### Whitney Davidson-Hinz

Whitney Davidson-Hinz has wanted to teach history 
since high school, crediting one of her own teachers as 
the inspiration behind her choice of career. 


“[She] changed my life and really inspired me ... I decided 
I wanted to do for others what she had done for me ... I had 
originally thought about history as a collection of facts and 
dates, and [my teacher] encouraged me to think about it as 
a discipline, the craft of a historian [as well as] a contested 
narrative that people fight over,” said Davidson-Hinz.


Over her past 20 years as a teacher, Davidson-Hinz has 
applied her craft across the country in places as wideranging as California, Iowa, and New York. However, she 
sees the Princeton community as uniquely encouraging 
towards developing meaningful connections between 
teachers and students.


“In speaking with many, many people in this community, 
I got the sense that this was a place that had a lot of shared 
values with me in terms of my own approach to teaching 
... on day one, emphasizing the importance of developing 
relationships with kids and keeping that central to my 
work was very inspiring, and you don’t always hear that,” 
said Davidson-Hinz.


This year, Davidson-Hinz will be teaching U.S. History 
I and AP U.S. History. In the classroom, she strives to 
encourage open discussion and careful source analysis, 
emphasizing the role history class plays in developing 
essential life skills.


“The skills we are reinforcing in history are critical 
toward any number of aspects of living a good life ... that 
would include the development of critical thinking skills, 
our media landscape [being] saturated with AI as well 
as misinformation ... you need to be able to distinguish 
between what’s accurate and what’s inaccurate. I think 
history [also] teaches empathy as we learn about other 
ways of life ... it gives you a way to think about why things 
are the way they are today,” said Davidson-Hinz.


Davidson-Hinz is also a singer-songwriter, and enjoys 
performing her original compositions at Open Mic nights. 
She also frequently visits national parks with her family 
and loves collecting stamps at each one for her national 
park passport.

### Prutha Patel

As a self-described adventurer and thrill-seeker, Prutha 
Patel’s newest adventure brings her from Minnesota to PHS’s 
math department to teach Geometry and Pre-Calculus 
Accelerated. Patel joins PHS after two years of teaching at 
Albert Lea Area schools in Albert Lea, Minnesota, where 
she served as both a technology teacher and robotics coach. 


“Two years ago, I was a first-year teacher and I accepted a 
role [to] teach technology instead of math. I really enjoyed 
teaching technology, [and] I was also teaching designing, 
robotics, 3D designing, [and] Python,” said Patel. “My 
students were very interested in robotics, [so] I decided to 
start a club and coach them [for robotics competitions].”


Growing up, Patel was inspired to become a teacher by 
her father, who was an educator himself. However, as an 
undergraduate at the University of Minnesota, Patel decided 
to pursue computer engineering — but later realized that 
path was not for her.


“I did take some computer classes in college, but I ended 
up liking the math part of computer science and not the 
computer part of it. So that’s why I decided to just major 
in math and become a teacher,” said Patel. 


Although Patel chose to teach at PHS for its learning 
environment, she also recognizes a certain competition 
between students that was not particularly evident at her 
former school.


“For students [at PHS], they are constantly looking 
for that competition. I think that’s the mindset that they 
have: ‘Oh, if my friend took Accelerated Geometry, I have 
to take that as well’,” said Patel. “Everyone’s different, and 
just because your friend is ahead doesn’t mean that ... you 
have to [be] as well.”


Thus, Patel hopes to create a more collaborative and 
engaging environment in her classes. 


“Oftentimes, it is working with someone and not having 
to submit any formal paper. Instead, [students are] working 
with someone on a board where ... you just have to write an 
answer. So [students are] freely thinking — and whatever 
is in their mind, they’re writing it down. It just helps them 
look at math in a different perspective.”

### Jessica Zhang

 Jessica Zhang, PHS’s newest art teacher, says she could 
have predicted half of her title — “teacher” — ever since 
she was a kid.


“I always knew that I was going to be a teacher because 
my parents always said that I was very bossy growing up,” 
said Zhang.


However, the “art” part would have come as a surprise 
to a younger Zhang.


“I was really bad at [art] when I was a kid — it was 
something that was forced onto me, so I never really liked 
it. But then I had some really good teachers in high school 
that really helped nurture my creative expression, and that’s 
where that passion came,” said Zhang.


This year, Zhang will be teaching four sections of Studio 
Art I, the introductory visual arts course at PHS which is 
the prerequisite for all other classes in the program. For 
her, one of the main attractions of PHS was its strong art 
program. 


“I was very impressed [by] the Numina Gallery and I 
was very inspired and ... very motivated to work here,” said 
Zhang. “I get to develop a lot of one-on-one relationships 
with students [and] we do deeper engagement with the 
work rather than the fast pace of elementary school.”


Zhang is a recent graduate of The College of New Jersey 
and was previously an elementary school teacher in the 
South Brunswick school district. For her, the switch, while 
noticeable, has been worth it.


“I [taught] in elementary school before this, [and] it’s very 
different. I really like [PHS] so far because I get to develop 
a lot of one-on-one relationships with students, [and] we 
do deeper engagement with the work rather than like the 
fast pace of elementary school,” said Zhang.


