GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

A new effort to improve public elementary and secondary education in New York State is coming not from the government, but its state university.

State University of New York Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, who has been in office for less than a year, unveiled the university’s plans to create an approximation of the “community schools” that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan champions. These schools offer not only classes, but also health care, after-school programs and services for parents all in the same building. The model of connecting schools to social services may ring a bell to New York City residents familiar with the work of the Harlem Children’s Zone, Zimpher said.

But rather than uniting many services under one roof or through one over-arching organization, as the Harlem project does, SUNY plans to help disparate community and government groups coordinate their efforts and judge their outcomes. For example, programs for toddlers would work with elementary schools to make sure their programs prepares the children for school.

“This is about using the community resources that already exist, but connecting them in a way that maximizes their impact,” said Johanna Duncan-Poitier, the SUNY deputy chancellor charged with identifying where the program will launch. (more…)

In part one of this series, I described several teaching methods I’ve been encouraged to follow — and then encouraged to discard. All had good qualities, but none was as perfect as promised, and in time, all tended to be rejected, recycled, or forgotten. Yet presenters continue to approach us with new methods and don’t hesitate to introduce them as though they are the Ten Commandments, specifically designed to replace last year’s Ten Commandments.

The possibility that we teachers might be building on something, improving on something, or engaged in a gradual process is never acknowledged. It’s not as sexy as a cure-all, and certainly not likely to make people jump up and down and shout, “Eureka!” But when you’re trying to persuade the public, there’s a need to evoke that reaction, even if it results in a wild goose chase. After all, after this one fails, there are always other wild geese to make us chase around.

For politicians, the latest quick-fix is closing schools. According to them, it’s what we need to do right now to fix everything. Apparently, if we shuffle enough kids around from here to there to who-knows-where, eventually they’ll somehow find themselves in a better place. If their neighborhoods are left without schools, too bad for them. 

Of course, the messy part of closing schools is replacing them. (more…)

• The city has filed its appeal of last month’s State Supreme Court ruling barring 19 school closures. (Post)
• State Sen. Ruben Diaz, no fan of Joel Klein, has sponsored a bill to end seniority-based layoffs. (Times)
• A new strategic plan for state universities includes making teacher training more practical. (Times)
• Principals of schools that are closing face an especially challenging job. (Village Voice)
• At schools citywide, parents are being asked to make up for budget cuts with donations. (Village Voice)
• The curriculum at Manhattan’s Quest to Learn school is deeper than just video games. (Village Voice)
• Denver’s new work rules could create an “absent teacher reserve” like New York City’s. (Denver Post)
• Michigan will now evaluate charter schools according to their own past records. (Detroit Free Press)

• New York Magazine ranks the city’s neighborhoods, naming Greenpoint #1 for its public schools.
• Michele McNeil reports that most i3 applicants are focusing on standards and turnarounds.
• NYC’s legal defense for why it has to close 19 schools refers to state and national edu policies.
• One of Miss Eyre’s middle school students reminds her what it’s like to be an adolescent.
• A teacher says the city’s failed plan to pay students for performance puts teacher merit pay in doubt.
• Chaz: principals’ power to change grades is partially to blame for the high numbers in remedial classes.
• The budget crisis is an opportunity for the city and union to give on some issues, writes a UFT member.
• Parents who helped create “meatless Mondays” at their children’s school suggest others do the same.
• LGBTQ students in Chicago are asking for the ability to formally report school staff who harass them.
• Teachers respond to the question: should HS students read aloud in class?
• Chester Finn says he’s “outraged” that China is paying for U.S. public schools to teach Mandarin.
• Thinking of parents as consumers actually gives them less power, writes Kenneth Libby.
• And FL Governor Christ says he’s going to spend the week listening, then decide on tenure bill.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer presents his report on overcrowding in Manhattan schools.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer called today for an overhaul of the city’s process for matching student demand to building space, charging that the city’s current process is causing “chaos and uncertainty” for parents and students.

Standing outside of the Upper West Side’s P.S. 334, Stringer reported that more than four out of 10 Manhattan schools are either overcrowded or are losing classroom space as the city tries to cram more students into a finite number of school buildings.

