Mayor de Blasio & Chancellor Farina in Queens

Mayor & Chancellor in Queens Town Hall about Public Schools

November 16, 2015 / Jackson Heights Neighborhood / NYC Public Schools / Gotham Buzz NYC.

There was a town hall at PS 69 in Jackson Heights Thursday evening where NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and NYC Public Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina talked about what they are doing to reform the NYC public school system to improve both teachers’ and students’ performance.

I arrived a bit late, following the coverage of a gig nearby. There was a small crowd of a couple dozen people waiting to get in because the auditorium had been filled to a standing room only crowd. Over the course of the evening all the folks who waited long enough were able to enter, as I confirmed this with the police contingent on my way out.

As I entered the auditorium they had just completed the presentation portion of the program [I think about a half hour, possibly less] and they were moving on to taking questions and answers from the audience.

I video recorded most of the session, and then edited down as much as I could to shorten the viewing time required to get the gist of what they’ve done and are planning for the future.

All in all it was a very interesting and very informative session. I spoke to quite a few folks after the town hall and generally they were pretty positive, including a number of folks who did not vote for de Blasio. Essentially most believed that the Mayor and Chancellor were trying to correct the failings of the system and that they were taking an intelligent approach. Several mentioned that the Mayor seemed pretty honest in his assessments of things.

For me, one of the most important things I learned tonight, was why getting universal Pre-K was so important. Essentially the thinking goes that the earlier you are able to start working with these kids, the more you will be able to prepare them for school, and hopefully reap the benefits of teaching them the joy of learning throughout their stay in the public school system.

Click here to read our full report including a segmented video about Mayor de Blasio on NYC public schools with Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina and NYC Councilmember Daniel Dromm.

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Mayor de Blasio & Chancellor Farina in Queens

Mayor & Chancellor in Queens Town Hall about Public Schools

November 16, 2015 / Jackson Heights Neighborhood / NYC Public Schools / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

Enabling Parents to Learn English Thru After-School Programs

Another effort that came out in the Question & Answer session is how they are adding after school programs for adults so that they can bootstrap the parents into the system by enabling them to learn English, thus also empowering them to help themselves and their children with their homework. That’s the thinking behind the extended library hours too. And we were told that any child in middle school is now guaranteed a place in after school programs.

Spending Extra Time with Kids when they are Young & New to School so they Don't have to do Remedial Later

And they have added reading and other teaching specialists to the schools at the earlier grade levels so that these kids will go on through the system better equipped and better educated, making them better students and enabling better performance, while providing teachers with a more rewarding teaching experience.

Stopping the Hemorrhagging of Good Teachers caused by Uncertainty created by Prior Administration

They also noted that a lot of high quality teaching professionals exited the NYC Public School system during the prior Administration years. The exiting teachers said they did not feel they were valued and they did not see any upward professional mobility within the NYC Public School System. We were told that the NYC Public School system was hemorrhaging great teachers as a result.

Adding & Enhancing Teacher Professional Development & Enabling a Career Path to Attract & Retain Good Teachers

To correct this the Administration has initiated new teacher training / professional development programs with the aim of enabling people working in the schools to be eligible to compete for vacant positions up the ladder. And they have begun incorporating more feedback from teachers in setting the agendas for weekly meetings and by providing them with options to apply for teaching positions at schools they feel are more in sync with their own teaching style. They have also begun evaluating items in the curriculum that teachers want changed, to provide teachers with more flexibility in how they approach / teach a subject.

Changing the Role of Testing within the Public School System

They talked about the changing role of testing in the schools. During the Bush / Bloomberg years testing was given what they believe was a disproportionate weighting and was skewing the whole system toward performing on the tests instead of teaching the kids how to read, write, calculate, think analytically and learn other subjects. The emphasis was to prep for tests since the test scores were disproportionately used to make decisions like closing schools, evaluating teachers and deciding whether to promote kids.

There's a Real Threat of Losing State & Federal Funding if too many Students Opt Out of Tests

They said that they understood why parents were opting out of tests, but that in doing so they are jeopardizing federal funding. Therefore they would like parents not to opt out, but rather re-channel their energies into getting the role of testing in the system changed. They believed that there’s been a sea change in people’s view of testing at both the state and federal levels, and that change should begin to come about. But they also said that at the municipal level they have already changed how tests are used to evaluate teachers and students and schools.

