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A year after a large high school in Hunterdon County created a group to address racism, parents, educators and former students say necessary steps are being taken to improve the school culture.

"We have implemented a lot of changes this year," said Mark Moton, a member of a Diversity & Inclusion group and parent of a student at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Raritan Township. "With a lot of change you have mixed emotions with some of the parents, but I believe that there have been a lot of positive improvements that have been made by the (Board of Education)to help push diversity and inclusion."

The group, made up of over 50 parents, regularly meets with district Superintendent Jeffrey Mooreand a member of the Racism, Equity, and Diversity Committee formed by the board in 2020 to create policies aimed at addressing racism.

Moore said the board and district administrators have also worked with an Anti-Racism Committee formed by the Hunterdon Central Education Association and their partners in the district's administrative association.

"We know from students and parents that our work has been appreciated and that it is helping to create a safe space and empowerment for families and youth who may have felt marginalized in our school in the past," Moore told NJ Advance Media.

Noelle O'Donnell, board vice president and chair of the Racism, Equity, and Diversity Committee, said the work performed by the committee is built on the understanding that "racism's very existence is not up for debate.

"Our common ground must be the shared understanding that racism does exist and has impacted lives, whether one has witnessed or experienced it directly, indirectly or not," she said. "It is from that basis that our work and discussions emerge."

This work included identifying and addressing specific inequities within the school community and culture that are detailed in an Equity, Racism & Diversity Report released by the district in April. The report shows from 2016 to 2021 there has been an increase in Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying (HIB) reporting from students that are linked to sexual orientation, gender, gender expression and identity, race and national origin.

According to the report, four of the seven HIB allegations from September 2020 to April 2021 were focused on race. At Hunterdon Central, 75.6% of the student population at the school identifies as white, 13% as LatinX, 5.9% as Asian, 3.2% as Black, 2.2% as more than one race and .1% as Pacific Islander, according to the report.

"We, like many schools and communities, have been having deep and difficult conversations about bias and racism over the past several years, particularly throughout the pandemic, as it shed a light on some of the disproportionalities and concerns in our community," Moore said. "At the highest level, these efforts are needed to ensure that we are doing the best possible work to fulfill our mission for each of our students."

Anti-bias and anti-racism staff trainings have been implemented at the school over the course of this past year, despite some parents and staff members expressing opposition to the programs. Moore said he is disappointed with those hesitant to embrace the anti-bias training.

"Educators are adults who must learn everything they can about the discourse that is happening around and in schools and then collaborate with community members and students to make the best school that they can. You can't do this work without having an open mind," Moore said. "Rejecting notions out of hand, saying that racism does not exist in our community or our county, denying that there's a need to tackle these issues - when we do that, we are simply not being honest with our students, our community, or ourselves."

Moton said many faculty members support the changes, and that the student body in particular is "110%" behind it.

"Where we do have consensus is across the board students are extremely happy and supportive because they're the ones that are actually being subjected to racial bias and racial incidents and such," Moton said. "They have written documentation about some of the changes ... they've actually stood up at the board of education meetings, in front of the board, expressing their support of the bias training."

Echoed O'Donnell, "We have been deeply encouraged to hear students step up to speak at our board meetings and brilliantly express the need for this work. We've listened carefully to them and to their suggestions. Students have been, and will remain, at the heart of this work."

The Racism, Equity, and Diversity Committee formed last year following thecirculation of a photo of two Hunterdon Central students mocking the death of George Floyd. The photo depicted a white student wearing a police badge and a "Make America Great Again" cap kneeling on the neck of another white youth wearing an ape mask.

Other incidents in recent years at the high school include a Muslim teacher suing the district in 2015 for allegedly discriminating against her religion by firing her and then contacting the FBI. Two years later, a wrestling coach sued the school district for firing him from his position in 2014 because of an alleged bullying incident at a wrestling camp.

Earlier this year, the school abandoned plans to present "South Pacific" as its spring musical after students and staff raised concerns about potentially insensitive characters and dialogue within the production.

Teresa Zaragoza, whose son graduated from Hunterdon Central in 2020 and has two others attending the school,said her eldest son was the victim of racist remarks while playing on the school's basketball team.

"When they would play opposing teams where there were students of color, they would make racial comments ... that the reason they were good athletes was not due to skill, but due to their race," she said. "There was always a teacher or faculty individual within ear shot and nothing ever said to the student athletes."

Moore said that law enforcement and the district's security have "vigorously investigated" such allegations but "were not able to corroborate when any such incident was reported."

Hunterdon Central has taken steps to create a better environment for student athletes and fans, according to Moore.