The report details what are by now familiar complaints about overcrowding in Manhattan schools, which have seen their population of young students boom in recent years without a corresponding addition of seats.

But the bulk of remarks from Stringer and other elected officials this afternoon criticized the city for bumping schools from building to building, cramming students into classrooms and making decisions without giving confused parents adequate notice or opportunity to comment. (more…)

When we entered the New York City public school system back in September and first took a look at our schools’ lunch menu, we saw chicken nuggets, sweet and sour pork, hamburger, mozzarella sticks, and pizza. Every meal on the menu was either meat- or cheese-based.

We found this troubling because animal products like meat and cheese are the main source of the saturated fats that raise cholesterol levels and thereby increase the risk of heart disease. We also knew that animal production for food consumption contributes more to global climate change than all forms of transportation combined. With half of children already showing fatty streaks in their arteries, what we saw was a menu that was making our children and planet sick.

Fortunately, our schools — The Children’s Workshop School, The East Village Community School and PS 94, which share a building and a cafeteria — already had a wellness committee, and we joined. The committee brought its concern about the preponderance of meat and cheese dishes to Shawn Chambers, the Department of Education SchoolFood manager responsible for our building, and asked if we could jettison meat from the menu on Mondays. To our delight, he said yes. After we got permission from our principals, our schools in October became the first in New York City to have Meatless Mondays. (more…)

• The city spiked a 2-year-old middle school science program, saying it can’t be replicated. (Daily News)
• Thousands of immigrant students aren’t getting the language help they’re legally entitled to. (Post)
• More than 40 percent of Manhattan schools are highly overcrowded, a new survey argues. (Daily News)
• Topping the list of overcrowded schools is PS 3 in Greenwich Village. (Daily News)
• AFT President Randi Weingarten says she supports legalizing pot, but not for children. (Daily News)
• A student at Paul Robeson HS says she wishes the city could just close the school already. (Post)
• SUNY’s Charter Schools Institute should be protected from budget cuts, its head argues. (Daily News)
• Crain’s NY says teachers unions can work out the details later on Race to the Top-induced changes.
• An economist says teachers’ in New York receive salaries and benefits that are crippling the state. (Post)
• An assistant principal at Brooklyn’s Clara Barton HS was arrested on animal cruelty charges. (Post)
• The city will open a new elementary school in Queens early to beat overcrowding. (Daily News)
• A student stabbed at his Bronx school is suing, saying a security guard didn’t protect him. (Daily News)
• Three city music teachers who met at Teachers College are striking out as an act of their own. (NY1)
• The Wall Street Journal ask why school districts, including in NY, keep hiring when enrollments fall.
• The Daily News says New York City should adopt elements of D.C.’s new teachers contract.
• D.C. officials say they’re pleased by the cash-for-grades experiment results there. (Washington Post)
• Australian teachers are refusing to administer tests that will be used to rank schools. (The Australian)

• The state budget director said school aid payments due in June may have to be spread out over time.
• Florida lawmakers passed a bill that eliminates tenure for new teachers and uses a merit pay plan instead.
• Concerns over pay-for-grades and merit pay show business models don’t work for schools, Mr. Talk says.
• James Merriman praises NYSUT for speaking out against proposed cuts to SUNY’s charter authorizer.
• Where do teachers go if they need to do work alone or make personal phone calls? Here’s a photo.
• Actress Megan Fox’s viral video protesting California school budget cuts is pretty funny.
• But Robert Ponsiscio calls Fox’s bluff, pointing out that Fox recently said she hated school.
• And Leonie Haimson is hosting a parent conference tomorrow; the agenda is here.

Last month, New York’s Race to the Top delegation traveled to Washington, D.C. to pitch its case for why the state deserved a slice of the $4.3 billion competitive federal grant pool. We already know the result, of course: New York was second-to-last among finalists, and was one of just three states that lost points after the interview round.

But today the U.S. Department of Education posted full videos of the presentation and the subsequent question-and-answer session, so we can now see precisely how the judges framed their questions and how the state defended itself. Many of the judges’ concerns are likely to drive how the state revises its application for the next round of competition. (more…)