Your independent guide to NYC public schools

Last week was a rough one over at the Department of Education. An estimated 2000 children were waitlisted for kindergarten seats at their zoned elementary schools. Due to a lawsuit,  some 80,000 eighth graders awaiting high school placement letters had to wait a little longer to find out where they'll be going in September. The judge in that case, who ruled that the attempt to close 19 city schools was illegal, had some pretty harsh words for the DOE, which is set to appeal the decision.

Meanwhile, last spring, education officials predicted enrollment would fall by 2,800,but instead it grew by 14,000, according to the Independent Budget Office. The IBO predicts that as things stand now, year-to-year spending on classroom instruction would drop by 3.3 percent, or $261 million.

Navigating the nation's largest school system is often challenging, but for many thousands of families, the going has gotten particularly rough, casting a pall over spring break.

So we ask: Are you troubled by these DOE developments? Please take our poll at left and share your comments below.

Free student Metrocards are on the chopping block, and in our last poll, we asked how you feel about it. More than half of you said you were fighting mad and ready to raise your voice to keep MetroCards free for schoolchildren.

That’s encouraging, especially since only about a quarter of you said you would personally feel a financial squeeze should the cards be cut. That’s what we like to see here at Insideschools.org: members of the public school community looking out for ALL of our kids.

Read an editorial in today's Times for their view that "young people can't learn if they can't get to class," and their suggestions on ways that the MTA can make up the budget gap.

If you’re interested in joining the fight to save student MetroCards, a good place to start is the New York City Student Union.

If you have other ideas on how to help, please share them below.

MTA's vote on student Metrocards has been postponed, causing considerable anxiety for public school students and families waiting to learn whether their free fare cards will stay, go away, or be provided at half-price.  Currently, nearly 600,000 city students receive free Metrocards.

As a student interviewed by NY1 succinctly put it, "President Obama has stated that by the year 2020 he wants the U.S. to have the highest graduation rates in the world. How will we achieve that goal if the largest school district in the country will prevent low income students the opportunity to travel to the schools that give them the best opportunity to graduate?"

The issue has become a political football, or perhaps more akin to a schoolyard game of hot potato, with the transit tuber passed around by MTA, the city and the state. MTA says they have an enormous budget hole and it's now up to the city and the state to maintain this benefit for kids.  Transit workers are backing the students, while Mayor Bloomberg says that if student Metrocards are eliminated, MTA retirees should no longer get free rides for life.

Meanwhile State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada, who has assailed MTA for its failure to make its finances transparent -- which some see as a textbook example of the pot calling the kettle black -- recently called for a $2.00 toll on the East River bridges tied to the maintenance of free Metrocards for students and other vital transit services. Streetsblog.org says trimming bloat in the yellow schoolbus system could save student Metrocards.  Students, including Insideschools.org high school blogger Toni, have been organizing and protesting, despite division over where to place the blame.

How do you feel about the threatened cuts to student Metrocards?  Please take our poll at left -- for this poll, we've opened it up so that you can choose more than one answer if you have mixed feelings -- and share your comments below.

In last week's poll, we asked how the kindergarten admissions process was treating you. Only eight percent of parents are "all set," while 54 percent share some level of concern. See our recent blog post on the admission process for more information. This week we'd like to know if you'll be taking part in the school environment survey.

Have you gotten that electric green envelope? The fourth annual NYC School Survey is out, and it can also be filled in online (you'll need the eight digit code that appears on the bottom right hand corner of your paper survey). This year, all teachers citywide, as well as 6th through 12th grade students at 364 schools, will fill out the survey online, skipping the paper version entirely. The deadline is April 23.

The parent survey responses, along with teacher and 6th-12th grade student surveys responses, count toward 15% of the schools' grades on the Progress Reports (student performance counts for 25%, and student progress makes up 60% of the total score).

The Learning Environment Surveys are also promoted as a way to provide valuable information to administrators and School Leadership Teams, pointing up places where improvements may be needed in areas such as academic expectations, communication, engagement, safety, and respect.

Among the changes in this year's survey, the Chancellor's office informed principals, are an "increased focus on how well schools create opportunities for teacher collaboration, and how well schools prepare students for 'postsecondary success'."

There's also a new advertising campaign -- complete with bus shelter posters and Internet ads and radio spots --- encouraging participation.

In past years, the survey process and the Progress Reports have aroused some skepticism, and the increased pace in school closings has tensions running high in many buildings. How do you feel about the survey? Will you participate? Has your school encouraged you to fill it out, and if so, have you felt pressured to rate your school favorably? Please take our poll at left, and share your comments below.