In her free time, Zhang hopes to continue her various 
hobbies, both artistic — stained glass, working with yarn 
and fabric — and not, like cooking and long walks in the 
park. However, her biggest passion is her students.


“[I’m] passionate about seeing students’ confidence as 
they become more familiar and they develop skills in art,” 
said Zhang. “ I would say [it’s] always [about] the connec- tions that I get to make with students.” grow ... [it’s] always 
[about] the connections that I get to make with students.” 

Photo: Charley Hu


Zhang helps Markintosh Barthelemy ’29 with negative 
space drawings in Studio Art I. 

PHS new teacher profiles

It is 6:40 p.m. on a Tuesday. One student is writing
an English essay, and another is bagging groceries at
McCaffrey’s. Both go to Princeton High School. Both
have tests tomorrow. But only one is getting paid
$15.49 an hour and learning how to handle a line of
20 customers before the shift ends.

These scenes, playing out across America every
weekday evening, expose a fundamental disconnect
in how we think about teenage development. While
education leaders debate apprenticeships and career
pathways, they’ve largely ignored the millions of
students already bridging the gap between classroom
and workplace every day.

Statistics reveal a troubling trend: teen employment
has plummeted from 60 percent of 16- to 19-year-olds
in 1979 to just 36.9 percent today, with projections
showing it could drop even further in the future. The
U.S. Department of Labor attributes this decline partly
to “increasing academic demands” and the fact that
“high school coursework has become more strenuous.”

For high schoolers who work, school is just one
part of the day — and sometimes the easier part. Time
management is not just a bullet point on a resume
anymore; it is a skill you sharpen at a cash register or
in the back of a kitchen, while juggling shift changes
and deadlines.

In fact, working during high school not only
teaches you things that school doesn’t, but it also
reinforces skills used in academic settings, such
as responsibility, resilience, and problem solving.
According to the Center for Law and Social Policy,
“Youth — especially those who are black, Hispanic
or economically disadvantaged — who have some
employment experience while in school are less likely
to drop out than those who do not.” Critics worry that
working students sacrifice their education, but this
assumes that sitting in a classroom is always more
valuable than learning through experience. However,
the key isn’t whether students should work or not, but
how they manage the balance.

“If I hear a student saying they’re not sleeping
and look tired, I tell them to dial back. Your mental
health isn’t worth it,” said PHS college counselor
Nipurna Shah.

Matthew Ocampo ’27, a boys varsity wrestler, works
at a local coding institute — the same place where he
first learned programming. Ocampo has learned to
navigate competing demands with strategic thinking
and problem solving skills.

“I only go on weekends. If I have a sports meet, I let
my boss know and shift things around,” said Ocampo.
“I don’t really feel burnt out — I can usually feel good.”

The ability to coordinate work, athletics, and
academics demonstrates exactly the kind of executive
functioning skills that students should develop in
their formative years. Yet, we often keep ourselves
exclusively to the classroom; it’s important to also
work on the concrete skills that will determine our
successes later on.

High school students who work aren’t falling
behind — they’re getting ahead. They’re learning
time management not as a theoretical concept but as
a daily necessity. They’re developing communication
skills not through roleplaying exercises but through
real interactions with real consequences. Yes, balance
matters. But the idea that academic work is inherently
more valuable than paid work is outdated thinking
that doesn’t serve our students well.

photo: Charley Hu

Seraina Wickart ’26 works at Bagel Nook in the Princeton Shopping Center.

The benefits of having a job

Following 23 years of dedication to her students, colleagues, and community,
veteran PHS teacher and Princeton-Cranbury community member Martha
Hayden is preparing to retire from
teaching. Throughout her career, Hayden
preferred real-world learning over textbook
instruction, developed Spanish exchange
trips to Peru and Cuba, and founded the
Cranbury Arts Council.


Hayden didn’t originally intend to pursue
teaching, but after her husband lost his job,
she started working at PHS to support their
family. For Hayden, teaching was a daunting
task at first, especially given the difficult
courses she was expected to teach.


“In the beginning, I really did not want
to be here ... I [originally] wanted to go to
teach fourth grade and then I was told ‘you
belong in the high school’ ... so the first year
was really hard because I was really nervous
... and I [wasn’t sure] if I could teach kids
that were older,” said Hayden.


However, a powerful personal experience
completely changed her perspective on
teaching. Hayden had a student who
refused to engage in class or with classwork.
But when he mentioned he wrote poetry,
she gave him an alternative assignment
and challenged him to write slam poetry
instead. Hayden was moved by his poetry,
and compiled it into a book for him.


 “Five years later, I was in the library
... and he tapped me on the shoulder. I
said,‘How are you?’ and he said, ‘I’m doing
really well. I’m a DJ for a radio station ...
I just wanted to come by to tell you that
you’re the only person that believed in me
... every time I feel bad about myself, I read
my book, and I know that I can make it,’”
said Hayden. “I think that was the turning
point for me to understand that the reason
why I was here as a teacher was not [just] to
teach Spanish, that there are other reasons
... bigger than ourselves.”


