GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

A hotly-debated topic in the larger battle between charter school advocates and those who oppose their expansion is the question of executive pay. How much is too much for a charter school chief executive officer?

Though charter schools are privately operated, they receive public funding, which opens them up to criticism when their CEOs and CFOs receive high six-figure salaries.

One interesting case study is Harlem Village Academies, a network of charter schools founded by Deborah Kenny in 2001, which operates three charter schools — two middle schools and one high school — in Harlem. According to an analysis done by Kim Gittleson, Kenny also happens to be one of the mostly highly-paid charter executives in the city, second only to Geoffrey Canada, founder of the Harlem Children Zone charter schools.

Like all charter schools, Kenny’s schools are privately operated but receive public funding, opening her up to criticism that her salary far exceeds what traditional public school administrators earn. (more…)

In the last round of school closure announcements for the year, the Department of Education said today that it intends to close three more high schools starting next year.

The three schools are Alfred E. Smith Career and Technical Education School, a vocational school in the South Bronx; Monroe Academy for Business/Law, one of five small schools on the Monroe campus in the Bronx; and the School of Business, Computer Applications and Entrepreneurship, located on a Queens campus where two of the other three schools began phasing out this year.

The announcement brings to 20 the number of schools the department plans to close next school year, with high schools making up 15. A DOE spokesman, William Havemann, said the department does not plan to propose any more school closures this year. (more…)

If you work for the NYC Department of Education, getting small things done can often be a large task. But I’ve been doing it since its inception, and I have some advice for those who are bewildered, or simply discouraged. Even if you’ve been exiled to the most filthy, decrepit, and crumbling trailer in Mayor Bloomberg’s New York, you can do it. Just follow these simple steps.

A trailer at Francis Lewis High School. By Arthur Goldstein

First, try all the normal channels. Go to the custodian and explain how cold, how wet, how malodorous and revolting the trailer is. When that fails, go to administration. Fill out the forms, make the requests, and do whatever official policy dictates. Go in every now and then to remind them when nothing gets done. Demand luxury items, like soap.

Repeat every year, as necessary.

Don’t give up when you discover bar soap instead of liquid soap, even if it grows a curious oozing black crust the kids refuse to touch. Just pick it up with a piece of paper and interrupt a Very Important Meeting to show the assistant principal. The soap bars will soon disappear. While no new soap will replace it, you can make yourself feel important by boasting to the kids about how you got rid of those grungy soap bars.

After the fifth year or so, you may find your trailer’s desk filled with fast-food garbage. (more…)

Stories of Francis Lewis High School’s crowded hallways have made their way into more than one city newspaper, but until recently no one has asked the question: what would happen if someone yelled “fire” in a crowded stairwell?

Concerned that the Queens school’s choked hallways — there are over 4,000 students in a building designed for 2,400 — would trap students and teachers during an evacuation, the school’s chapter leader, Arthur Goldstein, asked officials at the United Federation of Teachers to do a safety inspection. A report from the inspectors warns that in the event of an emergency, the crowds in Francis Lewis would have a difficult time leaving the building.

One report, written by UFT Environmental Safety representative Sandra Dunne Yules, states:

The crowded hallways exceed the safe limits and impact emergency egress capacity of the school. The building was designed for far fewer occupants and this condition creates a serious emergency egress hazard. This school was not designed to safely handle the evacuation of the number of current occupants. This is a serious life safety issue and a fire code and building code violation. (more…)

• The city’s math NAEP scores are either up a little or not. (GothamSchools, Times, Daily News, Post, NY1)
• NAEP math scores were flat in most cities, with Washington D.C. the big exception. (Wall Street Journal)
• D.C. (non-charter) schools were alone in posting a significant jump in both grades. (Washington Post)
• Beth Fertig’s latest piece about learning math is about students succeeding after years of failure. (WNYC)
• A janitor at James Madison HS found two teachers naked while students were nearby. (Daily News)
• The mother of an autistic student at PS 308 is angry after the school put him on the wrong bus. (NY1)
• The FDA’s requirements for fast food meat are more stringent than for school lunches. (USA Today)
• The Wall Street Journal is thrilled that “despite the odds,” charter schools appear to be thriving.

