By Rich Bockmann
The city Department of Education is kicking around the idea of installing a citywide gifted and talented program at an Oakland Gardens grade school and that has some parents throwing their arms up in protest.
Amanda Cahn, from the DOE’s Division of Portfolio Planning, discussed the department’s proposal to implement a citywide G&T program at PS 188 for the 2012 school year during the Community District Education Council 26 monthly meeting last week.
The school currently has a district program, for which a student has to test at or above the 90th percentile to qualify. For a citywide program, of which there are currently three, a student must test at or above the 97th percentile to qualify.
Cahn said 50 students in District 26 tested at or above the 97th percentile this year. The number of students testing at the same level throughout the city has not been made available by the DOE yet, but a representative said it was most likely above 1,000.
“That means 1,000 or more students fighting for 32 seats,” said Michelle Cespedes, whose first-grade daughter is in the G&T program at PS 188. “I bought my property based on the schools. It’s a tough pill for me to swallow as a property owner and as a parent of a student at PS 188.”
Under the plan, students already enrolled in the G&T program at PS 188 at 218-12 Hartland Ave., would remain until completing the fifth-grade.
District 26 is the highest performing school district in the city.
CDEC President Rob Caloras said the response to the program in past meetings had been relatively positive.
“My sense is that a parent who has a child in the system feels different than a parent who has a child who hasn’t taken the test,” he said.
The DOE recently opened a citywide program at PS 85 in Astoria, and Cahn said PS 188 has many of the attributes the department looks for when implementing such a program, including an established G&T program with parent interest and a central location.
“Because the citywide gifted and talented program is so new, there is no defined process [for establishing a program],” said Cahn.
She said after the Astoria program opened, the department began discussing one for PS 188 and heard mostly positive feedback with some resistance, which she considered to be a vocal minority.
“We heard both sides and hit on the breaks. We’re talking about a program for 2012 or not,” she said.
PS 18, at 86-35 235th Court, is getting a first-grade gifted and talented program next year, but Cahn said there was not enough demand to consider the school for the citywide program.
Earlier in the evening, the council adopted a resolution renouncing the DOE’s plans to create new standardized tests for students to evaluate teachers. The tests are the department’s response to an evaluation requirement for the Race to the Top grant, for which New York state received $700 million.
The resolution calls these tests ineffective and inconsequential to students’ education.
“Federal law allows for ways other than standardized test, such as setting academic goals for teachers,” Caloras said.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