Hayden also founded and organized of
the foreign exchange trips between PHS
students and schools in Peru and Cuba.
Throughout the years, these trips began to
incorporate community service along with
cultural immersion.


“I honestly thought [the Cuba trip]
was really nice [and] it was a really great
experience. A lot of kids didn’t have toys
[and] we also brought supplies to the kids
in the schools — I thought this was a really
nice way to give back to the community,
especially because they need it so much.”
said Valen Roden ’26, Hayden’s former
student who attended the trip to Cuba.


Hayden emphasizes the fact that her
classroom is “textbook-free” and focuses
more on the applications of a language
rather than technical aspects. Instead of
relying on standardized lesson plans, she
designed a unique curriculum exploring
social issues and Latin American history.


“I don’t want to teach something that
they’re not going to like. I always tell the
kids you’re not going to get off a plane and
they’re not going to ask you to conjugate
the verb,” said Hayden. “They’re going to
ask you, what’s your country like? What do
you know about my country?”


Hayden also uses the arts to supplement
her teaching — for example, “Latinoamérica”
by Calle 13 is used to help teach Spanish IV
Advanced students about environmental
destruction in Latin America.


“Senora Hayden prompts us to connect
with Latin American culture outside of class
in various ways. The songs in particular
get me thinking about their origins and
Hispanic history when I’m listening to
them outside of school,” said Thomas
Basso ’27, a student in Hayden’s Spanish
IV Advanced class.


Outside of PHS, Hayden and a friend,
Susan Leson, created the Cranbury
Arts Council around 30 years ago —
a non-profit volunteer organization
dedicated to enriching the cultural and
artistic experiences of the community by
providing arts programs, workshops, and
performances.


“I took a pottery class, and I was so good
at it, I couldn’t believe it. And then I’m
thinking, if I’m good, can you imagine how
many people are good at different arts, but
they don’t know it,” said Hayden. “So we
started taking classes, and I said to [Susan],
‘Imagine how many people don’t know that
they have a gift ... so why don’t we start an
Arts Council in Cranbury?’”


In retirement, she plans to spend time
with her family and continue organizing
exchange trips. Though Hayden is leaving
PHS, her impact on the languages
department and the whole community will
not be forgotten.


 “If I could say one thing to her, I would
say ‘Gracias por todo, Senora Hayden!’”
said Basso. “Your dedication to teaching is
something I will never forget, and I want
to know that each and every one of your
students are extremely fortunate to have
you as their teacher whether they know
it or not.” 

PHS Profile: Martha Hayden

One thousand people — including several Princeton High School students — gathered in Princeton’s Hinds Plaza on April 5th to protest the Trump administration as part of a nationwide “Hands Off” movement. PHS students cited a number of reasons for attending, ranging from concerns for LGBTQ rights, threats to the Department of Education, and the Trump administration’s disregard for humanity.

“It's selfish men and women, men especially, doing what serves their ego best — and what serves their pockets best. It's so infuriating that we've given them enough power to actually be able to hurt people on a mass scale,” said Rica Eleches-Lipsitz ’25, who attended the protest.
Indivisible Princeton, one of the main organizers of the event, noted on their website that one of the core principle of the protest was nonviolence, and encouraged all participants to de-escalate potential confrontations. However, attendees described a strong sense of collective energy and enthusiasm at the protest, which was part of the largest national movement so far against Trump’s second administration.

Lia Eleches-Lipsitz ’27 attended the protest with her family and a sign that read, “The only minority that's destroying this country are the billionaires.’ A different protester held up a sign that read, “We the people have power over the people in power.” 

“It was empowering to see all these other people. It's really easy to read news articles and feel like you're by yourself with your rage, but it's nice to see [that] together, we actually might be able to make some sort of difference,” said Lia Eleches-Lipsitz.

Maya Halcomb ’25 echoed this desire for change.

“In Princeton specifically, it's important that we are all coming out and leveraging our privilege. Even though we're [in] a progressive town, I feel like there’s not a lot of movement that happens, so it's important that we're super active in the change — and I think our privilege can do a lot to change things,” said Halcomb.

Princeton University students organized a smaller rally that began at Firestone Library, before joining the main event. The university, along with several other Ivy League institutions, recently saw federal funding cuts, but Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber has continued to speak out against Trump.

“[Trump] kept $210,000,000 of Princeton’s grant funding last week, and we believe that research is valuable and that America can only be strong if its universities are strong,” said Isaac Barsoum, a freshman at Princeton University.

The event lasted around two hours, and featured several speakers, including U.S Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, whose congressional district includes Princeton.

“This is the most corrupt and incompetent — which might you know be helpful — administration in my lifetime,” said Watson Coleman. “This administration chooses to take very important resources from those who really need them so that they can make their greedy folks richer. These people have so much money that if they even just shared a little bit of it — tithe to the poor — we wouldn't have poverty.”

Though most PHS students can’t vote, Rica Eleches-Lipsitz urged students to engage themselves in politics, whether through protest or education.