"Athletic Director Jesse Spencer has convened a group of student athletes to serve on a leadership team to set expectations for the most appropriate fan and athlete behavior when we host teams from other schools," he said. "We have also been working closely with our most avid fans, those student 'super fans' who attend many athletics events, to enlist them in helping us preserve the best conduct for spectators.

"In our announcements before each sports event, we also now specifically warn against racist speech and behavior."

Isabella Carrega, a Hispanic student who graduated in 2018, told NJ Advance Media that she had a "very positive experience" at Hunterdon Central.

She described the creation of the Racism, Equity, and Diversity Committee as a "good attempt at solving issues," adding that it "doesn't go hand in hand with the founding principles of this great nation.

"I think that, for example, it can go against the narrative of 'All Men are Created Equal,' and consequently makes students hyper-attuned to the viewpoint that that could potentially mean more bullying, more lambasting, more ostracizing of these other students."

Moore told NJ Advance Media the district is revising policies to close achievement and opportunity gaps for Black and LatinX students; is working with counselors to support students who may be suffering from race-based traumatic stress; and is instituting policy changes to elevate bias incidents to the top tier of discipline - meaning they require the most serious consequences - as well as introducing constructive, collaborative consequences in place of decontextualized punishments for students who commit small infractions.

Nicole Seitz, a paraeducator and member of the anti-racism committee, told NJ Advance Media that she and other teachers started orchestrating "Book Talks" over the past year. Hunterdon Central teachers hand out free copies of books about race to the Hunterdon County community at local libraries and host online book discussions.

This spring, they passed out copies of "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas. At the next Book Talk, Seitz said the teachers will discuss "So You Want to Talk About Race" by Ijeoma Oluo.

"We're facilitating the discussion to create a better community without being too loud and obnoxious about it," Seitz said. "We weren't sure how it was going to go, and we were trying to prepare for the worst in case people hopped on the Zoom call and started yelling randomness. But it was actually a productive conversation and validated our work in a way - to hear community members expressing similar feelings to ours."

Inclusive student organizations, including the Black Student Union and the LatinX Alliance, also formed at the school over the past year.

"All of these things are firsts within Hunterdon Central, and I think that a lot of it stimulated from what we've done," Moton said. "So yes, I do believe that there's been good progress that has been made throughout this year."

Anjali Vijan, who graduated this June from Hunterdon Central, was one of those who expressed concerns about "South Pacific." She told NJ Advance Media she saw "a big difference" in the school's culture in her last year there.

"I met other students with common thoughts and change-making aspirations," Vijan said. "And I even met staff that wanted to help me and support me through everything. And after everything with the musical ... I feel like that was where change started to happen, but it wasn't until students and staff started to push for it."

Vijan also founded the Asian Student Alliance this past year. Even after graduating, she and several other peers are part of an organization they call the "Anti-Bias Growth Mindset" group that continues to meet with staff members to lobby for changes in the high school's curriculum.

"We actually formed a PowerPoint presentation and a whole proposal to include anti-bias work, in the history curriculum specifically," Vijan said. "Although it should be put in other subjects as well - not just history."

Their group spearheaded the creation of "Students Against Racism," a student organization that gained approval from the board in July.

"We want to use that as a way to bring more people into this and make more people aware of it," she said. "Because as powerful and amazing as the affinity groups are, we lack having white people join those just because it feels as if it's only for a certain race that's a part of it. So we wanted to use this club to get everyone together to talk about it."

The actions she and others have taken illustrate the types of changes Zaragoza said need to be instituted at the school.

"We need continuous attention brought to the subject activities that are centered around community to bridge the gaps, not a committee where obviously everyone's not on the same level and all you hear is the negative in the community," Zaragoza said. "There needs to be a student lead group that brings all skin colors to the group and find ways together to shed light on the issues. These children are taught from their parents about hate (and) skin colors.

"It's got to be them to change for the generations moving forward."

Moore said the coronavirus pandemic and the disruptions it caused this past school year have made it difficult to know the extent of the impact the changes have had at the high school.

O'Donnell added that the committee's projects were also affected by the epidemic, as they were not able to connect in person to the extent they would have preferred. "We eagerly look forward to the coming school year, when full day (or) every day school makes in person work possible again," she said.

According to Moore, the state Department of Education's school climate survey has also been "insufficient" as a tool for measuring changes made in response to concerns, stating the district is developing its own measurements.

"There's still a lot of work to be done, and we're going to drive forward with the changes that need to be put into place," Moton said. "And at the end of the day, what we're doing is for our kids. I'm a grown man and I've already gone through what I've gone through and seen what I seen, and I don't my kids to be subjected. So everything we're doing is to make sure our kids have a better experience in school, where they can go and enjoy each other's company."

