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January 13, 2010

Save Jamaica High School

by James Eterno and Arthur Goldstein, at 11:33 am

Jamaica High School is a magnificent building — a beacon on a hill that stands out in a distinctly middle-class neighborhood in Queens. It is majestic and elegant — a literal landmark that exudes history.

Walk the halls and you will see black and white pictures of tweed-suited principals. You can see one of them appearing on “Open End” with David Susskind, discussing some important issue or other. When was the last time you saw a high school principal interviewed on a news show?

Walk further and you will see photos of the doughboys who died in World War I. This one died of malaria. That one perished from pneumonia. Then comes the World War II vets. They’ve all passed through these halls, and why not? Jamaica High School has been an integral part of the community for 118 years.

Alas, Chancellor Joel Klein has passed a writ of execution on Jamaica High School, threatening an abrupt halt to its rich history. The primary reason given is that Jamaica has a graduation rate of less than 50%. But the Chancellor’s statistics are wrong. This is not surprising because the school operates with a secretarial staff slashed from 13 to 5, insufficient guidance personnel and a relatively new principal. After the Chancellor issued his death sentence, a careful review of the graduation data revealed that 258 of fewer than 500 seniors graduated in 2009, which is clearly over 50%.

Jamaica’s four-year graduation rate was 38% in 2005, 42% in 2006, 52% in 2007, and 53% in 2008. This is real progress. Last month, Chancellor Klein celebrated the city’s 14% gain in math NAEP scores from 2003-2009 as a tremendous success. Why on earth, then, is Jamaica’s four-year 15% rate gain, marginally outpacing the Chancellor’s own progress, not also a tremendous success?

The Chancellor’s assertion that only one in four Jamaica students receives a Regents Diploma is also inaccurate. In 2009, Jamaica had 143 Regents Diplomas, 35 Advanced Regents Diplomas and 4 Advanced Regents Diplomas with Honors. That adds up to 182-well above 25%, and a 13% increase from the 159 in 2008.

Another reason cited for Jamaica’s closure is declining enrollment. Jamaica is just beginning to recover from the stigma created when the Department of Education labeled the school “persistently dangerous” after a previous principal insisted on reporting even the most minor of incidents. Enrollments have actually leveled off and are starting to go up. They would rise much more rapidly if Jamaica received proper support.

If Jamaica High School dies, money will be lavished on new schools that will take years to grow. These schools will likely turn away the non-traditional “over the counter” pupils that Jamaica accepts. 330 students registered “over the counter” so far this fall (well over the 273 that enrolled over the Fall 08 semester). Many came from other states and other countries. Where will these students go next year? These are precisely the students new schools tend to shun.

Queens Collegiate, a new small school started in 2008 within Jamaica’s facility, has only 6 English language learners and zero most restricted environment special education students. Jamaica High School has 170 in special education, 259 English language learners and 71 students with interrupted formal education. Similar pupils will more than likely go to neighboring comprehensive high schools in Queens next year, despite the fact there’s virtually no space for them.

On December 16th, Chancellor Klein sent Debra Kurshan, head of the DoE’s Office of Portfolio Planning, to a public meeting at Jamaica. Ms. Kurshan assured the outraged crowd that the closure of Jamaica was not a done deal. It was just a proposal that required approval from the Panel for Educational Policy before it could be finalized. Ms. Kurshan made this statement without a hint of irony.

Up to now, the PEP has never rejected any request by the Mayor or the Chancellor. We pin our hopes on the possibility that the Mayor, the Chancellor, or the panel itself will consider all the negative consequences of closing this historic school. Jamaica High School has long been a cornerstone of the community.

It would be an egregious error to close Jamaica High School, particularly since the decision relies on blatantly inaccurate data. Its demise would cause irreparable damage not only to the Jamaica community, but to surrounding neighborhoods as well. The fall of this once-proud school would cause a chain reaction, damaging other high schools in nearby neighborhoods. The closing of the school would be a failure for the Department of Education, which has no strategy to help struggling schools.

Let’s stop destroying neighborhood schools, and begin working to fix them.

James Eterno is the UFT chapter leader at Jamaica High School. Arthur Goldstein is the UFT chapter leader at Francis Lewis High School and a regular contributor to the GothamSchools community section.

