NYC Students Blog

This School Year

2010-11-06T12:56:00.003-04:00

Hey Everybody,

First, I would like to apologize for the lack of communication coming from the New York City Student Union this year. We're still meeting every monday at the DC 37 building and we have been discussing where to take the union this year. If anyone would like to come by, feel free! or send me an e-mail at henryhornsbypines@gmail.com.

Thanks for your patience, and expect to see more of us in the coming months

Henry Pines

GREAT SUCCESS AT TODAY'S RALLY

2010-05-04T22:45:00.004-04:00

Today, in front of an audience of over 1000 people, New York City Student Union members Lucas Johnson, Timothy Ling, and Henry Pines (me) spoke to protest Mass Transit cuts. We shared the stage with such luminaries as Rev. Jesse Jackson and wowed the crowd. We showed people that students are involved and that we care about citywide issues.

The New York City Student Union stood in solidarity with the Transit Workers Union and we made a Huge impact. This is because of all of the hard work that we have put into working with the Keep America Moving Coalition. these opportunities came as a result of going to meeting on friday afternoons and saturday mornings. It was a really special event, but keep your eyes out for us in the coming weeks!

PROTEST TOMORROW

2010-05-03T19:19:00.002-04:00

I want to remind everyone that the big Mass Transit rally is TOMORROW, meet up by Penn Station at 4 and be ready to stand with the TWU in fighting general MTA cuts.

Its important that everyone who can comes to this rally,because we need to show those in power that the city is presenting a united front against cuts. We can't let those in power divide our movement by playing the students against the workers and vice versa, we won't accomplish anything that way. If the people of New York City stand together we can fight these outrageous cuts to our vital services.

this rally presents us with the opportunity to fight for ourselves on a big stage, so please come out and support Mass Transit

See you there!
Henry Pines

Fight the MTA Cuts Rally!

2010-04-26T00:19:00.005-04:00

Hi, Everybody,

This is Henry, and it is my first time posting blog on the New York City Students blog. I just wanted to inform everybody about a rally that is going to happen on May 4th at Penn Station at 4pm. Lucas Johnson and I have been working with members of the Keep America Moving coalition and many of its allied organizations to put together this rally. It would be wonderful if everyone could show up on behalf everybody in the New York education community--This means parents, teachers, administrators, and students should come out to pressure Albany and Congress to take action to save mass transit in America. We need as many people as we can get to come and show politicians that we are serious about saving our transit system.

Hope to see you there!

Henry Pines

Fighting the bake sale ban!!!

2009-10-29T22:38:00.001-04:00

Please join students from around the city to protest the new regulation on bake sales on Friday, Nov. 13 from 2-6 p.m. in front of City Hall. The protest is being organized by seniors from LaGuardia High School, and we invite anyone and everyone to come. (find the protest on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=157082772513&index=1)

Department of Education regulation A-812 states that only approved foods can be sold in schools until 6 p.m., and no outside food can be sold during mealtimes. The regulation is so restrictive it is commonly referred to as a ban on bake sales. As Jennifer Medina said in a recent New York Times article, “There will be no cupcakes. No chocolate cake and no carrot cake. According to According to New York City’s latest regulations, not even zucchini bread makes the cut.”

Since the bake sale ban applies to lunch periods, and LaGuardia has five lunch periods during the day, it is virtually impossible for students to buy something. In the past, LaGuardia clubs and teams, along with those of many other high schools, have relied on bake sales for close to 100% of their fundraising. Students were not forewarned about this ban so that bake sales could be phased out over time while other methods of fundraising were introduced. As reported in the Village Voice, two high school seniors are organizing a petition against the ban. There are also Facebook groups being created in protest.

It’s not just students who are protesting the regulation. The Village Voice quotes Beacon English teacher Sarah Fink: “There is no budget for after-school programs. Bake sales are pure profit. The ingredients are cheap, and the students can do it themselves.”

