After approving 19 school closures in January and 16 colocations in February, the Panel for Education Policy will vote on more than a dozen school utilization changes in March and April. Eleven co-locations plans and six school re-siting proposals, which would affect schools in three boroughs, are up for approval by the PEP

Among the Manhattan schools affected are District 2’s Clinton School for Writers and Artists and District 3’s new PS 452 on the Upper West Side. In a March 5 announcement, that took the school by surprise, the DOE changed its plans to move the Clinton School from its 30-year home in PS 11 to nearby PS 33, and instead move Clinton into the building housing the American Sign Language and Dual Language School, known as PS 47.

The new plan came just three days after Elizabeth Rose of the DOE’s portfolio office met with Clinton parents and told them the school would definitely be moving to PS 33. That proposal drew criticism because it would displace a special education program, PS 138. The latest proposal was submitted just under the wire to conform with a chancellor’s regulation that requires any change in location to be publicized six months before the start of the school year, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Clinton parents. (more…)

Parents who want to serve on the Citywide Council on Special Education (CCSE), or the new Citywide Council on English Language Learners (CCELL) now have until March 19 to nominate themselves. The original due date was March 12.

Applications are available online at powertotheparents.org. Paper applications are available through the Office for Family Engagement and Advocacy, or call 212-374-4118.

There is no change in the dates for the citywide “advisory vote ” by parents on April 26-30 and the actual selection by PA and PTA officers on May 11-12 . Successful candidates will be announced May 31.

The special ed council is being reconstituted to bring it in line with the August 2009 amendments to State education law. Now, CCSE members must include parents or guardians of all students with individualized education programs (IEPs), not just parents of District 75 students. The CCELL is a new council established under the August law. Candidates must be parents of students in programs for English Language Learners.

The Department of Education is launching elections for a new citywide council composed of parents of students who are learning to speak English — known in DOE parlance as “English language learners” or ELLs. This is in addition to the already existent citywide council for special education parents, citywide council for high school parents, and community education councils in the 32 school districts.

Parents may nominate themselves for election at www.powertotheparents.org (deadline March 12). From April 12- 26, borough-wide forums will introduce the candidates. Parents of kids in ESL or bilingual education will be able to weigh in on an “advisory” vote between April 26-30. The official selectors - elected PA and PTA representatives - will vote May 11-12. All voting is online; results will be announced on May 31.

The establishment of a Citywide Education Council for English Language Learners is required by amendments to the state education law passed in August 2009. Advocates for Children has expressed concerns about voter eligibility, barriers for parents without online access, and council member training.

Parent participation is another concern. In June 2009, we reported that only 1,190 PTA officers out of an estimated 4,500 potential voters cast ballots in the Community Education Council elections. [CEC elections take place every two years. The next election is slated for May 2011.] A New York City PTA president commented that she did not vote because there were fewer candidates than seats. “Everyone was a shoe-in,” she wrote.

A new selection is also taking place in May to bring the Citywide Council on Special Education in line with the amended law. Now, CCSE members must include parents or guardians of all students with individualized education programs (IEPs), not just parents of District 75 students.

Parents or guardians who need paper applications, should contact the Office of Family Engagement and Advocacy at 212-374-4118 or e-mail ofea@schools.nyc.gov.

We’d like to know: Do you attend your district or citywide CEC meetings? If so, do parents actively participate? What can the city do to improve parent participation from ELL families?

City Limits devotes its entire March issue to Harlem Children’s Zone, featuring a comprehensive report by Helen Zelon, long-time contributor to Insideschools.org. The lead article, “Is the Promise Real,” chronicles the history and status of the initiative, developed by charismatic leader Geoffrey Canada, to envelop whole neighborhoods with social services from cradle to college.

The HCZ now includes the Baby College, starting with pre-natal services, pre-school (Harlem Gems), three Promise Academy charter schools covering elementary through high school, and more than a dozen family and employment support organizations. It has caught attention and praise from philanthropists and politicians, including President Obama, who see it as a template for the nation’s troubled school children. A substantial sum of federal funds will go to 20 school districts to replicate the initiative.

The report offers an analysis of the schools’ practices and early results and describes the difficulty of measuring social service impact. It also examines the potential for replication in cities less saturated with social services and patrons than New York.

Check out the Q&A with founder Geoffrey Canada, and a video of interviews with Harlem residents online at City Limits. To read the full report, you’ll have to buy the journal at a newstand or subscribe..

On February 4, ARISE , a coalition of individuals and 24 organizations of which AFC is a member, issued a statement charging that the Department of Education’s plan to reform special education does not go far enough.

The DOE revealed its Implementation Plan for the Reform of Special Education: A Two-Year Phase-in Process Focusing on the Advancement of Student Learning and Achievement in a meeting with advocates earlier this week. While ARISE praised the plan ” to the extent that the DOE’s guiding principles indicate the removal of roadblocks to quality supports and services for youth with disabilities,” it also said that “the DOE’s plan is short on both detail and accountability.”