Said Seitz, "You can just fix it like an on and off switch. There's so much rooted in the past ... and that's why this is such a big undertaking. I almost feel like this kind of work happens in small ways, especially in a district where a community is very diverse in its thinking. But we really do care about all of our students and making sure everybody has an equitable learning experience, so we're working to make sure that that happens."

Added Vijan, "We're going to have people who don't understand it yet, and don't understand white privilege. But I do feel that more people are becoming aware of this, and more and more staff also want to talk about this in the classroom, which I feel will definitely educate students and bring more ways of activism into the classroom too."
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to Caroline Fassett may be reached at cfassett@njadvancemedia.com. NJ.com.

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This N.J. high school has spent the last year addressing racism

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A year after a large high school in Hunterdon County created a group to address racism, parents, educators and former students say necessary steps are being taken to improve the school culture. "We have implemented a lot of changes this year," said Mark Moton, a member of a Diversity & Inclusion group and parent of a student at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Raritan Township.

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New Jersey Teacher Who Told Students to 'Speak American' Returns to School (Published 2017)

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A New Jersey high school teacher who was heard in a viral video urging students to "speak American" returned to work on Tuesday and issued a schoolwide apology, days after dozens of students sat in detention for walking out of class to protest her remarks.

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Black and Hispanic students in New Jersey are far less likely to have access to in-classroom learning when compared with their white peers, according to an I-Team analysis of pandemic learning plans filed with the state Department of Education.

There are more than 580 public school districts in New Jersey. As of February 1st, most of them offered some type of in-person or hybrid learning option.

But when broken down by race, districts with mostly Black and Hispanic students were overwhelmingly all-remote. While 4 out of 5 white students are enrolled in a district offering in-classroom options, just 2 out of 5 Black and Hispanic students enjoy the same access.

"I don't understand," said Ejahna West, a mixed-race 13-year-old enrolled at Science Park High School in Newark. "The color of my skin defines whether I get an education or not?"

Ejahna's mother, Jaz West-Romero, has been pushing Newark Public Schools to open up to hybrid learning, at least in newer, renovated school buildings. But she's been repeatedly frustrated as other districts open classrooms and Newark stays closed.

"There is no other way to put it. It's point-blank racist," West-Romero said.

Newark Superintendent Roger Leon pushed back on the notion that race influenced his decision.

"There are many factors, multiple factors that we weighed in Newark in making the decision to continue to extend remote instruction," Leon said. Our positivity rate is very, very high. At the start of the second wave, we were about 25 percent for the positivity rate," Leon said.

Race and Remote Learning in NJ

But critics say keeping classrooms closed because of higher transmission rates amounts to a form of implicit bias, like if police avoided certain neighborhoods because of higher crime rates.

"If we're really going to say Black Lives Matter, we have to say it in the classroom," said Corey Teague, a father of special needs kids and a member of the school board in Paterson. Teague, who has been pushing for Paterson to begin limited in-person learning, said he believes stereotypes are often informing decisions about which districts are fit for re-opening.

"Like for instance, this is Paterson. It's an urban community - [so] we should fight to keep everything closed because those kids are probably automatically sick because they're Black?" Teague asked.

Marie Blistan, President of the New Jersey Education Association, said union decisions to oppose some classroom openings - while agreeing to return to others - are made solely based on occupational safety grounds.

"We have fought for safe and healthy measures to be put in place for our staff but also for our students, and that advocacy has been straight across the board," Blistan said. "Nobody wants to get back into those buildings faster than what we do, but we cannot go in there unless those health and safety standards are in place."

Specifically, Blistan said upgrades to air filtration and ventilation have allowed her members to return to some districts - while other districts have had to stay remote.

"There were some districts that were able to fix their ventilation. There were some districts that were able to get the filters in. But it does take funding," Blistan said.

The I-Team asked Governor Murphy if he believes implicit bias has influenced decisions to keep school buildings shuttered in districts serving mostly Black and Brown students. A spokesperson did not directly answer that question, but emailed a statement encouraging districts to pursue in-person instruction as soon as it is safe to do so, and referencing the Governor's Executive Order, which leaves opening and closing decisions to local districts.

"Each district has been empowered to make reopening decisions based on the unique realities within the school community," the statement reads. "We cannot speak to the decision-making process in individual districts. However, we regularly communicate with districts and know that urban communities have had to manage higher class-enrollment numbers and ventilation issues at greater rates than suburban communities."

