Letter: D112 Should Rely on Facts, Not Spin

Dear Editor:

I write to express my deep disappointment in the Board of Education and Superintendent Bregy for the videos being disseminated to “sell” the upcoming referendum.

I recently watched the new video about moving 5th graders to middle school, a move educational research cautions against because of the negative academic, social, and psychological outcomes of such a move, particularly for girls and lower-income students. The video Dr. Bregy released to support the District’s reconfiguration plan has absolutely no objective research or evidence to back the claims made about the educational benefits of shifting fifth graders to middle school. Rather, shaped by the expensive PR firm we taxpayers are funding, the District’s video offers a plethora of feel-good images and anecdotal reassurances by district staff who are speculating -- yes, speculating -- about the educational benefits of this proposed grade reconfiguration.

Even worse, the video ends with one of the chief leaders of the pro-referendum PAC group (introduced only as a retired Edgewood middle school teacher) telling parents that they just need to trust that things will be okay because kids are resilient. In other words, we shouldn’t rationally scrutinize the evidence of objective, longitudinal studies about grade configuration; we should just have faith.

At least the SCFFAC committee showed intellectual responsibility in using the best available research to support their reconfiguration recommendations. The District’s video abandons that intellectual responsibility (and the SCFFAC’s findings on grade configuration).

The District also fails to mention that the idea of moving fifth graders to middle school arose from the need to create economic and building efficiencies rather than from a belief in the educational benefits of such a shift. Now, though, the District is selling this shift as primarily an educational benefit.

The larger issue here is not grade configuration. The larger issue is how the District is using images and rhetoric rather than facts, data and evidence to sell their plan. I call on the District to put more trust in its citizens: stick to the facts, dispense with images and rhetorical spin, and let us make a rational decision about whether or not the mega-middle-school plan is in the best interests of our kids and our community.

Sincerely,

Carla Arnell
Highland Park Resident