Written and edited by Norm Scott:
EDUCATE! ORGANIZE!! MOBILIZE!!!
Three pillars of The Resistance – providing information on current ed issues, organizing activities around fighting for public education in NYC and beyond and exposing the motives behind the education deformers. We link up with bands of resisters. Nothing will change unless WE ALL GET INVOLVED IN THE STRUGGLE!
A very helpful video that explains the new evaluation system and provides suggestions for how educators should prepare themselves. A "must watch" for every UFT member!
Friday September 6th, 2013
There is growing outrage over the story of Tiana Parker, a seven-year-old student in Tulsa, Oklahoma who was pushed out of her charter school because of her hairstyle. The school said her dreadlocks, which the school's policy lumps with "mohawks" and "other faddish styles" the school prohibits, "didn't look presentable" and was distracting. Sadly, Tiana isn't the only child to be unfairly pushed out of a charter.
Many policymakers like to herald charter schools as the cure-all solution to a struggling public education system. But as Tiana found out, even if you wanted to attend one, a charter might not want you. Based on research from Dr. Kevin Welner at the National Education Policy Center, this new infographic from the OTL Campaign illustrates the obstacles and pitfalls some charters set up to weed out or push out struggling students and those who need additional supports. While some charters do well by their students, even in the best possible scenario charter schools aren't a systemic solution to providing an opportunity to learn for all students.
Ensuring every student has access to a quality education shouldn't be a game, so is "CharterLand" really the best way forward for America?
And check out NEPC's new book, Closing the Opportunity Gap: What America Must Do to Give Every Child an Even Chance. Closing the Opportunity Gap brings together top experts who offer evidence-based essays that paint a powerful picture of denied opportunities. They also describe sensible, research-based policy approaches to enhance opportunities.
When the commissioner says that it is only 20%, he is of course, being disingenuous. Test scores have undue weight, and he knows it... Carol Burris, NYS Principal of the year
It is vital that all of the stories be told and that the data is gathered so that parents, the media and policymakers understand what a foolish and destructive evaluation system APPR is...
Below is a link to the story I wrote about an upstate New York teacher who was devastated by receiving a score of Developing. Diane Ravitch was kind enough to help me get in touch with her after her story appeared on her blog.
Please read it, share it, Like it for your Facebook page. The more that educators read such stories, the more willing they will be to share their own.
It is vital that all of the stories be told and that the data is gathered so that parents, the media and policymakers understand what a foolish and destructive evaluation system APPR is. Clearly, this teacher was rated poorly because of the undue emphasis that test scores have in this lopsided point system.
When the commissioner says that it is only 20%, he is of course, being disingenuous. Test scores have undue weight, and he knows it.
We should all be especially interested in the stories of teachers and principals who were rated ineffective, yet had not one category rating of ineffective (I believe there is great potential for a winnable appeal as well as a challenge to the system) as well as teachers and principals who were rated Effective or Highly Effective on the "other 60" measure by their principal or superintendent, yet were rated Developing or Ineffective overall. We all need to do our best to get these stories out and to gather data. People cannot be ashamed. They must fight back with dignity.
With Thompson still unable to move into second place, and DiBlasio
in striking distance of avoiding a runoff entirely, this UFT leadership
has reached a new desperate low... Peter Lamphere
Will Thompson offer teachers a chicken in every pot just as Herbert Hoover did in the 1928 election? (How did that work out?)
Word last night was that a desperate Leo Casey was engaged in a twitter attack over the mayoral election with MORE being a target. Maybe if Leo supported a democratically run union people in the UFT would actually give a shit. More on that later.
Does anyone smell a level of desperation coming from the UFT/AFT leadership over their Thompson endorsement in the face of the de Blasio surge? Was de Blasio being a little too rough on charter schools for the UFT to endorse him when he wants them to pay the damn rent (including the UFT charter?
What if Bloomberg's prediction that a UFT endorsement is the kiss of death? My rough guess is that they may well pull Thompson into a runoff with de Blasio and then we will have a few weeks of fun and games as the UFT and 1199 battle it out. Here is an email from the MORE Listserve showing that the UFT leadership will just make stuff up.
