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http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-lilevi0617,0,5689952.story?track=rss
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Schools chief says test question insults Levittown
It's Levittown, NOT Shantytown, and local school officials want to make sure the state's test writers know the difference.
In a stinging letter to the state, Levittown schools Superintendent Herman Sirois characterizes a question on its latest eighth-grade social studies test as "derogatory, totally unnecessary and inaccurate" in its use of the community's name. The state's multiple-choice test was administered two weeks ago to 200,000 students statewide.
The question, No. 34, shows a photo of clustered shacks labeled "A Shantytown during the Depression." Students were asked whether such areas were known as tenements, ghettos, Levittowns or Hoovervilles. (Correct answer: Hoovervilles.)
"My community's insulted," said Sirois, who has called a news conference this afternoon to press his argument.
A department spokesman, Tom Dunn, said Monday that his agency regretted any misunderstanding. "We meant no disrespect for Levittown or those who live there," he said.
Many educators outside Levittown consider the issue overblown.
Gloria Sesso, president of the Long Island Council for the Social Studies, notes that questions on the eighth-grade test are written by experienced teachers, who typically tell students that Levittown was built to provide adequate housing for returning veterans of the Second World War. As such, she says, Levittown was clearly included on the test as the opposite of a shantytown, not the equivalent.
"Levittown is usually mentioned as an example of the quintessential suburban place," Sesso added. "This certainly was not meant to be derogatory to anybody."
Still, question No. 34 has become a common topic of conversation in this middle-class community of more than 50,000 residents, where pejorative labels have historically rankled.
In the late 1940s, many who opposed Levittown's construction predicted the development would become a slum. Ultimately, critics were proved wrong; small Levittown capes that initially sold for $6,990 have since been expanded and resold for prices now exceeding $350,000, according to Multiple Listing Service of Long Island.
Lori Leistman, a local resident and mother of an eighth-grader, said that she considers many Levittown homes beautiful and resents the state's test question. "I think it was a put-down," she said. "Levittown has gotten a bad rap."
It's Levittown, NOT Shantytown, and local school officials want to make sure the state's test writers know the difference.
In a stinging letter to the state, Levittown schools Superintendent Herman Sirois characterizes a question on its latest eighth-grade social studies test as "derogatory, totally unnecessary and inaccurate" in its use of the community's name. The state's multiple-choice test was administered two weeks ago to 200,000 students statewide.
The question, No. 34, shows a photo of clustered shacks labeled "A Shantytown during the Depression." Students were asked whether such areas were known as tenements, ghettos, Levittowns or Hoovervilles. (Correct answer: Hoovervilles.)
"My community's insulted," said Sirois, who has called a news conference this afternoon to press his argument.
A department spokesman, Tom Dunn, said Monday that his agency regretted any misunderstanding. "We meant no disrespect for Levittown or those who live there," he said.
Many educators outside Levittown consider the issue overblown.
Gloria Sesso, president of the Long Island Council for the Social Studies, notes that questions on the eighth-grade test are written by experienced teachers, who typically tell students that Levittown was built to provide adequate housing for returning veterans of the Second World War. As such, she says, Levittown was clearly included on the test as the opposite of a shantytown, not the equivalent.
"Levittown is usually mentioned as an example of the quintessential suburban place," Sesso added. "This certainly was not meant to be derogatory to anybody."
Still, question No. 34 has become a common topic of conversation in this middle-class community of more than 50,000 residents, where pejorative labels have historically rankled.
In the late 1940s, many who opposed Levittown's construction predicted the development would become a slum. Ultimately, critics were proved wrong; small Levittown capes that initially sold for $6,990 have since been expanded and resold for prices now exceeding $350,000, according to Multiple Listing Service of Long Island.
Lori Leistman, a local resident and mother of an eighth-grader, said that she considers many Levittown homes beautiful and resents the state's test question. "I think it was a put-down," she said. "Levittown has gotten a bad rap."
Quite a funny story for those not involved (and many who are...)
I heard this on the radio and people's responses were funny.
"It wasn't an intentional insult. IT'S JUST A QUESTION!"
I love her defense of the claim that it wasn't intentional. It was just a question! Obviously questions can't be insulting. I'm going up to her tomorrow and asking her "When's the last time you enjoyed having sex in exchange for money?"