The Department of Education does not provide the necessary funding for the clubs, teams, and extracurriculars which enrich schools and students’ lives. Selective colleges and are asking for increasing involvement in these activities. If the DOE provided adequate funding, these regulations would be acceptable; as it stands, they are not.

I hope to see you on Friday, Nov. 13. The event can be found on Facebook (you must have a Facebook account to view it). You can also email me or post a comment with any questions.

The Test-Prep Culture Strikes Again!

2009-05-19T22:29:00.001-04:00

Break out the popcorn- it’s movie time for AP classes around the city! It’s common knowledge that after the AP test, AP classes become a total joke. At LaGuardia, stories are passed down about the dumbest, most irrelevant movies teachers have shown for the last month of school, or which AP teachers expect you to actually come to their class after the test. It would be a lie to say that some part of me does not enjoy this payoff for hard work, but I do think it reflects poorly on the test-prep culture that we have entered.

Though they are test-prep courses by nature, I find that AP classes still teach you information that will be useful for life. Unlike most standardized tests and the SATs, I find the AP tests to be measures of real learning and understanding, not the ability to test well. Because of this, learning how to write essays or speak spanish for the AP test are skills that I will need forever. But in these last few weeks of school, when all learning in AP classes ends abruptly, I wonder if my teachers feel the same way. If the AP skills are life skills, why do teachers stop teaching the day after the test?

It seems to me that when the focus of a year is a test, teacher’s do not push themselves to go beyond. A month of school is a lot of time to waste just because “we took the test.” There are a number of skills we could be learning in this time to help us with any given subject in the future. The AP Composition test is over, but I have hundreds of essays left to write in my life, and other ways in which I will need to use the skill of being able to organize and write out my thoughts. There are hundreds of good books left to read and analyze. There are hundreds of countries I plan to visit where I will need my spanish skills. Additionally, the time after the test should be prized teaching time. To me, it’s every good teacher’s dream: with no test at the end, teachers can teach whatever they want, however they want, and at whatever pace the students need. Students and teachers complain a lot about the limits of standardized testing, but then so many do not take advantage of the freedom that comes when the test is over. I see this as a reflection of the era of extreme testing we have entered. I would encourage AP teachers and students alike to take advantage of this time of looseness to teach and learn in new, interesting and creative ways.

Budget cuts hit LaGuardia juniors

2009-05-19T16:06:00.000-04:00

Last week, a number of LaGuardia juniors found out that their math tracks are being abruptly ended. As a junior in trigonometry this year, I was expected to take pre-calculus in the fall, and take the Math B Regents Exam in January. Now, because of budget cuts, seniors will not be allowed to take pre-calc. To learn the semester of content and prepare for the Math B exam, tutoring will be offered over the summer. This is not really an option for people (like me) who have summer jobs. Also, the only math classes being offered to seniors next year are Advanced Placement classes. For the juniors are in pre-calc this year, the situation may not be much better. Calculus may be cut next year, too, giving these juniors no way to complete their math track. A letter is being sent to all colleges explaining the sudden death of advanced, non-AP math at LaGuardia.

When I expressed my concern, the assistant principal of math told me, “Write to the Chancellor and Mayor and ask them to stop taking our money away in the middle of the year.” I told her I already had, and that was the end of the conversation. But this conversation is far from over. My school has been forced to make hard choices because of circumstances outside its control. LaGuardia has done its best to maintain its unique dual mission to provide students with both good arts and academic educations. But no school should have to make the choice to end a curriculum like math mid-year, without preparation or prior warning.

If, as the Chancellor and the Mayor insist, cuts must be made, they should not come from the classroom and force schools to make decisions like this one.
Perhaps the cuts could come from the testing budget. It seems that tests are multiplying faster than rabbits; kids as young as kindergarten are now being tested. Perhaps the needed savings can come from the production and administration of school Progress Reports, which are often inaccurate representations of a school.