The DOE’s plan states that “every school should educate and embrace the overwhelmingly majority of students with disabilities,’ but that a “cohort of students….with highly specialized needs will continue to be clustered in specialized instructional programs.” The DOE confirmed that District 75 will continue to serve those students.

According to Maggie Moroff, coordinator of the ARISE coalition, the plan falls short in two ways. First, while encouraging and supporting principals to institute recommended changes in special education, there is no mandate to hold them, or officials in the department, accountable for doing so. Second, although the DOE’s plan calls for the development of new programs, “it has done remarkably little to marshal the work [already] done in New York City schools and in academia.” Incorporation of existing successful programs could speed up implementation, she noted. Click here for the ARISE statement.

A recent poll by Insideschools.org found parents overwhelmingly against the bake sale restrictions imposed by the chancellor. Insideschools’ readers were not alone in their disapproval.

The outcry by parents and kids against the Department of Education’s ban on bake sales seems to have convinced the DOE to amend Chancellor’s Regulation A-812. Under proposed changes, parent organizations would be able to hold one bake sale per month at any time of day, and sell “non-approved” food during that sale. To many, that means cupcakes. Sales are not allowed in the cafeteria.

For students, looking for revenue to support their clubs and teams, the regulation relaxes the time constraints. Kids could sell approved foods outside the cafeteria at any time of day and for as many days as they wish. Still no cupcakes there, in fact no homemade goodies at all. Students would be limited to selling only those serving-size, packaged snacks that are on an approved list. (more…)

Parents packed into the District 3 CEC meeting on Jan. 20 to hear Department of Education officials address the impact of charter schools moving into public schools in Harlem, and overcrowding in Upper West Side schools.

According to Robin Aronow, of School Search NYC, who attended the meeting, several proposals were presented by Elizabeth Rose, of the Department of Education Office of Portfolio Development, including a plan for a new elementary school on the Upper West Side.

Rose said that there are no new charter schools planned for District 3 next year. She reported that parents are joining school and public officials in walk-throughs of buildings where the amount of space allocated to a particular school– its “Instructional Footprint” — is under question due to space utilization or overcrowding. Presumably, the addition of parents could lend credibility to the process of siting charter schools or deciding how many children can successfully be educated in a given building. (more…)

The State Supreme Court today ruled against the Department of Education’s plan for development and use of the playing fields on Randall’s Island, long used for public school sports. The city, in partnership with the Randall’s Island Sports Foundation, brokered a deal with 20 private schools to upgrade and expand the fields. In exchange for hefty contributions towards the redevelopment project, the private schools would have a 20 year lease for the exclusive use of the majority of the area during school hours. According to the State Supreme court the city’s plan is illegal, and must go through full community and environmental review.

Community groups from East Harlem and South Bronx, park advocates, public schools parents, and Civil Rights Attorney Norman Siegel, returned the case to court after a previous ruling (February 2008) was ignored by the city. According to Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters, who reported on the ruling, “The judge was so angry at the city’s failure to respect the previous court decisino in the case that she ordered the city to pay court costs and attorney fees.” 

Reporting the original case in 2008, The New York Times said, “The ruling means that the Bloomberg administration must essentially start from scratch by submitting its deal with the private schools, which include Buckley, Dalton and Chapin, through the Uniform Land Use Review Process. That process requires major projects to be approved by the City Planning Commission and the City Council, and to be reviewed by the local community board and the borough president. The agreement had been approved by the city’s Franchise and Concession Review Committee, a majority of whose members were appointed by Mr. Bloomberg.”

A dozen New York City high schools were awarded gold medals by US News and World Report, in its annual ranking of the 100 best high schools in the nation. Schools are ranked according to the degree to which all students meet state standards, and that minority and economically disadvantaged students in the school performed better than statistically expected on state tests. Schools that met these benchmarks were ranked according to their performance on Advanced Placement or Baccalaureate tests, factoring in the achievements of poor and minority students.

The top 100 schools won gold medals, including 12 NYC high schools. Of those, six were highly selective specialized high schools. Of the 461 schools that were given silver medals, NYC high schools were awarded 20, and of the 1,189 bronze medalists, NYC schools received 42. One school won honorable mention.

Gold medalists, in alphabetical order, are Baccalaureate School for Global Studies, Bronx High School of Science, Brooklyn Tech, High School for Dual Language and Asian Studies, High School of American Studies at Lehman College, High School for Law and Public Service, Newcomers High School, New Explorations for Science and Technology +Math, Queens High School for Science at York College, Staten Island Tech, Stuyvesant High School, and Townsend Harris.

The Department of Education is proposing changes in existing policies, called Chancellor’s Regulations, regarding promotion standards, and the way in which principals and assistant principals are chosen. It is also proposing a new regulation governing procedures for locating or closing schools or changing current building usage. The Panel for Educational Policy will vote on these measures at the Nov.12 meeting at PS 128 in Queens; in the meantime the public is invited to review the proposals and weigh in on them.