“[We] should stay involved in politics, even if it's not a ton. Just enough to know who to vote for, enough to stay engaged,” said Rica Eleches-Lipsitz. “You don't have to make it  your life — and you shouldn't, because we need to breathe — but at the same time, we have to keep being there for each other.”


Photo: Charley Hu


Indivisible Princeton organizers led chants of “Hands-Off!” and “The People, United!”

1,000 attend “Hands-Off” event in Princeton as part of national anti-Trump protest

The PHS community celebrated the
18th annual Asian Fest on March 21, with
performances to showcase the diversity of
Asian culture. Featured events included
Chinese yo-yo, a rendition of the story of
Diwali, and cultural dances. PHS Mandarin
teacher Shwu-Fen Lin and students from
several of PHS’s language programs and
cultural clubs organized the event.
Asian Fest, the result of months of
collaboration and preperation, held
unique significance for each of the student
performers.


Jessica Zhang ’26 performed in both
C-pop (Chinese pop) and K-pop (Korean
pop) dance routines. For Zhang, Asian
Fest was an opportunity to discover how
different cultures express themselves
through the arts.


“I think music is one of the major
art styles that can best express a certain
culture because instruments, music, [and]
lyrics contain deep meanings [about each]
country’s history, [and] how they evolved
into the people they are,” said Zhang.


Lisa Jin ’25, a performer for the Japanese
Club, emphasized that Asian Fest was a way
to challenge stereotypes about the Asian
identity. In covering performances from
anime and K-pop, PHS students showcased
the cultural impact of all Asian traditions,
encouraging a wider understanding and
appreciation for their culture.


“We wanted to highlight how vibrant and
creative the community is,” said Jin. “I know
some people feel a bias [against] people who
watch anime [and] the anime culture[in
general]. After seeing our performance
and dancing, I want to show [people] that
we can actually do something that can be
shown in public.”


While these performances were a
celebration of Asian culture for the entire
PHS community, they also provided an
opportunity for Asian student performers
to connect to their own roots.


“I’m Korean, and so my Korean culture
has always been very important to me,
especially in America,” said Kyuyoung
Chung ’26, a performer for the Asian
American Club and Korean Cover Group
Club. “In Princeton, the Korean community
isn’t very large, so it’s nice [to] have this club
to be able to share that piece of that culture.”


In addition to the performances,
student-led clubs set up cultural stations
across the gym, offering food, lessons, and
traditional activities. Those who attended
could practice calligraphy, create origami,
experiment with musical instruments, and
participate in traditional games to connect
further with Asian cultures.


“I think one of the most important things
about Asian Fest is exploring, especially
since we have so many different stations,
food stalls, [and] game stations,” said Zey
Oral ’25, a performer for the Korean Club.
“You can explore [the] different aspects of
other people’s culture.”


To prepare, students spent hours at
rehearsal, developing activities, and
designing posters. The theme for Asian
Fest is chosen in November, followed by a
poster competition open to all artists at PHS.
Mandarin teacher Shwu-Fen Lin expressed
thanks for all those involved in the event.


“I really appreciate the students who
dedicated their time to this program.
Throughout the 18 years [of Asian Fest],
I’m just very surprised. Our students have
so many talents. They did really wonderful,”
said Lin.

Photo: Emily Kim

William Chen ’26, William Liao ’26, Carson Lew-Williams ’27, and Sebastian Su ’27 perform a traditional Chinese lion dance during the assembly.

PHS students reflect on Asian Fest

Princeton High School has introduced significant and jarring changes to its 2025–2026 science curriculum. Placement tests for AP Physics C have been eliminated, Accelerated Physics has replaced AP Physics 1 as a mandatory prerequisite, and students can no longer double up on a lab and non-lab science course. While these changes might seem minor, students wishing to explore their interest in science now face considerable uncertainty.
PHS physics teacher Oren Levi explained that the placement test was originally implemented due to the removal of AP Physics 1. “We wanted to give an opportunity to the students who would have been excluded from taking those classes because of the new requirements,” said Levy. “Now [that] the remaining students who would want to take the class have now had the opportunity to take a physics class …  the test was removed.” Additionally, he added that “the school is trying to … slow down some of the kids that are overextending themselves.”
Since Accelerated Physics has replaced AP Physics 1 as a mandatory prerequisite, students who have finished AP Calculus BC will be forced to start the physics curriculum by taking algebra-based Accelerated Physics.

This isn’t the first time sudden policy changes have derailed course study plans. Last year, eligibility changes preventing sophomores from taking AP Macro/Micro surprised students desiring to take those courses. Policy changes often come from valid concern for students’s well being, but their implementation leaves them flailing. In the current policy-making atmosphere, rising juniors and seniors are given no opportunity for effective high school planning — they have few options to meet new prerequisites put in place near the end of their high school journey.
As a result of this change, the academic goals of students interested in physics have been hindered, requiring them to take Physics 1 Accelerated before AP Physics. For example, if a student desires to take all the AP physics courses before junior year, having to take a prerequisite class  in freshman year can delay these plans.