The pattern is scary. Mid-year crunches are resulting in the loss of teachers and classes, which are the last things that ought to be taken away. If “students” were a budget item, we’d probably be the next to go.

June Workshops: Student Activism 101

2009-05-04T20:42:00.001-04:00

For the past couple of years, the NYC Student Union has ended its year with June workshops in MS. 51 eighth grade classes. In these workshops, we teach the students about the steps to creating change, and how they can adress problems in their school and education system. We also encourage them to join the Student Union next year, when they start high school. We have a had a lot of success in the past, and we have some new ideas for improvement.

This year, we’re also hoping to reach out to more middle schools. If anyone works in, attends, or is a parent in a middle school and you think the school would be interested in having us come, please get in touch with me! You can comment on this post, or email me at toni@taty.org. Thanks!

"Twilight" Comes Too Early

2009-04-02T20:51:00.001-04:00

WARNING: This blog may include spoilers for the Twilight series.

A few weeks ago I was talking to my neighbor, a 10 year-old boy at PS 321 in Brooklyn, and found out that he had just started reading Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. Many of his friends and classmates were doing the same. This surprised me. I knew Twilight had engaged middle- and high-school readers, but I hadn’t realized it had reached a far as fifth-grade boys. And I was more than a little disturbed by this.

I’ve tried to find a non-biased summary of Twilight online, but it doesn’t seem to exist. So the following is my (very biased), but completely accurate, summary: The Twilight series is the story of Bella, a young girl who, in the first two books, falls in love with a vampire (Edward) and a werewolf (Jacob). She then spends the next two books pining over them, threatening to kill herself when one of them leaves her, distancing herself from her friends (so it’s not too hard to say goodbye when she finally becomes a vampire herself to join Edward), jumping off cliffs (to “hear Edward’s voice” getting mad at her), and purposely endangering herself so she will be rescued by these supernatural non-men.

"Despite all its modern accoutrements, the girls of Twilight are still girly girls, and the boys are traditional manly men. More specifically: The boys are muscular and unwaveringly brave, while the girls bake cookies, make supper for the men and hold all-female slumber parties. It gets worse for feminists: Bella is regularly threatened with violence in the first three books, and in every instance she is rescued by Edward or Jacob. In the third book she describes herself as ‘helpless and delicious.'"

Is that how we want young girls defining themselves? This is 2009: What about capable and strong? The Twilight books indicate that being “helpless and delicious” are attractive and desirable qualities. And are these hunky netherworld types the role models for young boys to follow? The young men in Twilight are all head over heels for Bella Swan.

Beth Handman, PS 321’s assistant principal, says, “It is a perennial problem in elementary schools that children who are sophisticated readers end up with books laden with concepts that are beyond their emotional development. Young children can be very vulnerable to messages in literature. It would be best if children could wait until they were older to read these kinds of books.”

If that means they’re reading books like Twilight, parents and teachers should be familiar with the content and engage them in conversations on the messages and morals. Better yet, read it yourself — and decide whether it’s right for your child.

NY2NO: Solidarity Not Charity

2009-03-19T18:27:00.001-04:00

Over February break I was down in New Orleans with a group called the New York to New Orleans Coalition. As a student activist and a true believer in the strength of youth, it was the most inspiring experience of my life.

A little background on the organization: after Hurricane Katrina, Beacon High School brought group of students to New Orleans to work on reconstruction. After a year or so, Beacon stopped organizing these trips, but a few kids knew there was still work to do. So they started their own non-profit and began taking kids down themselves on every school vacation and every week of the summer. More than 100 students applied to go on their trip next month. Half had to be turned away because they could not be accommodated.

NY2NO is a completely student-led organization, started by kids who are now seniors at Beacon. Their vision is “to create a network of young people who are interested in organizing and mobilizing across New York City. NY2NO works in solidarity with those most affected by the social, racial, and economic inequalities in both New York and New Orleans. Through this, the youth breaks down barriers and works together to combat racism and classism and move towards an egalitarian society.” Despite the idealistic connotation of the word “egalitarian,” the organizers of NY2NO are practical, forward-thinking, active, thoughtful, and above all passionate.