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  • then rally

    The 21st should be the rally heard around the world!
    Teachers and all school staff, rise up without the UFT who own their own charter schools! We need to take back our dignity. Enough is enough. This has gone way too far. What a shame on all our elected officials. We have worked so hard and this is how we are treated? NYC teachers are great! Do not let them do this to us! Rally at the Jan 26 PEP meeting too! City Hall, the DOE, the UFT and our elected have failed, not the schools!

  • http://www.classsizematters.org leonie haimson

    If there’s any justice in the world, Jamaica HS and the other schools that are supposed to close will stay open. Unfortunately, our schools are run by one man who holds all the power, who bought his way into a third term, and doesnt give a damn.

  • Pogue

    There is no history with Bloom/Klein, they simply seek to destroy, then save money on fair salary, decent benefits, and people who choose an altruistic career helping kids, by opening charters.  It’s all about money for these guys, as it is the Wall Streeters and bankers.  More for them and less for us, whether we be students, teachers, parents, or anyone trying to stay afloat in these greed-driven times.  They do what they want and fake the democratic process.

  • Gerri Calandro

    Well put, gentelmen, very well put. As a tv character once said “just the facts boys, just the facts” and that is exactly what Mr. Eterno and Mr. Goldstein based their article on. The DOE has no just cause to shut Jamaica HS, where I spent almost five years before becoming an ATR and being transferred to another school. I want to go back to Jamaica…to a school where the kids need us and where the faculty and staff are like a family, with one purpose in mind….to educate the kids, many of whom no other schools will take. Will all of our rallying help? We can only hope and keep trying. As British Statesman Edmund Burke once said “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

  • Linda Silverman

    Close one school, send the troubled kids to another and that school will soon be closed. Bloomberg and Klein are using the domino theory to destroy the schools that stand now and to push privatization. By the time everyone realizes these schools don’t work either, Bloomberg and Klein will be long gone.

  • jacob

    thanks for all of this information.  Like Gerri said, its nice to hear someone present the facts.  Undoubtedly you’ve also shared this information with DoE, what was their response?  Any reason given for the inaccurate data they presented?

  • Arthur Goldstein

    I presume that’s a serious question, so I’ll give you a serious response.

    The DoE, I’m afraid, works in mysterious and inscrutable ways. I know for a fact they were emailed this info, though not by me personally, so I’m not privy to the precise response. I know, however, that the figures presented here were not disputed–that I would have been told.

    I also have seen DoE reps presented with this info, repeatedly and very publicly, on two occasions. On neither occasion did they offer a response. One of them, as I wrote above, maintained closure was merely a proposal–a preposterous statement to those of us who follow the PEP, which has yet to reject a single proposal from on high.

    I couldn’t help but notice, at the most recent hearing, that the Deputy Chancellor appeared much of the time not to be listening to the speakers at all, but was engrossed in playing with his Blackberry or whatever it was he had under the table. If you’re going to play with something under the table, you ought not to do so in front of a bunch of high school teachers. For better or worse, we’re conditioned to look for such things. If I recall correctly, though, it was a student who called him publicly on that.

    I carry a cell with me and have it on vibrate. I never use it when I’m teaching, waiting till after class to even check it. Nor do I tolerate students using cells in my class. It’s remarkable that the parents, students, teachers, clerics, and everyone–the entire Jamaica community does not seem to merit the courtesy I extend to the kids in my class.

  • jacob

    Thanks Arthur, please keep us updated.  I would be interesting to hear someone respond to you all’s figures – they seem very impressive.  

  • jacob

    it*

  • Doreen Mohammed

    My name is Doreen Mohammed; I’m 16.5 years old and a junior in the Gateway Honors Excellence Program at our dear Jamaica High School. Currently, I have a 98.64% average and am proudly the honorable valedictorian of my school at the moment. The DOE is tragically attempting to close my school down officially by June 2013. The reasoning the DOE has provided us students, teachers, and staff at Jamaica with is that our school is failing dramatically. I must disagree strongly with the DOE and here are my many reasons why.

    First and foremost, our graduation rate is not 46% but 54% so far, and that number is indeed getting higher by the second. Our graduation rate would be higher, but we do have an enormous amount of ESL students in our student body, 257 in total. They tend to require a little more time to graduate than the average student, a total of 5 years usually. They come from another country, learn English, and successfully graduate. Most high schools don’t have to deal with such different students, so we definitely deserve a whole lot more credit than we get. The DOE calls THIS a failure?

