Dorothy Philbin | CNBNews Contributor

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ–New Jersey 101.5 announced recently that the graduation exam will be made harder starting with this year’s junior class.  Fear not.  Despite all the panic there is really nothing to worry about. 

 The State Board of Education wants the passing grade to be set at 750 but the state Department of Education feels that score is too high and wants it lowered to 725, once again dumbing down our schools’ standards.  Even state Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex said “725 is just way too low. It makes me cringe…725 for me I think takes New Jersey [sic], lowers our standards.”  

Continue reading “THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY:New Jersey Dumbing Down Our Schools’ Standards” →

Dorothy Philbin | CNBNews

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (February 20, 2022)(CNBNews)In the past weeks I have been bringing attention to the deficiencies of our school system.  Most of the comments have been along the lines of surprise and in some cases, shock.  I only got one negative comment and that was from a former GHS teacher.  “Why are you trashing Gloucester?  STOP IT!”  How about “No as an answer?”

Continue reading “An Estimated 600 Students A Day Are AbsentTHE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Why Am I Trashing GHS?” →

Dorothy Philbin | CNBNews

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (February 17, 2022)–The easy answer is “No.”  Let’s look at the Pre-K (3 and 4 year old) program first.  The state pays 100% for the Pre-K program for all Abbott districts.  But what are they paying for?  After 25 years in education, I can tell you

Research shows that an estimated $19 million per year is being spent on students who just don’t come to school. (Pinterest image)

“nothing.”  It is a babysitting service that is funded as education.  Even the Department of Education admits “In 2012 [DOE] determined that score gains in the Abbott districts were no higher than score gains in high poverty” non-Abbott districts.”*

Continue reading “THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Several 100 Students Absent Daily in the Gloucester City School District” →

DOROTHY PHILBIN | CNBNews

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (February 10, 2022)(CNBNewnet)Last week when my Social Security check came, I bought double of everything in the grocery store.  I may go back this weekend and do the same.  Why?  What does grocery shopping have to do with Canada?

Even if you have been following the Canadian truckers’ convoy online you probably haven’t gotten the full story.  As was the case in America, truckers, health care workers, police, and the military were considered heroes during the pandemic.  A year later many of these same people are losing their jobs if they refuse to get vaccinated, regardless of the reason.  Canadians, however, are going a step farther.  They are not protesting having to get vaccinated, most are vaccinated, they are protesting their right to make their own decisions.

Continue reading “THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: What does grocery shopping have to do with Canada?” →

The final aspect of American education that we will study is the Scholastic Aptitude Test. 

Dorothy Philbin | Exclusive for CNBNewsnet 

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (FEBRUARY 9, 2022)(CNBNEWSnet)–These tests, also known as College Boards, have been in existence for 96 years, since 1926.  They are standardized tests traditionally used by colleges and taken by about 1.5 million students.*  Some colleges are starting to rely less on SAT scores and more on the student’s progress in school and out-of-school activities. Students now have the option of sending the scores to colleges or not.

As has been the case with so many aspects of education, the SATs have also been dumbed down or, as the company prefers to call it “fully redesigned” in 2016 and the results were seen in the test scores of 2017.  There are also reports that the tests will be “redesigned” again in 2024.**  Once again they are supposed to be shorter, easier, and completely online – FOR THE USA!  The article doesn’t mention making the tests easier for the 25 other countries which scored higher than we did in worldwide educational surveys.

Continue reading “THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: The Scholastic Aptitude Test Known As SAT (Part four)” →

Gloucester High School, 1300 Market Street, Gloucester City, NJ (CNBNewsnet photo credit)…The local school district became an Abbott District in 1997. Since that time the school district has received millions of dollars, if not more, from the residents of New Jersey. 

YOUR MONEY: After the original ruling in 1985, New Jersey increased spending such that Abbott district students received 22% more per pupil (at $20,859) vs. non-Abbott districts (at $17,051) in 2011.^[3] 60% of New Jersey’s education aid goes to the Abbotts.^[4] Throughout the state there are 31 Abbott Districts.  Despite 40 years of increased funding, the gaps between Abbott Schools and the suburban counterparts has widened significantly.^[6](source Wikipedia)

Dorothy Philbin | CNBNews Contributor

GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (February 8, 2022)(CNBNewsnet)–Most Gloucester City residents, especially those with children, know that our school district is an Abbott District.  Many may know that with the Abbott designation comes a lot of money.  Our town couldn’t afford to provide the level of education or the buildings we have without the state’s Abbott designation and funds.

The history behind “being an Abbott District” goes back to the 1980s and the various court cases continue to today.  In Camden, NJ a former high school graduate by the name of Ralph Abbott was arrested and in the process that followed it was discovered that he couldn’t read a word.  Naturally, the next question is “how did he graduate from high school if he can’t read.”  We all know the answer – he was pushed through.  Years ago it was called “social promotion.”