NY2NO’s work in New Orleans is unique in a couple of ways. They go to rebuild, and to be part of a larger movement against racism. The week begins with a levee tour, where I learned that the levees of the Lower Ninth Ward are like ant hills compared to those of the French Quarter. The rest of the week is spent doing work in the Lower Ninth Ward, which still bears wounds from the storm. Mornings are spent on physical work, like gutting houses (yes, three years later, houses still need gutting) and working on community gardens (there is one supermarket, which is more of a deli, in the whole Lower Ninth). Afternoons are spent going door-to-door asking people about what they need, what their community needs, and just generally talking to the residents. Many people find themselves in two-hour conversations that end in tears on both sides.

Forget New Orleans’ stereotyped reputation: NY2NO trips are not about a bunch of teenagers hitting up the music and clubs on Bourbon St. My group spent every night talking about the best ways to combat racism, the idea of “solidarity not charity”, the emotions that were coming up from the day’s work, and the dynamics of our group as a reflection of society. We talked about how NY2NO could be more effective as an organization, how the environmental and education problems of New Orleans were present in New York City, and a million more things. Our trip quote was “If you have come to help me then you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is tied up with mine, then let us work together.” We kept this idea at the heart of all the work we did and conversations we had. After the occasional tears and frustration, I always felt a renewed faith in my generation, as did everyone else I talked to.

The trip brings out the best in everyone: We built real friendships, relationships that challenged our intellects and made us consider how de facto segregation is enforced our society. A month later, I’m still getting a new Facebook message every few minutes from someone on the trip. NY2NO was a life-changing and unforgettable experience. If any readers are in high or school or have children in high school, I give this trip my highest recommendation.

BUDGET CUTS RALLY THURSDAY

2009-03-03T23:50:00.005-05:00

CALLING ALL STUDENTS, STAFF, AND ANYONE WHO CARES ABOUT EDUCATION OR THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY!

This Thursday, March 5, 2009, the United Federation of Teacher's is organizing a rally against the budget cuts. It will take place at 4 pm in front of City Hall. These cuts are coming fast and furious-- we must save our schools!

If we are silent, they will forget about us.

We, the students, must speak loudly and make sure we are not tossed aside in this failing economy.

Hope to see you there!

To get to city Hall:
2/3 to Park Place
A/C to Broadway Nassau
J/M to Fulton st
R/W to City Hall
4/5/6 to Brooklyn Bridge or Fulton st.

PS. Find it on facebook! (Rally at City Hall Against Budget Cuts)

Snow Day!!!

2009-03-02T20:23:00.003-05:00

I as well as NYC Student Union and every student in NYC public schools I am sure would like to thank Chancellor Klein on closing schools due to the snow storm. It has always been, still remains, and will always be the news every student hopes to hear upon waking up after a snow storm. Thanks for making our hope a reality although we all still love school. And I hope you will listen to students pleas for years to come. Thanks Chancellor Klein!

Thanks for Coming!

2009-03-02T19:28:00.003-05:00

As a member of the NYC Student Union I would like to thank everyone on behalf of the NYC Student Union that attended the first NYC Student Government Forum this past Thursday, Feb 26, at the UFT building. We were thrilled to see all of you there and hope you will join us on our weekly Monday meetings at the UFT building at 50 Broadway on the second floor at 5pm.

The event was hosted as the first step to our grand vision: to have a city-wide student government where anyone is welcome to tackle student issues across the city and a collective group that effectively voices student concerns. The successful Student Government forum has given us further hope that this dream will soon become a reality. Various schools throughout NYC were invited to the event. It was an opportunity for students and faculty from various school governments to meet. The forum was meant to create, improve and connect student governments across the city through collaborative discussion and planning and we certainly did that!

