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MARGIN NOTES

March 24, 2010

Joel Klein: Long-term HS admissions delays not likely

by Philissa Cramer, at 1:08 pm

Chancellor Klein offered small consolation today to the 66,000 eighth-graders anxiously awaiting news about where they’ve been admitted to high school.

Asked about the legal battle holding up admissions decisions during a City Council hearing this morning, Klein offered only a rough estimate of when decision letters would be released. “We don’t expect it to be months,” he said.

The judge assigned to the teachers union’s lawsuit over 19 school closures has barred the city from sending out the letters because students weren’t allowed to choose schools slated for closure even though a final decision about the closings hadn’t been made when applications were due. 

Last week, schools officials were telling GothamSchools that they thought the judge would recognize the urgency of the situation and issue a ruling by now. Even this morning, the city harbored hope that the judge would release the letters today. “We were hoping to have different news by this time,” wrote Liz Sciabarra, the DOE’s head of enrollment, in an e-mail to principals instructing them to pass out a letter to eighth-graders explaining the situation.

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  • Irritated Teacher

    All I know is that many 8th graders at my school are seriously stressed out over their high school letters. And now they are delayed indefinitely!? Do these people not realize that they are toying with the fragile emotions of innocent students? As usual, the students are the ones to suffer while the grownups in power drag their feet and bumble things.

  • http://themortonschool.blogspot.com Miss Eyre

    My own students complained heartily about this situation.  And I, not giving a crap about backing up my employer, agreed heartily with them.  Maybe if the DOE had followed policy and had a lick of sense, we could have avoided this situation.

    Also, Judge?  Figure something out.  That’s your job.

  • W.G.

    If anyone in interested in kicking up a fuss about this, the judge who made the decision to hold up the letters is:

    HON. JOAN B. LOBIS
    Chambers: 60 Centre Street, Room 690
    New York, New York 10007
    Phone: (646) 386-3247
    Law Clerk: Elizabeth Osborne, Esq.
    Law Clerk: Sean A. McConnell, Esq.

    There is also a group on Facebook: DISTRIBUTE THE HIGH SCHOOL LETTERS NOW!

  • M.B.

    If everyone takes a second to call their office…..it will make an impact. I personally just called and they seem to be quite calm at this point…..we need to make them understand the effects on the families as well as the children involved!

  • K Cohen

    There seems to be some confusion on this lawsuit that was so desperately needed. The only schools that are held up are the 19 set for closure. The DOE is using that to stop progress for students that have applied for other schools. The DOE should just call this year a LOST for those 19 closures and send Freshman to other schools that were not a part of this lawsuit. The DOE could also send those Freshman to the 19 proposed closure schools and delay the process until the Legal Action is complete by 1 year.

  • Mitch

    K Cohen:
    Thank you so much for this bit of information. It really sheds a revealing light on the situation. Maybe now Bloomberg and Klein can be “accountable” for a mess of their own doing.

  • Michael M.

    KC,

    Sounds too reasonable. They’ll never go for it.

    “Lawyers First,” right DOE?

  • anonymous

    I am no fan of Joel Klein or Michael Bloomberg, but the judge put an injunction on distributing the results to all kids, and the DOE can’t do anything about it until she rules. This is completely screwing up high school admissions for the kids but for the folks who oversee enrollment too. It will cause problems and delays for the supplemental round, which will further cause problems for kids and schools. I’m a parent of an eighth grader who is lucky enough to know where she’s going because she got into a specialized school, but most of her friends are not in the same position. I know enough people who work in high schools and in Tweed to know that they’re tearing their hair out over this. There is one person who can move this forward and it’s not Klein and it’s not Bloomberg. It’s the judge. She needs to make a ruling on this ASAP. It’s probably already too late to get news to kids today, which pushes things till after the break — nearly two weeks from now. The judge’s foot dragging in issuing a ruling is unconscionable.

  • tp

    The decision was rendered (http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/03/26/2010-03-26_judge_sides_with_teachers_halts_city_plan_to_close_19_schools.html) in favor of the plaintiffs– Judge Lobis released the letters to all students except those who had applied to the 19 schools that DOE wanted to close.

    Spoke to a woman in Liz Sciabarra’s office, who said that the schools would “probably” have instructions to tell the kids before they leave today, and that the letters may be mailed instead of distributed on-site.

  • Mitch

    I guess the Judge made it pretty clear today. Now let’s see if Bloomberg and Klein will act in the best interest of the students.

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