AFT President Randi Weingarten Marries Rabbi Sharon Anne Kleinbaum

Congratulations Randi and Sharon!

Betsy Combier

Randi Weingarten and Rabbi Sharon Anne Kleinbaum

Randi Weingarten and Rabbi Sharon Anne Kleinbaum are to be married March 25 at La Marina, a restaurant in New York. Judge Michelle Schreiber of the New York City Housing Court, is to officiate, with Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, the president of Hebrew College, leading the religious ceremony, which will include the signing of the ketubah.

Ms. Weingarten (left), 60, is the president of the American Federation of Teachers, which has headquarters in Washington. She graduated from Cornell and received a law degree from Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University.

She is the daughter of Gabriel Weingarten of Suffern, N.Y., and the late Edith Appelbaum Weingarten.

Rabbi Kleinbaum, 58, is the senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Simhat Torah in New York, a synagogue with a significant number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender congregants. She graduated from Barnard College and from Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncott, Pa.

She is the daughter of Josephine Leve Kleinbaum of Teaneck, N.J., and the late Max M. Kleinbaum.

In the mid-1990s, Rabbi Kleinbaum and Ms. Weingarten knew each other peripherally.

“We were two lesbians in New York fighting for different things,” Ms. Weingarten said. “We liked each other. We had good banter. It wasn’t as if there were a lot of high-profile gay women who were active in leadership roles. I thought she was fun, witty and smart.”

It continued that way until 2006. Both were at the Empire State Pride Agenda dinner, when Rabbi Kleinbaum asked Ms. Weingarten to speak at the Gay Pride Shabbat service.

“I’d just turned 50, I’d never publicly come out and said, ‘I’m a lesbian,’” Ms. Weingarten said. “Sharon allowed me to see myself as who I was. It shifted my thinking that it wasn’t simply about having a gay pride speaker. It was about shifting me. I was very moved by it.”

Rabbi Kleinbaum recalls the “ask” a little differently.

“She’s one of the most significant labor leaders in America,” Rabbi Kleinbaum said. “I didn’t get how dramatic it would be for her. I just thought it would be an amazing coup if she said yes.”

Years went by. They continued to see into each other sporadically until 2012. While Ms. Weingarten was working in Washington and dating, Rabbi Kleinbaum was in New York getting divorced after an 18-year relationship.

“I’d heard Sharon was single, so I emailed her asking if she wanted to have lunch,” Ms. Weingarten said.

Rabbi Kleinbaum wrote back the following day. But it was not an easy time in her life.

“My whole world was falling apart,” she said. “It was such a difficult time for me. I was carrying the load of a full-time position. I had two daughters. I wasn’t thinking about anyone in that way.”

Eight or nine email exchanges later, lunch got parlayed into dinner and a friendly request grew into an actual date.

“Flirt entered into the emails,” Ms. Weingarten said. “I was really excited about it. But I almost screwed the whole thing up. I got invited to the state dinner by President Obama for David Cameron.”

It was a plus-one invitation. “I asked Sharon if she would be willing to have our date at the White House rather than in New York,” Ms. Weingarten said.

Rabbi Kleinbaum immediately declined.

“I would never go to the state dinner as a first date,” Rabbi Kleinbaum said. “I’m interested in intimacy. Everyone would think we were on a date. I started wondering if I was ready for that. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to be in a relationship again. I wanted to take things slow.”

So they did. Ms. Weingarten attended the dinner with a colleague. The next day she and Rabbi Kleinbaum went for Indian food in the West Village. They talked all night.

“There was no political-speak,” Ms. Weingarten said. “We talked about our lives and things that were important to us. It was a fantastic first date. I didn’t want the night to end.”

That same year, Rabbi Kleinbaum moved into an apartment in the Inwood section of Manhattan. Ms. Weingarten commuted back and forth from Washington, spending two nights there, two nights in New York and other days traveling for work.

“My life had been turned upside down,” Rabbi Kleinbaum said. “Here I was in my 50s with my dogs, and all I had was a mattress on the floor. But Randi never seemed uncomfortable. I thought, this is an incredibly kind person. I value kindness. Slowly I got furniture.”

As her apartment grew, so did their relationship.

In 2014, they began looking for an apartment together. Three years later they found one. Their proposal and engagement almost took as long. When Obergefell v. Hodges was decided in 2015, an excited Ms. Weingarten asked if the decision meant they could get married. Rabbi Kleinbaum wanted to wait.

“We’re not spring chickens,” Rabbi Kleinbaum said. “We didn’t believe we would get this kind of love this late in our lives.”

In June 2017, they both agreed it was time.

