Volume LXXI, Number 8
Summer Camp Section Pages 21-29 Princeton Animal Control Officer Arrested On Sexual Assault Charge . . . . . . . 7 Richardson Chamber Players Present Program of English Music . . . . . 17 PU Women’s Hockey Will Host ECACH Quarterfinals . . . . . . . 32 PHS Boys’ Track Takes 3rd in Group 4 Meet . . 35
Friendly Warriors: Tenor Sax Legends Wardell Gray and Dexter Gordon Make Black History in Post-War L .A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 19 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Classified Ads. . . . . . . 41 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Music/Theater . . . . . . 12 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 7 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 41 Service Directory . . . . 40 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Despite Suspension, Trump Executive Order Continues to Shock Shock waves continue to reverberate through academic, scholarly, and scientific communities, even though the White House executive order of January 27, 2017, banning entrance to the U.S. for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries for 90 days, all refugees for 120 days, and Syrian refugees indefinitely, has been temporarily suspended by federal court order. The Institute for Advanced Study has issued several statements of concern and last Thursday joined nearly 200 professional scientific, engineering and education societies, national associations, and universities in signing a letter written by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in opposition to the order. “We are taking the current political climate and its incursion into academic freedom very seriously,” stated IAS Director Robbert Dijkgraaf. “The Institute is deeply committed to protecting the integrity of its fundamental mission — to provide a free and open environment for curiosity-driven research in the sciences and humanities. We will continue to advance knowledge without borders and prejudice, and to act as a strong advocate when this is challenged.” The AAAS letter to President Trump warned that the executive order “has profound implications for diplomatic, humanitarian, and national security interests, in part because of the negative impact on U.S. science and engineering capacity.” The letter went on to express concern that the order, in restricting travel for scientists and engineers in industry and academia, “will reduce U.S. science and engineering output to the detriment of America and Americans.” Citing the advantages of openness, transparency, and the free flow of ideas and people in helping to make America a leader in science, education and innovation, the letter went on to insist that “the U.S. science and technology enterprise must continue to capitalize on the international and multicultural environment within which it operates.” The AAAS letter further contended that “the executive order will discourage many of the best and brightest international students, scholars, engineers, and scientists from studying and working, attending Continued on Page 8
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Wednesday, February 22, 2017
More Flare-Ups Intensify PCS Expansion Dispute
Acting State Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington is scheduled to render a decision by early March on the Princeton Charter School (PCS) request to add 76 students. Both PCS and Princeton Public Schools (PPS) face related law suits in the state courts over violations of the open public meeting act (OPMA, the sunshine law); both PCS and PPS have filed opposition statements, responses, and additional statements with the commissioner in making their cases, some before and some after the January 31 deadline for public comment; the conflict has raged in the media, with many letters to the editor and paid ads on both sides of the argument; and the commissioner has received petitions and thousands of letters from both sides, as well as a resolution from Princeton Town Council opposing expansion. And in the latest flare-up, the Latino Coalition of New Jersey, based in Freehold, claimed, in a February 16 letter to Ms. Harrington, that the Charter School has violated civil rights laws and “has fostered a segregated learning environment in Princeton with regards to race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, English language proficiency, and students with special needs.”
The PCS application for expansion includes a request to implement a weighted lottery to help increase enrollment of economically disadvantaged students, but the Latino Coalition charges that such a lottery is not likely to be effective and that PCS has no strategy for increasing the number of special needs students or students with limited English proficiency. In what Latino Coalition Director Frank Argote-Freyre stated is their sixth letter
to the commissioner without response, he goes on to assert that “the persistent and egregious segregation” in enrollment at PCS suggests “that the school’s environment is hostile to students with special needs, students who are English language learners, students who are low income, and students who are black and Latino.” Citing DOE statistics showing that PCS serves a significantly smaller population Continued on Page 4
Future of PARCC Remains Uncertain After Assembly Ed. Committee Vote The beleaguered PARCC test suffered another blow last week when the State Assembly Education Committee voted — 10 yes, one abstention — to support a resolution that would strike down regulations adopted by the State Board of Education in August 2016 that made PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) a graduation requirement. The standardized assessment has been the target of much criticism from local educators, teachers’ unions, and community members, with many parents in Princeton choosing for their children,
particularly at the high school level, to opt out of taking the tests. Princeton Public Schools Superintendent Steve Cochrane applauded the Education Committee decision. “I’m heartened that the legislature is looking at, and choosing to focus on, what’s in the best interests of students,” he said. He went on to note that fewer and fewer states use the PARCC and that it has not been shown to increase students’ learning. Legislators received hundreds of phone calls and more than 5500 emails urging Continued on Page 10
CELEBRATING THE FOURTH: Members of the Hun School boys’ hockey team celebrate with their student cheering section after Hun edged Princeton High 4-3 in the Mercer County Tournament championship game last Friday evening at the Mercer County Park rink. It marked the fourth straight county crown for the Raiders. See page 34 for more details on Hun’s win. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)