Continue reading “THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY: A LOOK AT ABBOTT SCHOOL DISTRICTS IN NEW JERSEY” →

(The SECOND of a four-part CNBNEWS  series Dumbing Down American Education)

Should students be able to do this?  Are they learning as much by taking AP courses online as they would in a college classroom?  No, absolutely not!  High school is high school and college is college.  They are different.  They are not interchangeable.   Internet courses are not of the same quality of classroom courses.  We know that as a result of closing schools during the pandemic.  When so many students are in an Advanced Placement program either the school is exceptional or the criteria for the AP program are not college level.

The Advanced Placement program was started in 1955 but didn’t get much traction until the late 1980s into the 1990s.  At that time suddenly every parent I knew was bragging that his/her children were in an Honors Program or Advance Placement.  Do I have that many exceptional friends?  I don’t think so.  

Continue reading “THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY …(X)Advanced Placement Courses–Part Two” →

Dorothy Philbin | CNBNews Contributor 

Back “in the day” (1960s) the United States had the best educational system in the world.  Even if we allow for personal/country pride we were definitely in the top five.  Where are we today?  It depends on the survey one reads.  We are somewhere between 13th., behind Slovenia, and 36th waaay behind Bulgaria.  How many American students can find either country on a map?

What happened?  Is it just Gloucester City or the country as a whole?  The answer to the second question is easy.  No, it is not just Gloucester City.  It is the country as a whole.  We are spending an unbelievable amount of money for our kids to rank between 13th and 36th.

The biggest excuse I heard when getting my Masters in Education at St. Joseph’s University was that the Russians sent a satellite (Sputnik – 1958) into space before the United States.  That was more than 50 years in the past and Sputnik self-destructed after three months.  America followed with Telstar (including a song) in 1962 and we were successful.  Instead of using this as a classroom lesson of taking your time and doing a project correctly, the educational geniuses decided to reinvent the wheel.  How many of us with gray hair remember “new math?”  My class was the last of the “old math” students.  After that parents could no longer help their kids with homework.  Parents knew that 7×5=35 but they couldn’t explain the philosophy behind the new way of doing things.

As young as I was (7th grade) I didn’t understand.  After World War II both America and Russia made offers to the German scientists that they couldn’t refuse.   It was really the German scientists who built Sputnik  and Telstar – not the Americans or Russians.  No one thought to ask the Germans how they learned.  Despite the evil done by some Germans, the average student learned well.

I taught English as a Second Language (ESL) in Philadelphia and I always asked my students about schools in their native countries.  In China the names of the students who didn’t do “well enough” were published on a board and they were embarrassed in front of their classmates.  No one would have thought that was funny, especially when the student got home.  In most West African countries education was a privilege, not a right.  If a student got two questions wrong on a test he was beat two times at school.  Then you went home!  In Cambodia (legally Kampuchia) failure is not acceptable, neither is “getting by.”  Only success is acceptable. 

When I looked at the list of countries which educated its students better than the United States, I found several which were legally bilingual:  Singapore (3 languages,) Canada (2,) Belgium (3,) Ireland (2,) Switzerland (3,) and Israel (2.)  No other country coddles its students the way America does.  Every other country prepares its students for a world which is tough and not fair.   

By Dorothy Philbin | CNBNews Contributor

Store Closings in 2022

Maybe there is hope for mom and pop stores if they can just hold on long enough.

We’ve been doing a lot of talking and worrying, with cause, about “mom and pop” stores and if they can survive by the time the pandemic ends.  During this time, however, we haven’t been looking at big box stores and those which have been in operations for more than a century.  There is always “good news/bad news” in issues such as this.  The good news/bad news is that if major mall stores close, the mom and pop stores pick up the slack – if they can survive that long.

Some chain stores are closing completely, others are just changing their mode of operations.  Is there a street corner in any city without a Starbucks?   There will be more in the next year or two.  The coffee store will be closing about 400 full-service stores but will be opening about 700 drive-throughs.  You will soon be able to buy a $4 cup of coffee without getting out of your car.  That expensive coffee made a 21.6% profit for the company.

Continue reading “THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY:We Worry About “Mom and Pop” Stores Surviving (VI)” →

_{Dorothy Philbin | CNBNews Contributor}

Part II

Our federal administration is not making out very well in court but this decision was predictable.  Today Federal District Judge Mathew Schelp overruled the federal rule that all health care workers in facilities which accept Medicare and Medicaid (basically all) must be vaccinated.

A year ago these health care workers were our heroes; this year they are losing their jobs.  The same is true of most first responders.  In many, if not most of these cases the workers aren’t against the vaccine but don’t want the government dictating what chemicals go into their bodies.  Others have medical conditions which may have a negative effect – we just don’t have enough information yet.  Finally, there is that pesky ole document, the United States Constitution which prohibits the government from interfering with religious beliefs.

Continue reading “The Story Behind The Story: To Vax or Not to Vax (V)” →