I was especially glad to see that everyone was so eager and excited to communicate with students from student governments in other schools. Our goal was to provide students in small and growing student governments a chance to interact and find out what works for students in similar situations. We were often behind in our schedule because everyone was so eager to share their experiences, ideas, and comments. Later we divided the group by school size so they could further discuss issues that concern schools of their size and how student government should address them. Since I am from a large school, Brooklyn Tech, my group determined that communication among our behemoth schools is a top concern and had many ideas on how to combat this obstacle.

NYC Student Union will be a bridge between the many schools that attended this event and help them to continue communicating among each other throughout the year. We also plan on hosting another forum in the Spring. As for now, please come to our meetings on Mondays at 5pm and don't worry, it's not a huge commitment and you may come whenever you have the time to. We hope to see you there because it is only as a large, unifed voice that our student concerns will be heard!

Come One, Come All!

2009-02-08T22:06:00.002-05:00

The NYCSU is currently busy promoting our latest project: The NYC Student Government Meeting. It is on Thursday February 26, 2009 at 5:00pm at 52 Broadway between Exchange and Morris.

Please join our Facebook group " New York City Student Government Meeting" and reserve if you will attend.

Below is our project description from our Facebook group:

The New York City Student Union is starting the Student Government Project. This project was developed to help create and improve student governments in high schools around the city. On Thursday, February 26th we are launching this project with a forum to develop connections between existing student governments and collaboratively create a basis of what a successful student government is and how it is run in different institutions. We are also hoping to help establish student governments in schools where they do not already exist. Students in schools with successful student governments will share their experiences and give suggestions to students trying to start their own.

Please spread the word. IT WILL BE FUN!!! (and informative) Bring your friends! Bring your student advisers! Bring your school student government members!

Sitting out the SATs pt. 2

2009-02-02T22:48:00.000-05:00

Things have developed. I am now not only skipping SAT prep, I’m skipping the SATs completely in favor of the ACTs. For East coast schools, the ACTs are less common and therefore less trusted than the SATs. However, almost every college in the country will accept the ACTs in place of the SATs. Neither one is a “better” test. However, many people who find themselves struggling with the SATs score extremely high on the ACTs.

The ACT is only around three hours long, as oppose to the six-hour SAT. This is an advantage for those who have trouble focusing for a long time. The ACT is also divided by subject and does not jump back and forth like the SAT, a plus for people who have trouble rapidly switching between the writing, reading and math sections. The ACT also includes a science section, but you do not need a lot of outside science information. It mainly tests your ability to interpret graphs and tables and apply given information to specific scenarios.

The math section of the ACT is not necesarily harder or easier than the SAT, but it is different. For the SATs, the key to doing well on the math section is familiarizing yourself with the wording of the test, the tricks they use against you and the strategies you can use to decipher their questions. The ACTs, on the other hand, really measure your knowledge and learning of math without trying to mess you up. ACT math questions sound more like questions your teacher might give, and you can answer them by thinking of topics you learned in school, rather than strategies you learned in a test prep class.

The reading section of the ACT is very similar to the SAT, though most people seem to find it easier. There is also an optional writing section, but it is recommended (and required by many colleges) that you take it.

Clearly I am bias because I scored much higher on the ACT than the SAT, but everyone is different. I would just like to remind any fellow SAT-strugglers out there that you have another option. The best thing to do is take both practice tests, and see which one you do better on. (Since the scores are not measured in the same way, it’s hard to do a direct comparison. To determine which one you scored higher on, you can check the ACT and SAT requirements of colleges you are interested in and see which required test score you come closer to). Good luck!

On with Obamarama

2009-01-08T19:04:00.002-05:00

The inauguration is almost here! For the first time ever, the DOE has made an arrangement with ABC news to have live streaming of the inauguration onto public school computers. I asked my sixth period teacher today if we could watch the swearing in during her class, expecting her to smile and shake her head, and she didn’t even blink before responding with an enthusiastic “of course!” In elementary school PS 321, all third through fifth graders are crowding into classrooms on the 20th to stare at TVs, a highly unusual practice for this school.

