The Indypendent e-news
As soon as New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein leaned into his microphone and started to speak, the jeering began. When he proclaimed the DOE had to shut down 19 schools because “my first obligation is to our children,” the crowd of two thousand public school supporters roared in disbelief.
Over the next nine hours, more than 300 speakers challenged Klein’s reasoning, his motives and his right to decide the fate of their local schools at the Jan. 26 meeting of the Panel for Education Policy (PEP) held at Brooklyn Technical High School. The PEP, whose majority was selected by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, would ultimately approve all 19 school closings by a 9-4 vote in the middle of the night. Yet, there was little doubt that the panel’s action would end the growing controversy over the way Klein and Bloomberg are managing the City’s schools. “Education is a right,” said one parent as she waited to speak. “If we don’t fight, we’re going to lose it.”
The drama that unfolded at the PEP meeting was the product of years of simmering frustration in communities across the city. When Bloomberg plucked Klein, a lawyer, out the corporate world in 2002 to oversee over a school system that educates 1.1 million children in more than 1,500 schools, he promised a new era of mayoral accountability.
Instead, critics say the two men have exercised their power in an arbitrary and reckless manner — reorganizing the system’s administrative structures to be more remote from parents, spending millions on high-priced consultants and no-bid contracts, pushing high-stakes testing regimes that lack a sound pedagogical basis and closing scores of neighborhood schools.
When the DOE announced its proposed school closings in December, it struck a nerve. It was the largest rounds of school closings to date and it hit large high schools that have anchored their neighborhoods — Maxwell and Robeson in Brooklyn, Jamaica and Beach Channel in Queens and Columbus and Alfred E. Smith in the Bronx — especially hard.
Rallies and marches were held. At the affected campuses, hundreds of people turned out for hearings that were mandated under new State rules passed last summer. On Jan. 21, a feisty crowd of almost 400 demonstrators marched outside Bloomberg’s Upper East Side mansion.
“You have the pieces of a perfect storm starting to brew,” said Lisa Donlan, president of the District 1 Community Education Council in the Lower East Side. “Before, they did this and there were no consequences.”
The opposition to the school closings was propelled by a profusion of small groups many of them working under the umbrella of the Grassroots Education Movement (GEM). Participants included radical teachers union activists, students, parents and community groups that had already been fighting charter school invasions on their home turf.
In Red Hook, parents and educators from P.S. 15 mobilized against the DOE plan to expand PAVE Academy’s presence inside their school for another five years. The DOE claims the P.S. 15 school building is underutilized, a rationale it frequently invokes to justify moving an additional school into an already existing school.
P.S. 15 serves a large population of special education and English language learners, and has received A’s on the DOE’s annual progress report for the past three years. But all of that is at risk as PAVE, whose founder is the son of prominent hedge fund billionaire, continues to grow (see center spread).
“Beginning in year four we will have no other classrooms except for enrollment generating classrooms ... and our class size would start to rise,” said P.S. 15 special education teacher Julie Cavanagh, one of the lead organizers of the Jan. 21 protest in front of Bloomberg’s home. “To us, under-utilized means we have room for small class size, we have room for pull out intervention. We have room for one-on-one counseling. We have room for dance, we have room for music, we have room for art. We have room for the services our special ed kids need and to get them in the private setting that they deserve. Not in the hallway, not in the closet, not in the corner of a library.”
Gov. David Paterson has joined Mayor Bloomberg in calling on the State legislature to abolish the current statewide cap on the number of charter schools which stands at 200. This effort stalled in mid-January but is likely to be revived again as the Obama administration continues to dangle millions of dollars of education aid in front of states that lift charter caps.
Critics of charter schools, including the powerful United Federation of Teachers, which represents 87,000 New York City school teachers, have called on the State legislature to amend the law to ensure that charter schools are open to all students, that their finances are transparent and that public monies are not wasted on excessive management fees or administrators’ salaries before raising the cap.
Back in New York City, it remains to be seen if organizers can build on the energy that was unleashed in the past month. Angel Gonzalez, a retired Bronx middle school teacher who co-founded GEM, wants to see teacher, parent and student groups coalesce into Save Our School committees.
“We are only beginning to wake up our sleeping giant, which is our community,” Gonzalez said. “We’re fighting a corporate power that has billions of dollars and Bloomberg is their front man. Eventually people are going to see through that.”