Maintaining School Safety While Managing Down the Disparities

They talked about the improvements made by the prior Administration with respect to school safety and, while cognizant that there’s still some disparities in the system, they want to balance how they manage security so as not to throw the baby [improved security] out with the bathwater [disciplinary bias]. One of the initiatives in this area was to seek to find a more standardized approach to discipline, specifically what constitutes insubordination, so that the rules are standard and enforced evenly throughout the entire system.

Now Have Plan to Reduce NYC Public Schools Overcrowding & Eliminate Trailers

And they also talked about school overcrowding and trailers. The prior Administration did not have an approach nor a plan to eliminate trailers while the new Administration does. They have allocated about $4 billion over the next five years to that end, and they were sanguine in telling the audience that $4 billion is still not enough. They asked people to help them find space and to work through their City Councilmember when they see space become available, as perhaps NYC can bid on it and secure it for the public school system. A recent acquisition of the White Castle on 69th Street and 34th Avenue was cited as a mix of community and government working together.

Efforts to Mitigate Effects of Trailers on Learning

They said while the trailers are going to remain in place for a while, they are taking steps to address the problem with trailers as classrooms. Specifically the size of classes, the quality of the education given, and security. Hence they are adding specialists to help students in trailer classes, they are trying to reduce those class sizes, and they are also seeking to acquire new schools. They noted that the NYC pubic school system is way behind in this initiative and that hence, given the real estate and financial realities, it will take time to set things right.

Goal is to Restore Faith & Opportunity for Quality Education in Public Schools not replace with Charter Schools

Charter schools came up with one audience member asking for more space for them. The Mayor said that the entire system is challenged for space and that they will work with those charter organizations that are working collaboratively to lift up everyone, not just a few. The Mayor went on to say that he thought that it was unacceptable situation that people should want to go to charters because they don't have faith in the existing public schools. And that the goal must be to restore the performance of the public schools, so that charters aren’t used to circumvent it and siphon off the performing kids and leave the rest of the kids and schools behind.

Thanks & Appreciation

And, as always, thanks for your interest in taking the time to learn about and understand the issues facing the community, so that you can make informed decisions about what to do about them and who you want to represent you in the government.

Jefferson said that “Eternal vigilance is the price of democracy” and “those who think they can remain ignorant and free, believe in something that never was and never will be”.

The following tells you where in the video [based on time] that you can zero in on comments made by Mayor de Blasio & NYC Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina regarding what they are doing to address NYC Public Schools issues.

NYC Schools Video

Time / Subject Discussed

0.20 - New school buildings. To find new public school sites, they need community help.

1.00 – Mayor - adding new charters vs fixing public schools - it's not an acceptable situation that folks want to go to charters because they don't have faith in the public schools.

2.30 – Plan to go from 20K to 65K kids in Pre K and double kids in after school programs at the middle school level. Kids are guaranteed an after school seat if they are in middle school because of Mayoral control.

3.20 - Administration committed to obtaining CEC's input, but that doesn't mean there will always be agreement.

4.20 - Schools Chancellor Farina meets w/ CEC's monthly on weekends, so no interruptions and now meeting w/ CPACs.

6.00 - Teacher comments regarding empowering teachers and being treated as professionals. Mayor - can't have successful school system w/o recruiting, training, empowering, promoting and retaining successful teachers.

7.00 - Trailers for public schools will take years to address. The Administration has allocated one half billion / $4 billion to addressing the problem and it's still not enough.

8.00 - Deputy Mayor - Empower immigrants and their children by helping them learn English so they can help kids w/ homework. Community schools [130 of them] offer after school services and adult education programs. Understand that kids who come to school with right nutrition, right support & stable households, are more likely to succeed when they arrive at school. Knocked on 35,000 doors last summer to reach the parents from those schools.

9.15 - Community schools adding adult literacy programs so parents can help kids w/ homework.

9.50 – Mayor - lost talented teachers under prior Admin because of the turmoil and uncertainty surrounding the prior Administration changes.

10.30 – Audience Person – comments regarding school security guards. Don't want police in schools. Can bring back the 5,000 SSA's? Mayor - progress made toward safer schools using the NYPD. Working to rebalance by enabling school leadership to participate in security effort.

12.00 - Schools Chancellor Farina - Have retrained safety officers so more friendly with the students. Working with the NYPD ongoing.

13.00 - Teacher says they left because restricted and unable to grow under prior Admin. Didn't like the scripted, Pearson, Ready-Gen curriculum. What is the Admin doing to promote a better teaching environment?