Peter Lamphere posted this on the MORE Listserve:
I was a little shocked to see at advertisement in my mailbox when I got
home today, which claims that Thompson is in favor of retroactive pay
for expired city worker contracts. This is not true. None of the
main democratic candidates has come out in favor of the full retro we
are owed. Only Liu and Albanese have said that they will definitely negotiate some retro
(although not as much as is owed), the others all say that they will
not take any public position on future city contracts. Thompson has said
that city workers "deserve a raise," but has not taken any position on
retro pay. In Tuesday's debate,
Thompson even explicitly made clear that he has made no promises to the
union on this question (debate segment on retro starts at 08:45, Thompson's response at 14:10). The level of desperation in the ad (paid for by the UFT's PAC, United for the Future)
is belied both by the misspelling of retroactive (indicating to me it
was inserted at the last minute) and the big red message on the back -
"We need to win." With Thompson still unable to move into second place, and DiBlasio
in striking distance of avoiding a runoff entirely, this UFT leadership
has reached a new desperate low.
A Medina High School art teacher is seeking online votes in the
second annual Vision Art Awards, in which she has entered a painting
protesting the state-mandated standardized testing.
Vision Art
Awards, sponsored by 464 Gallery at 464 Amherst St., Buffalo, seeks to
support, encourage and celebrate the work of local and regional artists
through a format that levels the playing field between emerging and
established artists, said art teacher Jen Scott.
Scott’s oil
painting titled “An Educational Experiment Engineered for Failure” shows
the New York State Education Commissioner John King smiling through a
classroom’s windows, while students are struggling with the influx of
standardized testing.
“This painting really protests the
over-reliance on standardized tests and how these tests focus so
narrowly on reading and math skills,” Scott said. “Non-standard
thinkers, like my son Matt, are penalized through these tests.”
Soon
most states, including New York, will mandate so-called high-stakes
tests in many subjects at several grade levels, Scott said.
She
shared a statement from Howard Gardner, professor of Education at
Harvard Graduate School of Education: “We must proceed cautiously before
we place students’ minds and hearts at risk with tests of dubious
quality, whose meaning can be over interpreted and whose consequences
can be devastating. Yes, we need more rigorous academic standards, but
we must also give youngsters models when it comes to developing the most
crucial skills: love of learning, respect for peers and good
citizenship. That is what they will need most to pass the test of life.”
Scott
is asking people to vote for her painting by “liking” the 464 Gallery
fan page on Facebook; clicking on the Vision Art Awards photo album; and
clicking “like” on the painting.
An
opening reception for the art show is scheduled from 6 to 10 p.m. Sept.
13. At this event, the winners of the People’s Choice Awards will be
revealed, as well as the juried selections. In addition, some other
works of note will be featured, as selected by 464 Gallery owner, Marcus
Wise.
We all
want Noah to win. That means SPREADING THE WORD!
Can you forward this email to 5 PEOPLE you
know that live on the Upper West Side? It only takes a second and it
goes a LONG way!
*
* * *
*
Noah Gotbaum is an Independent Democrat Running for City
Council on the Upper West Side. He's the only public school
parent running for this seat. Here's a few things he's
done:
Noahled the successful fight against the
demolition of PS 199 and PS 191, which developers wanted to
replace with luxury high rises (article
HERE)
Noah tackled public school overcrowding byleading the community to force the
Department of Education to establish PS 452 and build
the new school at Riverside Center
Noah fought successfully to block a contract renewal for a
dangerous shelter on West 95th Street that was not
only failing to provide promised services, but was pushing out
existing low-income tenants
I get it about The Wave’s dismissal of Bill de Blasio because he ignores Rockaway. Maybe it’s because I’ve only lived here for 34 of my 68 years with half my life lived in Brooklyn. I’m not a Rockaway chauvinist when it comes to choosing the next mayor. The Wave takes him to task for not showing up in Rockaway, not a life or death matter for me. I would judge him more on his plan for renovating hospitals which might save our lives. As I write, this just popped up: Bill de Blasio attends "Hospitals Not Condos" Rally. His plans for rational health care system will do more for Rockaway – if he actually delivered. I would also judge him on his stand on Stop and Frisk, but more on that in my next column which will come during the run-off, which, given the de Blasio numbers, he should make (and watch the vicious fur begin to fly then).
Let’s face it. Albanese and Liu, both of whom I like, and Weiner, are toast. I still may vote for Sal just to prove that there are people who support rational politicians. I don’t necessarily view it as a wasted vote. Do I trust de Blasio which is where I am leaning due to the liberal agenda? Not. His history shows lots of things to be concerned about. But of all the candidates who have a chance I am most comfortable with him.