Many students didn’t know about these changes until they had meetings with their counselors to finalize class schedules. Instead of creating roadblocks with no transparency, the district ought to implement policies with two-year delay periods. A delay period for any new policy shelters current students from the potential changes it brings, while giving standardized effects to future students. As an example, a policy change made in the 2024–2025 school year should only go into effect in the 2026–2027 school year. This allows students to effectively plan and recalibrate their high school journey. Until the district fundamentally changes the methodology of implementing new policies, placement tests can act as a stopgap to minimize the disruption on students’ academic journeys. 

On the new physics enrollment policy

TikTok is more than just an app; it’s become a cultural force, shaping how millions communicate through online content. With more than a billion users worldwide and 170 million users in America at its peak, TikTok’s future in America seems bleak. On January 19, 2025, Congress passed a landmark bill banning TikTok in a landslide 352 to 65 vote. While TikTok did receive an extension, it currently has less than 70 days to conclude its affairs.

So why are lawmakers so adamant about banning TikTok?  The first concern is data privacy. TikTok’s algorithm gathers data based on the videos a user skips and the videos a user lingers on. Because those videos are so short, TikTok can quickly accumulate a hoard of information on its users. TikTok can access information on device type, location, IP address, search history, and message content. TikTok can then use this information to infer other factors such as age range, gender, and interests.

The Chinese government could exert control over TikTok to collect this information through ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, which is headquartered in Beijing. Under China’s National Intelligence Law, companies are required to assist with government intelligence work—meaning ByteDance could be legally compelled to share data. If the Chinese government asks TikTok to turn over information, executives and investors would almost certainly be unwilling to risk asset seizure, imprisonment, and legal action.

But it’s not just that TikTok collects a lot of information. Anything like TikTok would do almost nothing to ensure data privacy. Nearly all social media companies in the United States sell private data on a market so unregulated that, according to journalist Karl Bode, “Chinese, Russian, and U.S. governments can all just buy data from … poorly regulated data broker [markets].” The “private” data market is so unregulated that a New Hampshire stalker was able to locate and kill a former classmate with $45 worth of information bought from an online data broker.

In 2024, online data broker company Epsilon admitted to selling the data of over 30 million consumers to clients that they knew were carrying out scams. Since data brokers clearly don’t care about who clients are and what they’ll do with bought data, why would China need TikTok specifically to spy on Americans?

Lawmakers have also expressed concern over Chinese influence on TikTok’s content. More than 20 legislators justified their support for banning TikTok by citing risks of foreign propaganda, as well as other concerns about the content carried on TikTok, such as the content available to minors and the alleged suppression of pro-Ukraine videos.

It’s true that TikTok has manipulated content in the past. In 2019, leaked documents showed that TikTok had instructed moderators to ban content on high-profile political topics, citing mentions of Tiananmen Square, Tibetan independence, or the banned religious group Falun Gong. Additionally, in 2020, The Intercept reported that its moderators were told to suppress videos by “users who are too ugly, poor, or disabled” for the platform.

In addition to limiting the visibility of topics sensitive to China, some researchers also believe that TikTok promotes narratives reflecting official Chinese stances on global affairs.

However, the government can’t simply ban speech outlets it dislikes, even if those outlets contain propaganda. In 1965, the court struck down a law that required the postmaster general to detain “communist political propaganda,” which could be delivered to recipients only after they specifically requested it from the U.S. post office. In its decision, the court reasoned that even this “mere burden” was an unconstitutional effort to “control the flow of ideas to the public.” Also, banning TikTok would still fail to stop the spread of Chinese propaganda. Propaganda accounts thrive on a diverse spread of social media sites, websites, and content distribution systems that extend far beyond TikTok’s reach. Platforms that have recently axed their content moderation teams, such as Facebook and X, are especially vulnerable to Chinese and Russian propaganda accounts.

Ultimately, the TikTok ban is a publicity stunt that fails to accomplish what it promises and ignores deeper issues about American data privacy. If lawmakers genuinely cared about data privacy and misinformation, they wouldn’t single out TikTok while ignoring more significant issues such as unregulated data markets and the proliferation of propaganda across major social media platforms. Instead of performative bans, the U.S. should follow Europe’s lead in passing stronger data protection laws, like the General Data Protection Regulation, to regulate how all American companies collect, use, and sell data. If Congress wants real reform, PHS students should know the inherent risks of using online platforms, educate themselves on how to recognize propaganda and ads, and adjust privacy settings to reduce data collection. If lawmakers are serious about protecting our data, they should act like it.

Photo: Charley Hu
Soha Jameel ’26 uses TikTok on her phone.

The TikTok ban changes nothing

Most students at PHS know that New Jersey is not an easy place to buy a home, but what they might not know is that expensive housing doesn’t just make it harder to buy a house: it raises the costs of everything from insurance to ice cream. Affordable housing should be important to all of us, yet New Jersey’s housing prices still continue to rise. To understand why we lack affordable housing, New Jersey has to examine its past.

About 60 years ago, Mount Laurel officials began demolishing the “substandard” homes of lower income residents. In reply, the residents submitted a proposal to build affordable housing to replace the demolished homes. Unfortunately, an official shot the proposal down, responding: “If you people can’t afford to live in our town, then you’ll just have to leave.”