14.00 – Mayor & Chancellor - more training programs for teachers. Improve quality of the students by getting them started in Universal Pre-K. Adding reading programs in the early grades for the same reason - so teachers will have better students to work with. Effort to have more kids who are ready to learn.

14.30 - Want to train and prepare teachers within the system to move up in the organization, rather than have to recruit from outside as done by the prior Admin. They said they believe those familiar with the system should be more knowledgeable about how to manage and improve it.

15.00 – Schools Chancellor Farina – now have Monday meeting agendas that include input from teachers. Teachers can now apply to work at schools where they think the school philosophy is more in line with their own teaching style. Rewrote Ready Gen materials with Pearson to be more open ended. More flexible system.

16.00 – Schools Chancellor Farina - Pre K curriculum is all about play. Joy. Learning.

16.25 – Student - suspensions and arrests in schools are down, but still skewed toward Black and Latinos. Trying to balance safety with fairness and working to establish standards for discipline.

17.20 - Schools Chancellor Farina - Sends team to schools with safety issues to better understand what's going on. Trying to establish exactly what constitutes insubordination.

18.00 - $3.5 Billion for new capacity and another $500 million for class size reduction [aka trailers] and admittedly not enough, but don't have more than $4 Billion over the next five years. Translates into 1,500 new seats in District 30, but we know it's still not enough.

18.50 - So given realities, still trying to address parents' concerns by lower class size so kids get attention they deserve and that the environment is safe. Also adding reading specialists. This should enhance the quality of the 2nd & 3rd grade classes.

20.00 - Have money problem and space issue to provide enough in facilities.

20.20 - Schools Chancellor Farina - more staff. Classes that are oversized will be given an added teaching professional or extra leave time to enable to work w/ kids.

21.00 – Mayor – reality is that while $4 Billion is big increase, it's still not enough. The $8 Billion surplus isn't a surplus, it's to provide a cushion in event of economic downturns when federal and state governments close the door.

22.15 - Affordable Housing effort is to enable people to stay in the neighborhoods that they live in - that they are currently being priced out [of]. So parents can keep their kids in the schools they in which they began.

23.20 - CCM Dromm is advocating for a task force. But that said that at least now there's a plan to get kids out of trailers, whereas there wasn't any plan during the prior Admin.

24.30 - Teacher asks about stand on high stakes testing. Mayor says still against high stakes testing. The de Blasio Administration has moved away from high stakes testing, but there are budget realities tied to those tests, so don't want parents to opt out or NYC will lose funding from the state and federal government.

25.00 - Have changed how the tests are used vs prior Administration. Don't grade schools anymore, changed weight given for how kids are promoted to next grade, and how tests are used in admissions. Want to reduce reliance of system on tests. But must change Albany's reliance on high stakes testing in lieu of opting out them [or will lose funding].

26.15 - Kindred spirit for sentiment of opting out. But opting out has a real impact on money received for education from State and Federal government by the NYC public school system - if too many students opt out.

27.00 – Schools Chancellor Farina - working w/ new NYS Education Commissioner and optimistic there will be change. Don't agree w/ test prep. Believe that good teaching is test prep.

27.45 - Making changes to how tests used - for example working to get results of tests, so that kids, parents and teachers can use these test results to figure out how they can improve. Previously teachers didn't have access to that information.

28.15 - Schools Chancellor Farina - That said, kids need to be tested, but believe no more than 30% of evaluations should be based on tests.

Thanks & Appreciation To Mayor de Blasio, Schools Chancellor Farina & NYC Councilmember Dromm

And, as always, thanks for your interest in taking the time to learn about and understand the issues facing the community, so that you can make informed decisions about what to do about them and who you want to represent you in the government. Without people like you, democracy cannot work.

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Bloomberg Administration NYC Public High School Closings

How Are Queens High Schools Performing, Is School [not teacher] Performance Being Evaluated Fairly & How Do Public Schools Perform Vs Charter Schools

April 21, 2012 / NYC Neighborhoods NYC / NYC Public Schools & NYC Public Education / Gotham Buzz NYC.

Is the Mayor trying to improve NYC school system performance or is he trying to privatize the NYC public school system? When I began a journey to better understand the issues surrounding public school system performance beginning about a year ago, I had no idea I would end this segment of the journey pondering the question articulated above.

