NYC Principals Oppose NY's Teacher Evaluation

Principals Sign Petition Opposing NY’s Teacher Evaluation

LINK

The principal of William E. Grady high school joins the list of city principals signing onto a petition opposing New York State’s new teacher evaluations.

New York State’s new teacher evaluation system has attracted some vocal opponents, including one of the few principals who actually has experience with the new evaluations, writes Philissa Cramer at Gotham Schools.

Geraldine Maione (pictured above) is the principal of Brooklyn’s William E. Grady High School, which is among 33 “persistently low-achieving” city schools that are using the new evaluations in exchange for additional federal funds. And she is vocal in her opposition of the new evaluations, saying they are so formulaic that they leave little room for principals to exercise discretion.

“When I walk in a classroom, I know when children are learning and teachers are teaching,” she said. She doesn’t believe tougher evaluations are necessary if principals put adequate pressure on struggling teachers to improve or move on.

“No teacher has a forever job if the principal is doing her job,” Maione said.

Maione joins around 30 city principals who have signed onto a position paper arguing that the state’s evaluation requirements that require a portion of teachers’ ratings to be based on their students’ test scores are unsupported by research, prone to errors, and too expensive at a time of budget cuts.

The petition has garnered support from principals of progressive schools who want to distance themselves from using test scores to make high-stakes decisions. But there has also been support from several principals from smaller high schools that opened under the Bloomberg administration, including one of the city’s few remaining large high schools.

But even with the new additions, hundreds of principals statewide had signed on but only two active city principals were on the list.

Cramer asks why have relatively few city principals put their name to the petition, even as their union has signaled support?

Sean Feeney, a Nassau County principal who co-authored the position paper, speculates that city principals are less shocked by the state’s evaluation requirements because the city has already tried to develop “value-added” evaluations of some teachers using student test scores.

“The city’s been living with this for a while,” he said.

He also thinks city principals are “a little more nervous” about jeopardizing their jobs by speaking out.

South Bronx: Samuel Gompers HS Students Fight to Save School in Face of Closure

Wilvin Lopez (l.) and Elliot Vazquez (r.) present a calendar to a group of student organizers that shows when the city will vote on a plan to close Samuel Gompers High School. (DNAinfo/Patrick Wall)

Samuel Gompers HS Students Fight to Save School in Face of Closure

January 25, 2012 9:40pm | By Patrick Wall, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20120125/south-bronx/samuel-gompers-hs-students-fight-save-school-face-of-closure#ixzz1lFS0BVet

January 25, 2012 9:40pm | By Patrick Wall, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MOTT HAVEN — A few hours after Mayor Michael Bloomberg listed his administration’s education achievements during his State of the City address at a Bronx high school earlier this month, a group of local students gathered a few miles away to discuss how they could save their school.

The five young men, who attend Samuel Gompers Career and Technical Education High School on Southern Boulevard, batted around plans to disrupt, or even prevent, a required public hearing on February 2 to discuss possibly closing the struggling school, prior to a city panel vote the following week on the proposal.

Sitting in the offices of a youth organizing group, a senior warned a sophomore that they could be suspended for their plans.

Students from Gompers High School who are members of the youth organizing group, Sistas and Brothas United, march in 2011 to demand federal improvement funds for their school. (DNAinfo/Patrick Wall)

“I’m OK with that,” said the sophomore, Joseph Duarte, 15.  

He mainly wanted a chance to address city officials, he said, so he could tell them, “You didn’t ask us, the people in the school and the community, what we need.”

The five students form the core of a group that has met over the past two years to call for changes at the high school, which earned an "F" on its most recent city evaluation. Though the students later decided to drop their plans to interfere with the hearing, they are still scrambling to raise awareness of the city’s proposal to phase out the 75-year-old school and replace it with two smaller ones.

Though Gompers' fortunes have fluctuated over the decades, the school has clearly declined in recent years. 

In 2011, the school’s four-year graduation rate of 41 percent ranked among the lowest 1 percent of city schools, according the Department of Education. Its attendance rate, at 72 percent, ranked among the bottom 2 percent of schools, and student demand for the school is down 46 percent over the past four years.

Several students, well aware of the school’s troubles, began to gather in 2010 to exchange grievances about the school — but also to brainstorm ideas for helping fix it. Many of the students were members of Sistas and Brothas United, a Bronx-based leadership training and organizing group for young people.