The revised state law governing NYC schools renewed mayoral control of the city school system, but modified it in an effort to increase parent input. The law explicitly requires announcement of PEP meeting agendas at least 10 days in advance. In this case, the DOE provided the information more than a month in advance. However, it is not clear how public comments (which are not actually being made public) will make a difference in the proposals or the outcome of the PEP vote. (more…)

Parents who plan to test their kids for Gifted and Talented programs may attend Department of Education information sessions to learn details about the G&T process, from test to placement. Evening sessions - one in each borough - are held in schools with large auditoriums. Parents generally fill up the seats quickly, so plan to go early. The sessions run from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The first session is tomorrow, Oct. 14, in the Bronx at Roosevelt High School. Next week there are four sessions: In Brooklyn at MS 113 on Oct. 19, on Staten Island on Oct. 20 at New Dorp High School; in Queens on Oct. 21 at Long Island City High School; and in Manhattan on Oct. 22 at Brandeis High School. (more…)

NYC Schools Under Bloomberg and Klein: What Parents, Teachers, and Policy makers Need to Know is a compilation of essays about the recent years of mayoral control. Bloomberg-Klein educational policies are examined under a microscope by 17 well-known researchers and activists who have often criticized the mayor’s and chancellor’s initiatives. Commentators and researchers include: Diane Ravitch, well-known academic; Deborah Meier, pioneer progressive educator; Leonie Haimson, founder of Class Size Matters and publisher of this report; and Patrick Sullivan, former Manhattan member of the Panel for Educational Policy.Their essays challenge the results of testing and other data that the Department of Education cites as proof of its success; disputes the claims that DOE policies promote equity among various ethnic groups, English language learners, and children with special needs; calls into question the approach to curriculum and methodology as either too progressive or too prescriptive; and calls for greater parent, teacher, and community voice. Not surprisingly, all of the essays are critical, but not all of the writers share the same view. As the introduction proclaims, “These essays are our effort to ignite a genuine debate and dialogue about the future of the New York City public schools.” The debate about the best way to improve schools is likely to continue no matter who is in charge. These essays add facts, figures, and a range of opinions to inform that discussion.

Forty years after David Rogers published the landmark study, 110 Livingston Street, considered a major catalyst for decentralizing the school system, he revisits this debate in his latest book, Mayoral Control of the New York City Schools. As the state legislature debates whether to continue the law which gave New York City’s mayor control of its public schools, Roger’s books provides a deep analysis of the pros and cons of mayoral control through a historical lens. Although part of a scholarly series, Rogers’ prose is generally accessible to ordinary folk.

Rogers’ book analyzes the steps the Department of Education took to arrive at its current administrative structure. Rogers concludes that without mayoral control important changes could not have been accomplished. These include a new citywide curriculum and methodology with emphasis on teacher training, standardized access to citywide programs, including admission to gifted and talented programs; bolstering school leadership, leading to principals’ autonomy in budget and other decisions made at the school level.

Rogers details how these and other changes were pursued through corporate management techniques, with an emphasis on data and top down managerial  decisions. He also points out that the alienation of teachers, principals, parents and other stakeholders engendered by the aggressive business model approach, may undermine long term sustainability of the mayor’s reforms. He suggests that mayoral control should be retained but its effectiveness depends on finding a way to “… establish a relationship of trust between city hall and the educators (teachers and principals) and between it and parent and community groups.”

Whether or not you agree with its conclusions, Mayoral Control of the New York City Schools is a valuable history of the Bloomberg-Klein era and an equally valuable basis for further discussion of the issues.

In 2002, Mayor Mike Bloomberg won the right to control New York City public schools for seven years. The state law is due to expire on June 30, and unless the New York State Legislature acts, the mayor will lose much of his ability to direct the school system, including the all-important power to appoint the chancellor and to control votes on the Panel for Educational Policy. As the deadline looms, legislators are vetting different proposals while opponents of mayoral control continue to rally for changes to the existing system.

Prior to mayoral control, public schools were run by a seven-member Board of Education (BOE) typically composed of prominent New Yorkers, some of whom were professional educators and education activists. Each borough president appointed one BOE member, and the mayor appointed the remaining two. Under the current system, a Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) has 13 members, eight appointed by the mayor, and one by each borough president. The PEP members serve at the will of the mayor or the borough presidents who appointed them. The mayor also chooses the chancellor, and all superintendents of the 32 community school districts. There are also 32 local school boards, called Community District Education Councils (CECs) and citywide special education and high school education councils, which are elected by a school’s PTA officials.

The issue has mobilized education stakeholders to testify and rally in support of their point of view. While most educators and school advocates don’t want to return to 2002, many want to tighten the reins on the mayor’s power and restore parents’ role in policy making. What and how much should be controlled by the mayor depends on which mayoral control coalition you speak to, but there is consensus on the need for more parent voice and more transparency about achievement data and Department of Education finances. Below is a round-up of some of the most active advocates on the issue, with a sampling of their recommendations. You can read their full reports and agendas at their websites. (more…)