Over the course of the past year I’ve attended a number of meetings and rallies held at public high schools in Queens concerning the performance of public high schools in the Queens school districts. My last visit was on Tuesday, April 17, 2012, when I attended the public hearing at LIC High School regarding the Department of Education recommendation to close it.

As I entered the building I was surprised to see such a large turn out for the meeting. An auditorium that seats nearly a thousand people, was nearly full.

Click here to read our report about the Bloomberg Administration NYC public high school closings in NYC Queens.

Bloomberg Administration NYC Public High School Closings

How Are Queens High Schools Performing, Is School [not teacher] Performance Being Evaluated Fairly & How Do Public Schools Perform Vs Charter Schools

April 21, 2012 / NYC Neighborhoods NYC / NYC Public Schools & NYC Public Education / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

I found a place near the front of the auditorium where I could tune into the debate over whether to close or keep LIC H.S. open. On the dais there were about fifteen speakers who included high school teachers, students and members of the Department of Education.

 

Eight Queens High Schools On DOE Closure List

The Department of Education’s original target list for closures started with 33 NYC high schools. Seven high schools have already been removed from the DOE closure list, but none of them were located in Queens.

According to the NY Post it's unclear why these seven schools were placed on the list in the first place, given they earned A's and B's in their DOE NYC report cards. The Post opined that to keep them on the list would be to admit the NYC schools grading system isn't effective, but to take them off the list was to admit the closings weren't performance related, but rather an expression of Administration frustration regarding failed negotiations with the teachers union.

The eight Queens high schools on the closure list include: 1) Flushing, 2) Grover Cleveland [Ridgewood], 3) August Martin [South Jamaica], 4) Newtown [Elmhurst], 5) Richmond Hill, 6) John Adams [Ozone Park] and the two high schools [LIC and Bryant] which are the focus of this report. William Cullen Bryant High School, shown in the photo above, is located on the borders of LIC, Astoria, Sunnyside and Woodside.

 

DOE Impetus For Closures

The DOE has had a number of these Queens high schools on its PLA [persistently low achievement] list for several years. The DOE and the high schools have been working to improve these schools performance, albeit with mixed results. Up until this year the DOE had pursued a transformational approach, working with schools to improve their performance. At some point if the efforts didn’t succeed, the DOE pursued a gradual approach in phasing in the new school(s) while phasing out the old ones in an effort to maintain stability during the transition. In the photo to your right is Shael Polakow-Suransky, Chief Academic Officer of the NYC Department of Education.

 

Administration & The Union Disagree On Teacher Evaluation Process

During the course of these changes, money was sought from the federal government to help improve performance. In 2011 LIC, Bryant and many of the other high schools scheduled for closure were promised federal funds, which they did not receive.

The reason the funds were not provided is that the Administration and the United Federation of Teachers Union [hereafter referred to as UFT] could not agree on the process for teacher evaluations. The Administration wanted their appointees, the school principals, to have total control over teacher evaluations; while the UFT wanted teachers to have a process through which they could contest evaluations if they felt they weren’t being treated fairly. The UFT solution was to create a committee that would include one DOE representative and one UFT teacher representative and one independent party to adjudicate contested evaluations.

 

Queens Government Officials Do Not Support These Two Closures

At the opening of the meeting a number of government officials and / or their representatives gave speeches in support of keeping LIC High School open. It seems that none of the local, state and federal government officials representing the people of the school districts of LIC and William Cullen Bryant [hereafter referred to as Bryant] high schools support the Department of Education’s proposal to close these two schools. Many of the local representatives also appeared in person at the Bryant H.S. rally on April 3rd. State Senator Michael Gianaris, City Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer and NYS Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas are shown at the William Cullen Bryant High School rally on April 3rd, 2012.

 

Socio Economic Factors At Play In Queens Communities

It’s worth noting that all of these Queens high schools serve either a large immigrant populations and / or families that live at the lower end of the economic spectrum. Many of these high schools, including the two schools we chose to investigate, are located near large public housing complexes. The large public housing complex located adjacent to William Cullen High School is shown in the photo to your right.

 

I mention this, because studies indicate that the primary factors driving academic performance are parental support of academic achievement. Children under the age of 18 comprise 26% of the total U.S. population, but a whopping 40% of those living below the poverty line (1). Family encouragement, as well as resources dedicated to supporting a stable learning environment, affect academic performance and outcomes. And according to a study external factors comprise more than half of the difference between students in academic achievement (1a).