Predominantly white school districts have always enjoyed funding advantages over districts serving mostly Black and Hispanic kids. The 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court Ruling was intended to chip away at the inequity by eliminating school segregation. But over the last decade, New Jersey has consistently ranked among the most segregated states in the nation. As a consequence of lower property tax revenue in Black and Brown districts, school buildings in those districts have long suffered disparities in their states of repair - including air circulation and air quality.

"Every school district has old buildings," said Teague, "so we can't just stop at that point even though that's been the talking point."

Jazmine Gripper, Executive Director of the Alliance for Quality Education, a nonprofit aimed at ending systemic racism in public schools, said the enrollment data uncovered by the I-Team suggests systemic racism is playing a role in decisions to keep urban classrooms closed, while most white students have access to in-person learning.

"In our society, when a white parent complains, school districts move mountains to comply and meet the needs and ease a white parents' concerns," Gripper said. "When Black parents complain or raise up a concern, they're seen as difficult.

Some Newark parents are so frustrated with what they perceive as a dismissive attitude from school board members, they've taken to social media calling for the Newark School Board President, Josephine Garcia, to step down.

Last month, Garcia was caught on a hot microphone saying "here comes the bullshit" just after announcing the start of public comments at a virtual school board meeting. Garcia has since apologized and said her comment was not directed at parents in general, but rather at one specific parent who made a disparaging comment about her on Facebook.

"We all have bad days. That's what caused me to make the inadvertent comment during the board meeting," Garcia said. "I know I have to rebuild trust with my community now. I am a woman of color. Now I'm getting comments that I'm a racist which is not true."

The Newark Superintendent is now aiming to re-open school buildings for hybrid learning in mid-April.

Jaz West-Romero is skeptical of the new target date. She believes her kids' first day back in classrooms will be pushed back again.

"We go to school board meetings and we're literally called B-S to our face by these power brokers," West-Romero said. "So are these power brokers really doing things that are in the best interest of our kids? Or are they doing things that are in the best interest of this structure that is built on racism."

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I-Team: White Students in NJ Twice as Likely to Have In-Person Learning Options

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Black and Hispanic students in New Jersey are far less likely to have access to in-classroom learning when compared with their white peers, according to an I-Team analysis of pandemic learning plans filed with the state Department of Education. There are more than 580 public school districts in New Jersey.

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CAMDEN, N.J. (CN) - Top administrators at a Camden middle school forced an entire bilingual class of Hispanic children to eat on the cafeteria floor for a week because one student accidentally spilled some water, and when the teacher complained, the principal and vice principal fired him immediately on trumped-up charges, the teacher claims in Federal Court.

Jose Rivera sued the Camden Board of Education for discrimination and wrongful firing. He claims that in February this year, on a day he was absent, a student in his bilingual class accidentally spilled some water while trying to change the jug in a water cooler. Rivera says the vice principal Theresa Brown, who is black, "decided that the Hispanic children would have to eat lunch on the floor of the cafeteria without trays, while the African-American and mixed classes sat at lunch tables with trays. This went on for more than a week before the Plaintiff learned of the punishment."

Rivera adds, "Also unbeknownst to the Plaintiff, Brown had threatened the children with further punishment if the children told anyone about her outrageously demeaning and discriminating punishment."

He claims that one of the children's parents went to the school at the end of February to complain to the principal, Alex DeFlavis, who is white. Rivera says DeFlavis refused to speak to the parent, but the principal's secretary took the complaint, and related it to the plaintiff.

Rivera said he spoke to his children, who told him of their punishment, and the threat of more punishment, and he told them to tell their parents to contact the Board of Education.

"After receiving the parents' complaints, the Board of Education immediately retaliated against the Plaintiff, reprimanding and suspending the Plaintiff for failing to notify the Principal, even though the Principal already knew and had taken no action. The Plaintiff never worked another day for the Defendants," the complaint states. He was fired on March 18 for "conduct unbecoming of a board employee." Rivera says vice principal Brown was not fired, but was transferred to another school.

"After a public uproar, nationwide press coverage, newspaper editorials, and parent demonstrations related to the Plaintiff's termination, the Defendants changed the reason for terminating the Plaintiff to 'insufficient certification.' This was a transparent pretext, since numerous bilingual teachers were given a class by the Board in May 2008 to complete their certification, and if the Plaintiff had not been terminated, he would have taken the class in May with the other teachers and completed his certification," the complaint states.

He demands preservation of evidence and damages for wrongful firing, discrimination and civil rights violations. He is represented by Alan Schorr of Cherry Hill.

