NY1 education reporter Lindsey Christ this week is chronicling the sad story of Paul Robeson High School, one of 20 schools slated for closure by the Department of Education. The reporter first visited Paul Robeson for Insideschools.org last year. At that time she found that "high absenteeism, occasional violence, low graduation rates, and poor test scores" were plaguing the school, one of a dwindling number of large comprehensive high schools left in Brooklyn.
In Tuesday's report for NY1, Christ visited empty classrooms and talked to teachers about the attendance problem at Robeson -- only 69% of students show up for school on a given day, sometimes as few as five are in a classroom. In Monday's story, students blamed themselves, as well as the school, for their lackluster performance.
The series about Robeson is a prelude to next week's meeting of the Panel for Educational Policy, where school closings will be voted on. Hearings continue this week, offering parents and community members the opportunity to speak out about the proposed changes.
Check out the coverage on NY1 for a look at what's happening inside one large high school. Meanwhile, the debate continues about how well small schools, which are increasingly replacing neighborhood high schools, serve the most troubled students, such as those skipping classes at Paul Robeson.
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