The residents sued the township. Three state Supreme Court cases later, the New Jersey Supreme Court established that all New Jersey municipalities have an obligation under the New Jersey Constitution to provide low-income and moderate-income housing, and the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) was created through the Fair Housing Act. Yet, years later, New Jersey home prices have risen to the point where the state has the ninth highest average home price in the entire country. To address this housing crisis, Governor Phil Murphy passed the bill known as A-40/S-50 this March. But how did we get to the point where a second bill is necessary?

Put simply, the Fair Housing Act became a joke. Every six years, the COAH underwent rounds of rulemaking, intended to update its formula to calculate township affordable housing obligations. However, due to incessant legal challenges, the COAH became unable to pass any reforms at all, which culminated in Governor Chris Christie attempting to abolish COAH. As a result, by 2015, the COAH was “declared moribund” by the New Jersey Supreme Court. Throughout this all, wealthy townships ignored the COAH by engaging in endless legal disputes and utilizing loopholes to shift their responsibilities to other towns.

This matters for everyone who lives in New Jersey. Fewer houses and higher demand lead to higher property values. As housing prices increase, so too do insurance premiums and property taxes. With people priced out of buying houses, landlords raise rents to take advantage of increased demand for shorter-term housing. When a state becomes more expensive to live in, businesses raise prices to pay higher loan fees and rents. Finally, fewer people seek to migrate to expensive states, resulting in reduced commerce and tax revenue. A-40/S-50 aims to address these issues by replacing the COAH with a new framework to calculate township affordable housing requirements, as well as provide support for Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) programs. PILOT programs allow affordable housing to be constructed without putting the cost of construction on taxpayers by reducing taxes on developers and allowing the construction of new marketrate housing. PILOT programs are not perfect, since they don’t provide funding to the school board. Yet not every housing development even utilizes PILOTs, and marketrate housing is still crucial to addressing the issue of housing supply.

Despite this, the primary reason that opponents of COAH cite is cost. According to Senator O’Scanlon, the bill “mandates levels of affordable housing that communities cannot sustain.” Additionally, PILOT projects are profitable for developers. However, part of the reason developers have made so much money is because of lacking auditary standards, which resulted from a COAH paralyzed by constant lawsuits.

Without sufficient audits, developers were able to consistently exploit legal loopholes in their favor. For example, developers could put together the expenses of multiple projects to overstate expenses, thus lowering reported profits to underpaythe city for taxes. This is an issue that A-40/S-50 aims to fix by standardizing the process of constructing affordable housing.

It’s also hypocritical for opponents of A-40/S-50 to cite cost as an issue after spending millions in lawsuits to challenge COAH regulations. Due to these lawsuits, New Jersey is estimated to be 200,000 homes short of meeting basic affordable housing requirements. The actual issue at stake is NIMBYism. The acronym, which stands for “Not In My Backyard,” is a term commonly applied to people who oppose affordable housing out of misconceptions or fear. NIMBYs often oppose change due to perceived risks of crime, strained infrastructure, lowered property values, and changing community character. While many local officials have avoided making statements along these lines, it’s difficult to avoid seeing signs of its influence. The arguments provided against affordable housing are flawed and simply can’t explain the fifty years lawmakers have spent viciously fighting the results of Mount Laurel. However, countless studies have shown that those fears rarely come to pass. For example, a study conducted by Princeton University on Mount Laurel’s affordable housing found that the town’s crime rates, property values, and taxes were similar to the surrounding suburbs, while “the lives of the poor and working-class families who moved there transformed.” Many neighbors were even unaware that affordable housing existed in that area. Despite this, the movement still has strong roots in Princeton itself.

> The arguments provided against affordable housing are flawed.

In 2022, the Princeton Coalition for Responsible Development was formed to fight against an affordable housing development on the land of the Princeton Theological Seminary, on the grounds that it would increase traffic. PCRD founder Jo Butler later elaborated with the words, “every day people are at Einstein’s house…then they want to know the way to Oppenheimer’s house. It’s a big draw and we’re going to ruin it. So, does that make me a NIMBY? I guess.”

Ruin it? How? Is Butler still terrified the development might look ugly, despite the project utilizing top of-the-line materials to blend with the surrounding neighborhood? Does Butler believe evil developers seek to bulldoze Einstein’s house? Will increased traffic somehow injure Princeton’s historical value? Or is Butler still afraid of the people who depend on affordable housing? Whatever the case, there’s no adequate way to justify her statement. Though the group has made statements on seeking common ground, its actions directly contradict this. When they were told they couldn’t sue Princeton’s mayor over the housing plan, the group “refused to amend their case” without actually giving a reason why. Additionally, the group has taken issue with nearly every affordable housing development in Princeton and also attempted to halt construction of affordable housing that was agreed upon even before Princeton’s housing plan was created.