Obama’s election is a historic moment for a million and one reasons. But one of the most exciting things for me has been passion and action that Obama has inspired in the youth of this country, and I’m thrilled to see the DOE and public school educators embracing this new energy. Teenagers are known to be fairly apathetic, and anyone younger is generally considered too uninformed to be labeled at all. But this really has changed over the past couple months. I’m praying that this energy will hold after January 20th, and I’m applauding the DOE on their work to make the inauguration so accesible to students

I Got People

2009-01-05T00:53:00.003-05:00

Ahh the college application process. Something every 12th grade student looks forward to, right? Unfortunately, too many students dread this process. They hate writing all those essays, keeping track of all those deadlines, and making sure every college they applied to receives everything they require. But thats the easy part. The real hard part is selecting the right colleges for you.

Us seniors run to our parents, our guidance counselors, our friends, websites, and our school college counselor to get the inside scoop on a college. But often, as with many other things, we forget to consult our teachers. Us students forget that our teachers are there for us and want to help us in whatever way they can - that's why they choose their profession. They want to help us select our colleges as well as write our college recommendations.

Some of the best college advice I have gotten were from my teachers. And I was surprised to find out that a few of my teachers went to colleges that I applied to! I sat down with a few of my teachers and it was great getting an alumni's opinion on their college. So ask your teacher, you might be surprised by where they went to college. Regardless, teachers see seniors go through this process every year and may have some very helpful tips!

Remember, teachers are there for you and can always be used for guidance and advice as well as academics. Teachers do a lot for their students. And on that note, I would like to share this link. It's about the NYC Thank a Teacher Campaign. Check it out!

http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/mediarelations/NewsandSpeeches/2008-2009/20081210_thank_teacher.htm

Launching!

2008-12-26T16:26:00.001-05:00

Calling all students, teachers and administrators:

On the evening of Thursday, February 12th we are launching our citywide Student Government Project. This is an evening for students, teachers and administrators from public schools to come learn about organizing and implementing effective student governments in their schools. It is also a day to begin communication between student governments and between the NYC Student Union and governments. During the meeting, we will collaborate on revising the Student Union’s student governmet model and help create plans for improving or implementing succesfull student governments in different types of schools. Participants in schools with successful student governments will share their experiences and give suggestions to students trying to start their own. Students, teachers and administrators will leave with helpful ideas, plans, tools and support for the improvement or creation of student governments in their schools.

The meeting will be held at 5:00 at the UFT Building (50 Broadway between Exchange and Morris). For directions, check www.nycstudents.org. If you have any questions email Emily: emily.connuck@gmail.com, Darien: alacran11@gmail.com or myself: tonii26@yahoo.com

I will also try to post a flyer as soon as possible.

Happy Holidays to all!

Pennies for Peace

2008-12-08T23:49:00.000-05:00

Pennies For Peace (http://www.penniesforpeace.org/home.html) is a fundraising campaign run by Greg Mortenson, co-founder of the Central Asia Institute. Mortensen sees education as the main road to world peace, cross-cultural understanding and the overall improvement of our global community. I think it’s a project that all schools could and should be participating in, as a way to engage their students in politics and international issues while supporting a good cause.

Students are asked to contribute only pennies — no nickels, dimes, quarters, or dollars — so everyone can find a way to participate. The pennies go toward schools being built in Pakistan and Afghanistan, a project Mortensen describes in his book Three Cups of Tea. On the group’s website, Mortenson writes that “Pennies for Peace teaches children the rewards of sharing and working together to bring hope and educational opportunities to children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. A penny in the United States is virtually worthless, but in Pakistan and Afghanistan a penny buys a pencil and opens the door to literacy.”