For more information see the following articles in this issue of The Indypendent:
"Inside Columbus High School" by Mary Annaïse Heglar
"The Faces of School Reform" by John Tarleton
"Bloomberg's 12-Step Method to Close Down Public Schools" by John Tarleton
"New York City Schools by the Numbers" by John Tarleton
"FIRST PERSON: Stealing the Best and Brightest from Public Schools" by Seung Ok
Comments
Concerning PS 15 Patrick F Daly School and the Pave Academy Charter School Business being housed at in Red Hook, the trigger has been pulled again, this time at the school itself.
January 27, 2010 the Pave academy staff walked around with huge grins and did victory dances in the face of the PS 15 Patrick F Daly staff; it was a very sad day at PS 15 in Red Hook. It truly felt as if Mayor Bloomberg, Klein and the PEP aimed and shot the Mr. Daly School right in the back without any remorse of feelings whatsoever.
From the huge tragedy of Mr. Daly being shot and killed on a December day almost 20 years ago, to dealing with the 9/11 crisis that was so close to the school and now this, the Patrick F Daly School shot in the back for doing its job. With the rug pulled out from under its feet, Red Hook has lost its triple A school to Mayor Bloomberg’s hostile and illegal charter school takeover of Public School buildings. It took the multi million dollar donations of the Tiger Foundation to Bloomberg, the work and influence of billionaires and quiet back room deals with the community organizations in Red Hook surrounding PS 15 outside and even inside PS 15 itself to hand over a public school building to the Pave Company that has built itself on lies.
The PS 15 Patrick F Daly school staff and PTA can be very proud of itself for doing all it could to ward off this attack. Yes, some walked around very very tired from being at the PEP meeting until the wee hours of the morning, but we can hold our heads high even though the smirks from the Pave staff were like alcohol being poured on open wounds. But what does anyone care? Little did we know that with mayoral control of the schools the voices of the parents, staff, and the voices of those in Red Hook not bought by Spenser Robertson would fall on deaf ears? Little did we know anything about the corrupt Tiger Foundation and the Robertson family and how both would plan an attack many years ago and use all their resources against us? Little did we know that all the DOE rules would be broken and changed to fit the charter school business inside PS 15? Little did we know how the DOE makes rules and could care less about adhering to them? Little did we know about the PEP and how it is stacked by the mayor, after being shown all the rules that were broken, could care less about it? Little did we know the President of the United States, with his Race to the Top program has sanctioned this type of activity and the Governor of NYS supports this kind of activity? Little did we know the police under Mayor Bloomberg would infringe on the civil rights of parents, students and staff of PS 15 with pictures taken of us from peaceful rallies? Little did we know about the UFT, how it works and to find out they have their own charter schools and would send little support? Little did we know that the UFT would not organize every school in this city to help fight this? Little did we know that many, not all, of the local politicians would do nothing for the almost 400 families and staff of the PS 15 community? Little did we know that Facebook can be hacked? Little did we know about charter schools and the push to privatize and hand over communities to businesses and corporations? Little did we know about the backhanded activities of Mayor Bloomberg and the DOE? Little did we know about how the media is manipulated in NYC? Little did we know how much other schools know about what is going on in neighboring schools? Little did we know of the bullies of education are billionaires who have manipulated the laws and rules and control the system from mansions. My God, what we have learned in the past couple of years and the tragedy that is now to come, the handing over of our rooms to the charter school business, the handing over of special ed service rooms, science rooms, art and music space that is to come.
No one from the PS 15 PTA or on the PS 15 staff asked for this. We were doing our jobs, loving and caring for the community of Red Hook. We rose to the occasion trying to defend our territory as anyone would do but the big big money and the big guns were pointed at our backs and yes, the trigger was pulled and the Patrick F Daly school was shot in its back. This is dictatorship at its finest and manipulation of the system and back room deals. This is mayoral control, one person who is so far away from reality and normal people, calling the shots. This is extreme conflict of interest but the politicians and those in power love and support this activity. It is acceptable practice in the Bloomberg administration.
The PS 15 Patrick F Daly School PTA and Staff stand proud in the face of the victory dance and smirks from the Pave staff. We did all that we can against a corrupt Mayor Bloomberg, DOE, Tiger Foundation and Pave Academy Charter Business. We did this without the millions and millions of dollars under the table and back room dealings with Red Hook / Brooklyn community organizations inside and out of PS 15. Mr. Daly has turned in his grave; his AAA school has been shot in its back by the shameful Mayor Bloomberg, his stacked PEP group of puppets, Chancellor Klein the lawyer, the DOE and Pave Academy Charter business.
