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Well that certainly got crazy quick.

We live in South Orange, Maplewood’s slightly cooler neighbor and co-conspirator in supplying snarky online responses. We’re Black. We sent our kid to private school because the public school district for Maplewood/South Orange (like many school districts in the area/country) has considerable difficulty providing an equitable learning experience for Black and brown kids. Those kids are routinely directed to a less rigorous academic path, typically beginning at the middle school level. The damage done there follows them into high school and creates a less than competitive student. The district has been sued successfully a couple of times (DOE) and while they’re very earnest about ‘making changes’, as far as I know those changes have been slow in coming. Certainly the pandemic hasn’t helped matters.

 I’ve always assumed that the practices leading to the suits were attempts to create an ‘exclusive’ school within a school setting for prospective home buyers thinking of moving to the area. A setting where affluent new homeowners willing to buy an 800K to a million dollar home and pay 30K+ in property taxes would be able to rest easier knowing that their child could attend a public school where the majority of AP classes would be populated by other smart white kids with reasonably affluent parents. For the most part this plan works. Of course there are Black and brown kids who navigate the system successfully, gaining entry to and finding success in a more challenging academic environment and at the same time there are white kids who have difficulty maintaining the standards required by the more rigorous curriculum. The bottom line is that if your student is smart and hardworking he/she can find success in the public schools here. The difference (for all parents) will always be the degree to which you’re willing and able to advocate for your child. For Black parents that job is unending, multidimensional and exhausting and for that reason many opt for private schools where the threshold for all students is higher. The choice has nothing at all to do with status or self esteem, but rather with the pursuit of excellence and opportunity. After all, there are plenty of racists in private schools.

And here’s my two cents on two schools. Pingry and Newark Academy are both academically rigorous. Both schools do an excellent job preparing their graduates to be competitive in college and beyond. Pingry is bigger and has a better athletic program and NA is smaller and has a more well rounded and community engaged student body. Both schools have considerable endowments and wonderful facilities. Both schools are full of rich kids and both schools make an attempt to be inclusive. What works for your kid(s) really just depends on who they are and how they learn. 

We moved here from a Bklyn brownstone 16 years ago and it was the right choice. This is a good place to bring up your kids if you’re the type of person who wants a little bit of everything. ‘Family’ here can mean any collection of people and usually does. Everybody lives here, and as you see, everybody weighs in- like it or not. So, if you like a little variety and can handle the expense this might be the place. If you’re more comfortable with uniformity- maybe not.

Best of luck and keep in mind that what you get online is very seldom the total picture. Like you, we’re shut-ins and we’ve been abused for a good year or so. These are wonderful, inclusive communities that struggle to be better and do better on a daily basis. Sometimes we hit the mark and sometimes we miss. The important thing is that we are aware of our misgivings and missteps and for the most part we try to address them head on- that’s saying a lot these days. When this place is hitting on all cylinders it’s wonderful to behold.

jamie said:

Over 100 came out to the rally:

https://villagegreennj.com/schools-kids/open-our-schools-rally-to-reopen-south-orange-maplewood-classrooms-draws-more-than-100-local-residents/

And the BOE files lawsuit against the teacher's union:

https://villagegreennj.com/schools-kids/south-orange-maplewood-board-of-ed-sues-teachers-union-seeks-to-force-educators-to-return-to-classrooms-immediately/

So, at meetings conducted via remote video, and after consultation with attorneys via phone or video, a lawsuit which will be heard via remote video has been filed to force in-person teaching.

DaveSchmidt said:

PVW said:

Are there any groups we can identify in "America up until WIlson" who can make a strong claim to being victims of massive theft, and what were their rights, and the rights of their descendants?

Quite the caveat, aren’t they. Well, he did say that era was far from perfect, even if pretty libertarian and remarkably successful.

 Yes, though my point is still about critiquing this idea that "property rights are an extension of self ownership." I know I'm being rather tedious on this point, but as it seems central to the entire premise of libertarianism, and my critique of it continues going unanswered, I feel compelled to keep bringing it up.

If you inherit property, it can hardly be an "extension of self ownership". You got that from someone else, not yourself. And if you take possession of property stolen from someone else, again that directly contradicts this idea of property as "self ownership." And if you compound that by saying that stolen property can then be passed down to your descendants, and further allow for the inheritability of property but not the inheritabiity of redress for theft of that property, then the whole scheme just strikes me as an elaborate justification for selfishness and greed.

Now as terp noted, there are "various schools of thought that fall within the libertarian umbrella." Perhaps one of those schools is opposed to inheritable wealth and believes reparations are owed to African Americans and Native Americans. If so, that school is much more philosophically consistent than the libertarianism I've come across so far.

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I believe in the Freedoms set forth in the Bill of Rights. I have two little booklet copies of the Constitution on my desk. One was published by the Libertarian Cato Institute, the other by the ACLU. They are identical!

The Freedoms and Rights I favor are for all people, equally; Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, the Right to trial by Jury.  The Right to an attorney.

Libertarians believe in certain "Rights" that can only be exercised by a certain segment. "Property rights" are of no use to those without property. "Freedom" from government regulation does not help and potentially hurts all but owners of certain businesses.

You cannot enact certain Rights on a society with an  existing substantial disparity.  To have the type of Freedom advocated by Libertarianism you would have to start society from scratch.

"In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread." Anatole France

In a Libertarian society the opposite would be true. The Law would allow those things for both the rich and the poor.(Well maybe not stealing). 

Private schools should be illegal. All they do is divide us.

To recap: Someone with the means and desire to send a child to private school asked for insight on a few local options. Forty-nine hours later, that parent started receiving some.

I know 2 people with diabetes (1 type 1, other type 2) and they are both fine. One has had both shots, other first only.

That story does not make sense. #1 how would this vax create a blood sugar spike? Does it contain A LOT of sugar. My diabetic is quite knowledgeable and this info (if true) has not been disclosed.

Number 2. You don't just die immediately from a blood sugar spike. There has to be more to the story.

Number 3. Has your diabetic friend read all of the MANY, documented stories of people with diabetes whose bodies could not handle covid and died as a result?

DaveSchmidt said:

flimbro said:

We sent our kid to private school because the public school district for Maplewood/South Orange (like many school districts in the area/country) has considerable difficulty providing an equitable learning experience for Black and brown kids.

I remember your mentioning at one point that your family was weighing the choice. The private school’s gain is SOMSD’s loss. I hope it all goes great, down the road. (The only thing is, when it does, it’s over before you know it.)

 Don't I know it. It's bittersweet. Our nest will be empty this fall. Turns out we made the right choice and as a result, we have a pretty spectacular kid with opportunities and options we barely had access to- and at the end of the day, that's pretty much what all of this is about- right? 

2/24/Stockton, NJ