NYC Chancellor Farina Visits PS/MS 42 To Push Her Closing; Queens BP Melinda Katz Says Don't Close 42

Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña (at far left) was on hand at PS/MS 42 to share her vision for replacement
schools being proposed at the site. Photo by Ralph Mancini

The picture above shows a Carmen Farina who is not happy. We don't often get to see this side of her. But there it is. See the Superintendent's announcement:

This flyer certainly shows that Carmen is not listening to the protest. This letter even goes into appointing a new principal for the "new" school, as if it was going to happen.

This time, it's those pesky people who decided that PS/MS 42Q in Arverne, Queens should not be closed who caused Carmen's distress. See

"NYC School District 27 Fights To Keep PS/MS 42 in Arverne, Queens, Open"

UPDATE

Katz Joins Fight Against MS 42 Closure

BY TRONE DOWD, Queens Tribune, February 23, 2018

Melinda Katz

"Queens Borough President Melinda Katz has come out in support of the faculty and parents of students at Arverne’s PS/MS 42 who are protesting the city’s proposed closure of the school.

In a letter obtained by sources familiar with the situation, Katz “requested the withdrawal of the proposal to close PS/MS 42 from the Panel For Educational Policy on Feb. 28.” Katz joined her colleagues in government—Councilman Donovan Richards (D-Laurelton), state Sen. James Sanders (D-South Ozone Park), Assembly members Michele Titus (D-Far Rockaway) and Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Rockaway Beach) and U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Jamaica)—in their opposition to the closure.

“This school has made great strides to improve as part of the renewal schools program, and I believe we should afford them further time and our support to succeed,” Katz said in the letter. “At minimum, the item should be held over until we can further evaluate the progress the school is making as indicated by this year’s assessment. This will allow stakeholders additional time to share their concerns with the Department of Education.”

As previously reported by the Queens Tribune, the Rockaway school was one of 14 Renewal School closures proposed by the DOE in December, citing low performance on citywide test scores, stagnant graduation rates and the lack of college readiness among students, despite capital investments from the city. However, several teachers have pointed out that PS/MS 42 was included on that list, despite its steady improvement across the board over the past four years. This includes reduction in student suspensions, near-perfect faculty attendance and increased test scores. In fact, PS/MS 42 saw the highest growth in both ELA and math test scores from 2014 to 2017 out of all 20 Renewal Schools.

“If the DOE’s intention to close PS/MS 42 was because of low test scores, it is unsupported by the facts,” the letter stated.

On Feb. 8, members of United Federation of Teachers (UFT) took to Queens Borough Hall to protest the school’s closing, hoping to bring the borough president on board in their opposition. UFT Chapter Chairman John Krattinger told the Queens Tribune that the DOE was “completely out of line” with its decision. Teachers and parents have since met with the borough president’s office as well as attended a public hearing with the DOE in Manhattan."

After the February 8 joint meeting, the protest quickly gathered political support, parents, teachers, and students, in opposition to Carmen's ill-timed, inappropriate announcement that 14 schools would be closed.  Seconds after the flyers went out on this blog, facebook, and Ednotesonline, articles appeared in The Wave that the protest against the closing of  PS/MS 42 had been seen and the protest registered across the internet.

Suddenly, barely two days after Leroy Barr gave a rousing speech on February 13 at the school, along with other UFT top brass, Carmen's Department of Education issued a press release that called all parents  (and NO ONE ELSE) to a meeting at the school to discuss the lies that were being thrown out to the public about the pending closure. Parents boycotted this meeting, and thus Carmen was embarrassed to sit at a table with her two foot soldiers and maybe 3 other people. Thus the sour face in the picture at the top.

CARMEN FARINA

The Renewal Program is Carmen's mistake, and she had to "retire" because of it.

Renewal Schools Give New Job Opportunities To NYC DOE Higher Ups Who Have Proved Their Worth

The National Problem of School Overcrowding is Victimizing Our Children: Whose Lies Do YOU Believe? by Betsy Combier (8/16/2005)

Despite Too Many Questions of Improprieties, Carmen Farina is Named Deputy Chancellor For the New York City DOE (7/14/2004)

Carmen Farina: Politics Wins With Her Appointment as Deputy Chancellor in New York City
(3/26/2004)

As I have written many times on this blog (hey - it's my blog), I have some experience working with Carmen Farina, the current Chancellor, when I was a parent at PS 6, and I have seen her autocratic leadership at work. She works on her wish list without consulting experts in the area or data to support what she wants. This is, in my opinion, a very bad mistake when you have $22-+ billion dollars to spend and more than a million lives at stake. I am actually very grateful to her for training me in Great Books, and allowing me to volunteer for an after school program as a teacher. Great Books is a wonderful program; and, I am also very grateful to her for agreeing to give me every monday the lunch period at PS 6 so I could discuss empathy and altruism with 4th and 5th graders who signed up for my lunch club. We had a wonderful time! We even created a business plan for a new product which I believe should be brought to market. (But I still wish Carmen would have allowed me to bring in service dogs, she would not allow it). That was then and this is now.

