Comments on: Live-blogging the City Council capital plan hearing, sort of http://gothamschools.org/2008/12/02/live-blogging-the-city-council-capital-plan-hearing-sort-of/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:27:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Weingarten: It Is The Time To Be Bold On Building New Schools | Edwize http://gothamschools.org/2008/12/02/live-blogging-the-city-council-capital-plan-hearing-sort-of/comment-page-1/#comment-14213 Weingarten: It Is The Time To Be Bold On Building New Schools | Edwize Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:28:03 +0000 http://gothamschools.org/?p=5673#comment-14213 [...] Gotham Schools, Philissa Cramer provides a running live-blog account of yesterday’s City Council hearings on the Capital Plan for the New York City public [...] [...] Gotham Schools, Philissa Cramer provides a running live-blog account of yesterday’s City Council hearings on the Capital Plan for the New York City public [...]

]]> By: Chauncy http://gothamschools.org/2008/12/02/live-blogging-the-city-council-capital-plan-hearing-sort-of/comment-page-1/#comment-2175 Chauncy Sat, 06 Dec 2008 15:18:53 +0000 http://gothamschools.org/?p=5673#comment-2175 I was actually rather dissappointed that it was not seen fit to include the struggle of highbridge parents and youth to have a middle school built in the highbridge neighborhood of the bronx. the neighborhood has been asking for the school for over thirty years & our current campaign has been going on for over two years. we actually had the most people testify that day for a single school - councilmember jackson, councilmember arroyo, two parents from highbridge (one whom happens to vice president of district 9 community education council) and a director of a local nonprofit. while we now have a school included in this capital plan it by no means addresses the needs of the neighborhood, which has 5 elementary schools (combined graduation each year of over 600 students) and not a single middle school. the middle school that has been proposed to be built is only 389 seats, which for 4 grades - 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th means less than 100 seats per grade level (we need 5th grade because 2 of our elementary schools finish at 4th grade due to space constraints and currently children as young as 9 years old need to take 2-3 public buses or a combination of buses and trains to get to school). We have had public school students testify, parents testify, elected officials testify and our issue has been covered in the ny times, daily news, and on many stations. Highbridge is located in the poorest congressional district in the United States, the south bronx, and is one of the most geographically isolated neighborhoods in the city (located on a hill just north of the yankee stadium, its northern border is the cross bronx expressway, its western border is the major deegan expressway (I-87) & the harlem river, and its eastern border is a hill that has 5 step streets as the main access in and out of the neighborhood). A middle school that would meet the needs of these 5 elementary schools would be one of a mimimum of 1200 seats (just to cover students from the 2 schools that graduate at fouth grade). Highbridge United is a community collation representing over forty community groups, parent associations, and community leaders (including our community board, local cec) and every elected official representing the highbridge neighborhood. If anyone would like more information we can be reached at highbridgeunited@gmail.com or I can be called at 212 203 1171, there are films of our campaign at the youtube site under user highbridgethebronx. These are just a few of the articles that have covered highbridge campaign: Education Department approves new middle school in Highbridge BY TANYANIKA SAMUELS DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Thursday, November 6th 2008 http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2008/11/06/2008-11-06_education_department_approves_new_middle.html NY Daily News “Highbridge school commute too long” by Tanyanika Samuels Tuesday December 18th, 2007 http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2007/12/18/2007-12-18_highbridge_school_commute_too_long-3.html NY Daily News “Roundabout route to class: It’s exhausting trip for children from Highbridge” by Tanyanika Samuels Tuesday November 27th, 2007 (no longer available on website – I could fax you a copy if you would like) NY Times “ Highbridge: A Muddle over Middle School” by Jennifer Bleyer Sunday November 11th, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/nyregion/thecity/11scho.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Bronx Times “Highbridge Demands own Middle School” by Lorna Montalvo Thursday October 25th, 2007 http://www.bxtimes.com/Archives.htm?appSession=67863437887562&RecordID=3185&PageID=3&PrevPageID=2&cpipage=1&CPIsortType=&CPIorderBy= Highbridge Horizon “Highbridge Residents Rally for new Middle School” by Tony Richards October 2007 Edition http://www.highbridgehorizon.com/news/oct07/rally.html I was actually rather dissappointed that it was not seen fit to include the struggle of highbridge parents and youth to have a middle school built in the highbridge neighborhood of the bronx. the neighborhood has been asking for the school for over thirty years & our current campaign has been going on for over two years. we actually had the most people testify that day for a single school – councilmember jackson, councilmember arroyo, two parents from highbridge (one whom happens to vice president of district 9 community education council) and a director of a local nonprofit. while we now have a school included in this capital plan it by no means addresses the needs of the neighborhood, which has 5 elementary schools (combined graduation each year of over 600 students) and not a single middle school. the middle school that has been proposed to be built is only 389 seats, which for 4 grades – 5th, 6th, 7th & 8th means less than 100 seats per grade level (we need 5th grade because 2 of our elementary schools finish at 4th grade due to space constraints and currently children as young as 9 years old need to take 2-3 public buses or a combination of buses and trains to get to school). We have had public school students testify, parents testify, elected officials testify and our issue has been covered in the ny times, daily news, and on many stations. Highbridge is located in the poorest congressional district in the United States, the south bronx, and is one of the most geographically isolated neighborhoods in the city (located on a hill just north of the yankee stadium, its northern border is the cross bronx expressway, its western border is the major deegan expressway (I-87) & the harlem river, and its eastern border is a hill that has 5 step streets as the main access in and out of the neighborhood). A middle school that would meet the needs of these 5 elementary schools would be one of a mimimum of 1200 seats (just to cover students from the 2 schools that graduate at fouth grade). Highbridge United is a community collation representing over forty community groups, parent associations, and community leaders (including our community board, local cec) and every elected official representing the highbridge neighborhood. If anyone would like more information we can be reached at highbridgeunited@gmail.com or I can be called at 212 203 1171, there are films of our campaign at the youtube site under user highbridgethebronx. These are just a few of the articles that have covered highbridge campaign:

Education Department approves new middle school in Highbridge
BY TANYANIKA SAMUELS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Thursday, November 6th 2008 http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2008/11/06/2008-11-06_education_department_approves_new_middle.html

NY Daily News “Highbridge school commute too long” by Tanyanika Samuels Tuesday December 18th, 2007

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/bronx/2007/12/18/2007-12-18_highbridge_school_commute_too_long-3.html

NY Daily News “Roundabout route to class: It’s exhausting trip for children from Highbridge” by Tanyanika Samuels Tuesday November 27th, 2007

(no longer available on website – I could fax you a copy if you would like)

NY Times “ Highbridge: A Muddle over Middle School” by Jennifer Bleyer Sunday November 11th, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/nyregion/thecity/11scho.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Bronx Times “Highbridge Demands own Middle School” by Lorna Montalvo Thursday October 25th, 2007

http://www.bxtimes.com/Archives.htm?appSession=67863437887562&RecordID=3185&PageID=3&PrevPageID=2&cpipage=1&CPIsortType=&CPIorderBy=

Highbridge Horizon “Highbridge Residents Rally for new Middle School” by Tony Richards October 2007 Edition

http://www.highbridgehorizon.com/news/oct07/rally.html

]]> By: Joe Williams http://gothamschools.org/2008/12/02/live-blogging-the-city-council-capital-plan-hearing-sort-of/comment-page-1/#comment-1931 Joe Williams Wed, 03 Dec 2008 13:40:54 +0000 http://gothamschools.org/?p=5673#comment-1931 Good report, Philissa. Is anyone asking city councilmembers who approved the current cap plan a dew years ago why they were willing to do so when it was always so nebulous from the start? Were they drunk when they voted for it or something? Good report, Philissa. Is anyone asking city councilmembers who approved the current cap plan a dew years ago why they were willing to do so when it was always so nebulous from the start? Were they drunk when they voted for it or something?