 

Other Factors Affecting Academic Achievement

The Vermont State Department of Health cites several key factors as having a significant impact of student academic performance. Factors include the bonds between students and teachers, as well as the social bonds the students have within the community. Other factors cited include opportunities for involvement, care and support, and expectations for behavior and achievement.

 

Destabilizing Impact Of Economy On Student Homes & Performance

The ongoing impact of the economic downturn may be destabilizing the home life of many of these students, and may be one of the contributing factors to the performance turned in by the students in these schools.

If this is the case, then does it make sense to further destabilize the lives of these children by changing 50% or more of the teaching personnel in these high schools?

Case Studies – LIC and Bryant High Schools In Queens

When I asked the DOE why they were closing LIC high school, they cited the school’s attendance rate [80%] and lower ratings for the school environment, which is a measure of satisfaction with the school environment from a number of parties including mostly students and teachers. They did not cite LIC’s four-year graduation rate.

For Bryant H.S. they cited the school’s four-year graduation rate of 56% which is below the 60% threshold at which high schools must perform. Bryant H.S. has an attendance rate of 89% and received a B rating for school environment.

 

LIC High School Goes Through School Year Understaffed

In examining the causes behind the lower attendance and school environment rating, I followed up on the comments made at the LIC high school by one of the speakers who noted that in the 2011 – 2012 school year, LIC H.S. held 28 positions open for a period of 8 weeks. This means that LIC high school went through the school year with 15% fewer employees for nearly a quarter of the year.

 

Staff Hiring Done By School Principals

When I asked the DOE why they let so many positions remain open for so long, they told me that hiring is done at the local level. Upon further investigation of that statement I found that while all hiring is done at the school level, new hires are recruited and approved by the high school principal.

 

DOE Appoints Principals - Replaces 3 In Queens At Start Of School Year

It’s worth noting that at the start of the 2011 – 2012 school year, the DOE replaced the LIC, Bryant and Flushing high school principals. Thus three of the eight Queens high schools scheduled for closure were managed by new principals just appointed by the DOE. It’s not unreasonable to assume that the new principals executed their leadership roles, including hiring, in a manner in accordance with the DOE’s wishes.

 

LIC H.S. Four-Year Graduation Rate Near NYC High School Median

In spite of the open positions and school environment ratings, LIC high school improved its graduation rate. One speaker noted that the LIC high school graduation rate of 66% is higher than the graduation rates of 200 of the 400 NYC high schools. By NYC graduation rate standards, LIC high school does not belong on the DOE list.

Demographic Factors of LIC and Bryant High Schools

LIC and Bryant high schools share comparable demographics. LIC and Bryant both have large immigrant populations who speak English as a second language. LIC H.S. is comprised of 61% Hispanics, while another 15% of the student population is Asian. At Bryant H.S. about 50% of the student population is Hispanic, while another 27% of the student population is Asian.

 

English Language Learners In Queens High Schools

A sizeable percentage of the Hispanic and Asian students know English as a second language, and therefore are categorized as ELL’s [English Language Learners] who require special instruction in order to succeed. I was informed that ELL students must take anywhere between one and three ELL classes out of an eight class daily schedule.

Oftentimes this rigorous language instruction continues through the better part of their four years of high school. As a result, frequently English Language Learners are not able to complete their high school coursework within the four years allotted and this language handicap explains, in part, why the four-year NYC high school graduation rate is lower [about 61%] than the national average [75%]. The Bryant H.S. six-year graduation rate is 66%, while the LIC six-year graduation rate is 69%. In the photo to your left is a random photo taken at the Bryant high school rally in April of 2012. It pictorally shows the ethnic diversity of Queens high schools.

These Queens high schools provide a notable percentage of their students with more than four years of education in an effort to help them complete the high school curriculum. In the case of Bryant H.S., ELL's handicap the school's four-year graduation rate by a whopping ten percentage points [56% = 4 year graduation rate vs 66% = 6 year graduation rate]. Nonetheless the DOE makes only scant allowance for this NYC / Queens phenomenon, which is also likely at work in many of the other Queens high schools scheduled for closure [Editor's Note: Unfortunately Queens Buzz did not have the time / resources to investigate all of the Queens high schools scheduled for closure].

 

Five & Six-Year Graduation Rates - Better Measures For Some Schools?