“We have a deepening relationship,” Rabbi Kleinbaum said. “We’re both astounded we found each other and both astounded we’re making it work. If you live long enough, life is full of surprises.”

OSI Investigator Gerard Danko Lands In a Rubber Room After Endorsing a Vendor

Oh no! Gerard Danko, a "senior" schools investigator at the Office of Special Investigations, or OSI, appeared in an ad for a NYC Department of Education vendor, and is now in a rubber room.

The vendor is DTI, a computer-sleuthing firm in Atlanta, and according to Education Department spokesman Doug Cohen, city regulations govern employees’ dealings with vendors such as DTI, which is now known as Epiq.

“It is inappropriate for employees to endorse vendors in their advertisements,” Cohen said. (see Ben Chapman's article in yesterday's NY Daily News, below).

I think this is not the story.

The real story is the lack of supervision at OSI.


Here is Mr. Danko's Linkedin profile:

NYC schools investigator pulled from post after appearance in ad

Ben Chapman, NY Daily News. March 21, 2018

A senior schools investigator has been yanked from his job after appearing in an advertisement for a vendor the city uses.

Gerard Danko, a Department of Education confidential investigator, was removed from his post Feb. 1 after the Daily News inquired about a probe of his appearance in marketing materials for computer-sleuthing firm DTI.

Atlanta-based DTI received nearly $100,000 in city contracts for tracking school employees’ improper computer usage — including pornography — from 2014 to 2017.

Danko, 53, crowed about the company’s services in a “case study” published on DTI’s website that said the city struggled with a backlog of employees’ internet misuse.

“When misuse, such as viewing pornography, is brought to the department’s attention, they are responsible,” the case study read. “The DoE had a backlog of computers.”

But, according to the ad, DTI helped end the backlog.

“Working as an extension of the DoE Special Investigations Unit, DTI is able to provide the DoE with the information they need to discipline or dismiss rogue employees,” the ad said.

“To quote Gerard Danko, DoE Supervising Confidential Investigator, ‘the investigatory skills of the DTI forensics team and reports they generate represent a grand slam’ for his unit.”

Danko is a former New Rochelle cop who continues to draw his $74,635 salary, from a rubber room, while his case is being investigated by the Special Commissioner of Investigation and the Conflicts of Interest Board.

Education Department spokesman Doug Cohen said city regulations govern employees’ dealings with vendors such as DTI, which is now known as Epiq.

“It is inappropriate for employees to endorse vendors in their advertisements,” Cohen said.

Cohen also denied the city Office of Special Investigations has a backlog of misconduct cases.

“OSI has a talented and experienced team of investigators who work tirelessly to thoroughly review each complaint in a timely manner,” he said.

Danko investigated hundreds of cases of improper employee behavior over his special investigations career that began in 2010.

He didn’t respond to calls for comment.

Epiq spokeswoman Jill Brown said Danko wasn’t paid for appearing in the DTI case study.

“Mr. Danko was not compensated for appearing in our marketing materials, nor is Mr. Danko a current or former employee of Epiq (formerly known as DTI),” Brown said.

But Brooklyn College and City University of New York education professor David Bloomfield said Danko is in a delicate position, whether he was compensated or not.

“DOE employees are supposed to seek out opinions from the ethics office before entering into questionable practices, even if the activity is subsequently deemed permissible or the conflict is waived,” Bloomfield said. “Should have happened here since the red flags are there in terms of a relationship outside the scope of the employee’s job.”

And then there is the story of Wei Liu (2015):

This is a story of an almost unfathomably mindless school bureaucracy at work: the crushing of an occupational therapist who had helped a young boy build a record of blazing success., and the disarray at the Office of Special Investigations adding to the problems in this matter. The therapist, Deb Fisher, is now serving a suspension of 30 days without pay for official misconduct. Her crime? She raised money on Kickstarter for a program that she and the student, Aaron Philip, 13, created called This Ability Not Disability. An investigator with the Education Department’s Office of Special Investigations, Wei Liu, found that Ms. Fisher sent emails about the project during her workday at Public School 333, the Manhattan School for Children, and was thus guilty of “theft of services.” 
           

Aaron Philip

From Betsy Combier, Editor:

The key to any case of misconduct brought to Arbitration and/or Court is the investigation.

Working as I do in solving the puzzle of what really happened in a matter involving a person charged with misconduct of some sort, I am very familiar with the investigators in New York City's investigation units - the Office of Special Investigations (OSI), Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI), or Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO). All are, in my opinion, under the control of "legal" at the New York City Department of Education, ranging from total control (OSI) to less control (SCI).

