Re: It has come to my attention that the Charter School for Better Learning h...

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Jup...@aol.com

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Aug 8, 2009, 10:48:47 PM8/8/09
to Nor...@aol.com, grassroots...@googlegroups.com, nyceduca...@yahoogroups.com, ice-...@yahoogroups.com
Hi, Norm: 
I am so upset and concerned about P.S. 111. I hope that we can provide some support to the parents of this school b/c they definitely need it.
      I have to give you some personal history on P.S. 111: I was a teacher at P.S. 111 for 8 years, and I have to honestly say that P.S 111 is both a wonderful school community and the site of some of my most successful and happiest years as a teacher in the NYCDOE. So, as you can see, this is very personal for me. Moreover, I feel that the NYCDOE is taking advantage of P.S. 111 because the majority of its students and parents are from the projects of Edenwald Houses.
 
 
                                                                                                            Pam
 
In a message dated 8/7/2009 10:18:28 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, nor...@aol.com writes:


Best,
Norm Scott
Commentary on education
http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/
917-992-3734


-----Original Message-----
From: Grassroots Education Movement (NYC) <GEM...@gmail.com>
To: nor...@aol.com
Sent: Fri, Aug 7, 2009 6:05 pm
Subject: GEMnyc

GEMnyc
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Posted: 07 Aug 2009 04:40 AM PDT
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1Zv8WiHZyjg/Snweg7YEAeI/AAAAAAAAAS0/Qx9ca2HXtsY/s1600-h/Picture+28.pngGEM received a copy of a letter that a concerned Bronx parent wrote to the Chancellor back in July.

We continue to be dumbfounded as to why letters like this have to be written at all in a public system of education.

Joel Klein is not asleep at the helm. He knows what's going on in Seton Falls elementary school and all the other schools that are being forced to accommodate the new charters. In the old days, these schools had to find their own space. Not anymore.

Obviously the disparity is there by design. If the new charters get to have refurbished facilities, smaller class size, more equipment, supplies and books, and longer hours for learning that's great. When parents want to send their kids to these kinds of schools, the essence of what constitutes public education changes. The goal is privatization, not what's good for a generation of kids. The kids who get into charters get trained up early on a disparate two-tier system, and the ones who remain in
district schools are never going to be in the favored tier.

The question is: when will tax-paying parents, teachers, and concerned citizens make enough noise to force the politicians and their appointees to change course. Letters like this should be widely circulated, and many others written when they need to be.

0A
July 2nd, 2009

Dear Mr. Klein:

I am writing to you as the concerned parent of a student in the Seton Falls Elementary School - P.S. 111X. It has come to my attention that the Charter School for Better Learning has requested an additional 5 classrooms (inside P.S. 111X) for the upcoming 2009-2010 school year. After numerous discussions with other concerned parents, the concensus is that the approval of this request would be detrimental to the educational progress our children have been making in recent years.

The Charter School for Better Learning:

— opened in 2003 (utilizing trailers in the schoolyard of P.S. 111X - 3740 Baychester Avenue, Bronx, NY 10466)

— during the 2006-07 school year they began using our gymnasium for their physical education classes.

— during the 2007-08 school year their students began receiving breakfast in our cafeteria.

— during the 2008-09 school year they were given 3 classrooms so that the school could expand from 1st through 5th grades to kindergarten through 5th grades.


The Seton Falls Elementary School - P.S. 111X:

— first grade students were eating lunch, during the first 2 weeks of the 2008-09 school year, at 1:00pm so that the 3 Charter school classes could be fed in their earlier time slot. After parents voiced their concerns, the first graders were given back their 12:00pm lunch peri od.

— District 75/ P.S. 176 utilize classrooms (3 hearing impaired and 3 autistic).

— students receive physical/occupational therapy in the hallways.

— students receive academic intervention in the hallways. One area is set up outside the only passageway leading to and from the auditorium.

— on any given day the auditorium is where:
a) the music teacher conducts his daily schedule of classes.
b) school general assemblies and special events are held.
c) the Charter school holds special events.
d) outside entities use the space for events.
— the teachers have found innovative ways to make the hallway space look and feel like "mini classrooms" — but in the end — they are still teaching in hallways.


