Killing the Comprehensive High Schools: Parents, is this what you really want?

When the city demolished the original Penn Station, it is said that the people gasped in disbelief at what they had done.  And when Madison Square Garden was erected, they knew that they had made an irreversible mistake.  I think many people would be shocked to know that the same is happening to some of the city's most highly regarded high schools.  It hit the Bronx like a sledgehammer  Any of these names ring a bell?


John F. Kennedy High School 
Lehman High School
James Madison High School
Alfred E. Smith High School
Adlai E. Stevenson High School
William H. Taft High School
Christopher Columbus High School
Evander Childs High School
Theodore Roosevelt High School


This is just a partial list of closed schools in the Bronx. Check out the Wikipedia link of New York City High Schools and see which ones are listed as "campus" or "co-located" to see the complete list from all 5 boroughs.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_high_schools_in_New_York_City


ALL of the schools on my list were closed and replaced by co-located "small schools" and charters.  Now the city has announced the closures of countless other schools including 2 comprehensive high schools in Queens (which as seen relatively few closures compared to other boroughs):  Long Island City High School and Flushing High School. 


How is it possible that ALL of these high schools are failures?  I'm not saying they didn't have problems, but these high schools were traditional high schools with programs, honors classes, AP classes, sports teams, music programs, clubs, etc.  And now they have been replaced by "small schools" with fancy names, that are meaningless.  What the h*** does  "Bronx High School for Writing and Communication Arts" even mean?  Or "High School for Teaching and the Professions."  Are they serious?  I mean no disrespect to the hardworking students and teachers at these schools, but I can't help but questions the motives of this whole small school charter movement.  Who is it helping?  Who is profiting?  I know as a parent, I would be LIVID if my child didn't have the same opportunities as the REST OF THE COUNTRY because they were relegated to a small school that offered nothing but a fancy name.  If Scarsdale High School were targeted for closure and co-locations by charter schools and small schools,  you better believe those parents would be all over it and would make sure it was stopped.  


Where are the parents in this?  The alumni?  Why is nobody speaking out against these closures.  I recently spoke with the parent of an honors student at Long Island City High School (set for closure in June 2012) who had nothing but great things to say about the school.  His daughter was enrolled in AP classes, participated in science club, math league, and played sports.  And what he liked most was that she didn't have to commute to Bronx Science to get a good education, she could do it in their neighborhood.  He said that the reason he believes the school is "failing" is due to truancy not poor teaching or because it is a "bad" school.  


People are going to wake up one day soon and realize that there are no traditional high schools left and that these small schools and charters are not sustainable and do not produce the results they promised.  They are shorting the city's kids and it seems the whole world is on board.  


I welcome thoughts or comments.

Killing The Community School

Over the years, I have had many moments where I have felt "Do they (the system, the chancellor, the mayor) want the schools to fail?"  My dilemma is:  do I continue to fight and potentially go down with the ship, or do I get out now?  I still don't know the answer.  You see, I actually love teaching.  I seriously love my job, even in the New York City public schools.  Don't get me wrong, I KNOW what goes on in most schools and I've seen it firsthand, I've experienced it, I've cried over it, and I tried to convince myself that if I just found that one school that was great, I could escape it.  For a year, I did. I found this beautiful little school within the system that does beautiful things for children... but what I've realized is you can't escape the system.  I can't escape that CTT classes EVERYWHERE in the city are completely out of compliance with IEPS and ratios.  I actually don't know anyone at any school where CTT classes are functional.  Does anyone?  I can't escape the fact that our class sizes in first grade linger around 28 and we've been warned that next year they will rise to an astronomical 32.

As teachers we are accountable to make sure test scores rise and we become more effective, but how can we continue to do this?  Last week we received an email that was sent to all teachers throughout the city that special education is completely changing in the city.  There will be no more 12-1-1 classes anymore and all students will be in general education classrooms at their community school.  Schools with similar catchment areas will no longer refer children to each other based on services available, instead every school is supposed to educate every child.  Sounds great right?  Sure.  But when you work for a system that is completely dysfunctional how is this going to work?  Do you think these special education students will actually receive the services they are legally entitled to in a gen. ed. setting?  Is a classroom setting with 32 students appropriate for a child that requires small group instruction?  Are they just going to pull them out all day or throw multiple para educators into our rooms?

My question is:  What about charter schools?  Do they have to educate everyone that walks into their doors?  What about the fact that a charter requires an application, they have attendance requirements, homework requirements, behavior requirements?  Studies have shown again and again that the special education population is disproportionately out of compliance in all of these areas in comparison to general education students.  So where will they all go in disproportionate numbers:  the community school.... the failing community school.

I'm so sick and tired of this corporate agenda and pretending like we're improving education when really rich people are just getting richer by exploiting the poorest children in the nation.  It is DISGUSTING!!!!

(Poor) Children as Commodoties

This is a concept I first encountered (or I guess first became aware of) 4 years ago when the principal of my old school announced that we were now going to receive SES (supplemental educational services) for all of our students that qualify for free lunch.  SES landed at our school in the form of Kaplan, Scores, and Princeton Review and offered free after school programs for all of our Title I kids.  Sounds great right?  Well the problem was that these companies didn't actually care about helping our kids to succeed.  They came in with their own curriculum (which had nothing to do with ours), their own tests, and a whole lot of junk food (i.e. sugar soda and pizza) to basically bribe children and their parents into placing them into these programs.  They made their money per head and they would do anything to convince poor families that this garbage they were hocking was the right thing for their children. 

Now this ugly problem has reared its head once again in the form of class size.  Over the past 7 years as a first grade teacher, I have had class sizes that range from 19-29 students (the cap in New York City for first grade is 32).  Each year is different and this year I was relieved to have a very manageable 24 in my room.  This means 5 table groups, 5 guided reading groups, 12 reading partnerships, and a line 12 deep behind me in the hallways.  Apparently 24 students is not an adequate class size anymore in the city.  The city seems to view 24 as a deficit of 8 these days.  My school is facing devastating budget cuts if we don't place "bodies" in our classrooms.  I was told by my principal today that I will be receiving several new students very shortly to make up for my small class size.  While it's not the end of the world for me, after all, I'm a veteran teacher and I've managed larger classes before, it just sucks.  It sucks for the kids.  Now, I'm going to have to add another table group (where I'll put it in my classroom I have no clue), another guided reading group (meaning less time in the rotation for each group), rug spots that are even more squished, etc.  It's a totally different experience managing 27 as opposed to 24.  Any teacher can tell you that there is a tipping point in class size and I'd say 26 is it for me.  Keep in mind these are first graders and I am by myself with them.  After 26, field trips become cumbersome, projects become chaotic, my yearly pumpkin carving becomes a chore, storytelling around the circle becomes storytelling around concentric circles, it's just a mess.  Not to mention the fact that these children that I will be getting will have been uprooted from whatever school they are coming from (if any), and will have to adjust to our routines, our classroom, the other students, etc.