For the most part, the investigators are former policemen working on their second pension. Most are good at their jobs, (and that is substantiating whatever the principal or Superintendent wants), but some are not so good. In 2015, Wei Liu became one of the latter.

In 2014 he made, in my opinion, a bad mistake. See the article I posted in 2014:

The story posted here about how teacher Deb Fisher helped Aaron Philip, a student with cerebral palsy, published in the New York Times will disgust and disturb you.

The corruption and malicious prosecution of the New York City Department of Education is oozing from the walls of secrecy behind which the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) , Council of Supervisors and Administrators (CSA), the Sturmabteilung "brown shirts" - Department of Investigation, Office of Special Investigations, Special Commissioner of Investigation, and Office of Equal Opportunity have hidden their collaboration and approval.

This website and other blogs such as NYC Rubber Room Reporter, New York Court Corruption, and National Public Voice have highlighted the actions of these groups and the individuals within them, such as Chancellors Joel Klein, Cathie Black, Dennis Walcott, Carmen Farina, the Gotcha Squad (here and here) and the attorneys - Adrienne Austin and Jade Fuller, Arbitrator attorneys Haydee Rosario, Doyle Pryor, just to name a few - who convict people without facts or the law behind them. Particularly disturbing is the tainted actions of the investigators who should be honest and fair in their investigations, and are not, deliberately and maliciously. The stories of teachers Natalya Sokolson, Glenn Storman, Lucienne Mohammed, Glen Fox, and countless others have been written about on this website and the blogs mentioned above. Their lives were destroyed for no reason, and I know each of their cases extremely well. This is again evident here in the story about Aaron Philip, posted below from the article in the New York Times.

We all must expose all the corrupt acts of those who take public money and then attack innocent people, and not let bias get in the way.

Anyway, the story of Aaron Philip and Deb Fisher must be distributed, and we all must take notice that Deb Fisher was wrongfully suspended, yes....and that she would have been fired if she did not have the protection of tenure.

We need to protect the public school teachers like Deb Fisher, and keep tenure rights in New York City, just as we need to get rid of the brown shirts and leadership of the NYC Department of Education. The NYC DOE is not interested in putting the needs and achievement of children above the false charges against innocent people who challenge their fraud and corruption.

Betsy Combier

Bureaucracy Turns a Hero Into a Rogue
LINK

This is a story of an almost unfathomably mindless school bureaucracy at work: the crushing of an occupational therapist who had helped a young boy build a record of blazing success.

The therapist, Deb Fisher, is now serving a suspension of 30 days without pay for official misconduct.

Her crime?

She raised money on Kickstarter for a program that she and the student, Aaron Philip, 13, created called This Ability Not Disability. An investigator with the Education Department’s Office of Special Investigations, Wei Liu, found that Ms. Fisher sent emails about the project during her workday at Public School 333, the Manhattan School for Children, and was thus guilty of “theft of services.”

The school system has proved itself unable to dislodge failed or dangerous employees for years at a time.

Ms. Fisher’s case seems to represent just the opposite: A person working to excel is being hammered by an investigative agency that began its hunt in search of cheating on tests and record-keeping irregularities. It found nothing of the sort. Instead, the investigation produced a misleading report, filled with holes, on the fund-raising effort.

By omitting essential context, the report wrongly suggested that Ms. Fisher was a rogue employee, acting alone and in her own self-interest.

In fact, the entire school, including the principal, was involved in the Kickstarter project, with regular email blasts counting down the fund-raising push. And the money was to be used not by Ms. Fisher, but by Aaron, who is writing a graphic book and making a short film about Tanda, a regular kid who is born with a pair of legs in a world where everybody else has a pair of wheels.

Aaron has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair to navigate the world. Ms. Fisher has worked with him since kindergarten.

“It’s beyond measure, the greatness, of how she has exposed Aaron to so many things,” Aaron’s father, Petrone Philip, said.

Aaron writes a lively Tumblr blog called Aaronverse. He has addressed all the employees of Tumblr as a guest of David Karp, who created the platform. He was taken under the wing of Fred Seibert, the founder of a hugely successful animation studio, Frederator, who had mentored Mr. Karp when he was a teenager inventing Tumblr. On his blog, Aaron urged Good Housekeeping to make sure that its research arm included disabled children in its testing of toys.

All of this was possible because he is a powerful presence, and he had Ms. Fisher at his side, according to the boy’s father. “She goes above and beyond the call of duty,” Mr. Philip said.