Do you know what the parents think about all this closing PS/M42 chatter? See here:

Arverne Protests PS 42 Closure At Queens Borough Hall

BY TRONE DOWD, February 9, 2018

Concerned parents and faculty from PS 42 in Arverne gathered outside of Queens Borough Hall on Thursday to picket the closure of a school that the city has said was struggling.

More than 40 teachers and parents held signs and shouted “save  42” and “Farina’s gotta go” to bring the public’s attention to the matter. One parent told the Queens Tribune that the protest would be the first of many.

The school was one of 14 closures that the city announced in December, citing low-performance on citywide test scores, a failure to improve graduation rates and the lack of college readiness among students, despite capital investments to change their status. The closures would force more than 3,900 students to transfer to a new school at the start of the 2018 academic year, and more than 400 teachers would be out of work.

But according to United Federation of Teachers (UFT) Chapter Chairman John Krattinger, PS 42 was among the city’s most improved.

“The [Department of Education] is completely out of line with this decision,” he said. “We have shown progress over the last three years. Of the 20 kindergarten to eighth grade renewal schools, we’re the only one with a ‘good’ rating. The other 19 have ‘fair’ ratings. And you’re going to close us? No, I don’t think so.”

The UFT chairman also pointed out that suspensions during the school year have dropped considerably, with 32 incidents so far this year compared to 174 during the 2013 to 2014 school year when the renewal school program began. Teacher attendance at PS 42 has also been the highest among renewal schools at 97.3 percent.

Krattinger said that he and his colleague are scheduled to have a  meeting with Queens Borough President Melinda Katz next Wednesday. Other Queens elected officials – including state Senator James Sanders (D-South Ozone Park), Councilman Donovan Richards (D-Laurelton) and U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks – have all gone on record in support of the efforts of frustrated parents in the hope of preventing the city from going through with the closure.

On Tuesday, there will be a joint hearing with the DOE and the community. Krattinger told the Queens Tribune that the community is ready to show out in full force.

“It’s going to be a raucous time,” Krattinger said. “They don’t know what they’re in for.”

The Queens Tribune reached out the Katz’s office for comment on the school closure, but did not receive a response on the matter.

PS/MS 42 MUST NOT BE CLOSED.
Betsy Combier
Editor, ADVOCATZ.com
Editor, ADVOCATZ BLOG
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, NYC Public Voice
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, Inside 3020-a Teacher Trials 

PS/MS 42 Reboot?

Schools Chancellor Unveils New Plans At Public Meet

Ralph Mancini | on February 16, 2018

A variety of concerns regarding several aspects related to the potential replacement of PS/MS 42 were tackled at a last-minute hearing held Thursday, Feb. 15 in the school’s cafeteria.

The Arverne site was one of a few stops outgoing Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña made yesterday Feb. 15 in meeting with groups of teachers and parents in four of the five boroughs.

While at PS/MS 42, the Department of Education (DOE) leader spoke to a largely empty room with the exception of three parents, a handful of agency staff members and a spokesperson from Councilman Donovan Richards’ office. [from the Editor: parents boycotted this meeting!]

She assured her miniscule crowd that no charter schools would be added to the current location if a proposal to shut down PS/MS 42 comes to fruition during an upcoming voting session on Feb. 28.

Fariña did confirm that separate elementary and middle schools would succeed the current K-8 institution with both having a heavy bent on technology.

Widespread trepidations about students being forced to attend schools on the mainland were also broached, as the guest speaker stated that parents would have “choice” in determining where their children would attend school in September.

On that note, it was noted that students from nearby MS 53 would also be welcomed to enroll at the new middle school if the Far Rockaway-based venue doesn’t survive in two weeks.

“I’m assuming that most parents will choose to stay in the building. But it will have two schools, two principals…they will be autonomous schools with two separate budgets,” reported Fariña.

The elementary school, she said, would be modeled after PS 62 in Richmond Hill and mentioned that the school’s principal, Angela O’Dowd, would serve as a mentor to the new staff.

The middle school, on the other hand, would follow in the footsteps of MS 137 in Ozone Park.

An additional area of focus that Fariña touched on was the DOE’s commitment to create more vibrant afterschool programs with the Rockaway YMCA on Beach 73rd Street being referenced as an ideal spot.

“One of the things I was telling my crew here is that The Y is underutilized. So, if any of you know why it’s not being utilized particularly by our teenagers, let me know so we can do something about it.”