The easiest way to take action? Simply learn more about affordable housing. Opponents to affordable housing often rely on vague fear-inducing statements to generate misconceptions. Students should confirm the validity of rumors before spreading them, and research the ways affordable housing has succeeded and failed. Students also have exclusive access to a crucial audience; their parents. Murphy’s bill is New Jersey’s second chance to address the cost of living, and families shouldn’t let local officials use their taxpayer dollars to fight it. By simply engaging in dialogue, students can shine a spotlight on New Jersey’s housing crisis.

Rising housing costs hurt New Jersey

   Through increasing social disagreement in our country, many parents have joined together in an attempt to protect their children from ideas or courses of study that they deem harmful. In order to protect their children from these ideas — whether scientific, medical, or historical — parents lobby and protest so that their children can opt out of certain lessons. 
   It’s easy to think of opting-out of controversial content as something that happens far away from the progressive halls of PHS. However, recently, the PPS district has had its own challenges with parental demands to opt-out. In September, Project Veritas (a conservative media organization) released an undercover video of a HiTOPS (an LGBTQ+ non-profit) employee on YouTube. In the video, the employee explained that instead of educating students about LGBTQ+ issues in an opt-outable sex-ed class, the organization had been teaching about it in mandatory Pathways to Racial Literacy classes. As a result, this January, a small group of parents held a protest at Princeton Middle School against the continued inclusion of HiTOPS in the mandatory school curriculum. 
   “[PPS] has had requests in the past to opt-out of [Pathways to] Racial Literacy, [a] graduation requirement, [but] per the state guidelines it’s not opt-outable,” said Kimberly Tew, Assistant  Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction.             
   Those who support opting out generally subscribe to the philosophy known as “parents’ rights.” This principle maintains that parents should have greater control of their child’s experience in public schools. In some cases, this may even mean outright changes to the entire curriculum. In 2023, the attorney general in Indiana passed the Parents’ Bill of Rights with the aim of changing the curriculum to ensure that it “accurately reflects the values of Indiana families.” 
   The justification for this is that parents know what’s good for their children better than educators. These claims should not be immediately dismissed. Parents, after all, spend a lot of time with their children and would be able to notice the emotional needs of their children. However, mental health and education are entirely different. Teachers and school administrators have spent their careers devoted to the intellectual and educational experience of young adults, whereas parents often see things only through the eyes of their own children, making teachers generally more in tune with the intellectual and social needs of students. 
   In addition to a justification for involvement in education, for opting-out to actually happen, parents must take issue with the school curriculum. Of course, parents are entitled to their own opinions about what is right. However, allowing a student to study something does not mean they will be forced to endorse it. In a school district as accommodating as Princeton’s, students who disagree with the perspective of the educator have a chance to voice their disagreement and express their reasoning. At PHS, students are likely to encounter a much more forgiving and understanding audience than if they were to wait to discuss their ideas until entering our intensely partisan society. In turn, students who had previously agreed with the position of the educator are introduced to another perspective — their world view expands, and they learn that the issue at hand is not one sided. 
   In the end, opting-out depends on a logic that is similar to censorship, as if there are certain ideas or subjects that are so dangerous that they must be deemed out of bounds entirely. But this is hardly the case; we should be exposed to all kinds of ideas — both good and bad — just like the ideas we will eventually be exposed to when we leave the safety of the classroom.     
   Parents, though, still have a crucial role to play in this process of education. Rather than protect their children from “dangerous” ideas, they should provide their children with the analytical tools to form their own interpretation. 

Opt out, or cop-out?

