GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

• A survey of American teachers finds “deep wells of concern” about the Common Core rollout. (EdWeek)
• Shael Polakow-Suransky explains why the DOE is focusing on leadership. (Wallace Foundation)
• SUNY professor: the Common Core’s literacy approach will exacerbate inequality. (DianeRavitch.net)
• An FAQ on “sequestration” and schools explains it all, ie when cuts would take effect. (Politics K-12)
• Arcane rules make it even harder for low-income kids to access college scholarships. (The Atlantic)
• Twenty questions challenging the city on its commitment to reducing class size. (NYC P.S. Parents)
• Working paper: Teachers with high VAM don’t necessarily help students non-cognitively. (Jay Greene)
• Gates and Zuckerberg, education philanthropists, also think young people should learn to code. (NYT)
• A math teacher tries out Khan Academy and admires not the videos but the problem sets. (Goldstein)
• A new documentary follows a startup Brooklyn high school through ups and downs. (EdNews Colorado)
• Joel Klein’s leadership is cited in this Indianapolis plea to let non-educators run districts. (Indy Star)

Students read books at the UFT Charter School, which narrowly escaped closure today. The struggling school will be allowed to stay open for at least another two years.

The UFT Charter School received a two-year lifeline today, thanks in part to a city policy that the teachers union has opposed in the past.

The Department of Education’s proposal to move the school’s struggling middle grades under the same roof as the elementary school next year was an important reason that authorizers voted to renew the school’s charter for two more years, state officials said today. The school now faces an automatic “death penalty” in 2015 if academic performance doesn’t improve.

“I don’t want to have another round of this,” said Joseph Belluck, chairman of SUNY’s Charter Schools Committee. “Now is their time to show they can do this.” (more…)

Chancellor Walcott testifies at a City Council hearing on Hurricane Sandy recovery.

Like many of the New York residents whose homes were hit hardest by Hurricane Sandy, the Department of Education is waiting on the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Before the department can apply for FEMA funds to make repairs at a given Sandy-affected school, or to reimburse the department for funds already expended to carry out repairs, FEMA representatives must first make a site visit to the school.

But in over four months since the hurricane hit, FEMA has visited only eight out of 50 schools.

“We have the money to work on the schools,” Chancellor Dennis Walcott said, referring to the $200 million in emergency capital funds Mayor Bloomberg announced in November would go towards paying for repairs on schools damaged during the hurricane. (more…)

Brooklyn Prospect Charter School is allowed to enroll some students who apply after the regular admissions deadline, a first for city charter schools.

A charter school that was actively searching for a way to admit a category of high-need students kept out by a quirk in state law has found one.

The state’s charter school law does not make provisions for schools to set aside seats for students who arrive to the city from far-flung locales after the schools’ April admissions lotteries. But Brooklyn Prospect Charter School officials wanted to be able to enroll midyear arrivals, arguing that they are precisely the kind of students that charter schools are charged with serving.

“This is a population that needs to be in a good school,” the school’s executive director, Daniel Rubenstein, said last year. “Our school — which is a small, relationship-driven, intimate environment — would be better for someone that needs a community.”

According to a memo distributed today at a meeting of SUNY’s Charter Schools Committee, SUNY’s Charter Schools Institute has approved changes to Brooklyn Prospect’s admissions policies that allow the school to accept the category of students, known in Department of Education parlance as “over the counters.” (more…)

A slide from a Department of Education presentation about the damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy shows that P.S. 114′s devastated auditorium has since been repaired. The presentation, which contains before-and-after photographs from 16 school buildings, is being delivered at a City Council hearing today about city agencies’ responses to the storm. Emma is at the hearing and will report on it later this afternoon. (more…)

A smattering of parents and teachers attended a public hearing Monday night about the city’s plan to phase out and replace Brooklyn’s P.S. 73. (Photo: Nell Gluckman)

School closure hearings tend to be fairly raucous and protracted events, but three that the Department of Education held on Monday night for small schools were quick and relatively quiet.

Some of the strongest support for Freedom Academy High School, which would close outright at the end of the year, came not from students or teachers but from nonprofit partners who have tried to help the school’s low-performing students. The principal of Manhattan’s J.H.S. 13 was its most vocal supporter. And at P.S. 73 in Brooklyn, only a handful of people spoke out to defend the school — though parents left with questions unanswered.

The hearings are a required part of the city’s process to close or open schools, which culminates with a vote by the Panel for Educational Policy. The panel, which has never rejected a city proposal, is set to vote on the plans March 11.

P.S. 73

The basement auditorium of P.S. 73 was nearly empty on Tuesday evening when Department of Education Deputy Chancellor Dorita Gibson explained the rationale behind the city’s plan to phase out the Brownsville school.

P.S. 73 “lacks capacity to improve quickly,” Gibson said, explaining that the department thinks students in the area will be served better by two new elementary schools that would open in the building.

The explanation met little official resistance. Just three parents and one teacher spoke at the hearing, and parents who had been told that the meeting could go on for hours were surprised when it was adjourned after only 40 minutes. Principal Kenya Stowe sat on the panel but did not speak on the school’s behalf. (more…)

• Matrons who lost their jobs during the school bus strike found new positions with new companies. (Post)
• A scathing review of the UFT Charter School found many problems. (GothamSchools, Post, Schoolbook)
• In India, school-aged children work in squalid conditions instead of going to school. (Times)
• High school dropouts cost the country $1.8 billion annually, a new report finds. (AP via Post)
• Police and parents were called after a BB gun-toting student refused to give it to school staff. (Post)
• The city announced plans for software engineering courses in 20 schools. (News, Post)
• The latest mayoral forum on education will feature seven of the race’s candidates.  (Daily News)
• A Brooklyn A.P. was wrongfully fired after students lobbed false accusations, a judge ruled. (Post)
• School officials around the country brace for the possibility of automatic federal cuts Friday. (Times)
• A new nomination program to recognize top teachers will award grants and cash prizes. (GothamSchools)