A few questions for you:

1. If there were 5 unoccupied classrooms in P.S. 111X, wouldn't they be used for the students receiving academic intervention and therapy in the hallways? Wouldn't that allow these students to receive services, with dignity, in the privacy of a classroom (with walls and doors)?

2. If the DOE re-organizes P.S. 111X to accomodate the Charter school's latest request; will our children's class sizes rise while theirs remain low?

3. If our children's class sizes rise — will they be able to continue the progressive strides they have made on standardized tests over recent years?

4. At its inception, the Charter school was well aware of the space c onstrictions and temporary nature of the trailers they requested to use. Wouldn't energy be better spent petitioning the DOE and or private foundations/corporations to assist them in finding a permanent facility conducive to their expansion needs and goals; while at the same time not encroach on an established school?

5. Will next years request be for an entire floor?

6. Will they continue to request space and services until they have taken over the whole building and Seton Falls Elementary School - P.S. 111X no longer exists?

7. Where will our children be educated then? Will they be bussed to faraway schools to overcrowd classrooms elsewhere?

Since 2006, prior to the start of each school year, the Charter School for Better Learning has received approval of all requests made to the DOE — without opposition from the parents of P.S. 111X students.

The time has now come for our voices to be heard.

We feel that all children should have as many opportunities as possible to achieve their educational goals, but not at the sacrifice of others with similar ambitions. To this end, we feel that our children have given up enough in the name of educational hospitality. The Seton Falls Elementary School is our community school and our children deserve full use of the building. We are determined to oppose the loss of anymore space inside of our school.

Please help us in realizing the educational dreams and goals we have for our children; while=2 0assisting the Charter School for Better Learning in securing a permanent facility, with adequate space, so that they may achieve theirs.

Your consideration and assistance in this matter will be greatly appreciated.

Yours truly,

Joscelyn T. Mahon
jtma...@optimum.net


Posted: 06 Aug 2009 03:24 PM PDT
The Senate voted to renew mayoral control for another six years this morning with the additi on of four amendments, but the bill they passed won't become law until the Assembly votes on the same four amendments. Presumably that will happen when the legislature comes back into session next month.

Senator Perkins, one of the eight senators who voted against the bill this morning and is working hard against the disparate treatment public schools are getting in his district (30, Harlem), is quoted in NY1 to have said that passing the bill would have given people the chance "to end that kind of dictatorship, to end that wrong political approach that's been taken to the public school education for our children in New York City."

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1Zv8WiHZyjg/Snt67CkrYlI/AAAAAAAAASU/cC2ypu08PLs/s1600-h/Picture+23.pngSenators Diaz, Huntley, Parker, Montgomery, Adams, Carl Kruger (unfortunately not Liz, and I know, different spelling), and Duane also voted against the bill; Perkins and Diaz voted against all four amendments. Huntley introduced three of the amendments and Adams one of them, so I'm not sure how they ended up voting against the whole bill.

There's an interesting article about the surprise new panel the senate created to over see the NYC system over at the Daily News.

By the way, I did what I was told a week or two ago and called the senators to hold firm against mayoral control. In a relatively long conversation with one of Senator Huntley's aides, I learned that they hear from parents a fair amount, but not from teachers. I say let's get to it.

People in the Senator Perkins's offices on 125th St. warned us that freeing this city of mayoral control is not going to be a sprint, but a marathon. To this end, they are still looking for people to make their voices heard on this issue whichever way they can.

Here are 2 pdfs of a double-sided letter you can fill out and mail to your own senator, or to Senator Perkins for forwarding. It's foldable, for easy mailing, but if you're collecting signatures at a meeting, you'll only need a whole bunch of side 1's, where the signatures go. They may be a bit fuzzy, but no matter, the print is large and legible. Email us at gem...@gmail.com if you'd like a copy in MS Word.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1Zv8WiHZyjg/SntgvutHqkI/AAAAAAAAAR0/5VovqTOOzIk/s1600-h/Perki  ns+letter+side+1.pnghttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1Zv8WiHZyjg/Sntla6f1i-I/AAAAAAAAASE/yDuIvCUJC9g/s1600-h/Perkins+letter+side+2.png
Today's vote is not the end. We need to keep being vigilant and stop the lawbreaking and disparity in our school system.
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