• Did Bloomberg’s NAEP prediction come true? Beth Fertig looks at whether the success is “real.”
• Flypaper looks at Cleveland, which really bombed the NAEP test.
• If you’re looking for NAEP sparknotes, they’re on the Core Knowledge blog.
• Defective test booklets have D.C. students retaking high school admissions tests.
• A former assemblyman and author of the original mayoral control law is making a career change.
• Richard Kessler is holding out hope that Duncan will insert arts education in the RttT guidelines.
• District 20′s CEC will vote on a rezoning plan tomorrow that some fear will reduce student diversity.
• The Queens Courier raised $1,500 for the Fund for Public Schools.
• Just as NCLB reauthorization nears, a new report is questioning its turnaround strategy.
• Seeing the “to be closed” list grow, a teacher wonders whether the system sets teachers up to fail.
• GOOD wonders if it’s, yes, good for hedge funders to love charter schools.
• Detroit gets a tentative contract that has New-Haven-contract-like elements.
• Sean Cavanagh, who wrote the Curriculum Matters blog, is leaving EdWeek.
• Republicans are not happy that the RttT guidelines push common standards on states.
• Jeff Branzburg’s comic strip lays out the history of technology in classrooms.
• And our party is tomorrow and if you’re reading this you should come.

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein defended the city's results on the NAEP math exams this afternoon at Tweed Courthouse.

Frustrated with criticism that city students made no progress on a national math exam in the past two years, Chancellor Joel Klein instead focused on a shrinking performance gap separating city students from their state and national peers today.

Speaking at Tweed Courthouse this afternoon, Klein argued that the city has made greater gains in fourth and eighth grade math than the rest of New York State and the United States overall.

City fourth graders improved their math scores by 11 points since 2003, Klein said, compared to a rise of one point in the state and five points in the nation. He pointed to similar patterns in eighth grade scores.  The percentage of students scoring at or above a proficient level also rose faster in New York City than in the state or nation.

Klein said that because other states like Massachusetts have state standards that hew more closely to what is tested on national exams, it is difficult to compare New York City’s results to those of other major urban areas like Boston. The city ranked third out of the eighteen urban districts tested by NAEP in fourth grade scores and sixth in eighth grade scores. (more…)

Fourth grade students' scores were flat this year, but have increased since 2003 and 2005.

City students have made no significant improvements on a national math test in the last two years, but years of two and three-point gains have led to a general trend of modestly increasing scores.

Eighth grade students did not make meaningful gains this year. Reflecting a pattern of fourth-graders outperforming eighth graders, the older students have seen fewer score gains since 2003.

Fourth and eighth grade students’ scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the nation’s report card, have been statistically flat since 2007, though both groups have made gains since 2005 and 2003.

NAEP scores are typically released on a state-by-state basis, but in 2002 several large cities agreed to have their own figures reported separately. The data does not include test scores from students in charter schools. Compared to students in other large cities, New York City’s fourth-graders beat the average score, while its eighth grade students’ scores met the average — a pattern that has held constant since 2003. (more…)

I want to believe that charter schools are a part of the solution to America’s public school problem. Lord knows everyone who’s a part of the reform establishment thinks they are. And while I think charter schools are showing some undeniable progress, I still have sincere misgivings about the race to pronounce the achievement gap conquered by KIPP, Harlem Children’s Zone, et al.

An article in the fashion and style (!?) section of Friday’s New York Times inadvertently outlined the major issues I have with the stampede to build more charter schools. The article, which opens with a scene from a charity poker tournament at the posh W Hotel, highlights the growing number of hedge fund managers and other top finance gurus who are involved in funding New York’s burgeoning charter school networks.

It’s a fascinating article and details the many ways in which charter schools have generated enough buzz to elicit support from top policymakers as well as niches of society better known for expending capital on yachts and penthouses rather than educational enterprises. Implicitly, however, it shows how charter schools are draining resources and support — financial and otherwise — from the public school system. (more…)