Though typical meetings included anywhere from 10 to 20 students, a meeting in a church in 2011 attracted nearly 50 Gompers students, according to one group member. At the meeting, dozens of students wrote on sticky notes their suggestions for the school, which varied from improving security and buying more technology, to serving “Spanish food” and enrolling more girls.  (The student body is 80 percent male and 66 percent Hispanic.)

Many suggestions focused on the school administration. When an organizer asked students at the meeting to step forward if they had seen the principal, Joyce Mills Kittrell, at least three times that year, only four students moved, according to Elliot Vazquez, a Gompers senior and a lead organizer.

“The principal needs to work on being more of a public figure,” said Vazquez, 17. “We want to see her face. We want to know that she’s watching the hallways.”

Other students noted that Kittrell and various administrators have met with student organizers more than once, and that administrators regularly hear from students on the School Leadership Team.

In a 2011 report, a Department of Education reviewer said Gompers administrators had recently taken some corrective actions, including installing security cameras, analyzing school-wide achievement data and increasing family involvement by hosting student award nights.

Kittrell did not return calls seeking comment.

The student organizers have also called for more counselors, more interactive and engaging lessons, more athletic teams, student input in some school budgeting decisions and updated learning materials.

One student even said back in 2011 that the most recent president featured in his history textbook was Ronald Reagan.

Some students suggested that the school should receive extra support because of the demanding student population it serves: 17 percent of students are English language learners, about a quarter are in special education classes and, in 2010, 92 percent of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, a common measure of family poverty, according to the Department of Education.

“They blame the school and students for us failing, when we don’t have the resources,” said Wilvin Lopez, a senior.

The Department of Education is proposing to phase out Gompers over the next three years, then establish in its place a smaller charter high school and a transfer high school for so-called overage, under-credited students.

Gompers offers some career-oriented courses in desktop publishing and computer networking and repair, allowing students to earn special diplomas that include industry-recognized certifications.  Many students expressed concern that they will lose these vocational classes if Gompers is closed.

In a document that it is required to file in advance of any school closure, the DOE acknowledged “it is possible that the availability of certain programs and course offerings will change” during the phase out. 

But the city added that it has proposed to open four new Bronx schools that would offer vocational classes, leading to “a net gain of 67 new ninth-grade seats” in career classes, if the department’s proposals are adopted.

The 13 voting members of the city’s Panel for Educational Policy, eight of whom are appointed by the mayor, will vote on various school proposals — including the plan to close Gompers — on Feb. 9.

In the meantime, Gompers' student organizers intend to explain to anyone who will listen why their school should remain open. 

Vazquez said that as his graduation day approaches this year, one reason to save his school has taken on new urgency.

“I want to be an alumni here,” he said.

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20120125/south-bronx/samuel-gompers-hs-students-fight-save-school-face-of-closure#ixzz1lFRIEfK8

NYU Professor Pedro Noguera Resigns From The State University of New York Board of Trustees

SUNY Official Resigns Over Charter Issue

Pedro Noguera

Professor Says School Policy Is Unclear

By LISA FLEISHER

A prominent academic has resigned from the State University of New York Board of Trustees amid what he called the increasing political tension over the shifting role of charter schools across the state.

New York University professor Pedro Noguera, who held a powerful position on the 17-member board that approves charter schools, said Wednesday he believed the schools had evolved beyond their original mission: offering an alternative to failing public schools in impoverished neighborhoods.

Instead, he said, many have become unnecessary rivals to established suburban and improving urban schools.

Mr. Noguera said he met with SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and Board of Trustees ChairmanH. Carl McCall in December to express his concerns but didn't receive a clear answer. He had been appointed to the board by former Gov. David Paterson in 2008 and was chairman of the committee that made recommendations to the larger board over whether to approve individual charter schools.

"It's not clear to me what's the larger strategy here, other than the political one," he said. "What I see happening is a deliberate attempt to create competition between public and charter schools, but it's an uneven playing field."

In a statement, Mr. McCall praised Mr. Noguera but declined to address his specific complaints. Ms. Zimpher didn't respond to a request for comment.

Mr. Noguera, known for his work on the education of young black men, was viewed as a moderate on most education issues, tending to disappoint more fervent advocates on both sides.

Bill Phillips, president of the New York Charter Schools Association, said he disagreed with Mr. Noguera's views and said SUNY was nationally recognized for approving good charter schools. "What I would hope is that a lot of people would just appreciate that he's intellectually honest," Mr. Phillips said.

