Burying a really good story

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You'll really have to search for one of the best stories in The Record of Woodland Park today. Some knuckle-headed news editor -- probably under orders from clueless head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes -- decided a bid by Orthodox Jews to win election to the Teaneck school board is of little interest to anyone.

Two elements on the front page don't belong there: a big baseball photo and Toyota halting the sale of a low-selling luxury SUV. They tell readers there is no news today. (Photo: Teaneck High School.)

But in the back of Local, at the bottom of Page L-7, Staff Writer Joseph Ax reports three Orthodox Jews who send their children to yeshiva are running against three school board incumbents. The challengers are concerned about low test scores despite Teaneck spending more money than other districts, the story says. 

Critics of the Jewish candidates say their only motive is cutting school expenses and their property taxes. There is no mention of studies showing how minority children do better in an integrated setting than in one where parents pull their kids out of public schools. Today's story also doesn't give the percentage of minority and non-minority public-school students in Teaneck. Maybe Ax is doing a follow.

When Orthodox Jewish candidates attempted a takeover of the school board in Englewood, the story ran on Page 1, largely due to my nagging from the news copy desk. I lived in Englewood at the time and my son was attending the segregated public schools there, and I passed on campaign material sent to my home to the Englewood reporter. I also edited the story and wrote the headlines.

The Jewish slate was defeated. Yet, Englewood's elementary and middle schools are still segregated, which you might not know from the recent, sporadic coverage of that city.


Looking for Hackensack news in the former Hackensack daily? Sucker.