It’s too easy, in this city of plenty, to walk past a penny in the street. To make your pennies count and start Pennies for Peace in your school, visit their website.

http://www.penniesforpeace.org/home.html

I Didn't Read the Book, But I Saw the Movie...

2008-12-07T22:39:00.003-05:00

I am not a reader by any means. I read very rarely and most of the books I've read in recent times have been forced upon me by the school (not to say they were not good.) And I never really considered it a crime against humanity, until my mother gave a me a big long speech about it. Quite frankly, though she did express a few excellent points, it seemed to me that the main reason she felt me reading more literature would be beneficial is because it's always expressed that way. In the media we have our typical smart guy who always has his nose in the books, or the nerd bookworm who had a terrible time at school but became famously successful for learning so much through reading. In general, I feel that everyone seems to think that books are just a very distinctly intellectual symbol and I don't understand it.

Now, she did bring about many good points like; reading excels your vocabulary and makes you think about new things, it gives information and so on and so forth. But I found that all those things could also be done through movies and the internet. And I've gotten a lot of grief for saying that, and I haven't heard an argument that convinces me other wise.

So I don't know, I just feel like cinema and the web are looked at as humans wasting there time and killing their brains, when books and reading are "obviously" making you smarter.

Other Options Day

2008-12-01T20:47:00.000-05:00

The NYC Student Union is launching a new project called “Other Options Day.” This is an educational day for all high school students to learn about options after high school if they can’t – or think they can’t – go to college. In many high schools with high levels of military recruitment students are led to believe that there are no good alternatives to joining the military. While this is not an anti-military project, our goal is to show people that there are other options.
Our plan is to have booths from community colleges, jobs that don’t require college degrees, volunteer and intership opportunities, places like AmeriCorps, career counselors and anyone or anything else that seems appropriate.
This plan is in its preliminary stages, and we’re looking for more connections. If anyone is aware of or in touch with a person or group who would have a booth or assist us in another way, I’d love to hear about it. Also, if anyone spends a lot of time in schools and would be able to advertise this day to students, that would be great. My email is toni@taty.org. Thank you in advance, and I’ll keep the updates coming.

Don't Part With Art

2008-11-12T20:27:00.000-05:00

Last week I discovered that a friend of mine lives alone in an apartment in midtown Manhattan (at age 16) while the rest of her family lives in Pennsylvania. She gets along well with her mother and sister and misses them a lot, so I wondered why she wasn’t living with them. Her answer was totally unexpected: She wanted to stay at our high school, LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Performing Arts.

Wow.

In a constantly trashed (usually with good reason) public high school system, why would a public high school cause a 16-year-old to live by herself, miles away from her family? Well, this answer was less unexpected: Acting. My friend is a drama major and her passion for acting wouldn’t allow her to pass up the opportunities that LaGuardia offers. Hearing that definitely made me even more worried that arts education will be threatened by ever-increasing budget cuts. The one thing that inspires so much passion from students is the one thing constantly being taken away.

I see students working harder in their studios at LaGuardia than any other subject of school or life. Students stay until 11:00 at night rehearsing for the musical, putting together an art gallery, working out a jazz arrangement to a piece they composed or choreographing a dance for the talent show. And it’s not just the classic high-achievers who stay late. In fact, the studios at my school do an unbelievable job of uniting students with different grades and attitudes toward school, as well as different races and places in life.

Education activists, teachers, and parents often wonder how they can deal with students who are apathetic towards school and learning. I know for a fact that many kids at my school get up each day mostly for their studio classes. The arts put failing students in center stage and allow them to achieve beyond anything expected of them in any of their classes. Students who struggle in math put their passion into music, drama, dance, visual arts, whatever it is- and find that, as our country just discovered (!!!), yes, they can.