Mr. Noguera said he came to believe SUNY didn't have a clear philosophy behind deciding which charters to approve and that even well-performing charters, when placed in inappropriate neighborhoods, drew resources away from other public schools.

His resignation came against the backdrop of larger questions over the role of charter schools in public education. Once seen as experimental alternatives to crumbling inner-city schools controlled by teachers unions and bureaucracy, charter schools have begun to flourish in wealthy suburbs and upscale urban neighborhoods.

Amid an recent uproar over proposed charter schools in New Jersey suburbs, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has said he believed their schools' focus should be on "districts that are judged to be failing."

Charter operators seeking space in middle-class neighborhoods are "rubbing raw these tensions between folks who could support charters as decentralized community-based institutions but now are fearful that the charter movement is being taken over by larger management organizations without deep roots in the community," said Jeffrey Henig, a professor of political science and education at Teachers College Columbia University.

The SUNY board oversees 83 operating charter schools out of 184 in the state. The state Board of Regents, which operates 30, is the only other body allowed to approve charter schools. The city had that power until 2010.

Mr. Noguera resigned after a particularly heated community meeting over a proposed charter school in Brooklyn's gentrified Cobble Hill neighborhood. The school, part of former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz's Success Academy Charter network, is set to move into a building that houses three other schools. The plan has drawn criticism from some parents, teachers and elected officials.

"It's just the latest reminder of how needlessly polarized and conflictual this whole thing has become," he said. "This is just going to continue, and I see no end to it." Mr. Noguera said Success Cobble Hill would be strong academically and financially, but he was disturbed by the level of opposition in the community.

In a statement, Ms. Moskowitz called Mr. Noguera a "great partner and advocate of high quality charter schools and we're sad to see him go."

"His departure, however, doesn't change the fact that there are families lined up in every neighborhood across this city for better public schools and we'll continue to work as hard as we can to meet that demand and give every child the well-rounded education they need and deserve," the statement read.

Write to Lisa Fleisher at lisa.fleisher@wsj.com

The Politics of Teacher Evaluations

The Politics of Teacher Evaluations

Rchard C. Iannuzzi, President, New York State United Teachers January 31, 2012 By Marc Bussanich, LaborPress City Reporter

