Some charter schools set earlier kindergarten cutoff dates, keeping some struggling students out. (Post)
The Board of Regents signed off on the state’s No Child Left Behind waiver application plan. (Post, NY1)
The Regents also said they would look for alternatives to the GED, which is becoming too costly. (WSJ)
Students at Grady High School staged a walkout to oppose the city’s “turnaround” plan. (GothamSchools)
Gov. Cuomo said he’s hopeful that districts will meet his teacher evaluation deadline. (Post, Daily News)
The Daily News outlines the teacher evaluation system Cuomo should establish if the deadline is missed.
Nearly 500 parents attended a meeting about the P.S. 87 aide charged with abuse. (NY1, Daily News)
Chancellor Dennis Walcott said he would review the process by which aides are screened. (Times, Post)
Los Angeles students are protesting a policy that lets police cite and fine truant students. (L.A. Times)
Transformation Teacher
I can’t believe we still have not gotten a story or any news at all on whether or not the city submitted “turnaround” applications for all 33 pls schools Friday. You have no information on it at all GS?
Ticked-Off Taxpayer
“Charter schools are public schools” the privatizers keep saying. So if they want a Sept. 1 cut-off date for kindergarten applications like private schools do, then let them go private altogether — without our tax dollars.
Guest
It’s the Post, you can’t believe it.
Michael M. (parent still)
Exactly.
This is a form of “creaming.”
And I thank the Post (which I have frequently criticized) for this story.
kk, parent
It is true that differing start dates for age upon kindergarten enrollment make comparisons btw traditional public schools and charters unfair. Frankly, however, the system should give public schools more leeway in this area. I have 2 kids, 1 late fall birthday the other Jan, and the differences in readiness at the start of elementary school were clear. A reading specialist I spoke to said that most(!) of the struggling kids she saw had fall birthdays and while my own late-birthday child was fine, many of her peers, esp the boys, who also started K at 4 have ended up repeating grades. I realize this is anecdotal, but I wouldn’t be surprised if research backed me up.
Tim
I think the concerns about “late” birthday K kids are mostly overblown and a byproduct of the “kindergarten is the new first grade” problem.
I think a far more scandalous and indefensible practice that some charters engage in is refusing to admit children beyond some seemingly arbitrarily selected grade level. The charter school arguments about space, equity, opportunity, choice, etc. lose their validity when they simply forbid a fourth-grade student, e.g., the opportunity to apply for a vacant seat at a K-8 school.
http://twitter.com/nycdoenuts nycdoenuts
You know, I hate to say this, but -relative to the APPR- I can’t find anything that I really DISLIKE about the type of teacher eval law that the Daily News spelled out.
Of course, they call for state tests to be a part of it (that was going to happen with any law). But leaving the process up to, by in large, the principal of the school -for the entire state- is a whole lot better than what the state wanted to do with the APPR (namely; assuming that 10% of every teacher in every building was ineffective, requiring teachers to score over 11 out of 20 in the exams portion of their review before they could be considered effective (regardless what the principal had to say) and counting those exams worth 40% of the teacher’s total rating instead of 20%).And, if that’s the way he’s going to go, it will restore the principle of autonomy to to principals and give a well needed shot in the arm to community education – as opposed to education by state (or even federal) mandate.In fact, what the Daily News suggested today made me think I may have read the piece wrong (I actually had to read a DN piece again)! I’m almost ready to give Cuomo a chance to dictate what he wants to dictate.]-almost
Valarie
The Post article is true. It is an unequel and discrimanatory practice not to let parents of children born in the fall or winter to participate in charter school lotteries. Charter schools are to follow the regulations of their host districts and in NYC the age requirements for kindergarten entry is from January 1st to December 31st. Don’t take tax dollars if you are going to discriminate agaist a segment of the population, however small. Obviously KK’s kid was “fine” but not others.She was probably not restricted in her “choice” as many parents are whose children were born in fall or winter. Their is no research to back up the claim that children born past the fall are the ones who don’t get promoted and KK’s kid in Not the exception. Social-economic factors and personal issues (divorce, incarceration of parent, lack of pre-K, ect…) are the reasons for non-promotion. If you are a “public” charter school in NYC admission should be open to all 5 year olds.
“My big problem with the rollout of the Common Core is that, if some teachers hadn't read this article, they might have felt like they were the only ones confused about the CCS rollout too.”
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