In addition, Fariña communicated that additional space would be set aside at schools throughout District 27 to accommodate three year-olds in New York City Pre-K programs.

As for other reasons to morph the current K-8 setup into two different locations on the 488 Beach 66th Street footprint, the 74-year-old agency official explained that the city can’t afford to sit and wait for the state to step in and “tell us what we have to do.”

Fariña’s 12-minute speech was followed by a Q&A session during which the chancellor’s team of experts replied to issues including whether or not the incoming teachers would not only be qualified to succeed in their roles, but if they could also “relate” to the student population.

DOE representative Melissa Harris responded that an “exhaustive” round of interviews would take place. Earlier in the gathering, Fariña also maintained that all current PS/MS 42 teachers would be invited to reapply and that some would be afforded priority status.

Rhonda Williams was especially vocal about her worriment on whether performance levels would indeed surge as a result of new personnel and, quite possibly, a new curriculum.

Both Harris and District 27 Acting Superintendent Michael Dantona claimed that the DOE has garnered positive results in the past with these types of conversions.

New principals for the proposed schools may be announced in about a week, according to members of the DOE panel.

The Renewal Program Disaster Has Failed Schools Called "Failure Factories" by Families for Excellent Schools

Here we go again, mixing fact with fiction to promote a point.

It seems that the point of today's article in the NY POST is the failure of the Renewal Schools program, and the more press the better, I think. The Renewal program failure is really shocking considering how much public money was spent (see the article I re-posted, below, where the POST editors call the Renewal program a "Fiasco").

My problem with this newest attack on this dreadful mistake (WHY NOT create an effective strategy first, and get a panel of successful business people to volunteer to advise you, Mr. Mayor?) is the quote by Clara Hemphill, a person who knows absolutely nothing about NYC teachers and ATRs. I know that teachers and ATRs often want to be in the neediest schools with the neediest kids, but are squashed by the observations without facts and sabotage of principals who need to pass the buck from their own wrong-doing or incompetence. The administrator who sees results of state or local exams which are not good can suddenly rate the teacher/ATR "developing" or "ineffective/Unsatisfactory", accuse this person of some fake crime and remove  him/her to a hidden rubber room. Ms. Hemphill implies that the needy kids get "the worst" teachers who don't know how to teach these kids or don't want to.

I'd like her to prove that. I believe she can't, and thus there it is, the Fake News, passed along with just enough facts to pass close scrutiny.

Betsy Combier
betsy.combier@gmail.com
Editor, ADVOCATZ
Editor, NYC Rubber Room Reporter
Editor, Parentadvocates.org
Editor, New York Court Corruption
Editor, National Public Voice
Editor, NYC Public Voice
Editor, Inside 3020-a Teacher Trials

Inside the NYC schools critics call ‘failure factories’

by Susan Edelman, NY POST Sunday September 3, 2017

They are the schools Mayor de Blasio doesn’t mention.

At 32 city elementary and middle schools, the average English-math proficiency rate on state exams has not exceeded 10 percent of students for four years in a row.

Seventeen of these schools — which enroll nearly 10,000 kids — have been part of the mayor’s signature Renewal program, which has spent $582 million on teacher training, social services and an extra hour a day of instruction. Four did so poorly that the city Department of Education closed them in June.

The other 15 have struggled without the extra aid.

Families for Excellent Schools, a pro-charter-school group that analyzed the test scores, blasted the 32 “failure factories,” saying they “prove that thousands of the city’s neediest kids have yet to see any meaningful improvement since the start of the de Blasio administration.”

Education experts say the schools, where 96 percent of students are black and Hispanic, take a bigger share of homeless, transient and English-learning kids. The 32 schools also enrolled an average 28 percent of students with disabilities, up from 26 percent four years ago.

“These are the worst of the worst, but it’s because they’re concentrating the most challenging kids,” said David Bloomfield, a Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Center education professor.

He faulted “DOE policy” for doing little to integrate the schools.

Two of the failing schools share buildings with successful, and popular, charters. PS/MS 149 Sojourner Truth in Harlem, where 5 percent of 256 kids passed math and 13 percent passed English language arts, is dwarfed by the flagship Success Academy charter, where 92 percent of 1,161 students passed math and 80 percent passed ELA.

But 26 percent of kids at Sojourner are homeless, compared with 7 percent at Success Academy. Also, nearly all kids at Sojourner qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, versus 62 percent at the charter.

“It’s a vicious cycle,” said Clara Hemphill, editor of InsideSchools. “It’s very hard for schools with high concentrations of needy kids to gain traction, even if they have strong leaders and effective teachers — which they often don’t. It’s very hard to attract and retain staff in very needy schools.”

