Sunday, June 17, 2012

Pre-K Destruction: It is "children last " with the DOE.

NY Times bias: The only way SchoolBook lets you respond is through Facebook. Why? Many people do not use this social media.

We've seen how Tweed, the enemy within, purposely denies pre-k growth for public schools, their very lifeline, so they can favor charters by creating "demand." This message was sent by GEM/ICE/MORE member Pat Dobosz, a pre-k teachers in Williamsburg after reading this article at Schoolbook:

More Pre-K Seats Open for Bid, Starting Monday – SchoolBook

The only way SchoolBook lets you respond is through Facebook. Why? Many people do not use this social media sight.

My school had 55 applications. Our second Pre-K was taken away last year (when we had 44 applicants as a first round choice). Our building is considered underutilized. We have the space, but the DOE will not open a second, let alone a third pre-K classroom. WHY???? Are they downsizing from the bottom? Why should parents be forced to travel across the district for a preschool seat when they are requesting one near their home? These are three and four year olds we are talking about. How are parents supposed to travel to more than one school if they have other elementary children? Also the computer is so screwed up that we have a child on our list that lives on 78th Street in Brooklyn accepted to our school while local parents and others who live closer were not. Parents have until June 22 to register for the seat they were offered. This process is worse than applying to college! it is not universal Pre-K - a seat for every child. There are day cares closing in our neighborhoods. Where are parents to put their children? It is "children last " with the DOE.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I disagree with you Norm about very few people using FB. I use it, but decided not to have my name used and I think other teachers want to comment, but are afraid. Let's face it, if principals and the DoE can go after CL's especially non-Unity ones, what else can happen.

The NYTimes bias is evident today on the Greta Hawkins story. The Times is in the pocket of Bloomberg as evidenced by Winerip no longer covering education issues. Today's story pulls at the anti-Conservative heartstrings over the song, "Proud To Be An American", and gives very little evidence to what this principal is really about. While it links the story in the NYTeacher, the reporter never interviewed teachers and the parents that have valid issues with the way she runs the school. She was the one who brought up the "White and Jewish issue" but the Times is making it out to be racially biased against her. If Ms. Bellafonte is the type of education reporter we can expect from the Times, she is no better than the NYPost and Daily News reporters who slant and omit facts in order to come across as anti-teacher.