The process of applying to kindergarten has changed over the years.  For some, it's simple: go to your zoned school, bring the paperwork proving your child's age and place of residence, fill out some forms, and you're basically done. You'll be able to register without a problem in April.

For others, the process is fraught with worry.Parents who are applying to additional programs -- charter schools, G&T programs, private or parochial schools -- may register at their child's zoned school with trepidation, hoping for a better option.

Some zoned schools are so popular that they may not have enough seats for all zoned kindergartners.

For those who have children who will turn five in 2010, how are you feeling about the kindergarten process thus far? For those whose children are now in kindergarten, how did it work out for you?

Please take our poll at the left and share your comments below.

Last week, as we marked the 100th day of the school year, we asked for a "gut check" on how your school is doing. More than half of you -- 57 percent were feeling pretty good, and either had no complaints or were mostly pleased. Nineteen percent were disappointed, and 22 percent said you were angry, and that your school needed major changes.

In the comments, some praised their schools, while others had complaints. Our school reviews capture the environment inside New York City schools, and your comments help us paint these pictures. It's so helpful when you share comments -- both positive and negative -- about your schools.

Have you posted a comment on your school's profile page yet? Let us know what's good or bad by posting one now!

Mandy Hass is a parent at Lower Lab, as well as the director of marketing and business development for Insideschools.org.

Last week's Village Voice cover story, Inside a Divided Upper East Side Public School: Whites in the front door, blacks in the back door, has succeeded in bringing two co-located Upper East Side schools closer together: virtually everyone in the building feels he got much of the story wrong.

Author Steven Thrasher focuses on two schools -- Lower Lab, a "gifted and talented" elementary school open to top-scoring kids throughout District 2, and PS 198, a zoned neighborhood school -- which have shared a building for 22 years.

When Lower Lab was founded, in 1987, PS 198 had underutilized space. At that time, few schools in New York City shared buildings. Today, according Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld at the Department of Education's press office, there are roughly 740 co-located schools, and next year, that number is likely to rise to about 750. That's about half of the schools in the nation's largest school system. The reasons for colocation have to do with real estate realities and the trend in education reform to break large schools down into smaller communities, as well as New York's decision to allow charter schools to have space in traditional public school buildings.

It is not uncommon for heated battles to ensue when schools are forced to share space, particularly when the "host" school feels that the other school is getting more of its scarce resources (take PS 15 for instance, where parents are trying to prevent Pave Academy Charter School from taking over more of its space).

By contrast, the decades of space-sharing in our building have been more or less peaceful; the current principals, Lower Lab's Mara Ratesic Koetke and PS 198's Sharon Jeffrey Roebuck, get together often, even though the children in the two schools rarely interact. The goal has always been equitable co-existence, not integration of the separate schools. However (though Mr. Thrasher neglected to mention it) the schools have in recent years had a joint student council, and there are occasional "friendship" events where kids get together.

In most colocations, the demographics of the students in the separate schools are not so starkly different as they are in our building, which sits astride the border of the Upper East side and East Harlem. The separate and unequal feel is palpable; I know parents who avoided both schools because the "apartheid" aspect made them queasy. Some sought gifted and talented programs that are part of zoned schools - Lower Lab is the only G&T in the district that is a separate school - even though gifted and talented classes that are part of neighborhood schools often tend to be whiter and wealthier than the general education classes.

As is the case in many colocations, the schools in our building use separate entrances. Mr. Thrasher made much of PS 198 being assigned to the "back" door, but parents I spoke with at both schools do not perceive the schoolyard door as the rear entrance. According to Lower Lab's parent coordinator, both schools used only the schoolyard entrance until about five years ago, when, for safety reasons, the schools jointly decided to have Lower Lab start using the Third Avenue entrance and hire a separate security guard. A third door - not mentioned in the article -- is used by children from both schools who arrive by bus.

PS 198, by far the larger of the two schools, receives significantly more tax money per student. The school's enrollment also closely mirrors the diversity of the city's public school population (13% white, 25% black, 50% Latino, 11% Asian). It has traditionally had first dibs on use of the cafeteria, gym and auditorium and has exclusive use of the library. But the article omitted these inconvenient facts.

Mr. Thrasher implies that PS 198 it is a bad school, but it is an up-and-comer; in fact many of its students have been transferred there from underperforming schools. It got a fairly positive review here at Insideschools.org, which does not shy away from pointing out the failings of dysfunctional schools (such as KAPPA II, 30 blocks north of PS 198, which is slated for closure, and Brooklyn's IS 390, which has already been shut down). Our staff tagged both PS 198 and Lower Lab as "Noteworthy," for serving their communities well

However, if Lower Lab were not located in the building, I suspect PS 198 would rise even faster.

