LETTER: Camden students can get good education
In reading “Scholars thrive with Friends” (C-P, April 14), I couldn’t help but be upset by implications that were not only disturbing but also damaging.
Throughout the article, the subtext suggested students in Camden can’t get a quality education in their home city and they need to escape to Moorestown to receive one.
This is wholly untrue. I worked as a teacher in the Camden City School District for the 2013-14 school year before budget cuts eliminated my position. Almost without exception, every teacher, administrator and staff member in my building was talented, diligent, committed and successful in providing students with a top-quality education. They didn’t need to go to white, affluent Moorestown to get this stellar education; they got it every day in their own neighborhood.
Moreover, the entire premise of the article is flawed and dangerous: That success by Camden students and students in similar environments is noteworthy in its rarity. Nothing could be further from the truth. Having worked in Camden and currently working in Trenton, success happens every day. Students are successful far more often than not.
The narrative that success is rare for these students is wrong, and it perpetuates a false stereotype, leading to poor self-esteem for the students who remain in Camden.
The problem of dropouts and academic underperformance in Camden is rooted in issues far beyond anything that happens in school. Rather, any school-related problems are the result of severe poverty. The solution to that, clearly, isn’t four scholarships to Moorestown Friends.