The NY Times, has been dishing dirt on all the candidates, even Quinn, who they support. Quinn is a Bloomberg hack (if you loved Bloomberg vote for her and reap the consequences). And she collected more money from the real estate industry than any other Democratic mayoral candidate. The Times hit de Blasio a few times, also pointing to his ties to the real estate industry and the way he managed the Hillary Clinton campaign for Senate as they dragged out Bloomberg attack dog sleaze Howard Wolfson, who has worked for the UFT, Hillary and Attila the Hun.
They’ve done a couple of hits on Thompson’s connections to certain shady characters (I posted a link in my last column- tinyurl.com/kmw7atw). The latest on August 30 was a devastating exposure of how Thompson, as Comptroller, funneled the management of pension funds to a big campaign contributor. “Again and again, Mr. Thompson reaped political gains from those he awarded city business…. nationwide, more than half of large public pension funds outperformed the five city funds’ combined 4.84 percent return from 2002 through 2009…” Ouch. I could live with him giving my pension money to a pal, but not a pal who screwed up. NYC Teacher/Blogger Reality-Based Educator said it straight out: Bill Thompson is a Crook (http://tinyurl.com/klxhp7u). I wouldn’t go that far. In my view almost every professional politician is a crook, of some sort. Let them get a real job.
The UFT is supporting Thompson and there is some desperation given they were 3-time losers in the 2001 election when they began with Hevesi the crook, then onto Ferrar, then Green and we ended up with Bloomberg. Nice work. Imagine if Thompson doesn’t make the run-off, leaving a Quinn/de Blasio race. Where do they go then? Do they sit the runoff out or go de Blasio? Oh, the possibilities for political junkies.
Now the 3 or 4 people who read this column know that my bottom line comes down to where people stand on the education/corporate “reform” movement which I’ve dubbed the “deform” movement, especially charters, which I characterize as “the invasion of the body snatchers.” NY State Regent head Merryl Tisch, pro ed deform and an enemy of teachers, is Bill Thompson’s campaign co-chair. (By the way, with all the news on education deform, have you ever heard one public opinion from out own local regent, Geraldine Chapey?) So how does the UFT/Thompson/Tisch connection play out in the education wars? Thompson straddles the fence on charter schools. De Blasio takes the position they should pay the damn rent for occupying public school space. That’s enough to get my vote.
I lied. A word on stop and frisk. Major crime dropped under Giulianni. Did you know that Rudy, that paragon of treating people of color like crap, used stop and frisk 1/8 of the amount Bloomberg has used at its height? When Bloomberg cut down Stop and Frisk recently by significant numbers (due to the pressure), crime actually dropped. I’m not fan of Giulianni but he had lots more cops on the street while Bloomberg cut cops and decided to make S&F his major policy despite the collateral damage on people of color, instead of community policing --- saving money on the backs of the police force. No one opposed to S&F is calling for less police presence, but more. Bloomberg and Kelly are engaging in scare tactics. In fact many cops are themselves wary of S&F quotas being used to juke the stats of their superiors.
Next time: I have a bone to pick with Eric Ulrich. Norm spills his guts every day at ednotesonline.com.
This came in over the transom from an Ed Notes reader:
I had the privilege of attending ten days of training in a Summer Institute. The primary advantage of attending the institute is I lost the last two weeks of my treasured summer vacation. My district has adopted Responsive Classroom, which I have nicknamed snapping and clapping. When the teacher is pleased with a student response, a ten finger whoo may be given. Please practice now with me. Hold out your arms in the air, wiggle your fingers and shout, “Whoo.” Another highlight of Responsive Classroom is clarifying procedures. Find a partner. Script the rules you will give to your students for walking in a line. Share the rules with your partner, get feedback and revise the rules. Then switch partners. Yes, you have to write down exactly what you plan to say to your students. My favorite part of Responsive Classroom is the opportunity to line up pretending to be students and march around the school. I was honored to play the teacher role. The secret to maintaining an orderly line is to stand toward the middle of the line. Did I learn anything academic? I participated in two sessions of training on Core Knowledge the new language arts literacy program in the district and one session of Math in Focus training. All I can tell you is both programs are scripted. The teacher stands in front of the classroom and reads from the teacher manual. In kindergarten sounds are to be taught not letters. For example, this is the mmm sound and this is the symbol for the mmm sound. The name of the letter is not mentioned. Somewhere along the line after teaching 270 sounds, letters are introduced. Math in Focus involved solving very difficult third and fifth grade word problems. All of my questions were answered with, either “I will get back to you,” or “Send me an e-mail.” I have a binder full of notes I cannot decipher and handouts I do not plan to read. Should you require any more information about Summer Institute, please ask someone else. I have no clue.