We need to revisit documents written very long ago called, Common Sense by Thomas Paine and the Intolerable Acts. We are in a very sad state of affairs. This is America in Red Hook, Brooklyn, New York, January, 2010.
We don't live like we should-------and that's about to change
"Competition can be converted in to collaboration"
What's wrong with people? Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein are working hard every day to make sure our kids get a quality education. What don't you get?
A Proud Liberal,
The problem is that Klein and Bloomberg are working so that few get a quality education. A quality education can be provided at a public school level and at a large school level. It just takes a type of turnaround that Bloomberg/Klein are not interested in trying. I.E. small class sizes at every level, an even distribution of students with disibilities, english language learners, and straight from rikers students, full funding for arts/after-school activities and increased pressure on parents for parental involvement beyond elementary school. All of this changes need to happen at once. Not just one aspect at each school. Once all of these changes are made at all schools, then true competition and comparisons can be made between public, charter, and small vision schools.
Until then, the deck is stacked against public schools and the statements being made about the quality of public school education are false and made on grounds of predetermined outcomes.
As a teacher in the N.Y.C. public school system for seven years now under the Bloomberg administration, I can say this:
1). Schools are deliberately set up to fail- programs are closed, supplies are cut off (textbooks, computers, etc.), teachers are targeted for unsatisfactory ratings, and a series of other events are set in motion to ensure that the school, does in fact, become a "failing" school. I saw this first hand at a large high school that I worked in, which has since closed, and now has become FOUR smaller schools, called the _____________ "Campus".
2). The above is consistent with a business model, which is how branches of a business are closed if that branch or division is not operating up to standards and profitibility as set by the parent corporation. Is this REALLY how PUBLIC SCHOOLS should be run?
3). Inherent problems with the business model as applied to schools- Schools, unless they are of a private nature, CANNOT charge tuition, and must accept ALL students, regardless of ability and socio-economic background. Smaller schools can be more selective in accepting students, therefore, the charters and smaller schools can skim off the BEST of the students, academically and socially. WHAT HAPPENS to those students that have disabilities, or come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds if there aren't schools to accomodate them? Should they be forgotten, and denied equal access to an education?
4). Further, to blame teachers or administrators for "failing" to teach or for students to learn under the business model is just plain old mixing of apples and oranges by a bunch of millionaire and billionaire politicians. How many of THEM have actually taught in an inner city classroom for any substantial length of time? Are they aware of the many myriad situations that teachers face each and every day, as well as the students? In my own personal situation, I would surmise that it is very hard for a student that has just witnessed a gruesome gun shooting in his or her neighborhood to come to school and keep his/her mind on the lessons being taught in school. How about students coming to school hungry, because their parents or guardians do not have the means to properly feed them? Basic needs have to be met, BEFORE inner city students can come to school to learn. Social problems OUTSIDE of the schools need to be addressed, rather than applying a band aid to a cancer, and placing blame on the teachers/administrators, who do the best we can, under the circumstances we must deal with.
There are many other comments that I could make, but, why belabor the point? My own personal opinion: "School reform" is just a smokescreen for the politicians to avoid addressing the real problems of our society, and a convenient way to rally the public against teachers and teacher unions, so that unions can be busted up. The real motive? Profits and power for those that are just SAYING they are for school reform, mollifying the public, whle consolidating their own positions.
Is THIS what a "democracy" is supposed to be about? As a society, we should be thinking and acting upon what will be the long term consequences of closing public schools for our society, not just the short term results.
Is what happened at the PEP meeting ANY DIFFERENT from what happened at the City Council meetings when Mayor Bloombucks railroaded the will of the people so that he could run for a third term as Mayor? Don't see any difference, do you? WHY do we let this arrogant little man continue to buy us?
NYCDOE should be renamed cash and carry NYCDOE - these jokers who administer DOE wouldn't know quality education if it presented itself to them on golden tablets and many could care less. Their real job is bureaucratic survival and on the finannce side how to make out like a bandit. With the private sector in crisis billionaires who don't know half of what we give them credir for need to privatize to save a troubled private sector that has shrunk domestically. america's biggest export is media related products. Entertainment is a large international business. In addition NYCDOE has become a partner in neighborhood gentrification - ancillary to the real estate business and its never ending nyc bubble.
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