Because of the rigor of learning English, many ELL students do not graduate high school within four years. Some in fact may take five or even six years. Because of the impact ELL’s may have on the four-year graduation rate of a high school, five and six year graduation rates may be more appropriate measures of performance - particularly in large urban high schools serving students where English Language Learners represent a measurable portion of the student body.

Immigrant demographics, and the ELL phenomenon, was at work in the two schools we investigated; and based on what we know about the other Queens high schools scheduled for closure, ELL's are likely also affecting graduation rates there as well.

 

DOE Fails To Properly Adjust For Impact Of ELL’s On School Performance

As we understand it, the DOE does little to factor in any adjustment for ELL’s, by adding weight to five and six-year graduation rates in evaluating high schools with significant populations of English Language Learners. By failing to make such an adjustment for ELL’s the DOE penalizes schools with immigrant populations, like many of the high schools in Queens scheduled for closure. These schools are being penalized for doing their job and sticking with their ELL students until they complete the high school curriculum and graduate.

As mentioned before, in the case of Bryant high school, their six-year graduation rate improved in the last report and stood at 66%, which as noted previously, was ten points higher than the school's four-year graduation rate.

 

High School Diplomas Bring Higher Earnings Potential, Higher Tax Revenue & Lower Lifetime Government Spending

It is beneficial to NYC and society as a whole to help these students complete their high school course work. On average, high school graduates during their lifetimes, make $130,000 more than dropouts. By helping students get a reasonably good education, it is estimated that over a lifetime, the graduating high school student will generate an additional $200,000 for the government through reduced government expenditures and higher tax revenue (3).

 

The Mayor, DOE & Charter School Advocates

At the end of the 2011 school year, NYC had 136 charter schools and authorization for 200. In June of 2011 the Mayor sought and won approval for 260 more charter schools, bringing the total authorized allocation to 460 charter schools in NYC. The Mayor has publicly stated that he wants to open between 25 – 50 new schools in each of his last two years in office, many of which will be charters. Currently NYC operates about 1,700 public schools, inclusive of charters.

 

The Administration has been an advocate of charter schools since it took office in 2002. News reports have shown the Mayor out stumping for privately managed / for profit charter school chains such as Democracy Prep, and the Mayor has also been publicly supportive of Success Academy which is run by former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz.

 

Lawsuit - Need Transparency Of Administration Relations With For Profit Schools

The Mayor’s close ties to these privately run / for profit school chains is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the UFT. The UFT wants the Administration to turn over emails they have exchanged with the for profit / privately run charter schools. The first official request for these email exchanges was made over a year and a half ago under the Freedom of Information Act, which requires the government to turn over documents, which will not jeopardize security.

Some of the blogs we’ve read opine that one of the reasons the UFT is seeking this information, is that they believe the Administration is unfairly allocating public funding to the charter schools at the expense of the publicly run schools.

 

Study Results - Charter Schools Underperform Public Schools

Charter schools have been around since the early 1990’s and hence have enough of a track record to enable researchers to evaluate their success. A Stanford University Study of 2009 showed that only 17% of charter schools outperform their public peers, while 46% of charter schools perform at parity with public schools, and 37% of charter schools under perform public schools. Stanford University [see emblem above] is one of the leading universities in the nation.

 

Subsequent studies indicate that a third of charter authorizers have not set standards for charter renewals, and charter authorizers revoke charter schools operations at a far lower rate than public schools, in spite of charter schools lower performance vis a vis publicly managed schools (4). At present one of the Queens schools scheduled for closing is the Penninsula Charter school in the Rockaways.

 

Study Results - Some Charter Schools In The Public School Mix Raises Overall School Performance

It appears to be worthwhile to have some public charter schools - as the private competition improves all schools’ performance. The Stanford Study of 2009 indicated that when charters schools are introduced into the public school mix, all of the public schools performed better.

DOE Seeks Smaller Schools Because ...

A DOE spokesperson told me that the new NYC smaller schools perform better than larger ones. I asked him to provide me with a list of the new smaller NYC schools he was talking about [on April 19, 2012] and in spite of several follow up phone calls I have yet to receive any information in support of that claim.

It's also worth noting that new schools opened with less than 50 teachers aren’t automatically unionized.

 

Lawsuit - Is The DOE Purposefully Causing School Failures?

A separate lawsuit has been filed by the NAACP and UFT alleging that, “the DOE failed to provide adequate staffing, support services, curriculum audits professional development, support / curriculum for ELL [English Language Learners] and special education students and collaborative plans to help struggling schools.”

