Comments on: Remainders: Teachers say city mostly to blame at Jane Addams

By: Mary Conway-Spiegel

Mary Conway-Spiegel — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:39:00 +0000

Agreed.

By: Paul Rubin

Paul Rubin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:41:00 +0000

7 classes a day adds up? Works for me. I’ll simply stop giving tests and homework. No more lesson plans. Hell no more preparation at all. Contacting parents? When?

Politicians certainly know how to make fools of themselves. But given that we were all students at some point and interacted with teachers, it should come as no surprise to any of us that our actual face time in the traditional classroom with children is only one component of our job.

By: Pogue

Pogue — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:55:00 +0000

Imagine kids didn’t have to travel all over the city for a “special-subject” high school that’s geared towards tests anyway.

Imagine kids walking to school or taking a short bus ride.

Imagine a neighborhood getting behind that school and supporting it for the good of that community.

Imagine mayoral control were done away with.

By: Mary Conway-Spiegel

Mary Conway-Spiegel — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:15:00 +0000

Jane Addams and most large High Schools in the Bronx are casualties of the Mayor/ Former Chancellor. In word, Bloomberg/Klein would deny and denounce they want Bronx High Schools to fail, but in deed? Measure the actions.
Once the “No Model” “plan” was assigned to Addams in the summer, the writing was on the wall. Then, to add insult to injury, Career Technical High Schools, were starved, ignored and abandoned while New York City–in fact the entire United States–became obsessed with “College For All.”
Many CTE Principals/Leaders do not have experience leading CTE schools/programs. With the addiction to “College For All” many CTE schools were forced to put vocational/career training on the back burner just to get students ready to pass tests and graduate; much of the CTE focus turned to graduation rates/academics. Finally, schools like Addams, Gompers, Dodge and others enroll many more at-risk students than other “successful” High Schools (Comprehensive or CTE).
Today student loan debt is the next HUGE bubble waiting to burst. Drop out rates are up in High Schools and Colleges and students who haven’t been “College Ready” for years are defaulting on their loans.
Imagine an alternative news article, one that praises the DOE for supporting multiple pathways to success for ALL students. Imagine reading, in today’s desperate economy that has crippled career opportunities for our youth: ”…Bronx Career Technical High Schools/Large Comprehensive High Schools with their endless program offerings special learning streams, sports teams and spacious state of the art facilities are still the most successful in New York City…”