The Hoboken Shuffle

Starting today, according to this article, three year olds and other students registering for the Hoboken, New Jersey, pre-school program will no longer be accepted and assigned to a school on the old first come, first served basis.

Parents still have the option of selecting a preferred location, but there are no guarantees, and Edith Vega, the district’s affirmative action officer, said she will shuffle students among the programs to create a diverse mix based on race, gender and economics.

According to school board president Carmelo Garcia, Hoboken parents love diversity.

“I am confident parents in Hoboken want to provide their children with a diversified education,” said Garcia, adding that he hopes the initiative will lead to greater diversity in the entire district. “Parents in Hoboken would love for children to interact socially with other children.”

It is my impression that most parents would be concerned primarily with enrolling their child in a pre-school program that is some combination of good and conveniently located, such as close to home.

Maybe parents in Hoboken are different. Maybe they would be delighted to have their children shuffled in the interest of promoting diversity.

Say What? (4)

  1. sharon March 7, 2006 at 6:27 am | | Reply

    When are educators going to figure out that parents like NEIGHBORHOOD schools and they move to certain areas based on the schools? I’d be pretty angry if I thought my kid was gonna be in the preschool program at the elem. school behind my house but, instead, she got shipped 10 miles to another school for diversity. I might just decide preschool wasn’t worth it.

  2. superdestroyer March 7, 2006 at 6:36 am | | Reply

    I wonder if upper management at the schools in Hoboken is, at the same time as deciding to spend more money on transportation, claiming that they need more money.

    Why don’t they take the funds that would be spend on busing and spend it on improved academic teaching?

    I guess Hoboken is one of those places where social engineering comes before learning.

  3. Shouting Thomas March 7, 2006 at 8:18 am | | Reply

    Hoboken is split politically between the old world Italian community that once dominated and the trendy singles community that can’t afford to live in Manhattan.

    Mostly childless, the singles (like their counterparts in Manhattan) want to enforce PC idealism.

    The older population of Hoboken is religious and conservative. It’s not uncommon to see statues of the Virgin Mary in front of a house.

    I suspect that war is on the horizon. And I bet a lot of kids will be pulled out of the public schools and sent to the Catholic schools.

  4. staghounds March 7, 2006 at 11:38 am | | Reply

    Whether they want it or not, it’s what she will give them.

    She knows best.

Say What?