LINK Some politicians are claiming that unless the state finalizes its teacher evaluation system, it is at risk of losing $700 million in Federal Race to the Top money. The state’s teachers union worked hard to create a comprehensive and fair evaluation system. But Governor Andrew Cuomo demanded more reliance on standardized testing. The full implementation now hinges on when an appeals court makes a decision in favor of the union’s version or Cuomo’s. Carl Korn, a spokesman for New York State United Teachers, said that even before President Obama’s Race to the Top initiative, teachers complained to the union that evaluations were very subjective and also punitive, fostering something of a “gotcha mentality.” “An assistant superintendent or principal sitting in the back of the classroom and observing a teacher were wrong as often as they were right. They didn’t bother to follow-up with ways to improve teacher effectiveness,” said Korn. He acknowledged that standardized tests do provide a basis for student growth. “When a teacher gives a test, they are interested in the results because they want to learn how a student performed, which provides insight for altering future instruction if necessary.” But, Korn stressed, student test data use should be limited. “Firstly, standardized testing is to measure student achievement and learning. They were never designed for evaluations. A good evaluation system, in contrast, uses multiple measures, which allows for local control and collaboration.” Korn noted when the state was not awarded Race to the Top in the first round of funding, it served as a wake-up call to the State Education Department, Board of Regents and NYSUT. Consequently, they worked together to design and develop a new teacher evaluation system that was comprehensive, rigorous and fair in May 2010. The significance of the collaboration contributed to the creation of the Annual Professional Performance Review that modified Section 3012 of the state’s education law. Korn explained that APPR did a few things. “For the first time, student test data would be factored into teacher evaluations. But whereas the Regents and state education department wanted to base 40 percent of evaluations on a single standardized test, we expressed serious concern that an overreliance on one test, which isn’t good for students and not fair for teachers, could lead to increased test prepping.” As a result, the state agreed to 20 percent of a teacher’s evaluation shall be based on the state’s standardized test, and another 20 percent shall be based on locally developed measures of student achievement through collective bargaining, such as locally created tests. “With locally designed measures, evaluations can be based on two, rather than one, data points,” Korn said. The remaining 60 percent would also be based on locally designed measures, i.e., additional principal observations, portfolios, teacher classroom management skills and reflections.  APPR also established four categories to rate teachers’ performance: Highly Effective, Effective, Developing and Ineffective. If a teacher receives an “Ineffective” rating, it is the district’s responsibility to implement a strategic improvement plan to help a struggling teacher. But if the teacher receives a consecutive “Ineffective” rating, even after getting district help, he or she is likely to be removed from their position within 60 days. Korn noted that NYSUT supports the provision because the union wants only effective teachers in front of children, although the teacher is essentially without recourse. Korn said, “If we are going to be serious about ensuring the best teacher is in every classroom, it means a certain number of teachers will have to leave the profession.” But Korn also mentioned that APPR builds in due process for the teacher to appeal the negative rating, and cited that historically only two percent of the city’s teaching force has had to leave the profession due to negative ratings. According to Korn, federal education officials recognized APPR’s attributes as a sound framework for teacher evaluations. As a result of the efforts of NYSUT, the Board of Regents and State Education Department, the feds awarded $700 million in RTT funding to New York in August 2010. The Board of Regents was then tasked to draft regulations to implement APPR in September 2010, which it completed in May 2011. Korn noted that at the last minute, however, Governor Cuomo demanded that the Regents Board incorporate into the regulations more reliance on standardized test scores. The Regents agreed to Cuomo’s demand and adopted the regulations on May 15, 2011. In turn, NYSUT challenged the regulations by filing a lawsuit in June 2011, claiming that the regulations are “inconsistent with state law.” The State Supreme Court agreed with NYSUT in August 2011. Of course, the state appealed and a decision now rests with an appellate court. NYSUT maintains that the delay in fully implementing APPR rests at the feet of the State Department of Education, which could potentially jeopardize, again, hundreds of millions of dollars of federal money. Governor Cuomo said in his State of the State that because APPR is not being implemented, districts are foregoing teacher evaluations. But Korn refuted the claim by saying that there are 90 districts in the state that are using teacher evaluation plans, and in another 365 districts some or all teacher evaluation plans are being considered. “What we’ve been saying is that it is very important to do this [evaluations] right. Not just to do it. The teachers’ union and school districts have been working hard to do it right, and now they’re looking for clarity from the department of education.” Korn reiterated that there is a place for standardized testing in the realm of evaluations. “We don’t want to completely ignore that testing is a fact of life.” He continued, “But what we’re talking about is ensuring that test data is used appropriately to avoid over relying on test data to the point it narrows the curriculum and leads to too much test prepping where students aren’t really learning but only getting good at bubbling-in.”

The NYC DOE Police/Safety Officer Scam

We know that when a teacher or parent goes to a police station in New York City and tries to file a complaint against a principal or other administrator at his or her [child's] school, the police will not take the complaint.
This leads to principal immunity.

There are very few reporters who report on this topic, but they should, as principals are getting away with illegal, harmful, and improper actions in public schools throughout the New York City area. See my summation in a case where a special needs boy was placed in a room at a suspension site without services, without any academic learning, and no lunch, for a year.

Anyone with any facts about child or staff abuse by a principal or Superintendent should email me at betsy.combier@gmail.com

There are many people and groups involved in making sure that principals have the Power in their schools to lie, cheat and steal at any time.

One player in this immunity racket is the New York City Police Department (NYPD). It is easy to see how the police are not willing to pursue charges against a principal, just try to file charges at any local police station against a principal who has harmed your child or you. You wont get very far. Here is an example of how this works (of course I mean doesnt work)

Several years ago two students were standing outside the main office at Sheepshead Bay High School waiting to see the program person about their schedules, when a man named Kenneth Jacobs came flying out of the office and he started beating up one of the girls. He tore her blouse open, beat her chest, and, when he realized that he was on the hallway video, picked up the girls' backpacks and ran into the office. The girls followed him, and he started hitting one of the girls again. The second girl tried to help her friend, and this man picked her up and threw her against one of the desks in the office. The two girls were taken from the school by ambulance, where their mothers met them. The girl who had been repeatedly hit by Jacobs had bruises all over her chest area. Her mother took pictures.

