Called ‘Lunacy’ At Town Hall Meet
Parents, students, and representatives of elected officials desperate to save area schools converged on Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens on Monday, Feb. 13 calling for an end to the proposed “turnaround” plan.
Convened by Borough President Helen Marshall and Dmytro Fedkowskyj, Marshall’s appointee to the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP), the meeting’s intention was to hear testimony on the possible loss of $58 million due to the failure of the city and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) to agree on a teacher evaluation system.
Marshall called the potential loss of funding “a sin.”
Fedkowskyj told the crowd that eight Queens high schools are being targeted by the city for a “turnaround model” which would result in all teachers needing to be re-hired and the principals also possibly losing their jobs.
The high schools-Newtown, Grover Cleveland, Flushing, August Martin, Richmond Hill, John Adams, William Bryant and Long Island City-service about 21,000 students in total.
Fedkowskyj warned that “confusion in each school will be immense” if the plan goes through, as principals will be forced to hire their new teachers within a two-month period.
Each school will be required by state law to host their own public hearings.
Most schools had at least one person to speak on their behalf.
Grover Cleveland H.S.
“Last year, we were told in June that our school will go into the ‘restart’ model,” said Lydia Martinez, a parent of two Grover Cleveland students.
“In October, the chancellor (Dennis Walcott) came to our school and went on a tour. He promised us that we would give us the resources we need,” she added. “He promised he would not close us down. We want him to keep his promise.”
“The students of the school should not be thinking about going to rallies and trying to save their school,” she told Marshall and Fedkowskyj. “They should be worried about their homework.”
Lloyd Kiefer, a science teacher at the Ridgewood school, told the crowd about the various programs at Grover Cleveland, such as the new partnership with Lenovo to make applications for mobile phones (as seen in last week’s Times Newsweekly).
“If we get turned around,” he warned, “all these programs will be gone.”
“Grover Cleveland is in good hands,” said Karina Lozano, a Grover Cleveland student. “All we need is time to prove it.”
“This evening, I’m here to tell you that I believe,” said Michelle Robertson, the school’s assistant principal. “I believe in my school. I believe in my treachers. And certainly, I believe in my children.”
“I believe that our dedicated staff, we have the skills necessary to transform our children despite the fact that yes, we are not dealing with students who are the cream of the crop,” he continued. “We take what we get and we make them the cream of the crop.”
“I’m not worried about my job, because I’m dedicated, and we are doing that we have to do,” she added. “We are not making excuses. Grover Cleveland does not make excuses.”
Richmond Hill H.S.
Charles DiBenedetto, a teacher at Richmond Hill High School for four years, called it “a special place for all of us.”
After a “restart” plan was implemented, the school has seen its graduation rate rise 17 percent over the past three years, he claimed.
“You’re talking about a lot of educational challenges that exist,” he added, noting the school’s English Language Learner and special education population, as well as the presence of temporary classroom trailers.
Richmond Hill High School principal Frances De Sanctis would also add that the school currently boasts a ninth-grade attendance rate of 90 percent, and that the passing rate “is higher than it’s ever been before,” with 80 percent of ninth-graders on track for promotion.
“We serve students who are diverse in many ways-academically, socially and emotionally,” she told the crowd. “For that to be pulled away would be a crime.”
“Our students deserve some stability,” she concluded.
Long Island City H.S.
“If you take away the only people who can reach out to us, you’ll have noting but 3,300 angry and disappointed students,” said Sebastian Zarate, a student at Long Island City High School.
According to Zarate, Newsweek magazine had named it one of the 100 best high schools in the nation in 2005, 2008 and 2010.
Long Island City High School Teacher Daniel Epstein, who claimed to be a product of the public school system, noted that it “flourished prior to the administration of Michael Bloomberg.”
“Please listen to the will of the constituency and put a stop to this lunacy,” he implored Marshall and Fedkowskyj.
“We certainly need a way to rate teachers,” teacher Mary Ann Franklin told the crowd. “The system must be clear and not subjective.”
However, she warned that a teacher evaluation system must have checks and balances: “Corruption does occur. No one person should have that much power.”
“Show me that you really care and want to work this out,” Robertson said. “Closure is not an option. Walking away is not an option. Go back and work out a compromise for our school.”
“We have a bully in the playground. His name is Mayor Michael Bloomberg,” charged Grover Cleveland teacher Russ Nitchman, claiming that it was the city and not the teachers’ union who walked away from the bargaining table.
Newtown, Flushing, Bryant, August Martin
Joe Doyle, a 15-year veteran at Newtown High School in Elmhurst, accused the city of looking to put “our 113-year-old legacy into the dustbin”
Doyle pointed to the school’s multilingual flavor, with attending students speaking dozens of different languages.
“Unlike other international schools, Newtown High School does not turn students away who are overage or under-credited,” he told Marshall.
“He cannot take away our school. He cannot take away our future for our students” warned Blanca Jimenez of the school’s Parent-Teacher Association.
“I just would like the mayor to come in and explain to me a plan that would motivate me so much that I would jump into a ‘turnaround’ plan,” said Erin Flanagan, a physical education teacher at Flushing High School.
“We know we need to keep the focus of our students, but I want you to know it’s extremely abusive and destructive to the lives of everyone,” she told Marshall. “We will survive no matter what they do to us.”
Jose Ferruzola, of the August Martin High School Parent-Teacher Association, noted that the school had a 70 percent graduation rate for the first time in over 10 years, and Regents scores have improved.
“If they are improving, how can you say they are not improving?” he asked.
“Our students think their schools are failing. The schools really aren’t failing. The mayor’s got an agenda,” said Catherine Yankopoulus, a parent of a Bryant High School student. “These schools service so many students. They’re landmarks to our community.”
Officials
Dermot Smyth, representing the teachers’ union, echoed Mitchman’s claims, saying that the UFT had agreed to binding arbitration on the teacher evaluation system in an effort to secure that $58 million in funding- only to have the city cut off negotiations.
“This is a sad reflection on the mayor,” he told the crowd.
“Students are vital. That’s what we’re here for,” Bette Cassaro, who heads Community Board 2’s Education Committee, told Marshall. “Support must be given to students, to family, to staff.”
While no high school is in Board 2’s confines, students in Board 2 go to nearby Long Island City and Bryant high schools.
Kate Mooney, representing City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley, warned that the “turnaround” plan would cause “severe consequences for thousands of teachers, students and parents in our borough.”
While the lawmaker supports a fair teacher evaluation system, Mooney claimed that “the operative word, however, is fair.”
Grover Cleveland High School is within Crowley’s district, and students in her district also go to Newtown and Richmond Hill high schools.
“Our city is turning its back on students in need,” she warned. “I urge the PEP to vote no on the ‘turnaround’ model.”
Patricia McCabe, representing State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, noted that the three high schools in his district- Grover Cleveland, John Adams and Richmond Hill-have made “dramatic improvements.”
What’s next
Although an agreement on teacher evaluations was reached on Thursday, Feb. 16, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, news reports claimed that the plan to “turnaround” the schools will continue.
Official notices from the PEP on the time and place of their next vote have not been announced.
