Protest Mayor 13% Weds. Feb. 1 3-6PM

Shuffling high-needs students from school to school has not addressed fundamental educational issues.

MAYOR 13%

Under Mayor 13% the schools in the city with the fewest Black, Latino and low-income populations prepare students for college at more than four times the rate of our schools with the largest number of Black, Latino, and low-income students.

Under Mayor 13% his plan is to close about 80 schools, on top of 117 schools already closed.

JOIN in Solidarity 

Student & Parents Rally

against school closings 

& 

Bloomberg's failed education reform. 

Wednesday, February 1

3-6 pm 

Union Square

Check out: www.facebook.com/mayor13percent 

Mili Bonilla
Coalition for Educational JusticeAnnenberg Institute for School Reform  

Cell: 347-901-1049
www.nyccej.org

www.edvox.org

Protesters to Gather in Union Square to Rally Against "Mayor 13%" and School Closings Policy

Students, parents, advocates, community members: Mayor’s school closings policy and 10 years of “reforms” have failed; time to listen to New Yorkers

Just 13% of Black and Latino students ready for college under Bloomberg

Shuffling high-needs students from school to school has not addressed fundamental educational issues

Students from closing schools, CUNY students, public school parents and community members will rally in Union Square on Wednesday to protest Mayor Bloomberg’s closing schools policy and failed “reforms”, and demand he change course to fix an education system in crisis before he leaves office.

Poll after poll shows that New Yorkers disagree with Mayor Bloomberg’s education policies and don’t believe he’s achieved real results as mayor, yet his administration continues to double-down on failed “reforms” such as the mass closings of schools that move high-needs students around rather than meet their educational needs.  In fact, more than 50 schools are now on the block for closure, and 25 of them will be voted on in February alone.   

The rally will be followed by a hearing at Legacy High School near Union Square, where a community of parents, educators and students have been fighting to keep their school open.  Much like other schools on the closing list, Legacy has very high rates of high-needs students, yet has been threatened with closure instead of offered help.

The rally and hearing follow a press conference today where four major candidates for mayor– including the City’s Public Advocate, Manhattan Borough President, and the current former Comptroller – blasted the mayor’s school closings policy, and questioned whether high-needs students were being “lost” when schools are closed.  These students – self-contained special education, over-age and other historically lower-performing students – make up a smaller percentage of student populations at many of the new schools founded by the administration.

Other student populations – particularly low-income students of color – have also not fared well under the Bloomberg Administration.  In fact, parents and students have labeled Mayor Bloomberg as “Mayor 13%” for his administration’s failure to prepare 87 percent of black and Latino students for college.  Just one-in-four students overall are prepared for college under Bloomberg, and just 39 percent of public high school graduates last year reported they would be attending four-year colleges the following fall.

Quick facts on Legacy High School:

- School has a new principal who started in the fall of 2010 

- 25% of incoming students are over-age, compared to 5% citywide

- Students have an incoming academic level of 2.6, compared to 2.94 citywide

- 20% of students are in special education, compared to 10% citywide

-83% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, compared to 74% citywide 

WHEN:           Wednesday, February 1^st – 3 PM

(DOE hearing on Legacy HS scheduled for 6 PM)

WHERE:         14th Street and Union Square – in front of the horse statue facing Broadway

(Hearing at Legacy HS – 34 W. 14th St.)

WHO:             Parents, teachers and students angry with DOE from schools set to be closed, chanting and holding signs.  Schools attending include Legacy, Lehman, Gompers, Gateway, Washington Irving.  They will be joined by CUNY students, including Students United for a Free CUNY, New York Students Rising (NYSR), and students from John Jay, Hunter, BMCC, Brooklyn College and Brooklyn Tech.