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December 5, 2008
Race and politics mag says Arabic language school still in trouble
Khalil Gibran International Academy supporters outside the school on its first day. Via Flickr.
From February 2007, when the Department of Education announced it would open a dual-language Arabic-English school, until the end of the school’s first year last June, Khalil Gibran International Academy was wracked by bad news.
Now, partway into the school’s second year, Colorlines, which bills itself as “the national newsmagazine about race and politics,” has taken a look at KGIA’s progress. Sadly, the problems don’t sound like they’ve abated.
From the article:
This past September, many of the original sixth-grade students had not returned as seventh graders. The school has cut back on Arabic language instruction, is no longer set to become a high school and has moved twice in its first year of operation. The founding principal, Debbie Almontaser, was forced to resign following a media storm over the meaning of the word “intifada,” and the school is being led by its third principal. None of the original teachers remain at the school, and those who have left claim they were fired or forced to leave because of the stress.
It came to this, critics say, because the school was targeted by a network of conservative organizations and their media outlets that have long been in the business of attacking educators with any perceived links to Palestine. …
While the idea of sixth graders leading a religious crusade might sound ridiculous, the conservative groups succeeded in their attacks. Today, the school appears mired in an atmosphere of fear, tension and instability.
Originally, KGIA struggled to find a location when the first school assigned to house it rejected the plan. Then, national commentators lined up against the school’s Arabic focus; its founding principal, Debbie Almontaser, resigned under fire after she made statements to the press that some considered offensive; enrollment dropped as parents pulled their kids out; and finally the DOE moved it to a different neighborhood altogether. It currently has 55 students, fewer than it originally plan to have in its first cohort.
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December 5th, 2008 5:47 pm
This is a sad story. But the larger issue is: with so few academically rigorous, progressive middle schools in Brooklyn, why was so much energy poured into this one? With all due respect to the good intentions of those who founded the school, and the families who would like to expose their children to Arab culture in an intensive way, why was this school founded, when so many children in Brooklyn (and in other boroughs too, no doubt) do not have access to great (or even good) middle schools offering a general education and a curriculum rigorous enough to allow them to consider applying for admission to the selective high schools. I am sad for the children, parents, and faculty who find themselves in a school that’s not what they signed up for, but I am sadder for those children whose middle-school options are appallingly limited to the lackluster choices available in many districts, including District 13, where we live.
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December 6th, 2008 10:24 am
Re the comment from District 13 Mom………Why must we have to choose between other rigorous middle school programs and a dual language Arabic-English school?? We have a very large and significant Arab population particularly in Brooklyn, and in the community where KGIA was first located. Just as we have dual language schools in NYC for all other significant languages — such as Chinese, Spanish, Russian, French, etc., why should we not have one for Arabic? A very large percentage of the world’s population speaks Arabic languages, and we have so few Arabic language speakers in our Military, and other Government agencies, that we have to scramble to find interpreters to conduct the business of our government in any meaningful way. There are many parents who sought out and chose KGIA so that their children would have a good chance at a career in foreign service or other government agencies because they would be able to speak Arabic. The Department of Education, Mayor Bloomberg and Randi Weingarten have behaved so shamefully in their total disregard of the importance of KGIA to the future of this City as well as the parents and children who want to be a part of KGIA’s mission and resources. Many of us responded to President-elect Obama’s naming of Joel Klein as a possible SEcretary of Education with a petition naming all the instances of Klein’s terrible choices re NYC education system, KGIA being one of the most outrageous. Not only did Klein, Bloomberg and Weingarten’s collective behavior smack of outright racism, they destroyed one of the most talented, peace loving educators in this City — Debbie Almontaser. This will not be forgotten if the Mayor decides to run for a third term — which he surely will as he engineered the City Council vote to extend term limits.
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March 7th, 2010 2:57 am
this is a sad story. But the larger issue is: with so few academically rigorous, progressive middle schools in Brooklyn, why was so much energy poured into this one? With all due respect to the good intentions of those who founded the school, and the families who would like to expose their children to Arab culture in an intensive way, why was this school founded, when so many children in Brooklyn (and in other boroughs too, no doubt) do not have access to great (or even good) middle schools offering a general education and a curriculum rigorous enough to allow them to consider applying for admission to the selective high schools. I am sad for the children, parents, and faculty who find themselves in a school that’s not what they signed up for, but I am sadder for those children whose middle-school options are appallingly limited to the lackluster choices available in many districts, including District 13, where we live..
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