During a brief period of unemployment for Mr. Philip, the family moved to a homeless shelter. Learning this by chance, Ms. Fisher began a relentless campaign to get them permanent housing in an accessible building. She helped set up swimming lessons for Aaron. Ms. Fisher, 55, is passionate and hard-driving; her phone calls and emails can be like buckshot. She and another therapist started “Master Arts” for children with disabilities, devising tools to help their painting efforts. She received a mayoral commendation.

Last year, when Aaron wanted to create the book and the film, he and Ms. Fisher realized he was too young to run his own Kickstarter drive. Instead, Aaron told the investigators, they created an organization to help children like himself.

“We are all very excited to share our partnership with ThisAbilityNotDisability.org,” P.S. 333’s principal, Claire Lowenstein, wrote in an email on Jan. 11.

The goal was to raise $15,000. The school’s office regularly sent out updates like these: “7th Grader Aaron Philip is Almost 2/3 of the Way to His Goal”; “Aaron Philip is $1,621 Away From His Goal.”

In the end, he raised $16,231. The school celebrated at a town hall session.

In the meantime, a co-worker with whom Ms. Fisher had had continuing disagreements made a series of charges against her. Ms. Fisher had complained that the co-worker was physically bullying and taunting her. The special investigators found that none of the serious allegations against Ms. Fisher were true, but said she was guilty of fund-raising for “her own charity.”

The report made no mention that the entire building had been involved with the effort, nor did it try to determine whether Ms. Fisher would profit from it in any way. She was suspended on Sept. 15 until the end of October.

The school disciplinary system is often said to be broken. The case of Ms. Fisher would seem to prove the point.

The Education Department did not comment on the case.

Correction: October 3, 2014
An earlier version of a picture caption with this column misstated what grade Aaron Philip is in at school. He’s in the eighth grade, not the seventh.

Email: dwyer@nytimes.com

Twitter: @jimdwyernyt

There are other outrageous acts in the New York City Department of Education where administrators from hell maliciously target teachers:Thomas v Jimenez, Albetta, Bradley, Hernandez, et al.,US District Court 14-CV-8019(JMF)

Betsy Combier
Editor, ADVOCATZ.com
Editor, ADVOCATZ
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 

Pierre Orbe, Principal of DeWitt Clinton High School, Uses Skedula To Change 'Hundreds' of Students Grades

DeWitt Clinton Principal Pierre Orbe

Pierre Orbe has made a grave error, thinking that he can order teachers to change grades by filling out a Transcript Update Form, and threatening the teachers who wont do it.

That was school year 2016-2017. I heard from many sources that both the UFT and Tweed put a stop to this effort to put teachers in a situation of grave consequences if they did not obey his directive.

This raises a serious question which each person undergoing this moral and ethical rock-and-hard-place situation must answer for themselves: 

"should I go against the principal's directive and maybe lose my job, or should I say "no" and suffer consequences which may lead to losing my job or 3020-a charges?"

I am currently working with an Advocatz attorney on two 3020-a cases of teachers at De Witt Clinton High School who said no.

More in a future post, but if you have a situation similar to what is described in today's NY POST article written by Selim Algar, email me at betsy.combier@gmail.com. We keep all information confidential.

Betsy Combier

Principal altered students’ grades at Bronx school: teacher

NY POST, March 9, 2018

Selim Algar

Furious teachers at scandal-plagued Renewal school DeWitt Clinton HS claim administrators are changing student grades — and putting the instructors in the line of fire.

A letter from a distressed teacher to the Special Commissioner of Investigation said an assistant principal at the Bronx school accessed a computerized grading system and altered “hundreds” of grades.

“I am formally informing you that an administrator at DeWitt Clinton High School who has access to teachers’ grading system has changed the grades of hundreds of students for marking periods 1, 2, 3 and 4,” reads a copy of the letter, obtained by The Post.

A school source said that Principal Pierre Orbe — who has previously been accused of pressuring teachers to doctor marks — forced staffers to use a new grading system.

Orbe pressed for the switch so that his “administrators can get into that grading system and change the students grades as someone collectively did just now,” the Jan. 25 letter to the SCI states.

The letter notes that “many teachers” were impacted, and lists six by name whose students’ grades were changed between September 2017 and January 2018.

A source said DeWitt Clinton teachers were fearful of taking the fall if the fraud were discovered, and pressed for an immediate probe to clear their names.

DeWitt teachers were opposed to the use of the Skedula system because they knew it was vulnerable to manipulation by administrators, according to a source.

“I would like to formally request on behalf of all these teachers and myself an immediate investigation of this disturbing matter,” the letter reads.

The SCI said Thursday that the case has been referred to the Department of Education’s Office of Special Investigation along with state education officials.