]]> By: Leonie Haimson http://gothamschools.org/2008/12/02/live-blogging-the-city-council-capital-plan-hearing-sort-of/comment-page-1/#comment-1925 Leonie Haimson Wed, 03 Dec 2008 04:23:47 +0000 http://gothamschools.org/?p=5673#comment-1925 thanks Phillissa -- Randi was on fire today and really energized the crowd. She basically said this is the time to seize the moment; to do the right thing by our kids and the economy. As she and Fidler pointed out, the economic downturn does not preclude building more schools, it should encourage it. Capital spending, unlike operating spending, is amortized over 30 years with the annual payments much less; moreover, because school construction is reimbursed by 50% by the state, this is a perfect opportunity to guarantee more state aid no matter what happens with this year's state budget. Moreover, the federal stimulus package looks very like to include funds for school construction -- funds that NYC will likely lose out on if we don't ramp up our capital plan. As to the cost for the 166,000 seats we estimated were necessary-- here is what my testimony had to say about that: "If the DOE re-allocated the $1 billion for unspecified new technology [in the capital plan]; $1 billion for environmental remediation (and instead, built schools on non-contaminated land); redirected half of the $305 million for “facility restructuring” (which means putting new schools in existing school buildings, which exacerbates overcrowding rather than relieves it) and canceled the $440 million that is supposed to go to expand the Brooklyn House of Detention, that would yield about $2.65 billion in capital funds. Given 50% state reimbursement for new school construction, this would provide an extra $5.3 billion for school construction – enough to triple the number of seats in the proposed plan to 75,000. By finding costs savings elsewhere – for example, cutting in half the projected increased enrollment in new charter schools over the next three years, the city could save about $180M in annual operating funds over the next three years. Shifted into the capital budget and amortized over 30 years, with 50% reimbursement from the state, this amount could finance another 91,000 seats, which together could pay for the166,000 new seats that are needed. Also -- 166,000 new seats is not an unprecedented figure for a capital plan – either for New York City or the nation as a whole. As we point out in our report, the city built 100,000 new seats from 1902-5 and nearly half a million new seats during the 1920’s. More recently, the Los Angeles United School District adopted a $20 billion capital plan that will produce 160,000 new seats – in a system 60% the size of NYC’s – and the district has already created 80,000 of these seats since 2003." The full testimony is posted at http://www.classsizematters.org/testimonycapitalplan120208.html thanks Phillissa — Randi was on fire today and really energized the crowd. She basically said this is the time to seize the moment; to do the right thing by our kids and the economy.

As she and Fidler pointed out, the economic downturn does not preclude building more schools, it should encourage it. Capital spending, unlike operating spending, is amortized over 30 years with the annual payments much less; moreover, because school construction is reimbursed by 50% by the state, this is a perfect opportunity to guarantee more state aid no matter what happens with this year’s state budget. Moreover, the federal stimulus package looks very like to include funds for school construction — funds that NYC will likely lose out on if we don’t ramp up our capital plan. As to the cost for the 166,000 seats we estimated were necessary– here is what my testimony had to say about that:

“If the DOE re-allocated the $1 billion for unspecified new technology [in the capital plan]; $1 billion for environmental remediation (and instead, built schools on non-contaminated land); redirected half of the $305 million for “facility restructuring” (which means putting new schools in existing school buildings, which exacerbates overcrowding rather than relieves it) and canceled the $440 million that is supposed to go to expand the Brooklyn House of Detention, that would yield about $2.65 billion in capital funds.

Given 50% state reimbursement for new school construction, this would provide an extra $5.3 billion for school construction – enough to triple the number of seats in the proposed plan to 75,000.

By finding costs savings elsewhere – for example, cutting in half the projected increased enrollment in new charter schools over the next three years, the city could save about $180M in annual operating funds over the next three years. Shifted into the capital budget and amortized over 30 years, with 50% reimbursement from the state, this amount could finance another 91,000 seats, which together could pay for the166,000 new seats that are needed.

Also — 166,000 new seats is not an unprecedented figure for a capital plan – either for New York City or the nation as a whole. As we point out in our report, the city built 100,000 new seats from 1902-5 and nearly half a million new seats during the 1920’s.

More recently, the Los Angeles United School District adopted a $20 billion capital plan that will produce 160,000 new seats – in a system 60% the size of NYC’s – and the district has already created 80,000 of these seats since 2003.”

The full testimony is posted at http://www.classsizematters.org/testimonycapitalplan120208.html

]]> By: David http://gothamschools.org/2008/12/02/live-blogging-the-city-council-capital-plan-hearing-sort-of/comment-page-1/#comment-1922 David Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:04:25 +0000 http://gothamschools.org/?p=5673#comment-1922 Thanks for the update - it's great to hear the DOE being taken to task for fuzzy math. I have great sympathy for teachers and principals who have to deal with TCUs, and I thank my lucky stars that I'm at a school with decent class sizes. Thanks for the update – it’s great to hear the DOE being taken to task for fuzzy math. I have great sympathy for teachers and principals who have to deal with TCUs, and I thank my lucky stars that I’m at a school with decent class sizes.

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