Why I'm Running: A best in class school district for our students and our community

When my husband and I moved to Maplewood in 2006 with our young daughter, we were cautiously optimistic about leaving Brooklyn for the benefits of this inclusive and cool suburban town we had fallen in love with.   Over the last six years we grew our family from three to four, made wonderful friends we hope to have for life, and developed a sense of belonging in a fantastic community.  Secure in the knowledge that we are putting down roots, I am ready to start giving back to our community as a member of the Board of Education.

The debate over the Middle School Transformation Proposal has made me realize that we are at an important cross-road in the path of our school district.  The choices we make today will affect our children and our two towns for years to come. 

As the mother of a second grader and an incoming kindergartner, I am inheriting this school district.  I have a personal stake in ensuring our schools are best in class.  As a former mentor to students who came from the roughest neighborhoods in New York City and went on to Ivy League colleges, I believe that hard work and a solid education are the means by which people can achieve their dreams regardless of where they start out.  As an advocate of progressive education, through my work with the Knowledge is Power Program I have had a hand in tying innovation and choice to successful student outcomes when the ‘gap’ was more like a chasm.  As a public school supporter, I think our schools are our strongest assets to encourage existing and potential residents to put down roots here.  As a marketing professional in higher education, I know that the reputation of a school district is considered during the college admission process.

After attending the Superintendent’s ‘State of the District’ speech in January, I did my own research.  I talked to parents and teachers, and I reviewed our test scores and curriculum along with those of our neighboring districts.  At first glance, the news is good!  Our district test scores are increasing year over year.  Our high school graduation rates are north of 95%.  My daughter is a beneficiary of positive strides made in the elementary schools with full day kindergarten, increased Language Arts focus on reading proficiency and (soon) an improved Math curriculum.  In our middle schools there is hope that the Common Core standards and IB Middle Years Programme will help strengthen the curriculum and hold our students to a higher standard of excellence.  Our high school graduates many talented students, has interesting electives and clubs as well as many AP classes. 

When I pressed Dr. Osborne at the “State of the District” to let us know the bad news (yes, that was me), he conceded that the strides made were incrementally small.  He said there is room for improvement.  I agree.  There is still much work left to do in order to make our school district best in class. 

We have many support structures in place for struggling students but limited strides have been made.  There is more we can be doing to challenge high achieving students.  We are making curriculum trade-offs (e.g. loss of science and social studies time in elementary school, loss of 6^th grade foreign language in middle school) and must avoid creating new problems while trying to solve existing ones.   We must deliver on a widespread belief that a stronger curriculum will benefit all students in the middle schools.  Instead of focusing on the content of our middle school curriculum, we have spent much of our time and effort over the last decade debating how to deliver it.

Our efforts to narrow the achievement gap must start sooner than middle school.  We must build strong foundational knowledge and skills in the core subjects in elementary school. I also support creating after school academic enrichment to encourage an early love of learning and provide support through an ‘extended’ school day. 

We need to ensure that de-leveled classrooms in the middle schools address the needs of all students.  Support structures for struggling students must be monitored and evaluated based on defined goals.   We must "Level Up" those already at the 'honors' level.  Teachers should feel empowered to effectively manage their classrooms with the right tools and count on support from the administration.  We must address a growing gender achievement gap that shows boys falling behind.  We should also continue to explore choice-based alternatives in the middle school to avoid a ‘one size fits all’ model of learning. 

We must prepare our students to compete in a technology-driven global economy.  Columbia High School should deliver a rigorous curriculum and coursework that hits 21^st century needs: global studies and computer science/ technology.  School districts nationwide, including our neighbors, have taken steps toward this.  Most importantly, we need to incentivize students to work hard, take on more challenging assignments and AP classes and exams. 

We have a healthy school budget and should look for ways to make our tax dollars work harder.  Having managed client budgets of similar size to our school budget, I understand the need for both fiscal restraint and responsible spending to meet goals.  We need to continue to look for ways to share services and bring more Special Education students back home into the district.  My daughter, who is not classified as having special needs, had a wonderful experience in an inclusion classroom with two teachers.  Properly serving the needs of Special Education students in district is good for the children, their parents and the budget.  

A better governance model can provide parents and taxpayers increased transparency, accountability and meaningful engagement opportunities.  I would like to use my communications background to improve the process by which decisions are made in this district.  

I am thrilled to be running with Wayne Eastman and Jeff Bennett as the ‘party of ideas’.  Our platform, based on excellence, innovation and fairness, can be viewed on our website www.votesoma2012.com.

I am committed to working hard to make the South Orange-Maplewood school district one of the best in the state - fueled by innovative ideas, focused on student success in the 21^st century global economy and friendly to engagement from the community.  If elected, my running mates and I will have office hours to hear from the community, but I would love to hear from you now.  My email is madhuppai@gmail.com.