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Racism Alleged In Bizarre Punishment|And Firing At Camden School District

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By Sahar Akbarzai, CNN

(CNN) -- As the summer of 2020 forced the nation to confront racism, students of color in New Jersey were sounding the alarm on the racist bullying they had been facing daily, and Democratic Assemblywoman Carol A. Murphy was intent on listening.

While attending Black Lives Matter protests and a virtual meeting with parents and students from high schools across her district, Murphy took mental notes that would help her outline a new law. All public schools in New Jersey are now required to teach diversity, inclusion, and equality courses in grades kindergarten through 12th grade.

"I listened (to students), watched them, and learned from them. All those times helped me define what this bill was ... Students and parents (concerned with racist bullying) really solidified me to bring this bill forward," Murphy told CNN.

The law passed in the New Jersey legislature earlier this year and was signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy (no relation to the assemblywoman) on March 1. It will take effect in the 2021-2022 school year.

The law will require schools to highlight and promote, "economic diversity, equity, inclusion, tolerance, and belonging in connection with gender and sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, disabilities, and religious tolerance." These lessons will also teach students about unconscious bias and economic disparities, and the impact they have on individuals and society as a whole.

New Jersey is just the latest state to pass legislation requiring or recommending that schools teach equality and diversity classes. Last month, after years of debate and thousands of public comments, California finally approved an ethnic studies model curriculum for its K-12 students.

In December, Connecticut became the first state to require high schools to offer African American, Black, Puerto Rican and Latino studies. Washington state also passed a law last year that encourages public schools to provide ethnic studies courses. And in recent years, Vermont, Virginia, Nevada, Nebraska and Indiana passed similar legislation.

According to the law, the New Jersey commissioner of education will provide school districts with sample learning activities and resource guides on these lessons. Each school district will then be required to put those lessons into appropriate places within their school's curriculum. How schools adopt these lesson plans will be local decisions made by schools.

New Jersey has about 1.37 million public school students and 584 operating school districts, according to the New Jersey Department of Education.

The department will monitor each school district's adherence to this law through a monitoring and self-evaluation system for public school districts.

Students of color inspired legislators

In July of 2020, Murphy, who represents Burlington Countyin the western part of the state, had a Zoom meeting with parents and students from high schools across her district. She learned that a lot of students of color were victims of racist bullying by their fellow students, and it was a deep and enduring issue in the high schools. Some students were victims of bullying online and through social media, as well as in-person in school.

"They had experienced it for the last few years, insensitive remarks, tweets, and group texts," with hateful and racist language, Murphy said.

She explained that some students assume that everyone is from the same background.

"We can't keep saying kids will be kids, we need to take responsibility," Murphy explained, regarding the racist bullying. Students must understand that people come from different economic backgrounds, races, and genders. "Kids must understand that and promote unity regardless of those areas of life we differ in," she said.

Evana Findley was one of the former students that spoke to Murphy about her experiences with bullying, race relations, and lack of discussion on the issues of racial and religious diversity throughout her years attending public schools in New Jersey. Findley is African American and Jewish and attended high school in Burlington County.

Findley, now in college, told CNN that she was called the N-word multiple times by fellow students in middle school. Additionally, when she would eat crackers for lunch, some students in her high school would ask her if those were "Jew crackers." Findley felt her high school was not very racially diverse. Many students and teachers were inclusive, but racial and religious insensitivity still existed, she said.

"I tried my hardest to fit in," Findley said. Those experiences were traumatizing, she explained.

Findley believes the new law is a step in the right direction. She says if kids are taught about equity and bias from a young age, she believes insensitive and racist comments will decrease over time.

Findley says that there were many students and teachers in her high school that were inclusive, but a certain level of racial and religious insensitivity still exists.

Yaelle Farr, Evana's mom, is a supporter of the new law. Farr said students should learn about diversity and equality at home and in school.

Some opposition to the new law

Although the law has garnered widespread support, the law raises concerns for others.

"There's a certain level of naiveté our children enjoy and we should really protect that. If we as parents want to explain different identities or sexual preferences, then that's our prerogative and our choice ... this is not a decision for school systems and this is not a decision for legislatures, Republican Assemblyman Brian Bergen said.

Murphy said the law isn't intended to push someone's beliefs upon anyone else.

Gov. Murphy told CNN, "I believe that one of New Jersey's greatest strengths is our diversity. By teaching students about diverse histories, experiences, and perspectives from an early age, we are enriching their academic experience ... I was proud to sign this bill into law."

Bergen has introduced a bill to limit the teaching of these topics to grades 9-12 only.

