Segregation in New Jersey Schools

Tomorrow is too late! A statewide youth-led town hall, led by Rev. Sammy Arroyo and the group, Salvation and Social Justice, will be hosted on April 8 at 5:00-6:30 p.m. to discuss the problems that segregated schools in New Jersey bring.

For the past two months a group of 26 students from high schools throughout the state got together on a weekly basis to discuss the problems of our highly segregated schools. They discussed issues on policing, discipline, curriculum, representation at the faculty and administration levels, the digital divide, and many other issues affecting them in their education.

Bishop Schol on behalf of GNJ has provided a three-hour deposition about the case with the State Attorney General’s office, attorney’s from school boards, charter schools, renaissance schools lawyers.

To register for this important dialogue, click here.

Segregation in our schools is a social justice issue for United Methodists.

We believe that every person has the right to education.  We also believe that the responsibility for education of the young rests with the family, faith communities and the government.  In society this function can best be fulfilled through public policies that ensure access for all persons to free public elementary and secondary schools and to post secondary schools of their choice. – Social Principles ¶164.E

We must address with prayerful determination the issues of race and class that threaten both public education and democracy in America…. Local churches and all communities of faith must become better informed about the needs of the public schools in their communities and in the country as a whole. – 2016 Book of Resolutions, #3165, “United States Public Education and the Church”

Although New Jersey is an extremely diverse State, segregation by race, ethnicity and class in New Jersey’s public schools is among the worst in the United States. The Uncovered Dish Christian Leadership Podcast sat down with former Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court Gary Stein and Bishop John Schol of the United Methodists of Greater New Jersey to discuss why desegregation of NJ schools matters and what we as United Methodists can do to help.

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast

1. The Coalition for Diverse and Inclusive Schools
2. NJSpotlight Interactive Map on NJ School Diversity
3. This American Life Podcast: “The Problem We All Live With – Part One”

• Millions Of U.S. Children Go To Racially And Economically Segregated Schools | Click here to read NPR story
• This Supreme Court Case Made School District Lines A Tool For Segregation | Click here to read NPR story