One of the mothers had my name as an advocate, so I and a colleague went to Brooklyn and met the mother, father, and brother of the girl who had the pictures from the wounds, at the police precinct near to the school. We all met with three detectives, and told them what happened. After two hours there, they told us that they could not take our complaint. Why? Because Jacobs had filed a complaint against the girls first, therefore the girls were just angry, and retaliating against him. the pictures were ignored. The next day I went to the Court and found a stack of police records filed under thename of Kenneth Jacobs, and there was a mug shot, and I knew it was the same man. Seems that jacobs was a friend of the Superintendent at the time, and he stayed in his job.

Both girls were suspended for a year. I helped one of the girls get into a Catholic High School and find an attorney when the DA's office called the parent and told her that she had to go to court for a misdemeanor charge filed by Jacobs. we got the charge dismissed.

I and the parents reported jacobs to the Office of Special Investigations, or OSI. We went to see Dennis Boyles. Dennis kept me in the room while he asked one of the girls questions about what happened. Then he told this girl to go to the next room and ask her friend to come in. While Boyles and I were in the room alone, Boyles told me, "You know my daughter got into trouble when she was 15 years old, and it only cost me $5000 to get her out of the mess. How about it?" I said I would not pay for any release, period. The second girl came in and brought copies of the pictures of her wounds, and Dennis was no longer interested in pursuing the matter. I believe he stopped his quest for "the truth" when he found out that neither i nor the girls' parents would pay him to take the charge against Jacobs. After we left, we never heard from him again.
We - I and the parents went to all the NYPD precincts in Brooklyn, not a single person would take a complaint against Jacobs.

At 3020-a, as NYSUT represents the Union and not the individual charged with misconduct, the NYSUT attorney will not look into what the Principal was doing in the school at the time the teacher was charged. They, the NYSUT Attorneys, say this is not relevant to the charged allegations.

Baloney.
Betsy Combier, Editor

FILE- In this May 6, 2011 file photo, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, left, talks with Paul Browne, the department's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information, at City Hall in New York. Lately, Brown has come under fire from local media as well as community activists for a series of flip-flops, hedges and retractions he has made on behalf of the Department. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

New York police spokesman comes under fire

CHRIS HAWLEY and TOM HAYS

LINK

Grover Cleveland HS Crowd Trashes ‘Turnaround’

Veteran teacher Russell Nitchman believes the moves at Cleveland and other schools are an attack on the teachers’ union

From Betsy Combier:

what's interesting here is the travel of Grover Cleveland HS Principal Denise Vittor. Is she the "turnaround principal"?

Cleveland HS Crowd Trashes ‘Turnaround’

by Michael Gannon, Associate Editor, Queens Chronicle

Posted: Thursday, January 26, 2012 12:00 pm

Grover Cleveland High School Principal Denise Vittor was impressing on parents and students the importance of preparing for the upcoming Regents exams last Monday.

“It is important that you show up, and that you succeed,” she said. “Because everyone is watching.”

Back in the fall, Vittor was installed as principal at the struggling school, which was newly categorized as a “restart” school, with three years to begin turning student performance around.

Four months later the Department of Education has reclassified the school and others as “turnaround” institutions, meaning half the teachers will be reassigned or terminated and a new school or collection of smaller schools will be created for the 2012-13 year.

Rosemary Stuart, left, Charles Amundsen and Vivian Selenikas of the Department of Education before a concerned crowd at Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood. They explained the city’s rationale and regulations for forming a new school in the building.

At the meeting on Monday, in the school’s library, parents, teachers and students accused the city and DOE officials of sacrificing the school in a money grab.

They accused the Bloomberg administration of deliberately walking away from negotiations with the United Federation of Teachers in order to get the impasse needed to have Gov. Cuomo threaten to cut off more than $50 million in federal aid for failing schools.

The aid is contingent on the city and the union agreeing on a review and evaluation process to weed out poor and underperforming teachers.

DOE officials Charles Amundsen, Rosemary Stuart and Vivian Selenikas, who have worked with the school, told the crowd of more than 100 that “turnaround” is the only option for keeping the school open.

“The money isn’t available for a restart school,” Stuart said.

They said a board comprised of DOE appointees, UFT representatives and members of the school community would meet to draft guidelines for the design of a new school which may or may not retain the Grover Cleveland name.

It could be broken down into smaller schools all housed on the Himrod Street campus, or could have aspects of charter or magnet programs.

They said no students would lose their seats in a new school, and that not every teacher removed would be kicked out of the system.