Principals at colocated schools are required to participate in a Building Council aimed and ensuring equitable sharing of resources and peaceful co-existence. But the Department of Education neither encourages nor discourages schools from making attempts to mix their populations or engage in shared experiences. Elementary schools sharing space typically do not mix at all. Some high schools have more mixing, particularly for sports teams; small schools can't field teams without pulling from the entire building.

Should schools sharing buildings strive to have their students interact with one another?

One of the first lessons we teach our kids, at home and at school, is to play well with others. However, the free-market flavor of education reform, as it is increasingly practiced in New York, is to encourage competition between schools as a way to foster improved student outcomes. But much could be done in shared buildings to foster a sense of cooperation rather than reinforce feelings of segregation.

For instance, the Voice article noted that PS 198 raised money for Haiti (and omitted that Lower Lab had also done so). But why weren't we raising that relief money together?

Scheduling times for recess and use of the cafeteria are often among the most challenging issues in colocation. In our building, the schools eat and play separately, but I would prefer that the younger and older kids from both schools have lunch and recess together. Lower Lab's previous principal told me that would be "an impossibility" due to the union contracts. Yet some schools have managed it. For our two schools, it might help mitigate some of the unintended lessons the kids are learning in a building that has historically been segregated by race and class.

Are you a parent, staffer or student in a building with more than one school? What's it like? What would you change if you could?

The NY Post reports that 3,000 parents attended the third annual Harlem Education Fair, held Feb. 28 at the 369th Harlem Armory on 143rd Street. That's far short of the 10,000 parents event organizers  predicted would turn out to  learn about dozens of  charter, parochial, private, and public schools in the area, or last year's throng, estimated at 5,000.

The snow may have deterred some, but the parents who slogged through the slush, often with children in tow, were determined to explore all their school options. Many questioned the assertion by Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and Archdiocese Schools Superintendent Tim McNiff, proclaiming  Harlem the "Parent Choice Capital of America."

Parents we spoke with understood that the chances of actually getting your child into the school of your choice -- particularly some of the more popular charter schools, which assign seats by lottery -- are discouragingly slim.  One parent, who said her child is not being challenged at her neighborhood public school, PS 160, planned to apply to every charter school in order "to get my child the education she needs at the price I can afford."

PS 241, an unzoned school that was one of a handful of public schools participating, got a lot of attention from a handwritten sign on its table saying "ALL are Welcome - NO LOTTERIES!"  A teacher at the school, which shares its building with two charter schools and earned an "A" on its school report card last year after nearly being closed, pointed proudly at colorful new promotional postcards.

The fair was  sponsored by the Success Charter Network, which operates a string of charter schools in Harlem and East Harlem and whose CEO is Eva Moskowitz, former chairperson of the City Council's education committee. The fair took place  in the midst of the kindergarten registration season -- public school kindergarten applications are due by March 12.  Most charter school applications are due by April 1.

We'd like to hear from parents who were at the fair and from those who live in the community. Is Harlem the "parent choice capital of America?"

Monday marked the 100th day of the school year. So in this week's poll, we ask: how's it going?

Some classrooms celebrate this milestone with special activities. This year, the 100th day fell on the first school day after winter break. Needless to say, many students were not in the mood to celebrate.

If you're a parent, student, or educator, what's your gut feeling about how your school is performing? Please take our poll at left, and share your thoughts below.

And if there have been significant changes at your school during the last 100 days -- good or bad -- please share the updates on your school's profile page here at Insideschools.org..

In our last poll, we asked how you feel about your school's lunches. Fifty-eight percent of you said your school does NOT serve healthy lunches. Twenty-three percent said the food is healthy. Seventeen percent of you pack your own lunches, and said you're not sure.

In the comments, more than a few students and parents characterized their cafeteria food as "disgusting," "nasty," or "gross" -- regardless of its purported nutritional value. "My school serves partially healthy lunch, but the food is disgusting," wrote a student. "Frozen foods are often given, and taste horrible. Watery, tasteless veggies, tacos, dry chicken nuggets, it’s really bad.."

But a parent at PS 84 tells us that due to a partnership with Wellness in the Schools and the efforts of the school's wellness committee, their kids have a hot vegetarian entree option and salad bar every day -- though the the high fructose corn syrup in the chocolate milk remains a subject of debate.

If you could change the menu at your school's cafeteria, what would you serve?