Dear Editor:
I am writing because I cannot believe the state of Hoboken politics and it has now reached an all-time low!
In last week’s Reporter, State Assemblyman Ruben Ramos submitted a letter. In that letter he referred to the John’s Hopkins student population as under-achievers. Assemblyman Ramos stated “In the Johns Hopkins program, that instructor has organized a curriculum that has enabled students previously non-achieving in math to not only achieve, but thirst for knowledge and pursue their dreams.”
He obviously does not know that children in the John’s Hopkins program must test two or more years ahead of grade level in order to enter the program. Students in the Johns Hopkins program are considered gifted and talented. Parents and educators of gifted and talented children have been fighting for years to get appropriate services and education for their children.
The letter he submitted was in support of two local teachers who are not receiving tenure. Apparently, one teacher was non-renewed due to Superintendent concerns and the other due to a new direction in the program. The district is establishing an entirely new expanded Gifted and Talented Program which is in addition to, not instead of the existing Johns Hopkins Program, as the current configuration does not comply with State Standards. In his zeal to oppose the new Superintendent, Mr. Ramos’s felt the need to drag innocent children into the situation and has labeled them “under achievers”. By labeling our children as under achievers, he insults the children and their hard work. as well as their special educational needs. It also sets back the decade’s long effort by parents and educators to ensure that gifted and talented youth live a normal life and receive the education they deserve.
I don’t know what is more shocking, that Assemblyman Ramos (also a teacher) is woefully unaware of the rigorous program he claims to defend or that he would publicly disparage a group of hardworking students in the Hoboken Public School.
Shame on you, Mr. Ramos. You owe the children enrolled in the Johns Hopkins program a sincere apology
Signed,
A parent of a John Hopkins student