Yvette Jordan, a history teacher at Central High School in Newark, New Jersey, thinks a law like this is crucial. Jordan has been a teacher for 15 years and teaches American history and African American history.

The benefits of this law are that students would have more understanding of one another, "if you have a better understanding of somebody you would be more tolerant, and that is the end goal," Jordan said.

Jordan, however, believes that the decision of allowing local school districts to decide how to adopt these lessons in their curricula is a mistake. Jordan believes they should instead be taught uniformly by learning the same content in every school in the state.

Jordan argues how students learn these lessons in Newark may be different from how students learn them in Hunterdon County or Cape May, New Jersey. "Depending on the demographics of the population it may be different, and it shouldn't be," Jordan said.

Cathline Tanis, an English teacher at Piscataway High School in New Jersey, is a huge supporter of the law. Tanis teaches Race and Gender in Literature to high school seniors.

Tanis says these new lessons as part of the curriculum will allow a student population to feel heard, represented, and safe. "By fostering a sense of belonging and cultural awareness in our students, we encourage them to be accepting and understanding individuals who are civically engaged and racially literate," Tanis explained.

Parents and students say legislation offers hope

Kamira Hall, a seventh grade student at Marion P. Thomas Charter School in New Jersey, told CNN she is very excited this new law passed.

"My friends and I already talk about these topics together like race and gender equality ... we hear about it in the news," especially with recent events across the country such as the Black Lives Matter protests and LGBTQ protests. "We like it when schools talk about these topics. Everyone should be growing up learning about these topics."

"It's a great way for kids to learn it's OK to be different, and to be included and welcomed," Christina Stephenson said, a middle school student, regarding the recent law.

Christina's mom, Sharon Stephenson, said the law should have passed a long time ago in New Jersey. Stephenson said Christina was the victim of racist remarks and bullying by her peers in her previous school where Christina was one of the few minority students, and teachers and administration didn't provide Christina with help to stop the bullying.

"Children will repeat in school what they hear at home, it's up to the teachers to correct students and teach them," and teach students about inclusion and equality, which is what this new law will do, Stephenson said.

Dontayjah Moss, 12, is happy New Jersey implemented this new law and believes it's important for kids to learn these topics and values at young ages so they carry them with them throughout their lives. Dontayjah said racism and negative stereotypes of minorities such as Islamophobia and the recent anti-Asian hate could have been prevented or stopped if people were taught lessons on equity and tolerance at a young age in school.

"We wouldn't see the recent anti-Asian hatred if people were more understanding of one another's cultures," Dontayjah said, regarding recent hate crimes against Asian Americans due to untruthful and racist perceptions that Asian Americans spread the Covid-19 virus.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the county that New Jersey Democratic Assemblywoman Carol A. Murphy represents. It is Burlington County.
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

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New Jersey is the latest state to require schools to offer courses on diversity and unconscious bias

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By Sahar Akbarzai, CNN (CNN) -- As the summer of 2020 forced the nation to confront racism, students of color in New Jersey were sounding the alarm on the racist bullying they had been facing daily, and Democratic Assemblywoman Carol A. Murphy was intent on listening.

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This story was funded by a grant from the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University as part of its In the Shadow of Liberty - Immigration in New Jersey project.
There was a time a little over a decade ago when Claudia Velasquez was in the seventh grade and she didn't speak any English. She is now attaching paper on a flip-board, preparing to give a class in English, in the same red-brick Pleasantville school on Washington Avenue where she learned the language.

"It was very hard," said Velasquez, remembering how it felt to try and absorb school lessons in a foreign language. She said she felt lucky to be in Pleasantville, where there was a bilingual program and she and her brother were not the only new foreign students. Within two years, she entered Pleasantville High School and went on to college and graduate studies.

For thousands of parents and children, the Washington Avenue Elementary School has been - and still is - a haven. The school has scrubby grass and neglected trees outside, but the hallways inside are filled with brightly-colored displays of students' work in Spanish and English. Behind closed doors, children are taking turns to answer questions in both languages. Outside the principal's office, a bilingual secretary is explaining school-trip instructions to a Spanish-speaking parent.

But the school's teachers and others in the state are worried about the future. Each year in New Jersey there are over two thousand new students who need bilingual teaching or English-as-a-second-language (ESL) classes and there is a shortage of teachers. School funding is under national and state-wide scrutiny. And, as political rhetoric around immigration becomes ever more heated, bilingual and ESL teachers are tasked with bridging gaps between communities that seem to be moving further apart.
"If parents are afraid to come to their schools to report crises such as abuse or serious illnesses, then schools cannot offer support and assistance."
The United States Constitution and Supreme Court precedent protect immigrant children's right to education, regardless of their legal status. But recent headlines and rumors of immigration raids and deportations are creating an environment of stress and anxiety that is seeping into schoolrooms.