Come to the circus. Press invited to find out they are spending an enormous amount of money trying to fire an accomplished teacher. Francesco is proof that rubber rooms still exist but that is a story ignored by the press, which hopped to when they had mass rubber rooms that were an embarrassment to both Tweed and the UFT. Now that they dump people in DOE offices full of wasteful bureaucrats, they all go and hide.
Greetings,
If you are available and want to see the public modern day hanging
of a parent and educator who blew the whistle and is slated for
termination, see here:
Dates were just set for September 12, 23 and 30 at 49 Chambers Street.
Thank you all for your support. Regardless of the outcome, the fight for public education has a strong friend here.
-Francesco Portelos mrportelos@gmail.com educatorfightsback.org
Parent
Educator
UFT Chapter Leader IS 49
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
As soon
as their non-profit status was granted, CWCS quietly used their power
over the local NY schools' trustees to push through exorbitant
"licensing agreements" that will funnel more than $3 million of tax
dollars away from the New York children they were intended for and into
the hands of a few wealthy executives of CWCS, a California corporation.
Another charter that skims 8% as a mismanagement fee.
There's a new petition taking off on Change.org, and we think you might be interested in signing it:
We ask the Attorney General for an injunction to stop Citizens
of the World Charter Schools, a network based out of California, from
opening in Williamsburg and Crown Heights on September 9, 2013 because the IRS is currently investigating the organization for fraud.
Citizens of the World Charter Schools (CWCS), a National chain
of charter schools based out of California has been approved to open two
schools in Brooklyn September 2013--despite the fact that CWCS is under
IRS investigation for fraud.
The IRS investigation puts both CWC NY schools at risk for
closure after they open. This is not fair to either the families who
enrolled in CWC NY schools or the tax payers who foot the bill.
Why is the IRS investigating?
• In 2011, the scandal ridden and now defunct California
non-profit Wonder of Reading funneled all of it's money and resources,
which were given to build libraries in public schools, into the creation
of a new chain of charter schools, Citizens of the World. Both
organizations are run by the exact same executives and board members.
• CWCS was granted tax-exempt status as a charity by the IRS in
2012 on the grounds that they would provide grants to open new schools
but NEVER charge the schools a fee for any rights or services. As soon
as their non-profit status was granted, CWCS quietly used their power
over the local NY schools' trustees to push through exorbitant
"licensing agreements" that will funnel more than $3 million of tax
dollars away from the New York children they were intended for and into
the hands of a few wealthy executives of CWCS, a California corporation.
• To date, no grants have been given to the NY schools, only
loans. And the school budgets show that the schools will not offer food,
a school nurse, or even a janitor.
Parents have the right to know this critical information!
Parents who applied to Citizens of the World schools
Williamsburg and Crown Heights are not aware of either the IRS
investigation or that their children will not be offered food.
There has been significant opposition to Citizens of the World
in the Williamsburg community since early 2012 when it was discovered
that Citizens of the World had racially motivated marketing strategies
and racial targets of 55% white for the CWC Williamsburg school.
Hundreds of parents protested the schools at the public hearings.
Parents in CWC LA schools are complaining that their children
are not receiving promised and required services, including English
Language Learners and children with special needs. There were several
incidents of neglect in CWC LA schools that led to a child passed out in
her own vomit, a child beaten in the bathroom, and another child in a
coma for five days.
We believe that the CWC NY schools are predicated on a
relationship with a corrupt organization. We also believe that the IRS
investigation will bear fruit.
We believe that Brooklyn children deserve better.
The city's biggest unions are spending millions of dollars on
independent efforts to elect their chosen mayoral candidates. Two of the
three Democratic frontrunners, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and
former Comptroller Bill Thompson, have both benefited from independent spending by their respective unions. But not Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. At least not on the surface. Some
political and labor insiders have expressed surprise that Mr. de
Blasio's biggest union supporter, 1199 SEIU—one of the largest unions in
the city with an estimated 200,000 members—has so far declined to fund
an independent expenditure in his support. The union has only
spent $6,590 on two ads for Mr. de Blasio, according to campaign finance
filings. In comparison, the United Federation of Teachers has spent
almost $2 million on mailings and advertisements for Mr. Thompson, while
the Hotel Trades Council has spent a combined $616,000 to support Ms.
