Tweed Dezoning Push: The Ed Deform War on the Neighborhood School While UFT Silent

You want to dezone them because you want space for charter schools.... Eva Mosklowitz was promised 40 charter schools by Joel Klein...... Tory Frye, District 6

What does dezoning mean?  Eliminating the right of any child to attend a school near his home and implementing a system of “choice,” where parents would list preferences, and their child could be assigned by lottery to any school in the district... NYC Parent blog

dezoning will do nothing do improve the quality of education.  By forcing kids to attend schools far from home, in fact, dezoning would likely lessen parental involvement, dramatically diminish the ties between schools, local elected officials and the communities in which they sit, and certainly drive up busing costs, which are already one billion dollars a year citywide.

Dezoning would also eliminate the sole legal power of the CECs currently have – which is to approve changes in zoning lines – and allow DOE to close any neighborhood public school and put a charter school in its place; something Joel Klein tried to do as Chancellor in 2009,  until he was blocked by a lawsuit.  He refused to put his proposals before the CECs in District 3 and 23 , knowing they would turn him down.  Instead he sent a letter to all the parents in the schools he had wanted to close, recommending that they transfer their children to charter schools or other public schools nearby.  Two of these schools got “A”s on the DOE school progress reports shortly thereafter.... NYC Parent blog

Has anyone heard from the UFT on this important issue? Any attempt to get some pushback going? The UFT bragged a few years ago about going to court because the DOE tried to close 2 schools that were the only ones left in their zone and won which is what sparked the Tweed de-zoning plan in the first place.
 
Here's another story basically ignored by the NYC ed media as they suck at the teat of the ed deformers.

The assault on neighborhood schooling has been the lynchpin of ed deform and from Day 1 the destruction (and villification) of the geographically based districts has been a priority. But a provision in the law giving Bloomberg control of the schools kept the district format but Klein undermined what he could with reorganization after reorganization -- regions, some other crap I forgot the name of and finally, the current corrupt network system where you find schools in each network scattered all over the city.

Why destroy neighborhood schools and the system of local support? To kill any resistance to the privatization schemes that allow alien charters to invade and to control the vast patronage inherent in the school system. There are billions to steal -- er -- be made.

I've been meaning to report on the efforts of the DOE to dezone the school system district by district. THIS IS HIGH PRIORITY ON THE TWEED AGENDA SO ASK YOURSELF WHY?

Well, it seems that there are certain laws that put a crimp on their plans in places with zoned schools and thus by dezoning they are no longer under those laws.

They can't just dezone unilaterally because the local district CECs -- the last vestige of the concept of a geographical unit of school --  must approve -- thus their recent attempts to create dysfunction in the CECs ---

They've been going around from district to district over the past few years --  I know they tried to dezone the Dist 27 middle schools - I attended and taped a hearing - and the CEC said NO.

Here Tory Frye of Change the Stakes exposes their sham in District 6. Watch her take apart that whiny slug from Tweed.

http://youtu.be/pn64S8iSiXA




From Leonie's blog on the district 5 story:

Warning to parents and CECs considering dezoning and video from D5 hearing in Harlem

At the end of the school year and towards the end of the Bloomberg reign,  DoE has been hurriedly proposing to dezone Districts 4, 5, 6 (twice), 7 (unzoned into two large preference zones this year), 12, 13, 14, 16, 17 and 23 (unzoned for MS this year).  In order to achieve this, the Community Education Councils in these districts have to approve.

More from Leonie on the district 5 story with lots of video:

D5 hearing in Harlem

NY Daily News

Harlem parents oppose local 'dezoning' plan

City wants to make all elementary schools open for application. 'Neighborhood' school would be a thing of the past.

By Tanay Warerkar / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Published: Tuesday, June 4, 2013, 8:35 AM

Updated: Tuesday, June 4, 2013, 10:41 AM

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Norman Y. Lono/for New York Daily News

De-zoning plans have been protested in the past. Now it's Harlem's turn.

Harlem parents blasted a city proposal to de-zone elementary schools Monday night, calling the plan the wrong course for public education.

Dozens of parents heard the de-zoning presentation by the Department of Education, but there was little trust between the bureaucrats and the public, which responded with guffaws, sneers, sighs, and screams at every turn.

“De-zoning will destabilize the powerful parent community we have built in this neighborhood,” said Tory Frye, 43, an opponent. “This new process further aims to keep parents ignorant and separated from the school system.”

There are 26 elementary schools in District 6. Students are guaranteed admission to their local school or could apply for admission to one of the eight "choice" schools.

The city proposal would essentially make all 26 schools open for application for any student in the district.

The city claims that 98% of students had gotten into their top three choices of schools in areas where de-zoning has already been implemented.

The public was not allowed to address the education officials -- that will happen at a true public hearing later this month -- but parents argued the current system already gives enough choice to the community.

“The idea that my child would randomly assigned to one school makes me very uncomfortable,” said Chantelle Bradford-Gerber, 39, whose older son started elementary school last year. “Lumping together all the schools in one district will leave more parents unsatisfied, and influence what happens in the classroom.”

Frye said she felt the city's true motive to de-zone school districts was to get rid of struggling schools to make room for new charter schools. The Bloomberg Administration has encouraged the growth of charter schools, but a Department of Education official did not specifically cite charter schools as the motivation for the de-zone plan.

“We truly believe this program will increase choice and provide equal access to everyone in the community,” said Yael Kalban of the Department of Education.

But few in the crowd -- beyond a small group of parents holding identical banners supporting de-zoning -- believed her.

The meeting was so heated that it will be continued Tuesday morning at PS 8, 465 W. 167th St. at 9 a.m. RELATED: HARLEM RAILS AGAINST SCHOOL DE-ZONE PLAN

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/harlem-parents-blast-city-dezoning-plan-article-1.1362430#ixzz2VGRx1HK6