We Have to Think Outside The Box

On December 27, 2011, I had pleasure of reading a response in the letter to the editor section of Today's Sunbeam. There was a response from Mr. Anthony Oliver in regards to my previous letter to the editor about the unfair hiring practices in the Penns Grove-Carneys Point School System. As I read Mr. Oliver article and began to chuckle. I chuckled because Mr. Oliver displayed his ignorance towards the challenges of the school system. He mentioned that there is no problem with-in the Penns Grove-Carneys Point School system. Well, if that statement is true, then why is the Penns Grove-Carneys Point School District one of the 200 school districts in New Jersey that is considered underperforming or title one school? For the record, if there were not any problems, then why was the last certified teacher position tabled from hiring who was recommended to the school board by Dr. Massare? I am not the only person to see that there is a problem.

Unfortunately, we are entitled to our own opinion, but due to Mr. Oliver being infuriated, his ignorance led him to misinterpret the content of my letter. The objective of my letter was to shed light on the fact that there are over 2400 students within the district, 65% are African Americans, 25% Latino, and 10% White, so why is it that the ratio of teacher to student do not reflect the majority that populate the school district, since the Report Card Narratives for each school is described as “students from the culturally-diverse communities of Penns Grove and Carneys Point", however, the population of the teaching staff does not reflect that statement?
If Mr. Oliver had taken the time to read my article, he would have seen that I pointed out an issue in "July" and the point of the matter was to expose the leaders of the school board lack of attentiveness to address or formulate some type of devised intervention to resolve the matter.


The underlining meaning, is that if the leaders of the school board or the superintendent of schools will not address illiteracy problem which is a civil right issue, human right issue and a educational issue, then how will they as a whole address the equal opportunity for people of color that live in the community along with the students that occupy Penns Grove-Carneys Point School system? Mr. Oliver communicated that he does not see the connection between the hiring of African American teachers and the students suffering. That is because he cannot! In order for Mr. Oliver to have any knowledge of understanding of the matter, I encourage him to read the history of slavery, civil rights movement, Plessey vs. Ferguson and the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education.


I hope that Mr. Oliver is not so blind with patriotism that he cannot face reality. I am happy to explain the direct correlation of the previous letter to him as if he is a two year old, in an effort for better understanding. Our school system is predominantly African American. Since majority of the teachers are white and a lot of them do not live around or in the community with the African American students, then how can they relate to the complex challenges that the black students experience coming from home? Many students face adversities before even stepping on school ground. Mr. Oliver and a lot of the other teachers do not know what it is like for a child to come to school that may have not eaten, no electric, no water or no parent and then try to focus on a lesson. That is troublesome to a child, so why not establish certified teachers that make up the majority of the student population? That is what Brown vs. Board of Education was about, equal resources; text books, teachers, food and fully structure classrooms.

I asked this question, who is Mr. Oliver referring too when he said, "We as Penns Grove and Carneys Point citizens fought hard for what we believed in and did all what we could do to make something out of ourselves?" I hope that he is not inferring that the white community has fought hard when he said "we", because the town is a diverse community composed of Hispanics, Mexicans, whites and predominantly African Americans. No other nationality fought  harder to better themselves than African Americans; we have been fighting that fight for over 400 years and still fighting for justice and equality. Another question is what Mr. Oliver is implying when he said, "When something written about a hard working group of people currently employed in the school district, which is the best I ever had?" Is Mr. Oliver Implying that only hard working group of people is people not of color?


As a civil right activist and a parent all I want is for the powers in charge are to promote fairness and equality in our community and school system, when it comes to hiring, and not only that but devise a rigorous plan to deal with the illiteracy issue. If Mr. Oliver would like, I will organize a forum to discuss or debate the issue in a public setting, and would invite my good friend and mentor in Reverend Al Sharpton to be the moderator.


One thing Mr. Oliver is right about, that we should be moving forward into the future, not backwards towards Brown vs. Board of Education. We are still this day are dealing with Brown vs. Board of Education issues. Until the administrators and board president take the initiative to demise the issues, the Penns Grove-Carneys Point School district will remain part of the 200 underperforming schools in the state of New Jersey.


Walter L. Hudson Sr.
Chairman of Community Awareness Alliance
Penns Grove, New Jersey