In essence the suit claims that the DOE is not performing its duty to provide a fair education for students in the public schools, including those with special needs, and in effect is causing the school failures.

In the lawsuit it is alleged that the Administration has done what is termed as ‘constructive denial’, whereby every 30 days - the time period in which the Administration is required to respond to the information request – the Administration sends a response, but one which falls to fulfill the request.

 

LIC High School – Claims No DOE Support

DOE says it will get federal money by closing / opening schools, which is one of the reasons the DOE is pursing this strategy. LIC High School is shown in the photo to your right.

 

Last year the Administration / DOE missed an opportunity to access $58 million in federal funds for high schools by insisting on absolute control for the Mayor / DOE / Principal regarding teacher evaluations.

 

As mentioned earlier the Administration wants their DOE appointed Principals to have complete responsibility for teacher evaluations without a process for redress by teachers. The union wants a committee hearing mediated by a third party in the event of teacher evaluation conflicts.

 

Is The DOE Schools Closing Plan Good For Students?

The Vermont State Health Department notes that key factors affecting student performance includes connections with teachers, social bonds, life skills like negotiating, opportunities for involvement, care & support, and expectations for behavior and success.

 

In light of these findings, the gradual transitions that the Administration has employed in the past appear to make sense, while the current Administration initiative seeking dramatic school closings and openings may not.

 

Queens Public Schools Closings - Hearing & Decision April 26, 2012

The Panel for Educational Policy or PEP will vote on the remaining 26 schools scheduled for closure on April 26, 2012. The public hearing / vote will be held at Prospect Heights High School at 883 Classon Avenue in Brooklyn. The PEP panel includes eight appointees of the Mayor and five appointees made by each of the borough presidents.

 

Queens High School Closing / Re-opening Procedures

Those schools for which closure is approved will close on June 30, 2012 and re-open on July 1, 2012 as new schools. We understand that none of the janitorial, maintenance and other non-instructional support staff of this nature will be affected.

All of the teachers will be dismissed. They can re-apply for their positions with the new principal / school, but less than 50% of teaching staff once employed by the school will be rehired. Employees who are rehired will be hired back with their seniority and pay intact.

 

The hiring committee consists of two DOE members, two UFT members and the principal who is hired by DOE.

Will Clean Up Sources & Add Photos Later:

1. Research paper published on education.stateuniversity.com
2. 1a – PISA study
3. Vermont State Department of Health
4. NYT Editorial 2.21.12 / Robert Balfanz – John Hopkins University School of Education
5. Stanford Study 2009

Queens Borough Neighborhoods NYC - NYC Neighborhood Links

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Battle For Control Of PS 122 Astoria

Dept of Ed Announces Big Changes & Few Details

Public Education Could Be Defining Issue Of NYC Mayoral Race

March 17, 2013 / Queens Borough / NYC Public Schools / Gotham Buzz NYC.

The Department of Education announced its intention to make sweeping changes to PS 122 on February 28, 2013 to the PTA of the school. We were told of the general gist of these changes by PS 122 PTA members and parents.  We then followed up with the Department of Education, to be sure we understood the Department of Education’s announcement correctly.

Before we discuss the general gist of the Department of Education plans for PS 122, it helps to have a bit of background to better understand what appears to be happening. 

There are several important elements that seem to be at the core of the issue: 1) the Department of Education’s plans to reconfigure one of the most successful public elementary / intermediate schools in Queens and the NYC school system, 2) the Department of Education’s sudden interest in providing the school children of PS 122 grades K through 5 with the opportunity to continue matriculation within the same school [building] throughout all eight grades [6 – 8], and 3) Success Academy Charter Schools announcement that they plan to open a new charter school in Queens school district 30 in August of 2014. 

Scroll down to read the beginning of our DRAFT report about the Department of Education Plans to reconfigure PS 122 in Astoria which we thus far haven't gotten around to completing [and may never].  Be advised that there is a Community Board One Meeting March 19, Tuesday evening beginning at 6.30 pm at the Astoria World Manor at 25-22 Astoria Blvd in Astoria, Queens and a PEP Meeting on March 20th in Brooklyn. The large top photo above was published with permission by Nigel McKenna and the second photo was taken by Queens Buzz of NYC Comptroller and possible Mayoral candidate John Liu listening to concerned PS 122 parents at a United Community Civic Association meeting in Astoria.