    In matter of fact, Queens Collegiate, our neighboring school, did something quite disturbing lately. They get treated and funded a lot better than us, yet they transferred a student to our school, just because that student was an ESL student and obviously doesn’t know much English. At least our school doesn’t turn anybody down, no matter what their background is. The DOE calls THIS a failure?

    Additionally, I’ve many excellent and amazing teachers at Jamaica High School. Ms. Jesusa Merioles was my Living Environment and Research teacher in freshman year. She has a 100% Regents passing rate and I must say, she is talented! I got a 92 on that Regents, and I didn’t even study for that exam a single bit. We couldn’t even perform certain important practical labs, due to our seriously haunting budget cuts annually. Ms. Maudlin McLean was my AP Biology teacher for both freshman and sophomore year. I had that class for only 3 semesters, when we are supposed to have it a whole year, for a double period. I also couldn’t conduct ANY labs at all, yet due to her talent in teaching, I receiving a 3 on that exam. Given the conditions, I don’t think that a failure, it’s a success. The DOE calls THIS a failure?

    Mr. James Eterno and Ms. Kulagowski were my Global teachers in my sophomore year. I got a 97 on the Global Regents thanks to their help combined. Mr. Eterno is now currently my AP US History teacher, and I know I’m definitely passing that exam no matter what. I already do quite well in his class, get like over 90s on his exams, and understand the textbook, all thanks to his talent. Ms. Christine Dibinis was my Chemistry and Research teacher in sophomore year. I must state that if it wasn’t for her, I can’t imagine passing the Chemistry Regents with an 81, especially since I barely studied for it. She made chemistry so fascinating and intriguing to me, as well as to the rest of my peers. The DOE calls THIS a failure?

    Mr. Scott Pecorino is currently my Physics teacher and I am so relieved, as well as glad, to have him as my Physics teacher. I can’t imagine passing that class or even caring about it without him. He is quite revolutionary, especially since he’s so committed to our school. He arranges the, now 5th, annual Cardboard Boat Race, in which we apply physics to the best of our knowledge, to successfully construct a boat which doesn’t sink. I do quite well in his class, always 85’s and above, as many others. The DOE calls THIS a failure?

    Mr. Klugman is currently my Trigonometry teacher and hopefully will be, my AP Calculus teacher next year. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know what I would do in mathematics. He makes all kinds of math so simple to understand and do, it’s amazing. I had never had such a great math teacher before, except for Mr. Hertz of course. They both allow me to truly reveal my talents in math, as I couldn’t do as much before. They, all the rest of my teachers, make me want to learn and motivate me to excel in school. The DOE calls THIS a failure?

    Trust me, the list of my revolutionary teachers can go on for eternity, but I believe the DOE gets the point, crystal and clear. Jamaica High School is NOT a failure, it’s a SUCCESS, given the harsh conditions and circumstances it had to endure. The DOE should really think twice before they take a drastic action they’ll regret in the future. Why not help the schools succeed instead of “driving” them to FAIL? Please, I, as well as the rest of Jamaica High, kindly request to reconsider your decision and NOT close Jamaica High. It’ll hurt a lot of students, teachers, and the staff in such awful ways.

  • kathy

    the DOE’s response when I presented the improved figures was to shake heads, look away, and immediately recite their own published statistics. they also began referencing lower statistics, based on removing students such as those in Gateway and other special programs from the calculation.

  • Alan Coles

    Well said Linda Silverman. The Mayor,and chancellor Klein need buildings to house these privately run Charter School’s. Buildings are hard to come by in New York City. So what are they doing? They are sending every high-needs student they can find, and sending them to the buildings they seek. These students are from Rikers Island, homeless shelter’s, truants from other boro’s, and a high percentage of ESL students. Then they cut the support funding to these schools. Mission Accomplished. How do I know this? Jamaica’s guidance department looked at 34 students sent to Jamaica in one school year. Look at Paul Robeson High School. They took in 156 homeless students in one year, up from 16 the year before. The New York State Attorney General needs to investigate who was responsible for sending these students to Jamaica, Robeson,and any other school slated for closing

  • Christine Rowland

    It seems that the reform policies of the past few years, both the closing of large high schools and the opening of a proliferation of small schools has had the effect, intended or not, of concentrating the students with the highest level of needs (and lowest 8th grade scores if they have them at all) in fewer and fewer schools.

    The Progress Report then evaluates these schools with a tool that gives no consideration to these needs (special education students who require smaller classes, recent immigrants arriving in the upper grades with little or no English or those with interrupted formal education).