Orbe has previously been accused of pressuring teachers to bolster grades in order to polish the school’s dismal metrics.

DeWitt Clinton is one of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s largest Renewal school reclamation projects. The struggling schools have been pumped with consultants and cash in order to spur turnarounds.

The Bronx school — which counts Ralph Lauren, Charles Rangel and Neil Simon as alumni — has been mired in scandal and mediocrity for years.

Orbe’s predecessor, Santiago Taveras, was removed as principal last year for changing grades and threatening an assistant principal for refusing to tinker with transcripts.

DeWitt Clinton teachers have also accused Orbe of referring unqualified students for “credit recovery” — online courses that allow for failing kids to make the grade.

Excessive or improper credit recovery was at the root of a devastating recent probe into seemingly stellar graduation rates in Washington, DC.

The investigation there concluded that one in three 2017 high school graduates should not have been granted diplomas.

“Ensuring academic integrity in our schools is critical,” said city DOE spokesman Michael Aciman on Thursday.

“These allegations were referred for investigation and we’ll ensure any necessary follow-up action is taken.”

Success! PS/MS 42 Will Not Be Closed By the NYC Department of Education

Re-posted from Parentadvocates.org:
The process used to close schools is detrimental to the lives and futures of the children, the stability of the community, and the careers of excellent, dedicated staff from all the unions, tenured and untenured. At the PEP meeting last night I sat next to a 7th grader from Urban Science Academy IS 325, a school that was voted to close. She told me how she had finally found a school and teachers where she and her family felt "safe" and she "could strive for achievement and success". Did Chancellor Carmen Farina check on the feelings of the children and parents before she arbitrarily placed 325 on a list to be closed? I don't think so. 

Betsy Combier, Editor, Parentadvocates.org

Wow.

Six members of the NYC DOE puppet school board, the Panel For Educational Policy, voted no to the proposed closing of PS/MS 42 and IS 53.

Thanks to the wonderful and timely protests of Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, NY State Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato, Letitia James , The Wave,, District 31 Councilmember Donovan Richards, UFT Chapter Leader John Krattinger, and many others, the decimation of PS/MS 42 (and 53) was averted!

Kudos to all the teachers, staff, parents, students, politicians and media who exposed the improper and harmful Department of Education policy of closing schools before researching the data on the success and improvement of the schools........A huge mistake which, in my opinion, cost Carmen Farina her job. Goodbye, Carmen, please enjoy your permanent retirement.

Betsy Combier

PS/MS 42 educator Jack Angelou lets the stats speak for themselves in making a case for the survival of his school.
Photo By Ralph Mancini

Stayin’ Alive!

PEP vote deadlock keeps Rockaway schools open
Ralph Mancini | on March 01, 2018

After nearly nine hours of testimonies on the part of multiple members of various New York City school communities, a vote to shut down a pair of Rockaway schools, PS/MS 42 and MS 53, was called off, giving the at-risk facilities a new lease on life.

On Wednesday, Feb. 28, a Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) voting session, held at Murry Bergtraum High School in Lower Manhattan, was held to decide the fate of chronically-struggling public schools.

One committee member elected to abstain from the process, resulting in a 6-6 deadlock at around 3 a.m.

 The Twitter account of PS/MS 42 art teacher Sarah Zaborowski said it all, when she announced that in the early morning of March 1, her school has “lived to fight another day” after a relentless effort by faculty, students and their families to stave off its closing by the Department of Education (DOE).

The discord between the group of voters, including outgoing Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña, was evident from the start with a number of PEP members proposing postponements and outright withdrawal from having to submit their votes on the Renewal locations that have been on the chopping block since Dec. 16.

The concerns from both the teachers and parents were palpable in the minutes preceding the public event as documented by MS 53 special education teacher Daniel Alicea, who informed The Wave that the careers of many educators were hanging in the balance depending on the outcome.

“It leaves us with a lot of anxiety of not knowing what your future is and especially when we’ve invested so much in our school community—it hurts,” said the 22-year veteran. “It leaves a lot of question marks for us and our livelihoods depend on it. The way the system works, a lot of the teachers become what they call ATRs.”

By reducing tenured teachers to Absent Teacher Reserve status, many professionals in the Far Rockaway Renewal schools risked being reassigned to substitute for absent colleagues within any given school district.

The children of the community would also be greatly impacted, according to invested stakeholders and school advocates, such as Betsy Combier, a New York City-based paralegal, who noted that losing teachers that students have built up trust in could be especially discouraging to English Language Learners (ELL) and the special-needs population.