 

Astoria Moms Defend Children’s Rights

Madmen: Bloomberg Dept of Education Does A Don Draper

Continued two days later / March 19, 2013 / Queens Buzz / News Analysis & Opinion. 

 

I attended a Community Board One Meeting Tuesday evening, following up on the concerns of Astoria parents, regarding the proposed changes to PS 122, which were recently announced by the Department of Education [DOE].

 

Having spent a week in pursuit of information from the DOE about the proposed changes – statements regarding the difficulty in obtaining information from them - rang true. 

 

In the photo above, Anastasia Cunningham and her son talk about how the Dept of Ed hasn't put anything in writing, hasn't conducted any impact study, and she talked about how the changes could possibly destroy the learning environment that contributes to the success of PS 122 in Astoria.

 

Click here to read the rest of our report including news analysis & opinion regarding the Community Board One Meeting regarding the Bloomberg Department of Education proposed changes to Public School 122 in Astoria, Queens NYC.

Astoria Moms Defend Children’s Rights

Madmen: Bloomberg Dept of Education Does A Don Draper

March 19, 2013 / Queens Borough / NYC Public Schools / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

The terse repetitive DOE responses we received about the planned changes, brought to mind an episode of the popular television series – Madmen - where philandering Don Draper is accused of sleeping with another woman.  Don repeatedly denies it, saying absolutely as little as possible. 

The DOE’s response to our inquiry about the possible connection between these proposed changes and the recent public announcement of a charter school company targeting this district [30], consisted of the following statement:  “The suggestion that this plan is about making room for a charter school is, simply, a total myth.”

These parents find the Department of Education's proposal disrespectful.  Many of them find it highly coincidental that the Department of Education has suddenly become so very concerned with reconfiguring PS 122, after decades in its current configuration, particularly in light of its great academic success which includes the past six consecutive years of A performance.

They also find that this new DOE initiative seems to neatly coincide with Success Academy Charter School’s recent public announcement that they would like to open a new charter school in District 30. In the photo above, Claudia Lieto-McKenna, Co President of the PS 122 PTA, speaks on behalf of 2,200 concerned petition signers, 350 of whom have written letters to the Department of Education.

Coincidence?  Maybe yes … but maybe not.  Instead of dismantling one of the most successful public schools in Queens & NYC, perhaps the DOE should be trying to emulate PS 122 by attempting to replicate it.

Based on what we know today, the proposed changes don’t seem to make any academic or organizational sense, they don’t appear to be in the best interests of the school children at PS 122 and surrounding schools, and they don’t appear to be in the best interests of the Astoria Queens neighborhood.

This Bloomberg Department of Education episode reminded us of one of the story lines in Madmen. In our analogy the Department of Education is Don Draper, the Success Academy Charter Schools is the other woman, and the PS 122 PTA is Betty Draper.  Mind you that this is the OPINION portion of our report and an ANALOGY, and that these are organizations, not individual people.

So that said, Betty Draper [PS 122] suspects Don [the DOE] of sleeping with the other woman [Success Academy]. She asks why Don needs to leave her / his family to go into the office on a holiday weekend [why forsake / dismantle PS122 when it is one of NYC's most successful public schools while opening the door to a new charter school in the same area].  In the Madmen episode it's an interesting coincidence that Jimmy’s wife, the other woman, is working that same weekend [eg. the timing of Success Academy's planned move into Queens School District 30 coincides neatly with the DOE's plans to dismantle PS122].

It's worth mentioning that PS 122 is performing at the top of the hierarchy, with six years of grade A performance, which is comparable to noting that Don's wife Betty is a smart, beautiful and alluring woman. This begs the question as to why the Bloomberg Department of Education is trying to abandon [take this school apart] instead of emulating it.

Just as one might ask the question as to why would Don abandons his wife Betty and his family for a sleep-around woman like Jimmy's wife. Maybe the Bloomberg Department of Education should be using this school as a model instead of attempting to destroy it. Just as one might suggest that perhaps Don Draper should spend more time with his wife Betty, instead of destroying their family by chasing other women. So we’re left to conclude that perhaps the Bloomberg Department Of Education [aka Don] isn’t telling us everything, because their actions don't make sense based on what we know.

Please note that there's a PEP [Panel for Educational Policy] Meeting at Brooklyn Tech High School, Wednesday, March 20th at 6 pm at 29 Fort Greene Place in Brooklyn about the proposed changes.

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