    Then we get the move that, since we’re not doing as well as schools with less challenging populations, we’ll be closed. And there’s no plan to serve our highest needs students. There never is. But at Columbus they’ll take our space to allow a ‘higher achieving’ school from another neighborhood to expand. The higher achieving school has not yet had a graduating class. How do we know they’re higher achieving? Their 8th grade scores are much higher. They take no special education students requiring special classes and few ELLs.

    Our schools (those like Jamaica, Columbus, Smith etc.) have become specialists at serving high needs students. We’ve adapted to meet their needs over the years. They have a home with adults whom they trust and who care about them. They take longer to graduate because they have much further to travel in order to attain State standards. They frequently face greater personal and social challenges as well as academic ones.

    We need more funding and more supports for our schools, not phase outs and closures. When will our policy makers learn that they can’t just close the children who pose the greatest statistical challenges?

  • http://MKaye@mlbki.com Marilyn Kaye

    A formula on”How to Have Jamaica High School Fail!”. 1. Send as many kids from Riker’s Island as you can find. If you find over 11% it will tip the school for failure. Found almost 40 students, it’s over 11%.. Great this might help Jamaica High School close. 2. Find students that can’t speak English… found a few hundred..put them on the hill. Great this will help Jamaica High School Close. 3. Send letters to parents that Jamaica High School is dangerous. Great, parents have pulled their kids out… this will help Jamaica High School close. 4. Give most of the computers to the Collegiate School that is in the building of JHS. Great, the students will feel they don’t rate, just like a bad parent that they hate. They will get depressed and not do their best.Great JHS will fall like the rest. 5. The budget has been cut, the formula is working, closure of the school will come soon. We’re on the way to close as the parents don’t know we are pros at this test. Wait, something is askew, I thought success of closure would be coming soon but there seems to be a monkeywrentch. I ran it like an acquisition. What is happening to my position! The parents have another way and they seem to want their say. They have a formula too, I thought I made them too blue…why are they so strong and the press is talking to them and worst they found the Internet and they report a formula too. . 1. The parents, alumni and students showed up to protest…I would not have believed the numbers… almost a thousand strong. What went wrong? 2. A teacher landmarked the building, I thought the bad maintenance and steps in need of repair would make landmarks pull their hair. We let it be a mess but the teacher kept at it for years and as I saw it gain momentum it brought me to tears; for Jamaica High School prevailed just like world war 1 and 2 it received the historic designation it was due..”.Landmarked” we won. I wonder if the flag on top of the hill was a symbol too hard to kill? 3. The press is enormous, How did it happen when in America we treat old things badly…why is it not like that with this old building on the hill? Do these people like the old? could they think its gold? I surely thought the building was too old. Don’t they know it’s time to move on and forget your past and the chanting “Save Jamaica HighSchool won’t last!. How did this get ahead of the plan Iran? .5. I didn’t think this chanting would last… it’s like a strong wood sailboat with an old mast; it caught the wind and keeps sailing, picking up alumni who fight me. I really think my plan is failing and some have said it is ailing.. I wish the song was not red and blue…it really gets into your head and.I keep hearing it in my bed. I had a nightmare last night, they saved the school on the hill. When I started my plan to destroy, I thought my opposition were fools. Everyone thought I was right.so we didn’t really have a great fight.. What went wrong with my plan? I thought we had them beat. Could that American flag on the hill be a dream to all and perhaps that’s why it won’t fall? My nightmare is real, I hear Jamaica High School remains the greatest school of all! It remains the icon on the hill against my will. The people have spoken and the chant is now new, like the Statue of Liberty, the building stands tall for all and greets new students from the world as a learning Landmark of great American public high schools. High on the hill,you hear a new song, “Long live Jamaica High School, the best public high school for all!”

  • Jackie

    The Department of Education would have you believe that a closure is not a closure. They say that it is just a reorganization and the school on the top of the hill will still be Jamaica. Do they seriously believe that “Jamaica Campus” is the same as “Jamaica High School” or that all of the wonderful happy teens who are eager to go to Jamaica High School each day will have the same educational opportunities in small schools that they now have in the traditional and comprehensive high school setting that is Jamaica High? Surely they don’t believe that the rivalry between Van Buren and Jamaica, or Francis Lewis and Jamaica, or Cardozo and Jamaica will ever be the same again. Do they??

