Five Towns Article in Newsday

The article that was in the works when I wrote this post, about some questions the reporter covering the story had asked the editor of the local Jewish paper, has been published. Kudos to the reporter, Carol Eisenberg, who seems to have done her research thoroughly, and, in my opinion, presented an accurate and fair representation of the very real tensions that exist due to the shift in demographics here in the Five Towns.

The question I have is, why is this such a big story? The Orthodox migration is no different from other migrations of visible ethnic groups who make their move from the city to the suburbs. I presume that the added drama of the "Jew vs. Jew" angle makes what is really just a typical demographic shift a more tempting story line.

Update: The first article linked above was aparently one of a series of three articles on the tensions in the Five Towns. Here is one about the Public School board and election conflict that I have been following closely. Also overall, pretty balanced, though there are some quotes that I can't see as anything but combative, such as these two, by a husband-and-wife team who have been known to be a loud advocate of the budget and voting for the "Public school candidates":

"Basically, I feel like they are trying to make us extinct," said Annette Robbins of North Woodmere, a Lawrence High School alumna and a vocal public school advocate. She is the mother of two boys, one a third-grader and the other about to start school, and her anxiety and anger surface quickly when she considers the future of the district.

"We were here first. Why are you trying to take over?" she said. "I hope they do the right thing, but I think the right thing to them and the right thing to us are two different things."

and:

"It's an us-versus-them situation," said Annette Robbins' husband, Jordan. He shrugged. "It is what it is. We didn't make it that way. It's the Orthodox against the public school people."

"They are trying to make us extinct"? "We were here first"? "It's the Orthodox against the public school people"? In addition to being wrong, these quotes, in contrast to every quote that was obtained from members of the private school community, are just a continuation of the rhetoric I've grown used to seeing from some (but by no means all) members of the public school community - both here in my comment threads and elsewhere. Not exactly the bridge-building the community so sorely needs.

The third piece is basically a feel-good piece about some Orthodox and non-Orthodox students attending a local public school together, and how they manage to coexist peacefully.

Update II: Another point that I missed when skimming the second article is, according to a source, this factual error right here:

Two sides to numbers' story

Look at the numbers, private school parents say. They speak for themselves.

Lawrence spends more than $24,000 per pupil - among the highest in Nassau County and more than Garden City, Jericho or Manhasset - and its academic achievement doesn't rank as high as those districts.

Look closer, district officials argue. That number doesn't tell the whole story.

Most districts don't have so many private school students. The district says that artificially inflates its per-pupil spending, which also includes transportation, special education and textbook costs for private school students. State law requires school districts provide those services for private school students.

The State's per/student spending costs do not seem to factor in the private school transportation, textbook, and special education costs. If they did, the number would be closer to $27,000 per student - not the $24,000 number as reported by the state and repeated in the article. (Special Education students that attend private schools are counted in both the private and public school enrollment numbers, according to a source) That discrepancy seems to account for the private school's share of the pie, belying the reporter's claims in the article. If anyone has any information to the contrary, please feel free to e-mail me or comment, but it appears that the figures are pretty self-explanatory.