News that the DOE will close three schoolsarrived with a thud; the schools will close in June, and open, reconfigured (or reimagined entirely) in September. The schools on the present chopping block include CES 90 in the Bronx, MS44in Manhattan, and PS 225in Queens, a pre-K-8 school that will split into two schools, elementary and middle, in its next incarnation.

Once again, the DOE's decision to close public schools combined stealth and executive fiat -- the first harbinger was UFT president Randi Weingarten's email that arrived in journalists' 'in' boxes. Communities will be given a chance to participate in discussions about the new schools, news reports say, but were offered no voice in the decision to close their ailing schools. In particular, the phase-out of MS44 on the Upper West Side came as a blindsided blow, especially to District 3 residents, whose CEC recently approved the DOE's plan to relocate The Anderson School in the MS44 building. (Can it be possible that DOE didn't know they would close the school when they proposed the resiting? Can it be possible that DOE knew but didn't tell the CEC, or the community, of their plans to shutter the ailing school? Does the sun continue to rise in the east?)

Chancellor Joel Klein, speaking to a journalists' group earlier this fall, reflected on the Bloomberg-Klein era to date with obvious pride in the rate and scale of school change. As for regrets, he said "there are some things we should have done differently. We should have figured out more effective ways to communicate with and engage the city. Things we did were effective, but were misunderstood."

No misunderstanding today, Chancellor. DOE decides, taxpayers and parents don't: Score zero for communication and community engagement. And the early holiday cheer is only beginning: Additional school closures are expected to be announced next week.