"We are working with children and if parents are afraid to come to their schools to report crises such as abuse or serious illnesses, then schools cannot offer support and assistance," explains Kim O'Brien, who teaches English as a second language in Somers Point. The bayside town has about 900 children in its school district, about 5 percent of whom were classed as English-language learners last year. Schools have relationships with many organizations that provide important services, O'Brien explained, adding that teachers want parents to be partners in their children's learning to maximize their access to a quality education. "When parents' basic needs are met and distractions are minimized, they can better focus on reading to their children and being involved at school," added O'Brien, who went back to teaching ESL last year after a stint teaching Spanish because enrollment of limited-English speakers in the district increased.

Fear among immigrants - both legal and illegal - is spreading as President Trump takes a hard line on immigration. Although federal courts have blocked some of his immigration policy orders, border crossings into the United States by documented and undocumented migrants are down since he took office, The Washington Post has reported. And although there are some protections against the deportation of parents, in the first half of last year alone, the United States removed 11,542 parents of U.S.-born children. Teachers say that worry about parents or other relatives being deported is adding to stress for immigrant students, some of whom are already dealing with trauma after leaving difficult circumstances in their home country.

Cynthia Ruiz Cooper, the principal of Pleasantville's Washington Avenue school, said that there was a lot of concern in the school on the day after the election and some students went to the guidance counselor's office. "We reassured them that they were safe," she said. "When you're in school, you're safe."
"We know that people are clearly suffering a lot of trauma and we have heard anecdotally of people staying away from places of employment. I think the fear is that that will trickle over to the school environment."
But even before the White House immigration rhetoric became more hostile to immigrants, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey discovered some school districts were blocking entry to immigrant children. The ACLU-NJ in 2006 found that one in four New Jersey public schools were illegally requesting Social Security numbers or asking other questions to reveal the immigration status of children seeking to enroll in school. The ACLU-NJ went on to file multiple lawsuits against various districts that did not change their enrollment policies to fall in line with federal and state requirements. And as recently as last year the organization sued certain districts in Atlantic, Bergen, Hudson and Middlesex counties (the lawsuits were eventually settled).

Alexander Shalom, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU-NJ who worked on the school-district lawsuits, said he worries that injecting more fear into the immigrant community could have an impact on school attendance. "We know that people are clearly suffering a lot of trauma and we have heard anecdotally of people staying away from places of employment," he said. "I think the fear is that that will trickle over to the school environment, which obviously would be really detrimental."

There are more than 72,000 children in New Jersey schools who receive some form of ESL or bilingual teaching. The state records the number of students who are classified by their district as Limited English Proficient (LEP). That number is a rough proxy for newly-arrived immigrant school children, sometimes called newcomers or port-of-entry students, as well as for U.S.-born children of immigrant parents who still speak another language at home. Across New Jersey, the number of students classified as speaking limited English has increased by almost one third since 2010, according to data from the state's Department of Education. Over the same period, total student enrollment in New Jersey is flat.

In South Jersey, where there are more small school districts, there are some areas with no schoolchildren receiving extra English classes. But South Jersey also includes school districts such as Vineland, Bridgeton, Atlantic City and Pleasantville, that rank among New Jersey's largest by the size of their limited-English-speaking enrollment.
Across New Jersey, the number of students classified as speaking limited English has increased by almost one third since 2010, according to data from the state's Department of Education. Over the same period, total student enrollment in New Jersey is flat.
Immigration has been a feature of South Jersey life for decades. The low-wage tourism industry has drawn immigrants from around the world and while the local economy boomed and busted, one constant was the schools. Teaching English to immigrant children helped connect the diverse - and sometimes insulated - communities in South Jersey, where the population is sparser and more spread out, and where school districts are smaller than those in the north of the state.

One of the districts sued by the ACLU-NJ last year was Atlantic County's Port Republic. It's a tiny district of just 118 students and none that are recorded as being limited-English speakers. The district's superintendent did not respond to requests for comment. Several teachers interviewed by Route 40 said that in many districts, there are likely officials who are unaware that it is against the law to request registration documents that require a legal immigration status. Although the rules governing ESL and bilingual teaching are written out in the state's administrative code, smaller districts may be less aware of those rules, these teachers said.