Quinn... Crain's NY
Crain's New York has a fascinating article comparing the UFT's support for Thompson with 1199's support for de Blasio. We've often said that the UFT political machine which the leadership tries to present as formidable is often a Potemkin Village. The conclusion of the article is telling:
Labor insiders said that while UFT
has huge sums of money is can spend on its candidates, and the Hotel
Trades Council has a highly mobilized cadre of volunteers, the
healthcare union's main strength is its reputation. "The brand
itself is so powerful, even among non-union members in some of these
areas," one labor operative said. "The de Blasio people can slap 1199 on
a piece of mail to African-Americans: that sends a message that's as
important a validation as any in the black community."
Yes, what exactly is the UFT brand?
Actually, the numbers are somewhat misleading at the article goes on to point out.
1199's hidden operation for de Blasio
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio with 1199 President George Gresham (right) at an event earlier this summer.
Photo: Andrew J. Hawkins
"That IS surprising!" one union source said in an email to
The Insider. "I didn't know that...particularly in light of the fact
that [Mr. de Blasio] is now up there with Quinn" in the polls. In fact,
he is well ahead in the polls, and even when he was mired in fourth
place, 1199 leaders had pledged a huge effort on his behalf.
Some
labor insiders predicted that with several large hospital contracts up
for renegotiation in 2014, 1199 was being more frugal with its money
than the other unions. And traditionally 1199 does not have the
reputation for making large expenditures on its chosen candidates,
preferring to focus on driving turnout among its membership. (Although
the union did contribute $200,000 as of early August to a political
action committee devoted to defeating former Gov. Eliot Spitzer in the
comptroller's race.)
So on the surface, 1199 seems to be spending
far less on Mr. de Blasio than other unions have been spending for his
rivals. But behind the scenes, the union's leadership insists its
political operation is in full gear for the public advocate.
"We've been working very hard all along since we endorsed," said Kevin Finnegan, 1199's political director.
The
union's work for Mr. de Blasio falls into two categories: volunteer
organizing, coordinated with and paid for by the candidate's own
campaign; and member-to-member advertising and communication that is
separate from the campaign.
Most of the union's spending in favor
of Mr. de Blasio is on these member-to-member communications, which does
not have to be disclosed to the city's Campaign Finance Board after the
City Council voted in January to shield such communication from public view.
(Predictably,
the CFB is not a fan of this type of spending. "New Yorkers want and
deserve access to complete information about the interests supporting
candidates for City office, including mass-mailings that unions,
corporations and other membership organizations use to promote
candidates to their members," a CFB spokesman said.)
Mr. Finnegan
said 1199 had spent around $600,000 on organizing and $1 million on
mailings to its members—but acknowledged that those numbers had likely
since increased since he last estimated them.
Meanwhile, the de
Blasio campaign paid 1199 organizers hourly for help raising an army of
volunteers. More than 200 union organizers were identified for this
program, Mr. Finnegan said, although it is unclear how many were
actually paid by the campaign for their volunteer-organizing services.
"They
had to pay for…organizers that worked on getting them volunteers," he
said. "So they're getting billed for that." That ended Sept. 1, and
simultaneously the union began its member-to-member mail and phone
program.
Now the union is focusing on placing around 30 MPOs—or
highly trained member political organizers—in a dozen council districts,
mostly in minority-heavy central Brooklyn, northern Manhattan, Queens
and the Bronx, to focus on getting out the vote for Mr. de Blasio.
"Beginning
last night, the whole union was turned over to that effort," Mr.
Finnegan said. "So we had about 250 people out knocking on doors—member
doors—and talking to them about Bill de Blasio and Tish James and Scott
Stringer," the union's other endorsed citywide candidates.
Mr.
Finnegan attributed Mr. de Blasio's recent surge—he is now polling with
more than 40% of the vote—to 1199's behind-the-scenes efforts in his
support.
"There's no question in my mind the two are linked," he
said. "His numbers began to rise as our first pieces of mail started
going to our members. And I don't want to take too much credit, he's an
excellent candidate, probably could have done it without us. But I'm
certain we've had an impact."
Labor insiders said that while UFT
has huge sums of money is can spend on its candidates, and the Hotel
Trades Council has a highly mobilized cadre of volunteers, the
healthcare union's main strength is its reputation.