  • BJK

    I heard about this closing with stunned disbelief. The comments above all confirm my conviction that this school was targeted for closure a long time ago. Read the impassioned account of Doreen above. Her account is proof of the quality of student and teaching that still exists at this HS, just as it did for legions of former JHS grads over the many decades. I live in the area, passing by the school a few times a week for years: a dangerous school? Admittedly, I am not inside, but if you were to tell anyone living in this area that they were in the vicinity of a ‘dangerous’ high school, you would not be believed. As I heard the mayor say sarcastically:
    ‘nostalgia is nice, but it doesn’t teach our kids’, I have to say this is a dishonest statement. It implies that that is all JHS has left. I think the students and teachers there would say otherwise.

  • http://MKaye@mlbki.com Marilyn Harra Kaye

    Here’s to the school high on the hill and the American flag flying with the red white and blue. Now the courts have decided to give the school its due for why did they fail where their stats were made askew? Now they took every child to help them go far, isn’t that the American dream to learn to touch a star? Some students take a much longer time to learn, some need more time for that coveted degree to earn. At Jamaica High they try for every student to reach their highest goal and like the steps up the school, for some it can sometimes take its toll.As times can be difficult, many students may need to assent to the mother/father roles when the parents are not there to set the family goals. As both parents work to produce a family tree, with food and clothes for more than three and just perhaps, the Jamaica High student must assert the role of mother and father for thir family to be whole. Now who are we to say that each student must do it our way and graduate in four years when this JHS student is their for his family at the door.This student may need more time to travel their road and doesn’t an act of kindness count as humanity’s highest goal?.As the student hangs on very tightly to their teacher’s lesson plan for they know in time they will help them see their road ahead where they will stand… even if it takes longer than they had planned. They have already learned an act of kindness to another that some humans may never see and perhaps it took them longer to get that degree. Should the school be penalized for their stats? Should the student be counted as a failure for their selfless act? When in fact this student gave of theirself at home to keep a family whole by asserting the mother/father role. At Jamaica High School, high on the hill, students learn to grow and find their own will, They learn how they can reach the stars and who are we to say you must do this within a certain time when they take on adult roles for the good of a younger members mind. So you see, the American high school must be to many family members a teacher, mentor, helper, healer and tree for they are the seeds and foundation for all.. Our high schools don’t turn anyone away, they help all students and it should be that way. If you want other schools to specialize in science, art.music, math or a charter of one, two or three, make sure you remember the American high school is the tree. Many branches are fine to do but the high school helps keep the community with glue! You need trees to breathe and high schools are your trees. Help keep our high schools healthy and green and their gifts will be America’s great new team. Yes, you may need other schools to takes new roads but hold on to American high schools of your town. The road less traveled has some goals but the American local high schools are our highway of gold!. Marilyn Harra Kaye former JHS graduate

  • Rosalind

    I graduated from our dear “School of Red and Blue” 45 years ago and like Doreen received an excellent education.  There were 4500 students at Jamaica then and 1137 in my graduating class (I remember the number because I was proud to have graduated 9th out of 1137).  I went on to a state university and with those 16 years of public education had a solid foundation to build a good career. Public education gives students without the means to attend private schools the education they need to become productive citizens.  Instead of closing the school, the DOE should be finding the means to bring Jamaica back to its former glory.

  • Marilyn L Roche Kaye

    I attended Jamaica High School and it looks more like a college than a high school. Perhaps the school should consider a junior college added to Jamaica High School instead of a closing. It certainly is a more magnificent building than some colleges in NYC. Let it be a landmark high school and junior college…after all it is already land marked. Queens needs more history and here it is staring us in the face built on one of the most beautiful pieces of property in Queens. Give it the stature it deserves with the history that can’t be duplicated. One of my clients was in the White House and attended Jamaica High School and there are so many famous students that came out of this great school high on the hill. As the school had thousands of students in the past, maybe it is time to think out of the box and expand instead of contract. We are in great need of higher education in America to excel in the global community and the school is one of the most beautiful in New York City…there is no school in Manhattan that has the majesty of Jamaica High School. There are so many successful people that came out of the school. Instead of closing it update and add to it. After all, the charters are not perfect and this school on the hill has a legacy of success that could be maximized by adding instead of a killing its history and a junior NYC college with a neighborhood high school similar to Hunter college and their grade school where everyone fights to get in would be perfect…it is certainly a more magnificent building than Hunter. Also the property was given as gift to Queens by a couple and what is the legality of a closing…something to think about! Marilyn Linda Roche Kaye former JHS graduate

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