"Sometimes you don't know that you're doing something wrong until someone comes in and tells you and if you're in a small district you can get overlooked," said JoAnne Negrin, the supervisor of ESL, world languages, bilingual education and performing arts in the Vineland school district. "That's a challenge in New Jersey more than in other states that have regional or county districts - we're just all over the map in terms of what the level of knowledge is." Negrin works with NJTESOL/NJBE, a state-wide organization for ESL and bilingual teachers, to improve awareness of the administrative code and all the programs and support available to English-language learners and their teachers.

Somers Point's O'Brien said that, for instance, it can be hard to keep track of which school documents are available in multiple languages and make sure that all teachers and staff know how to find those documents. Perhaps more professional development for support staff, as well as teachers, could help, she said.

More training for support staff in school districts with immigrant students might also help school districts avoid the problems uncovered by the ACLU-NJ. Just last week during kindergarten registration in Ventnor, a small district of 700 students where about one in 20 students was identified last year as needing English-language help, staff members handling enrollment were going back and forth between the registration table and the school office to check which documents they could accept.

Larger districts already have bilingual assistants. Pleasantville's Ruiz Cooper described her bilingual secretary as "a godsend" who helps build the relationship between the school and parents. And in Atlantic City, another large district with multiple bilingual staff on hand, parents spoke in glowing terms of the school's efforts to communicate with them.

On a warm, sunny Spring afternoon outside Atlantic City's Richmond Avenue elementary school, parents including women in saris and men in tupi caps waited to collect their children. Shilpi Begum said she arrived from Dubai late last year (she's originally from Bangladesh) and the school was quick to enroll her child and she felt it was welcoming to immigrants like herself, who speak little English. But Anahi Gonzalez, from Oaxaca, Mexico, said she is worried about the "general political environment." "There is a lot of stress," she said, comforting the three-month old in her arms. Still, she said she thinks the school's teachers are understanding of the children's worries and concern about family members. "They are doing what they can to help," she said.
Funding
There is a difference between the types of classes that are on offer to immigrant students in large districts and small districts. That is because New Jersey uses a school-funding formula that pays for teaching based on the needs of students in the district. But the difference goes beyond that formula. Districts like Pleasantville have seen a large population of mostly Spanish-speaking children go through the school system over decades. That means the district, where currently one in five students are limited-English speakers, has been able to develop a range of different class types for those students and it can also offer more services for parents, because there is a concentrated group of English-language learners all in one school. Meanwhile, in smaller districts, students may have nothing more than the state-mandated one period of ESL teaching.

Although schools with a need for bilingual education automatically receive funding to support those students - which can include funding and supporting their teachers - a shortage of teachers means it can still be hard to find and keep teachers in a bilingual program, explained Vineland's Negrin. At the same time, funding for additional services such as translating documents and teaching parents is not as clear a case as funding for teachers. As state legislators discuss the school-funding formula, provisions for English-language learners have come up repeatedly.

There are other issues too. Many of the state's English-language learners are from low-income families. Depending on their immigration status, they may not qualify for assistance such as uniform vouchers, and Pleasantville's Ruiz Cooper says often her teaching staff step in with clothing donations and other help for students that need it. Not having computers at home can also put these children at a disadvantage. Districts including Ventnor have worked with their local public library to make sure there are computers in the children's section that are ready to run with the same academic programs used by the school.

Teachers are already dealing with these challenges and in many cases are providing solutions that have a direct impact on the lives of English-language learners. Students such as Pleasantville's Velasquez are a testament to that impact. Velasquez, who began as an ESL student and now teaches in a dual-language class, where children switch every two weeks between learning in Spanish and learning in English, says there was one individual teacher who had a personal impact on her life.
"From the moment we came to the country, she never gave up on us."
Velasquez attributes her success to her first teacher in the United States, Renee Gensamer, who now coordinates ESL and bilingual programs across the Pleasantville school district. Gensamer also taught Velasquez' brother, who is now finishing college and working in a bank. "From the moment we came to the country, she never gave up on us," Velasquez said. "Our test scores were low, but not because we couldn't - because of the language," she explains.

At times in college, Velasquez would struggle with writing essays. To get through it, she would think back on the confidence that Gensamer had in her. When she started substitute teaching after college, she called Gensamer to tell her about it and it was Gensamer who persuaded her to get additional certification so she could work as a bilingual teacher. "I'm really happy for the experience and the opportunity to give back," Velasquez said.

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New Jersey Schools Under Pressure as Demand Increases for Bilingual, ESL Classes

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There was a time a little over a decade ago when Claudia Velasquez was in the seventh grade and she didn't speak any English. She is now attaching paper on a flip-board, preparing to give a class in English, in the same red-brick Pleasantville school on Washington Avenue where she learned the language.