Several of the low-performing schools were created for high-need students. Harbor Heights MS in Washington Heights, Academy for New Americans in Astoria, and Entrada in Harlem take non-English-speaking immigrants. New Design MS in Harlem takes over-age kids who have fallen behind.

The only charter school among the 32, Opportunity Charter in Harlem, offers “inclusive” classes with both general-ed and special-ed students. More than half the kids have “moderate to severe learning disabilities, and many suffer social and emotional challenges,” a spokeswoman said.

Eleven percent of students passed the latest English exams, and 2 percent passed math. The DOE wants to close it, but Opportunity has filed suit to stay alive.

The DOE defended its efforts, saying that nearly all the 28 remaining schools are getting new reading coaches to help kindergarten to second-grade teachers, and that several have gotten new principals. The city also aims to support seven magnet elementary schools that can diversify student populations, a spokesman said.

Team de Blasio’s renewal fiasco

By Post Editorial Board

Mayor Bill de Blasio

Mayor de Blasio last week claimed “impressive gains” for the schools in his signature $383 million Renewal turnaround program. We wish it were true.

By the numbers, these schools did make some gains on state exams, relative to other city schools. But that’s largely, maybe exclusively, because the state Regents “dumbed down” the tests.

Simply put: If you make it easier to score as “proficient” (as the Regents have done), then schools where most kids weren’t testing as proficient will make bigger gains than schools where most kids were passing.

And even this mirage of a gain doesn’t make up for the ground the Renewal schools lost in the first two de Blasio school years.

Pretend the progress is real, and the math-proficiency gap between Renewals and the rest of the city still grew from 25.1 points in 2013 to 28.4 points in 2017. The English-proficiency gap grew from 20.2 points in 2013 to 24.7 points.

Plus, Team de Blasio has had to close or merge several of the original 94 persistently failing Renewal schools, thanks to plummeting enrollment or woes too serious for even this administration to tolerate: Only 78 will open this fall.

A Post series this spring shined a spotlight on the Renewal mess: On top of falling enrollment, they suffer from skyrocketing costs, unfit teachers and regular grade-fixing scams. A later Post investigation showed that at least 242 graduates at Renewal high schools earned their diplomas via an appeals process that allowed students to “pass” the Regents’ exams with normally too-low scores.

At least the mayor’s credit actions are more realistic than his happy talk: The city has announced that more Renewal schools soon will be slated for closing or merger — and several will get new principals this year.

The fact remains: His orders have left thousands of students wasting years failing to learn at schools he should have closed back in 2014. He kept them open in a bid to “prove” they could be turned around instead.

Every child stuck at these schools is a victim of his effort to experiment with their lives.

Graduation rates up at Renewal Schools — but there’s a catch

Yoav Gonen, April 24, 2017, NY POST

Mayor de Blasio has been boasting about how graduation rates are up at some of the city’s worst schools — but the improved numbers come with a big asterisk, The Post has learned.

Of the 3,371 graduates at the 31 high schools involved in Hizzoner’s Renewal Schools program, as many as 242 earned their diplomas using an appeals process that allows for lower scores on exams or other side-door routes.

The new appeals, created and approved by the state Board of Regents, allow students graduating in 2016 to pass through on appeal even if they got as low as a 60 on two of their five Regents exams.

The 2015 requirement to file an appeal was 62, while the regular passing mark for a Regents exam is 65.

This led to a tripling of the number of students graduating using the appeals process in 2016 over 2015, city data show.

“There does appear to be a concerted effort to use the appeal process to raise the graduation rate,” said David Bloomfield, a professor at the CUNY Graduate Center who reviewed data provided to The Post by the Department of Education.

If there hadn’t been accommodations made for low-scoring students, graduation rates at Renewals Schools would have ticked up by just 0.6 percent — up to 55.1 percent from 54.5 percent in 2015.

Instead, the graduation rate at Renewal Schools was 59.3 percent last year — an additional 4.2-percent increase.

The board also created a “Superintendent Determination” for special-education students that allows them to graduate based on their coursework if they scored at least a 52 on math and English Regents.

DOE officials said there was no way of determining whether the bulk of appeals students would have otherwise graduated.

“It is not accurate to attribute any increase in graduation rate solely to appeals,” said spokesman Will Mantell. “The State sets policies on pathways to college and career for New York State students, and we support schools as they utilize these options to best serve their students.”

With appeals, schools not under the Renewal program had a graduation rate of 73.7 percent in 2016.

Without them, the graduation rate would have been 71.5 percent, according to figures confirmed by Aaron Pallas, a professor at Columbia University Teachers College.

Last month, The Post documented the struggles of de Blasio’s Renewal Schools program, including dropping enrollment, skyrocketing costs and mixed academic results.