ASBURY PARK PRESS :: MONMOUTH EDITION

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WEDNESDAY 08.19.15

THE
WIDENING
DIVERSITY
GAP
Monmouth and Ocean
public schools are more
diverse than ever, but the
cultural change isnt seen
in their teaching ranks.

Girl drowns
in pool
after going
missing
Authorities probe death
of Berkeley 2-year-old
STEPH SOLIS @STEPHMSOLIS
AND ANDREW FORD @ANDREWFORDNEWS
BERKELEY An empty stroller sat on the driveway
of a Bittern Lane house early Tuesday, hours after a
2-year-old girl wandered out a back door and drowned
in a neighbors pool.
The girl was identified by multiple sources as Maddigan McCarthy. She was found Monday evening in
the shallow end of a next-door neighbors in-ground
pool, not long after her parents reported her missing.
She slipped out the back door of her home, wandered through an opening in a fence, into the neighbors back yard and into their pool, according to a
source with direct knowledge of the police investigation. The girls mother was identified as Brigitte McCarthy, 31, and her father as Robert Trella Jr., 41.
The parents reported their daughter missing at
8:33 p.m. Monday, according to a news release from
Ocean County Prosecutors Office spokesman Al Della Fave. It was not disclosed who, if anyone, was su-

See DROWNS, Page 6A

DIVERSITY IN THE SCHOOLS

KAREN YI @KAREN_YI

In public school classrooms across New Jersey, students and their teachers are looking less and less alike.
The states teaching force remains mostly white despite a growing number of minority students, an Asbury
Park Press analysis found. Minorities made up more than
half of the student body last year, up from 45 percent six
years ago. Even still, only 15.6 percent of certified teachers were nonwhite a slight uptick from 14.4 percent six
years ago, state data showed.
The diversity gap between students and their teachers
is only widening in some communities: counties are seeing
significant surges of minority students while hiring levels
for diverse teachers remain largely stagnant.
Consider:
Countywide, 6.1 percent of teachers in Monmouth
County and 3.3 percent in Ocean County were minorities
last year similar to rates in 2007-08. Both counties, however, saw the ratio of Hispanic students grow by more than
50 percent in the last six years.
See GAP, Page 5A

Monmouth County

31%
6.1%
minority students

minority teachers
Ocean County

26%
3.3%
minority students

minority teachers

I want the teaching force to be balanced gender-wise and ethnicity-wise to

mirror as close as we can the diversity in the student population. So all the kids
can find somebody to say That person is like me. I can be like that person. Its a
very powerful thing.
ROCCO TOMAZIC FREEHOLD BOROUGH SCHOOLS

Christie drops in
CNN poll but
staying in race
BOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has dropped out of

the top-10 among Republican presidential contenders
in a new CNN poll, but he isnt dropping out of the race,
despite a blog report that hell be gone by the end of
the month.
The nationwide CNN/ORC International poll
released Tuesday has Christie with 3 percent support,
putting him in 11th place. If that ranking holds, Christie will be sidelined in the networks Sept. 16 debate for
the top-10 candidates as determined by an average of
polls.
Donald Trump is the leader at 24 percent, with Jeb
Bush second at 13 percent.
Christie five days ago was said to beseriously considering dropping out of the race by the end of August, according to speculation by the dcwhispers.com
blog.
Christie spokeswoman Samantha Smith said the
item is completely false.
See DROPS, Page 6A

NOTHING RADICAL IN TRUMPS IMMIGRATION IDEAS, OBSERVERS SAY PAGE 1B

Finally, a fix
for Route 66?
Two-lane stretch of busy highway
may get $12 million widening. 3A

ADVICE
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VOLUME 136
NUMBER 198
SINCE 1879