As a father of two, Kevin Dyer admitted being very “stressed” at coming to terms with the possibility of his daughters being taught by new faculty members that may not be suited to work with youngsters of the surrounding community, some of whom live in shelters or are abused or neglected individuals under the guidance of the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS).

Furthermore, Dyer made The Wave aware of his disapproval of how the DOE has managed Renewal schools by failing to afford them ample time to make the necessary strides in achieving elevated performance levels.

“Education is an investment. We tell kids K-12 is an investment and you don’t cash in on it until you get the diploma. So, you can’t put into practice a Renewal program in 2015 and expect this mammoth growth in two years and then close the school,” said the native of Seattle, who formerly served as a case worker in a juvenile detention center.

“I would say assess it for two years. If you then see growth with a school like 42, continue the program for another two years to see what works and what doesn’t. But you can’t scrap the entire idea and start from scratch under the guise of a new STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program, a new curriculum, new extracurricular activities. You can give all that to us and leave 42 open.”

Dyer’s sentiments on the DOE’s hasty decision making was shared by Councilman and Education Committee Chair Mark Treygar, who pointed out that Renewal schools have been dealt a losing hand from the outset by having to cope with unrealistic timelines and ill-defined expectations.

The Brooklyn-based elected official and one-time history teacher also took issue with the branding of Renewal schools as bottom-ranked sites that can’t hit their benchmarks. That stigma, he added, has led to decreased enrollment numbers that are now being used against the schools in question.

“It’s a troubling self-fulfilling prophecy. Improvement to Renewal schools were measured on a three-year time [plan] and yet by the DOE’s own community framework, it takes four to five years to show [improvement],” argued Treygar.

Another elected official that took the embattled governing agency to task was Assemblywoman Stacy Pheffer Amato, as she called out the powers that be for their inability to relate to a Rockaway community that remains detached from the rest of the city by two bridges and Nassau County.

As a former student of MS 53, she mentioned the gradual steps the Far Rockaway institution is making, while apprising the panel that many of their middle school students fall into the ELL category, placing them in an obvious disadvantage compared to other city locations.

“It’s a tough school,” she stated, and with the proper investments, “it will succeed,” assured the local legislator.

Similarly, representatives of PS/MS 42 made a case for their survival by highlighting the fact that of all the New York City K-8 schools, theirs was the one that has demonstrated the largest percentage point growth from 2014-2015 and 2016-2017 in math (6.5) and ELA (10.5) combined.

What’s more, PS/MS 42 reportedly has the highest percentage rating for rigorous instruction (86 percent) for all New York City K-8 renewal schools.

Had the panel voted to shut down both sites, Combier apprised The Wave of plans to file an injunction in a court of law on the grounds of the immediate damage that decision would inflict on several communities. But for now—to the pleasure of many of the school supporters—it looks as though that type of legal action won’t be needed.

UFT Chapter Leader John Krattinger

Panel Votes to Close 10 Struggling New York Schools
Hundreds of parents made last-minute pleas for their children’s schools to be saved
By Leslie Brody
Wall Street Journal, Updated March 1, 2018

Hundreds of upset parents and students showed up Wednesday night at a contentious meeting in Manhattan, where a city panel voted to close 10 of 13 public schools that the city education department sought to shut this summer.

About 200 people signed up to comment, so the meeting stretched well into Thursday morning. Many carried colorful signs pleading for their schools’ survival. At one point, the crowd chanted, “Save our schools.”

The closures planned by the New York City Department of Education make up the biggest batch under Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has called shutting schools a last resort. Mr. de Blasio’s approach for the nation’s largest school district marks a stark contrast to his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, who closed more than 100 low-performing schools and often replaced large schools with small, themed ones.

The Panel for Educational Policy, a board dominated by mayoral appointees, made the decisions. Most of the schools are in the Bronx and Manhattan. The list includes elementary, middle and high schools.

A department spokeswoman said proposals to close two Queens schools, M.S. 53 and P.S./M.S. 42 didn’t pass, and a vote was postponed on High School for Health Careers and Sciences in Manhattan.

Gustavo Angeles, a seventh-grader at Urban Science Academy in the Bronx, worried that closing the school would rip him from friends. “For me and my sister, it feels like a second home for us,” he said. “Our teachers always care for us.”

Melinda Vazquez, a mother at P.S. 92 in the Bronx, said it was a refuge in a violent area and should stay open. “At least I know the school is safe,” she said.

Department of Education officials said the schools couldn’t be saved due to a mix of problems such as dwindling enrollment, poor achievement, high absenteeism and weak leadership. Officials said the department would help roughly 2,600 students affected find places in other schools.

