Comments on: Report: City’s small schools push damaged large high schools

By: Michael Fiorillo

Michael Fiorillo — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:50:23 +0000

Isn’t it also contradictory for the Chancellor to say, “This is about improving the system, not necessarily improving every school,” out of one side of his mouth, while he and others scream that “the kids can’t wait!” when it comes to ramping up charter school openings?

If it’s not about “improving every school,” then many students are by clear implication being neglected.

He is right about one thing, however: he and his McKinsey consultants are all about changing the system, although it has much more to do with the infinite extension of management prerogatives – and hiring, too: look at all the administrators it takes to run those small schools – and labor relations than it does with teaching and children. It’s small wonder that the current head of the New Teacher Project was a labor relations lawyer for the city.

The small school movement was captured and perverted by the ed deform regime, and has evolved into a vehicle for enlarging school administration and diminishing resources – clubs, teams, electives, etc. – for students, while simultaneously carving away at the seasoned, unionized workforce and their contract.

Hopefully this report marks the prelude to the demise of another educational fad, one that has brought a lot of damage in its wake.

By: Jeff S

Jeff S — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:59:42 +0000

What is going on in the supervision of high school subject area teachers is very sad and also part of the new budgeting process. Schools were told they could have math coaches. In many schools Ihave visited, math coaches are illegally performing activities that should only be done by certified Assistant Principals. But that doesn’t sto some of the Principals from using them illegally. And in that way, they, instead of having an Assistant Principal in charge of Mathematics, they have a supervisor of record from another discipline, say Physical Education. What helped me as a beginning high school teacher of mathematics was that I had a real mathematics supervisor who worked with me and taught me the ropes. When you break the large high schools into smaller schools, rarely do you have the proper subject area supervision. Of course the Principal will have a certain subject area in which he was originally trained and may have an Assistant Principal trained in another subject area. But how can a Principal trained say in social studies be able to properly evaluate a lesson in chemistry and know whether the chemistry being taught is correct; perhaps the most important thing you need n a secondary teacher that is the proper knowledge of the subject. A teacher can follow whatever the protocol of teaching of the day is, can have the kids sitting around in groups facing each other (there are Principals who think that is the way kids hould be arranged in a senior high school believe it or not) yet not know the first thing about the algebra he or she is supposedly teaching. The harm this can di is incalculable. But that doesn’t seem to annoy Mr. Klein on his push for smaller schools. After all, it is not important to have subject area teachers well versed in the disciplines they are teaching in the high schools, now is it?

By: I noticed that...

I noticed that... — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:15:13 +0000

Jeff S, I can top that: How can an A.P., with an Art License, observe, critique, and evaluate high school math teachers? Gheeze, I would like to see a dentist evaluate a neurosurgeon. But, that the system that Klein created.

By: Jeff S

Jeff S — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:52:45 +0000

I replied in another thread to this…..the incompetent, unqualified and uncertified Joel Klein doesn’t have a clue to be in a position for which he does not have the slightest degree of understanding. I went to a large high school; there were a variety of activities such as sing, the school band where I learned to play an instrument, extra curricular activites. The large schools were also able to offer a large variety of courses….if 5% of the students in a school are qualified for advanced placement chemistry, it is much more likely a large school will be able to offer it rather than one of Klein’s smaller schools. Of course what makes good schools are good students; get rid of the few troublemakers and all schools can do well and offer a variety of educational experiences. Also there is the problem of the inability of the small schools to provide proper supervision of subject area teachers. How can a Principal, trained say in Social Studeis, properly evaluate a math lesson and know whether the math being taught is correct?
Another example of the damage Klein, a non educator in a positon that should be held by an educator, has done. It will take decades to undo this damage.

By: Gotham Gazette - The Wonkster » Blog Archive » The Education Campaign

Gotham Gazette - The Wonkster » Blog Archive » The Education Campaign — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:10:31 +0000

[...] where did all those low performing students go? An earlier report said many have crammed into nearby big high schools, which “have seen attendance decline, [...]

By: Michael M.

Michael M. — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:35:48 +0000

Now now, D, let’s not blame the architects when it is lawyers running the system.

And anyone who’s walked that building (I have not), or read its stats (I have), might wonder if word of “Brown v Board of Ed” ever reached da Bronx. Or Tweed.

JFK High School is over 95% non-white-or-asian.

Ironic — its students’ weakest Regents score, whether city-wide or relative to its “peer group,” was in… United States History.
http(colon)//schools(dot)nyc(dot)gov/OA/SchoolReports/2007-08/ProgressReport_HS_X475.pdf

By: Dissenter

Dissenter — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:03:37 +0000

I will add John F Kennedy HS to the list. No one who walks through that building could reasonably conclude it was constructed with the intent of educating kids.

By: Pogue

Pogue — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 22:00:59 +0000

Those borough-by-borough hearings on mayoral control were a sham. Right now, most things politicians say are shams. They’ll give you the time, then do whatever the hell they want. I have never witnessed democracy so beaten and crushed down as to what Bloomberg, the City Council, and the Assembly are doing to the public trust. It is sickening.

By: Michael M.

Michael M. — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:33:12 +0000

So… a philosophy that worsens the plight of those “vast majority” of students in large high schools should be a) celebrated, or b) denounced?

The smaller schools practice “creaming,” but it is the students at the larger schools getting creamed.

Re Klein’s: ““This is about improving the system, not necessarily about improving every single school”: That there’s lawyer talk — not educator talk. We’re not talking about “single” schools being adversely affected by a flawed philosphy; we’re talking about an entire category comprising “the vast majority” of the students in the grades under discussion. Maximizing pain is the exact OPPOSITE of good public policy, let alone fair to those kids.

Mayoral control might be here to stay, but Chancellor Klein need not. To the degree those schools may have been “warehouses” before, Klein has made them moreso.

By: Dissenter

Dissenter — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:38:42 +0000

Many of these large high schools were nothing but warehouses for children. Some, like MLK, Taft, etc. should have never been constructed to begin with.