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nightcap
December 23, 2009
Remainders: Paterson tells schools they’ll see aid, eventually
- Paterson plans to repay school districts the money he’s withheld if revenues improve next month.
- But says he won’t be pushed by edu groups’ lawsuit to return the money before he’s ready.
- “Whose kids should go there?” Joel Klein asks, defending the decision to close Jamaica HS.
- Last school year, NYC charter schools took in over $31 million in philanthropic donations.
- Andrew Rotherham says students in prison need better school options if they’re to succeed.
- Ben Wildavsky reviews a book that calls for more merit-based aid and fewer unprepared college students.
- Arthur Goldstein delights his student by accusing another teacher of assaulting the principal.
- Asked to write 6,000-word novels in a month, a class of sixth graders more than meets the challenge.
- Learning to ask students the right questions can produce difficult answers, one teacher learns.
- City Corps members tell stories of how they’re making a difference in the schools.
- Leo Casey and Peter Murphy’s battle over NYSCA’s politics continues at Edwize.
- Norm Scott reminds readers that in the midst of school closing fights, the UFT has an elections coming up.
- If the UFT hadn’t lobbied to cut charter funding, Merrick Academy could raise pay, Peter Murphy writes.
- Maryland officials are having a very public dispute over whether to aim for round 1 or 2 of RttT.
- And happy holidays! We’re on break but will be back in full force on Jan. 4.
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December 23rd, 2009 7:45 pm
Joel Klein’s kids should go there, rather than the exclusive private school to which they actually went. How dare they posture about how class sizes don’t matter while sending their own kids to schools with small class sizes? How dare he say a school that enrolls over a thousand kids is fit for no one? It’s an insult to them and their community, which he wants to leave without a neighborhood school. It’s particularly egregious because even as he spouts this high-falutin’ nonsense, a “small school” on Jamaica campus has all the amenities and is filled to capacity.
Why on earth can’t he give Jamaica what he gives Queens Collegiate–technology, decent conditions, and things every city kid would have were the “leaders” halfway inclined to provide it?
His solution of closing schools has not worked well at nearby Campus Magnet, and as long as he shifts problems around rather than addressing them head on, we’ll see no progress, which is precisely what the recent NAEP scores say he’s achieving.
It’s time to fix schools and close Tweed.
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December 30th, 2009 6:14 pm
What Klein fails to admit to is that kids who enter high school multiple years behind where they should be will still be years behind, no matter what school they attend. He hasn’t solved anything by closing the schools, he is just shifting the problems.
I teach at Francis Lewis HS and although we have managed to maintain our reputation, our standards are not what they used to be, not because of us, but because of the standards mandated by the state. Since 1984, the year I started here, I have seen a deterioration in the quality of education offered. Math AP classes are not as numerous as they used to be. Successful tutoring programs are no longer run because of space and the length of the day. Closing Jamaica will increase the population of nearby schools and set them up for future closings. Jamaica might be reopened as several smaller schools but their populations will be more select and fewer students will be serviced. Also, these schools are so much more costly because of increased administration needs. I agree with NYC Ed. Klein and all his cronies should send their children to Jamaica and other similar schools. That is the only way to see them improve.
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