Eight schools expected to be closed are what Mr. de Blasio called “Renewal schools,” which received extra resources, such as longer hours, teacher training and social services. Mr. de Blasio set up the program in an effort to avoid closing struggling schools.

Some charter-school advocates said it would have been better to replace failing schools with new ones early on. Some educators and parents said the Renewal schools’ progress was hobbled by red tape, staff turnover, large class sizes and the stigma of being in the program, among other problems.

The department announced in December that 21 schools had done well enough to graduate from the program. After closures and mergers, there will be 47 Renewal schools left next fall, down from 94 at the program’s start in late 2014. Since its beginning, the Renewal initiative is expected to cost $582 million in total by June.

One school slated to be closed is the site where the mayor announced the Renewal plan, Coalition School for Social Change. The high school’s enrollment dropped to 122 teenagers, and only 7% were deemed on track for college readiness, city data showed.

Also to be closed is Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation, where a student was fatally stabbed in September. A classmate was indicted on manslaughter charges and pleaded not guilty.

Parents often protest closures, saying they rely on familiar teachers and neighborhood hubs. Some said their schools didn’t get enough time or money to improve. Energetic activism by families and local politicians got one school off the chopping block, Brooklyn Collegiate: A College Board School. It had a 63% graduation rate last spring, but fans argued that rate would rise this year and the school was better than nearby options.

“Rather than helping students, closures disrupt whole communities,” said Public Advocate Letitia James in a letter in February to Chancellor Carmen Fariña. She said closings disproportionately hurt children of color and low-income students.

City Councilman Brad Lander, a Brooklyn Democrat, said Tuesday in a hearing on Renewal schools that the department should take stronger steps toward integrating schools as a way to improve achievement and spread resources more fairly. He said the department’s efforts to diversify schools and fix troubled ones shouldn’t be on separate tracks.

“Segregation is a big part of the reason our schools fail a lot of our kids, in particular low-income kids and kids of color,” he said.

Write to Leslie Brody at leslie.brody@wsj.com


Email to PEP Concerning Meeting February 28, 2018: Do Not Close PS/MS 42 in Queens
from:
betsy.combier@gmail.com
to:
ICarmignani@schools.nyc.gov,
GChacon@schools.nyc.gov,
AChapman7@schools.nyc.gov,
ECleveland@schools.nyc.gov,
DDillingham@schools.nyc.gov,
MKraft2@schools.nyc.gov,
VLeung@schools.nyc.gov,
GLinnen@schools.nyc.gov,
LPodvesker@schools.nyc.gov,
BShuldiner@schools.nyc.gov,
panel@schools.nyc.gov,
Betsy Combier ,
crts@optonline.net,
LeRoy Barr
TO: PEP Members
RE: Vote on the Closing of PS/MS 42

Hello to all members.
I am a parent advocate and I support the parents, students, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz, the NAACP, and teachers/staff at PS/MS 42 in demanding that you individually and collectively not vote to close PS/MS 42 at the PEP meeting tonight.

I have referred a lawyer to the friends and supporters at 42, and he is ready to pursue whatever action is needed to stop the damage that will ensue as a result of a vote to close PS/MS 42.

Please see my posts below.

Respectfully,

Betsy Combier
Editor, ADVOCATZ.com
Editor, ADVOCATZ
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

Parents, Staff, and the Queens Community Rally Against the Arbitrary Decision By the NYC Department of Education To Close PS/MS 42

The District 27 Queens community as well as the staff, parents and students of PS/MS 42 are outraged that the NYC Department of Education will close PS/MS 42 in June 2018 without a valid reason. The trouble is that in NYC decisions are made in secret as part of a political pay-to-play scheme for which Mayor Bill de Blasio and Chancellor Carmen Farina are famous. This closure is clearly directed at displacing a powerful group of UFT members at PS/MS 42 who will, in September, be placed into positions as substitute staff nomads, roaming different assignments in Queens as Absent Teacher Reservists (ATRs). Bill and Carmen, STOP the vote!!! Protest by Editor Betsy Combier

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

New York City schools slated to close, including school where student fatally stabbed
Monday, December 18, 2017

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- New York City Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina announced a proposal Monday to close several struggling schools and merge or truncate others.

Officials say 15 proposed interventions are part of the Renewal School program, based on thorough analyses of school quality that included test scores, enrollment, graduation rates, college readiness, attendance, chronic absenteeism, classroom instruction and school leadership. Five schools that are not in the Renewal program have also been stamped for closure.