“It doesn’t mean that person is a bad teacher,” Amundsen said. “It might just mean you are not a good fit for this school.”

Stuart said the 50 percent mark is set in stone, based on both federal turnaround regulations and the UFT contract.

“One says we must change at least 50 percent and the other says no more than 50 percent,” she said.

Student President Diana Rodriguez asked how a shakeup of dedicated teachers would change conditions in the school district like language barriers and poverty.

“Twenty-three percent of the students here are ESL (English as a Second Language) students,” she said. “How do you change that?”

Stuart said it would be up to the new board to take that into consideration when forming the new school.

Parent Iliza Dabkowski said the turnaround model has failed in the Chicago school system.

“Why do you want to start a system that has already failed somewhere else?” she asked.

Teacher Tony Cipolla said the teachers are not the problem, and that the staff is dedicated to the students.

“I’ve been here for nine years, and I want to stay for another 29,” he said.

Biology teacher Russell Nitchman asked where the city thinks it is going to get an influx of qualified new math and science teachers, which are in short supply in much of the country.

Nitchman considers the move a direct attack by the Bloomberg administration on the teachers’ union.

“Last year the mayor and his people and his money went up to the governor and tried to block tenure,” he said. “They want to get rid of expensive, senior teachers because they can hire two new teachers for what they pay a senior teacher.”

Queens Vocational and Technical High School

37-02 47 Avenue 
Queens NY 11101 Map

Phone: (718) 937-3010 

Website: Click here

Principal: Melissa Burg

Neighborhood: Long Island City

District: 24

Grade range: 09 thru 12

Parent Coordinator: Miriam Medina
PC phone: x1021

What's special:

Maintains a sense of community while preparing students to work

The downside:

Academics could be stronger

Statistics

Enrollment:

1316

Attendance:

88.6%

Free Lunch:

84%

Admissions: Open to New York City residents/educational option programs

Ethnicity %:

9 W | 7 B | 73 H | 10 A

Graduation Rate:

76.7%

English Language Learners:

5.2%

Special Education:

13.9%

College Ready:

19.6%

View more DOE statistics

Insideschools review

NOVEMBER 2010 UPDATE:  The Department of Education in June 2010 announced a new strategy for eleven low-achieving schools, including Long Island City High School.  As part of this "transformation" method, Principal Denise Vittor was removed and replaced byMelissa Burg.  Queens Vocational will be receiving $1,300,508 as part of the Obama Administration’s School Improvement Grants Fund for transforming low-performing schools.

2007 REVIEW:  With a spacious new addition opened in 2005, Queens Vocational and Technical High School provides new laboratories and workshops for courses that prepare students for careers as plumbers, electricians, computer technicians, graphic artists and cosmetologists. The building is clean, calm, and safe. The shop classes are the pride of the school; academic classes, however, lack the hands-on learning that marks the technical classes.

Many of the teachers graduated from Queens Vocational and some even have children at the school, which lends a family feel to the building. Most of workshops have state-of-the-art technology. In the electrical shop, for example, each student gets his (or her) own station where they work on increasingly difficult projects throughout the year. In one class, a student showed us how he was connecting multiple light sources into a single on/off switch. In plumbing, each student is required to build a working bathroom complete with a shower, sink and toilet right in the workshop. Kids seemed engaged and eager to help one another. In a plumbing class, kids fit pipes, while in a beauty salon open to the community one day a week, students curl hair and give manicures. The student population is about 60% male, 40% female.

All 9th graders get an introduction to the trades in the "School of Exploration and Discovery" before picking a major. Options include Entrepreneurial Studies (business, cosmetology/salon management, and virtual enterprise), Computer and Electronic Engineering Technologies (electronics, computer technology, robotics and graphic arts) and Skilled Building Trades (plumbing and electrical installation). All students must have internships, and state certification is offered in all programs. In addition, many students leave high school with union affiliations.

The strong emphasis on technical education at the school may come at the price of the academics. Two students told us that they put up with their academics only because of the school's occupational offerings. The problem has been compounded by high teacher turnover in academic subjects, unlike the stable cadre of technical teachers. Principal Denise Vittor acknowledges that the school will need to do a lot of work to get all students to pass Regents exams with a 65, as stipulated by new graduation requirements.

To address the academics and to make the large school experience more intimate Vittor, principal since 2001, has organized the school into "small learning communities." Teachers in each community have common planning time which is used to help integrate the academic curriculum with the technical education. The common planning time also gives teachers a chance to talk about individual students who may need extra guidance.

