GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Every spring, the city’s charter schools hold admissions lotteries and every year, parents applying to multiple charters must fill out a different application for each school. But this year, parents will have a new option: a common application.

The application, which can be sent or turned in to any of the city’s 99 charter schools, is one page long and is available in eight different languages.

It’s not a complete replacement for schools’ individual applications. This year, schools have to accept both the common application and their individualized forms, a change that Department of Education officials hope will make the process simpler and increase the number of applicants. Officials are considering making the common application mandatory in coming years. (more…)

There is a teacher at my school who mumbles every thought that passes through her head. Sometimes when she speaks, it is hard to discern whether she is talking to you or talking to herself. She pulls groups of students and works with them on reading and writing. Imagine her, old as the sun, surrounded by third graders who are all leaning in, striving to understand what she is saying. They are silent, listening. When they finally understand her direction, they get straight to work. When they finish, they hold up their sheets to her and she either mumbles in approval or does not. If she is silent, they set right back to work to find their error and correct it.

Cut to my classroom: I speak very clearly and in a nice loud voice. I give exact instructions; I tend to rehearse each sentence in my head before I say it. Imagine me surrounded by a roiling chaos of second graders, running around the room, throwing dominoes; the worksheets are on the floor, untouched, unconsidered.

What in the world is going on here? Why does Old Ms. Mumbles get total respect, while Young Mr. Reasonable gets none? (more…)

I have three children in school — a fifth-grader who attends a district school in Harlem, and second- and third-graders who are both currently enrolled in Harlem Link Charter School. I am equally motivated and involved in each of my kids’ education, attending teacher conferences and going to events regularly at both schools. I’m also always there to make sure my kids do their homework and help them when I can.

Yet despite my motivation — which some will have you believe is the reason charters succeed — the fact remains that my children get very different educations. A little background: Until last fall, my third-grader, who has attended a charter school for several years, was the only child in my household. But then I got custody of my siblings. My brother is in fifth-grade at a district school, and my sister is in second grade at Harlem Link. When I saw the difference in the charter schools from the district school I became concerned.

The difference isn’t about the resources one school doesn’t have (though after last week’s news that charters get hundreds to thousands less, we should talk about that inequity). It comes from something much bigger.

When I send my fifth-grader to school, I am often left wondering what type of day he will have. (more…)

• New York is a Race to the Top finalist; winning isn’t assured. (GothamSchools, Post, Daily News, NY1)
• Some of the 15 other finalist states seem more likely to win. (Times, Wall Street Journal, AP)
• The Daily News questions whether New York has the political will to win the next round.
• Peter Murphy of the NY Charter Schools Association says being a finalist could backfire. (Post)
• Nelson Denis, a former Assemblyman, says legislators should lift the charter cap now. (Daily News)
• A senior at Queens’ Bayside High School says new bake sale rules are costing student groups. (Post)
• Some schools were wrongly told they could close; a few are closing already. (Times, Daily News, Post)
• IS 89 is among the schools planning to cut budgets by slashing afterschool. (Downtown Express)
• Major protests against education budget cuts swept California yesterday. (Times, L.A. Times)
• Jay Mathews says a local school district is unusual in promoting charter schools. (Washington Post)
• All staff members at six Boston schools will have to reapply for their jobs this summer. (Boston Globe)
• A D.C. parent describes the city’s packed online lottery for seats at top schools. (Washington Post)

• 15 states (plus DC) have made it to the Race to the Top finals, but only a handful will win.
• New York is among the finalists, but Mayor Bloomberg said being a finalist isn’t good enough.
• Peter Murphy imagines a worst-case-scenario: NY wins RttT, but with so little money, it can’t do much.
• The number of semi-finalists was both tough and fair says Education Sector’s Chad Aldeman.
• Of the states that got Gates Foundation RttT planning grants, most made it into the finals.
• Every school bus trip costs $19, while the city and state pay pennies for students to get free metro cards.
• Some city schools were mistakenly told they were failing and, of them, many are being closed.
• Charter school teachers who backed the union’s RttT bill were applauded at a union meeting.
• A recent LaGuardia High School grad is starting a music program at his little sister’s school.
• Teachers in NY and CA echoed the Gates teacher study findings on the Takeaway.
• Teachers union caucus New Action lists all the reasons its different from everyone else at the UFT.

New York’s education officials and politicians reacted with shock to news today that their dark-horse state was named a finalist in the competition for Race to the Top funds.

But the unexpected good news did little to instill confidence among lawmakers, who cautioned that the state is still a long-shot for a win.

Many officials and advocates said the state legislature’s failure to act on several key elements of the application — namely, its cap on charter schools and teacher tenure laws — could hobble the state’s chances at the badly-needed funds. And they urged Albany to enact those changes immediately, before the state makes its final pitch to the grant program’s judges in two weeks. The winners of the competition will be announced in April.

Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch said she was “thrilled” that the state’s application, which centered on proposals to build a new data tracking system and to overhaul how teachers are trained and certified, was judged strong enough to make the finals. But she added a note of caution.

“Now we need to make sure that the possibility doesn’t slip away,” Tisch said. (more…)

New York parents may soon have a new advocacy group to help them press for change in the city schools, led by Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.

De Blasio announced the group, which will be known as the “Parent Advocate Coordinating Team,” or PACT, at a town hall forum on education his office held last night in downtown Brooklyn. The public advocate’s staff began collecting contact information for parents last night, and de Blasio said that he hoped to mobilize parents across the city.

At the meeting, De Blasio specifically mentioned organizing against the proposed MTA student Metrocard cuts, and he has called for a moratorium on giving charter schools space in city school buildings. De Blasio’s office hasn’t yet determined what topics the parent group will tackle first, de Blasio spokeswoman Maibe Gonzalez said. (Gonzalez is a former spokeswoman for the Department of Education.) (more…)