   Imagine you’re in a crowd of people shouting demands at a politician. You’ve got a loud voice, so you’re confident that you can be heard. Unfortunately, there are five thousand other screaming people in the same crowd as you. And everyone is getting drowned out by a guy who bought a top-tier surround-sound speaker system and rented that balcony above the politician two weeks ago. This is representative of current American politics, and how it currently drowns out the voices of the people.
   There’s one often overlooked requirement to hold office in the United States: money. According to OpenSecrets.org, the amount of money each House Representative spent to win office in 2022 was around $2.79 million, and the amount of money every Senator spent to win office in 2022 was around $26.53 million. It is clear that elected officials are reliant on money, and it is far more efficient for them to turn towards a small number of wealthy individuals than to seek donations from thousands of average voters. The process of doing so is often covered under the term lobbying. 
   Lobbying is defined by Britannica as “any attempt by individuals or private interest groups to influence the decisions of government.” In the United States, this comes in the form of “public” campaigns undertaken to pressure politicians into specific policy decisions. The term is broad. It covers the practice of directly speaking to politicians, signing petitions, and funding research. However, the most common and influential method used in lobbying is donating large sums of money to political campaigns. There’s a reason that terms differentiating different forms of lobbying do not exist. It makes it far easier to confuse the public about what lobbying actually is.
   The only problem is, lobbying isn’t supposed to work like that. There are set limits on how much individuals or corporations can donate each year to campaigns. Those limits can be conveniently circumvented by exploiting several loopholes in the law, especially those inherent to PACs. 
   The PAC, or Political Action Committee, is the main vehicle politicians use to accept campaign contributions. A PAC, according to OpenSecrets.org, is “a political committee that raises and spends money to elect or defeat candidates.” Federal law allows for two kinds of PACs: Connected and Non-Connected. Judicial decisions have allowed for a third kind of PAC known as “independent expenditure-only committees,” otherwise known as “Super PACs.”    
   A Super PAC can accept unlimited amounts of money, provided they don’t use those funds to “make contributions, whether direct, in-kind or via coordinated communications, to federal candidates or committees” as per the Federal Election Commission’s regulations. This means that candidates are barred from telling Super PACs how to spend their money. However, there are numerous legal loopholes around this restriction. 
   Stephen Colbert, host of The Colbert Report, created a Super PAC for the sole purpose of exposing these inherent loopholes. During a conversation with the president of his PAC, Colbert pointed out that while he “[couldn’t] tell him [what to do]” directly, he could easily convey his preferences to the PAC through indirect means, such as publicly expressing his views on television. The other major requirement, according to the Campaign Legal Center, is that Super PACs must “[report] their fundraising [and spending] to the Federal Election Commission.” However, the Campaign Legal Center also notes that Super PACs can hide their donors by simply “only [reporting] contributions from secretly-funded ‘dark money’ nonprofits, which themselves keep their donors hidden from the public.” Additionally, politicians can easily transfer money from Super PACs back to themselves. According to Politico’s coverage of Colbert’s Super PAC, Colbert’s lawyer explained that Colbert “could secretly steal the remaining $800,000 in his super PAC by creating an anonymous 501(c)4 and using an IRS loophole.” 
   Colbert’s experiment proves that politicians are able to accept unlimited amounts of money, not disclose its origins, and then hide it from the IRS. Many of these funds are used in lobbying processes, which have proven to be effective in creating change in favor of its patrons. For example, Politico reported in 2021 that Amazon lobbied Congress to preserve a prized tax break that has helped it lower its corporate tax bill. The company hired the tax lobbyist Joshua Odintz, a former Democratic congressional aide and veteran of the Obama administration, to lobby on the section of the tax code dealing with the research and development tax deduction. Although they were joined by other companies such as Intel and the National Association of Manufacturers for their attempt in 2021, Amazon’s own efforts to curb these tax bills have been happening for years, and have successfully pushed back the repeal of the tax break. According to Statista, corporations spent a total of $4.09 billion on lobbying in 2022 alone. Of course, that’s only the reported figure. Nothing stops a corporation from donating to a shell nonprofit organization, which can then transfer money over to a PAC. 
   The dozens of student-created clubs at PHS are a clear sign that students want to create change that lasts. The government is meant to be the tool for people to create that change. Attempting to create change with a corrupt government is like trying to fix a car with a broken wrench. As we become the new generation of civically active citizens, it is crucial to understand the intricacies of our current political space and where it is currently failing us.

Political bribery is hidden in plain sight

On October 22, the PHS community received an email from the Board of Education stating that Dr. Carol Kelley would be resigning from her role as PPS Superintendent following a nine-month leave of absence. In a later email to parents and guardians, Kelley offered her own words of explanation.

“This week, after much consideration, I made the difficult decision to resign as Superintendent of Princeton Public Schools. For personal and professional reasons, I must take some time to reset and recenter myself so I can later return to public education and continue to positively impact students,” Kelley wrote in an email.

Following Kelley’s announcement, Rebecca Gold stepped in to serve as Acting Superintendent and Dr. Kathleen Foster was appointed as Interim Superintendent ten days later.

Gold and Foster are both long-time administrators, in Princeton and elsewhere. Gold served for more than 25 years in Lawrence Township, serving in various leadership positions, such as the Director of Personnel. She currently serves as the Interim Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources in PPS. The temporary role of Acting Superintendent added to her current responsibilities.

When asked to describe the role of Gold and the Interim Superintendent, Dafna Kendal, President of the Board of Education, said that it was important to have someone to “sign the checks,” or in other words, act as a formal authority in the district decisions made by the administrative team.

“The board wants someone in charge; even though we have a really strong administrative team, we just want that one person,” Kendal said.

Deeply familiar with Princeton’s educational landscape, Foster most recently served as the Interim Principal for Princeton High School following the dismissal of Frank Chmiel. Prior to that, she held a longstanding administrative position in Robbinsville before joining the PPS district in December 2021 as the Interim Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction. On November 13, the board approved her appointment as Interim Superintendent, which is expected to last for the rest of Kelley’s contractual term. 

According to Foster’s contract, the Board wants to “enhance administrative stability, financial security, and continuity within the schools while the Superintendent is on a leave of absence.”

Rashone Johnson, the assistant principal at PHS, believes that PHS is used to these types of changes and can adapt well to them.

“[The] high school administration is still going to do everything in our power to make sure that things still run smoothly for all of our students and staff,” Johnson said.

As PPS changes administrators, students and staff have found ways to continue to achieve the goals of the district, namely quality education. Kendal agreed that students and staff are at the core of the district.

“I think what makes our district great is our teaching staff. And, I know there have been a lot of administrative changes … [but] our teachers just continue doing their jobs and focus on teaching and learning. So while I think it’s important who we have as a leader of the district, I think we’re led by … [what is happening] in our buildings,” Kendal said.

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