The principal has also instituted an unusually successful "credit recovery program" for about 70 students who had to repeat 9th grade. Classes in this program have two teachers and 15 to 20 students. Vittor said most of the students were promoted to the 10th grade and some even entered the 11th grade after completing the program.

Students have a long day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. with 10 classes, some of them taught in three to four-period blocks. This leaves little time for extracurricular activities but there are sports teams, including boy's soccer, handball and baseball and girl's softball. The school has partnerships with a variety of businesses that provide internships such as Turner Construction, the MTA, NASA, ConEd and Washington Mutual bank. Two partnerships withNon-Traditional Employment for Women (NEW), and Legal Momentum are aimed at encouraging female students to go into the building trades. Vittor tells us the number of girls in that program has jumped from 4 to 18.

The school's suspension rate is high but Vittor notes that most of her suspensions are for minor infractions. "I suspend for things that other principals don't," she said. "A student may be suspended for insubordination." Few students walk the hallways and even the cafeteria was relatively calm.

Special Education: The school offers self-contained classes for special education students as well as CTT (collaborative team teaching) and SETSS (special education teacher support services) classes. All special education students are integrated into the technical classes.

Admissions: The school accepts students from across the city. The 9th grade exploratory program is an educational option program, accepting a mix of low and high achieving students, but there are also two selective programs: Cosmetology and Computer Technology.

College admissions: Many students go to work as soon as they graduate, and some use their wages to help pay for college. About 70% go to college, many of them attending community colleges, or local schools such as Hunter, Baruch, or St. John's University. A recent class valedictorian went to Columbia University. (Leah Gogel & Pamela Wheaton, October 2007)

Fed school dunces

By YOAV GONEN Education Reporter, NY POST

Last Updated:11:50 AM, August 18, 2010

Posted:3:04 AM, August 18, 2010

LINK

Five city principals with stellar reviews are set to get bounced from their high schools under a federal school-turnaround program that some critics liken to putting a bounty on principals' heads.

The rules of the new School Improvement Grants program require that principals of struggling schools be yanked -- high ratings be damned -- in order for the city to collect up to $6 million in federal funds per school.

Only the newest of the principals at 11 schools identified by the city for the first phase of the program -- which would bring in $66 million over three years for the cash-strapped school system -- are exempt from getting the boot.

But among the school leaders who have been told their days are numbered is FDR HS principal Geraldine Maione, whose Brooklyn school hasn't been rated lower than a "B" since she took over in 2005 and who "exceeded" her city-set performance targets in both 2008 and 2009.

Even as the school's population of non-native English speakers has ballooned to comprise 41 percent of the 3,500 students, its graduation rate has climbed by nearly 12 percentage points -- to roughly 60 percent -- under Maione, according to FDR staffers.

"When I heard about her removal, I was shocked because everyone loved her," said Edon Gjonbalaj, 17, a recent graduate.

Other principals rated highly by the city but facing the ax include Denise Vittor at Queens Vocational and Technical HS, William Bassell at Long Island City HS in Queens, and Carlston Gray at Brooklyn's Grady Career and Technical Education HS.

A fifth commended principal, Larry Wilson of Bread & Roses Integrated Arts HS in Manhattan, left the school for unrelated reasons in June, according to Department of Education officials.

"These are principals that have very good records -- both as leaders of buildings that have good progress reports . . . as well as good personal evaluations," said principals union vice president Peter McNally.

A city schools spokesman said: "While we recognize the tension in some cases between continuing the promising work of a principal and the federal regulations, we are actively working on a solution to meet both of those needs."

These principals may be removed if the city wants to get federal school turnaround dollars.

* Principal Geraldine Maione
School: FDR HS in Brooklyn
Performance rating 2008 and 2009 by school superintendents: Exceeds targets both years
School stats: Graduation up from 48% in 2005 to 60% this year — two B’s and an A on school report cards

* Principal Denise Vittor
School: Queens Vocational and Technical HS
Performance rating 2008 and 2009 by school superintendents: Exceeds targets both years
School stats: Graduation up from 58% in 2003 to 73% in 2009 — two B’s on latest school report cards

* Principal William Bassell
School: Long Island City HS in Queens
Performance rating 2008 and 2009 by school superintendents: Exceeds targets both years
School stats: Three B’s on school report cards

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