"The brand
itself is so powerful, even among non-union members in some of these
areas," one labor operative said. "The de Blasio people can slap 1199 on
a piece of mail to African-Americans: that sends a message that's as
important a validation as any in the black community."
On October 5th,
Come enjoy home-made food, meet MORE's educator activists, learn about
our movement, and support our work to improve teaching and learning
conditions! A brunch cocktail, gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian options
will be available. RSVP online today to reserve your place at the
table, and bring your donation with you! Suggested Door Donation: $20
10-20: $10 Children...
The ex-project manager of a Bronx charter school has filed a $1 million lawsuit alleging she was fired in retaliation for reporting financial and academic improprieties.
Alexis Riley claims she was terminated from her $65,000-a-year job at South Bronx Classical Charter School in June shortly after notifying a supervisor that the Department of Education had been fraudulently billed for special education students who were no longer enrolled there.
Riley’s supervisor acknowledged the problem but warned her “it wasn’t worth the battle,” according to the complaint filed last week in Brooklyn Supreme Court.
Riley, who has a law degree from New York Law School, also claims she uncovered plagiarized tests and the withholding of food to punish students. Riley alleges in the suit that when she brought the fraudulent invoices to the attention of the school’s executive director, Lester Long, he responded dismissively, “Oh, can they really be that off?”
The final beef with school administrators came after Riley was admonished for wearing flip-flops to work because she had a dislocated bone in her foot.
A message left at the school was not returned.
I support Dignity in Schools. Let's end suspension mania and find a way to deal with difficult behavioral issues in a rational way that will benefit teachers and students. I saw the Teachers Unite film Growing Fairness (see here and here) last week and that should be shown around town as an example of how students can take part in the process.
I'll write more on my feelings about discipline -- I rarely called for supervisors and I never asked to have a kid suspended. But I did teach elementary school in my own classroom with the kids all day. I had a lot of power to make their lives in school happy (and not so happy) and used it. I actually stumbled on some of the dignity in schools campaign stuff in naturally trying to figure out how to get kids to get along but wish I knew about it.
========
A New Memorandum of Understanding between the DOE and NYPD is proposed
today by the Student Safety Coalition. Read the guiding principles here & more information below.
Students,
Parents, Educators &
Advocates Present A New Vision for School Safety in NYC Public
Schools
Student Safety Coalition Urges Next
Mayor to
Implement Major Reform Governing Police in Schools
FOR
IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
September 4,
2013 –
The
Student Safety Coalition, a diverse group of educators, parents,
students, advocates and
legal experts, today called on New York City’s next mayor to
implement reforms
to end overly aggressive policing in the city schools and
restore authority
over school discipline to professional educators.
The
coalition
presented “A New Vision for School Safety” – a set of nine
guiding
principles for overhauling the flawed Memorandum of
Understanding between the
New York City Department of Education and the NYPD that governs
school safety
operations. Implementation of these principles would clarify
that educators,
not police personnel, should address the vast majority of
student misbehavior.
“The
massive
and largely unregulated police presence in New York City’s
public
schools undermines the ability of school officials to provide
students the
safe, nurturing educational environment they deserve,” said
Donna Lieberman,
executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.“Much too often, we’ve seen
police personnel
intervene in disciplinary matters, resulting in students being
roughed up,
handcuffed, and even taken to jail. We urge the next mayor to
restore authority
over school safety and discipline where it belongs – in the
hands of educators,
not the NYPD.”
“A
New Vision for School Safety” is the Student Safety Coalition’s
latest
initiative aimed at ending the school-to-prison pipeline – a
nationwide system
of local, state, and federal education and public safety
policies that pushes
students out of school and into the criminal justice system. The over-policing of New York
City schools,
paired with zero tolerance discipline policies in schools,
contributes heavily
to the school-to-prison pipeline. These policies
disproportionately target
youth of color and youth with disabilities.
Extensive
research
shows that such zero tolerance disciplinary policies fail to
differentiate between minor student misbehavior and more serious
safety
threats, in the process involving police officers in school
disciplinary
matters and dramatically escalating arrests, suspensions and
referrals to juvenile
and criminal court.
In
1998, the then-Board of Education entered into an agreement, a
Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU), with the mayor that transferred school safety
responsibilities from the DOE
to the NYPD. Currently, there are more than 5,200 police
personnel in the
city’s schools. On its own, the NYPD’s
School
Safety
Division would be the nation’s fifth-largest police force –
ahead of
Boston, Detroit, Dallas, Las Vegas and Washington, D.C.
