drag some school statistic or magnet success factor down. 

What this means is that no one is capturing the challenges or solving the unique problems facing these young people who started out with 'promise' & 'privilege." Find me one professional in any high school who is studying why high school alumni are dropping out of colleges in record numbers? 

Let's use my dart board management approach to guess the answers we can't get from school administrators: What happened to 'our' kids? 1) Couldn't manage college level course-work despite the A's in high school? 2) Mom stopped writing the research papers? 3) Parents lost jobs/got divorced/ whatever... which crippled the financial & emotional landscape of the family? 4)Simple time management challenges? 4) The school choice/culture didn't work out? 5)Too much alcohol or extra-curricular fun without understanding these behaviors will undermine the best scholastic & athletic effort? 6) Home sick? 7) Can't make Dean's List to give parent's bragging rights? 8) A mental health issue or crisis that came out of nowhere? 9) Lost confidence or footing in this new environment?

Whatever the issues, what are the answers for change? Perhaps we can create a "High School-to-Life Transition Office" in high school guidance departments so kids can go back where they were educated and comfortable to get advice on how to find on-campus solutions to resolve college challenges like all the managable issues listed above. "Favorite" teachers & respected D.A.R.E. officers often casually fill this role for the kids who were more outgoing and connected to faculty during their high school years, so the idea has roots in a path some kids already take to get help.

The thinking is that because local taxpayers pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for the education of residents for the first 13 years, it would be helpful for the country to know what the Return-on-the-taxpayer-Inventment turned out to be by the time students reached their 3rd year 'out' of high school. If we identify the issues, we have a chance at adopting approaches to benefit the next generation of kids we are responsible for educating.

I believe if we focus on what it is this young group of citizens is facing, we can help them by educating & coaching them more thoroughly on the pitfalls of college life that most students can survive if they have the skills & knowledge necessary to fight back. But forget this idea because no one has had the courage or stomach to own the grim 'tweener drop-out rate' in our nation's history and that's why so few people know that the only 11.09% of U.S. citizens possess a Bachelor's degree. 

Good gosh - now we have to discuss the 12 million-plus immigrants unaccounted for in the recent U.S. Census; those who arrived in the country creatively and with language barriers. How are we going to get the necessary life skills and knowledge to their kids so they can thrive successfully into adulthood in their new country? 

Obviously these courageous 'at risk' kids use the power of prayer to drown out the screams demanding they return to their countries of origin. The Foodtown in Red Bank NJ will confirm that their fresh flower supply is often sold out & depleted daily by Mexican Day Laborers and their beautiful children who purchase the flowers to lay them with reverence at the foot of a statue as they pray to the Virgin Mary. Children praying in any language on our soil cannot be left out of the education loop just because adults haven't figured out solutions to the adult issues of our time.

The obscene funding for repeat failure in Asbury Park - that is in 2011 the $21,177 per student X 13 years in K-12 years equals $275,301 in tax dollars spent per child. If it's a family with 4 children, this city spends $1,101,204 to educate this one family. How did we get to this place where no one is accountable for these statistics when our nation has a giant 'vested' & 'financial' interest in making sure that each & every child can read by the time we're done funding them? 

Would it be better to use the $275K per student to assign one tutor per family in high risk areas to make darn sure they are leaving high school with marketable skills and the potential to succeed? In the face of decades of repeat failure in Jersey City, NJ - The idea of charter schools began with one grandmother's belief that perhaps students should be allowed to leverage 'community tax dollars' designated for them to opt for an 'alternative path' to education. The hope was that it would lead to a college degree or vocational certification program; and/or that at a minimum these students would leave high school with the credentials to take care of themselves and their families by the age of 20. I'm routing for grandma! 

U.S. taxpayer money already supports a two-tiered system for secondary education comprised of magnet and comprehensive high schools. The idea was to create schools which offer a select group of students a high-quality education often combined with a specialized education in arts, sciences or technology. Students have to pass entrance exams to attend. Though they are located in the same socio-economic areas, magnet high schools dramatically outperform comprehensive high schools in all measurable academic indicators including state assessments, college acceptance and drop-out rates. To achieve these goals, states have been redistributing tax dollars from the local sending districts for years. 

The quality of most magnet schools are great. But explain to me how a system of alternative schooling and the distribution of tax dollars designated for a child across district lines is okay for gifted students, but a system someone is willing to create is NOT okay for 'at risk' kids who need to be saved from the failure rates in Asbury Park, Jersey City & Camden? 

Many of the magnet high school programs do not serve second-language learners, so these students must attend comprehensive high schools. When the comprehensive school has a 40 year past-performance history of failure, and busing those kids out to any sending district is resisted & blocked by all the usual suspects, it's obvious why parents would seek comfort and results in an 'alternative' route & environment that could include the prospect of a Charter School.

Should we turn to our State Universities for help? Maybe they should get the tax dollars we set aside for high school students starting in junior and senior year. The goal would be for kids to leave HS 'somewhat' college-trained and on-track for an Associate's Degree or technical vocation. I continue my mantra as a global recruiter: If kids can't read or add or spell, there are few jobs they will ever qualify for. 

For the kids who 'want to' or 'must' move to paying jobs right out of high school, the Dept of Education could partner with Home Depot, professional offices, Lowe's, banks, Wal-Mart, McDonald's, health clubs and other local small businesses to help those who aren't college bound. Why can't we create BIGGER Tax Credit Programs for companies that participate in educating our kids during high school; or reward companies that offer college tuition reimbursement to those high school students who become full time employees,(Details about incredible corporate tuition programs are in an earlier blog post, but shhh - the high schools don't explain these FINANCIAL options to kids or parents either. We don't want to ruin a pre-set statistic that gives the district Magnet School status).

Perhaps we can give kids "DeVry Tech School-like" vocational credits for participating in the partnership with companies designed to transfer knowledge on how to use computers beyond texting, run cash registers, count money, make cash deposits, cook or serve food, paint houses, work in medical facilities, call centers, packaging plants, banking centers, whatever... 

As I mentioned, my recruiting teams have been hiring America's young adults in Corporate America for 25 years and too many have arrived clueless about rudimentary skills and tasks. So I'm asking you to do DO ANYTHING we can think of so all 'our' youth leave school believing they can do something if the traditional scholastic route has failed or is not an option. 

There has to be some brave leaders somewhere in this country with the skills, competencies, educational credentials and business experience who can show us how to save this new generation of children from the terrible fate we banished them to? 

You see, my daughter graduated from a comprehensive high school in a statistically 'great' district in New Jersey surrounded by teachers & mentors who supported and challenged her. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University in three years because teachers inspired her to push herself, (it had nothing to do with my husband and me). As she marched into her first job in NYC in 2010, it was great day for my kid and our family... but what about all the other kids and their families? 

I'm disappointed and ashamed that so little has been done to help the children in Asbury Park who are less than 10 miles up the road from me.

My generation did this, so I apologize to all the students living in the shadow of Bruce Springsteen's backyard and across this nation... 

I know many of you can't read this blog, but I give my word that I will participate in forward-thinking ideas & solutions to help you and your friends succeed. 

I promise.

With respect & hope,
TishTrek

Quote of the Day by John F. Kennedy: "Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation."