GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Department of Education employees reined in their text-message habits this month after a change meant to curb unprofessional use of city-owned phones.

Since July 15, thousands of principals, assistant principals, and members of the central administration have had to prove that they send text messages for professional reasons. Then they can pay $20 a month to have the service reactivated, spokeswoman Ann Forte said. (Principals can subtract the charge from their school budgets, according to Forte.)

All parent coordinators have cell phones and will retain their text messaging capability, Forte said.

The department pledged in May to cut $20 million from its central administration budget. Eliminating text messaging could save some money, but the change was not meant as a cost-cutting measure, Forte said. Instead, she said, it was an attempt to curb excessive personal use of city-owned phones.

The department will reactivate the service for employees who prove that they text for professional reasons, Forte said. (more…)

John Merrow has been collecting advice for President Obama on education. The latest additions are real audio from students, including this Texas high school senior, who says schools should focus on tests that prepare students for college, not standardized state tests:

“It would be a whole lot more useful to students if they would focus on tests like SAT’s and ACT’s, more college-oriented things, rather than an end of year test that’s not used by colleges or even hardly looked at by colleges.”

Malika Evans, an Urban Academy senior here in New York City, wants Obama to end military recruitment in high schools:

“It gets harassing, they keep calling…School is for education and education only, and students should be worried about going to college after going to school.”

At Vanguard High School in Manhattan, two students ask for better environments for gay and lesbian students:

“There is a lot of high schools that don’t approve of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and queers….In school, it should be a safe place, it should be like a second home. Nobody should be put down because of their sexuality.”