Farina determined that students currently attending schools proposed for closure or truncation will be better served at the stronger school options available to them. The DOE's Office of Student Enrollment will work individually with each impacted student at a closing or truncating school to ensure they have a seat at a higher-performing school next year.

The 9 Renewal Schools proposed for closure are:
PS 050 Vito Marcantonio (04M050)
Coalition School for Social Change (04M409)
High School for Health Careers and Sciences (06M468)
New Explorers High School (07X547)
Urban Science Academy (09X325)
PS 92 Bronx School (12X092)
Brooklyn Collegiate: A College Board School (23K493)
PS/MS 42 R. Vernam (27Q042)
MS 53 Brian Piccolo (27Q053)

The 5 Renewal Schools proposed for merger are:
Holcombe L. Rucker School of Community (08X332) and Longwood Preparatory Academy (08X530) - Longwood Preparatory Academy will be the prevailing school. Both schools are Renewal Schools, both schools are in the same building, and the merged school will remain in the Renewal program next year.

Accion Academy (12X341) and Entrada Academy (12X384) - Accion Academy, which is not in the Renewal program, will be the prevailing school.

East Flatbush Community and Research School (18K581) and Middle School of Marketing and Legal Studies (18K598) - East Flatbush Community and Research School, a Rise school, will be the prevailing school. Both schools are in the same building.

Middle school grades of Gregory Jocko Jackson School (23K284) and Brownsville Collaborative Middle School (23K363) - Brownsville Collaborative Middle School, which is not in the Renewal program, will absorb the middle school grades of Gregory Jocko Jackson School. The elementary school grades at Gregory Jocko Jackson School will remain in the Renewal program.

The 1 Renewal School proposed for truncation is:
Middle school grades of Wadleigh Secondary School for The Performing Visual Arts (03M415) - Next year, the school will serve students in grades 9-12.

This truncation is part of a targeted plan to revamp the high school's arts program. Beginning this year, Wadleigh will enter the Arts High School Planning Process which will include additional funding and extensive support from the DOE's Office of Arts and Special Projects, new partnerships with the Harlem School of the Arts and Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the development of a rigorous arts curriculum. The goal of this process is to transform Wadleigh into one of New York City's top audition arts high schools. Wadleigh's staff and administration will also begin regular visits to other arts high schools across the City that have successfully completed the Planning Process.

The 5 schools proposed for closure that are not in the Renewal program are:
KAPPA IV (05M302)
Academy for Social Action (05M367)
Felisa Rincon de Gautier Institute (08X519)
Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation (12X372)
Eubie Blake School (16K025)

The Renewal School program supports long-struggling schools by setting clear goals, providing targeted resources and holding each school accountable for sustainable improvement.

The Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation is where a student was fatally stabbed, allegedly by a classmate, earlier this year. The Department of Education has been monitoring this school and provided ongoing support dating back to the 2016-17 school year, including placing additional safety agents at the school and increasing training for staff members.

Following the stabbing, which also left another student critically injured, DOE leaders have visited the school frequently, including several visits from Farina. The DOE has also strengthened safety measures, selected a new leader, expanded parent engagement and offered more instructional resources and training. Despite these additional interventions, there continues to be instability for students and staff, and the chancellor has determined that Wildlife students will be better served at another school.

Education officials also announced a new school designation called Rise Schools for 21 Renewal Schools that have seen steady gains across multiple measures. All Rise Schools met at least 67 percent of their benchmarks, are not on the state's Priority list, and have demonstrated a sustainable school improvement structure that will allow them to build on their progress with fewer Renewal School resources.

The following 21 schools will be designated Rise Schools:

Manhattan
PS 015 Roberto Clemente (01M015)
Orchard Collegiate Academy (01M292)
Renaissance School of the Arts (04M377)
IS 528 Bea Fuller Rodgers School (06M528)

Bronx
PS 154 Jonathan D. Hyatt (07X154)
Bronx Early College Academy for Teacher and Learning (09X324)
DreamYard Preparatory School (09X329)
JHS 080 The Mosholu Parkway (10X080)
The Bronx School of Young Leaders (10X331)
Urban Scholars Community School (12X463)

Brooklyn
PS 067 Charles A. Dorsey (13K067)
JHS 050 John D. Wells (14K050)
East Flatbush Community Research School (18K581)
Brooklyn Generation School (18K566)
PS 328 Phyllis Wheatley (19K328)
Cypress Hills Collegiate Preparatory (19K659)

Queens
Pan American International High School (24Q296)
PS 197 The Ocean School (27Q197)
JHS 008 Richard S. Grossley (28Q008)
Ebbets Field Middle School (17K352)
John Adams High School (27Q480)