“In order to truly improve the
education of New York City’s
public school students, we need to address the way they are
disciplined,” said
Damon Hewitt, director of the education practice of the NAACP
Legal Defense and
Education Fund. “Students should feel nurtured and safe at
school – not
degraded, mistreated, and criminalized simply for being kids.
By handing
disciplinary responsibility back to educators, we can reduce the
role of police
in schools and create a better academic environment for our
students.”
In
2011-2012, there were more than 2,500 arrests and summonses and
more than 69,000
suspensions in New York City public schools.While overall suspension numbers have decreased slightly,
the DOE continues
to report dramatic racial disparities. Black
students make up only 28 percent of the student population, yet
they received
53 receive of the suspensions.
Students,
some
as young as 5 years old, have been handcuffed, taken to jail,
and ordered
to appear in court for infractions such as tardiness, talking
back, writing on
the desk, and refusing to turn over cell phones.
Students
with
an arrest are twice as likely to drop out of school and those
with a court
appearance are four times as likely to drop out.
“The
next
mayor has an opportunity to improve the climate in our schools
and foster
a more productive form of discipline,” said Kim Sweet, executive
director of
Advocates for Children of New York. “This can’t happen without a
change in the
relationship between the NYPD and the Department of Education.”
“Students,
parents
and teachers need to get a bigger role in deciding what happens
in our
schools and safety,” said Nilesh Viswashrao, a 20-year-old youth
leader of
Desis Rising Up and Moving. “NYPD officers and School Safety
Officers are not
teachers or counselors, they are going to be able to solve the
problems that we
as young people go through. Our peers and educators can do that.
Having police
and metal detectors in schools keep youth of color like us
criminalized. The
MOU will be one step closer to making sure our schools are kept
as learning
places.”
“Our
front-line
staff representing children in court in all five boroughs sees
first-hand that we need to keep students safely in school and
prevent students
from being kept out of school by over-reliance on exclusionary,
criminal
responses to normative child and adolescent behavior which does
not create
safer schools,” said Steven Banks, the Attorney-in-Chief of The
Legal Aid
Society, the oldest and largest legal services organization in
the United
States which annually handles more than 300,000 legal matters
for low-income
New Yorkers with civil, criminal or juvenile rights problems in
addition to law
reform representation that benefits all two million low-income
children and
adults in New York City.
The
push
to transform the relationship between educators and police
follows the
release earlier this summer of a special report by The New
York City School-Justice Partnership Task
Force,
under the leadership of former New York Chief Judge Judith Kaye.
The task force,
which spent two years studying local and national school
disciplinary
practices, calls on the next mayor to lead, convene and
implement an initiative
that establishes a shared goal among city agencies, in
collaboration with the
courts, to keep students safely in school and use positive
approaches to
discipline while reducing suspensions and arrests.
“I
sent my children to New York City Public School to learn the
skills they needed
to do so, but rather than be inspired they were confronted with
metal detectors
and NYPD officers every day at their school’s front door,” said
Cassandra
Whitney, whose two children attend city public schools. “As a
parent, I am fed
up. It’s time we put the power and trust back in the hands of
our educators,
and give the authority to determine how to provide our children
safe and
nurturing schools.”
The
Student
Safety Coalition works to end the New York City
school-to-prison-pipeline
and its disproportionate impact on youth of color and youth with
special needs.
Composed of New York City advocacy, academic and community based
organizations,
the coalition uses a coordinated set of legislative, public
education and
organizing strategies. In 2011, the coalition successfully
advocated for
enactment of the Student Safety Act, one of the country’s most
comprehensive
local reporting laws on student discipline and arrests.
The
Student
Safety Coalition includes: Dignity in Schools Campaign – New
York, Center
for Community Alternatives, Children’s Defense Fund – New York,
DRUM - Desis
Rising Up and Moving, The Legal Aid Society, Association of
Legal Aid Attorneys,
Make the Road New York, National Economic and Social Rights
Initiative, New
York Civil Liberties Union, Teachers Unite, Urban Youth
Collaborative, Advocates
for Children of New York.
Word last night was that a desperate Leo Casey was engaged in a twitter attack over the mayoral election with MORE being a target. Maybe if Leo supported a democratically run union people in the UFT would actually give a shit. More on that later.