Jumping On the Bandwagon

2008-10-30T22:23:00.002-04:00

I, unlike every other education-related activist I've met, have never been against standardized testing. I know that standardized tests do not measure one's entire brain-bank, but the results tend to correlate strongly with academic ability in other venues. Standardized tests offer a brief run-through of performance under pressure and material we've been acquainted with, making sure that every student is introduced to what the Department of Education, and ultimately society, deems as vital.

That said, I've changed my opinion. About two weeks ago, I visited Amherst College and sat in on two classes. What made the first impression on me was the way the professors lectured. Much of the lecture and discussion was spent going over background and contextual topics, as opposed to sticking to the title-topics (in this case Utopia/Dystopia and Lies & Secrets). I also sat in on some classes at Harvard last year, and wondered why an english professor was giving an entire historical account of one neighborhood in London where part of the class' novel was set. I come from a school that is heavy on Regents preparation, so this was a huge contrast. In the world of Regents and SATs, facts are listed, equations memorized, and answers are always either right or wrong.

The problem with this is that in the real world, things are rarely black and white. In fact, even as standardized tests get closer to the real world, things get less black and white. I am currently taking AP U.S. History, and in the first month of class, the same teacher who taught me Regents U.S. History dispelled everything I knew about the formation of this country, saying it was just Regents stuff. So now I am learning AP stuff and if I find a more advanced test, I may have to forget what I've learned. With each test, there is a different level of historical context discussed, leading me to believe in the 9th grade, that the American Revolution was the result of only three factors. In theory, it makes sense that the lower-grade the test, the less context given in class. But consider that when I am done with AP U.S., I will have a completely different understanding of the same history (including a different set of "facts") than my classmates who did not take AP U.S. We will have different "right" answers to the same questions. Blind eyes can see that at least one of us is being cheated.

In fact, we are both being cheated. We should not be trained to look for one right answer or the "answer choice of the best fit." Robbing us of a multidimensional perspective, that history of a London neighborhood, causes us to arrive at incomplete and often dead-wrong conclusions about the characters in that London neighborhood. By doing this, standardized tests are actually miseducating us. It is often said that standardized tests are an insufficient measure of academic ability. Insuffiency is the lesser issue at hand; they are actually forcing our minds onto a seriously flawed track, thus seriously flawing our minds. No, I don't think we need to be lounging under apple trees listening to a teacher muse on the thousands of ways to answer a question. I do think we should be taught to think critically and consider the context and background of any given topic. Emphasis on standardized testing first of all consumes necessary teaching time, and secondly and most importantly robs students of our ability to think openly and critically.

Save The Best For Last

2008-10-14T19:37:00.001-04:00

Last year, I fell in love with "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. I was deeply moved by the language, the story, the vividness and the warmth of the characters. It wasn’t my first time reading it. In sixth grade I was assigned the book for school, and I found it rather difficult to get through. Rereading it in 10th grade I wondered briefly why I hadn’t appreciated the story before. But the answer was obvious to me. I had just been too young.

I believe there are best times to read certain books. Just because you can read a book, doesn’t mean you should. Books can be understood on many levels, but great books, classic books, should be deeply appreciated. Sixth graders can read Huckleberry Finn, Little Women and Of Mice and Men and “get” it, but these are great books we’re talking about. Books that should be cherished. Over and over again I heard my classmates in middle school (and I don’t exclude myself) complaining about the dullness of supposed “classics” and wondering why on earth their parents and grandparents exclaimed fervently over them. Indeed, my seventh grade English grade dropped 6 points in one semester because I failed the pop quiz on Huckleberry Finn since I couldn’t bring myself to read another page. When I reread it as a Junior I absolutely adored it.

Beth Handman, assistant principal of elementary school P.S.321 in Brooklyn says, “I hate to see the best books in the world go to waste. When I see my favorite series, like the Narnia series, in the hands of a first grader I cringe. That same first grader will read it in first grade and say ‘Oh! Aslan is a lion!’ That really happened, you know.”

What’s the rush to shove these books as kids? Are schools trying to prove that they’re more sophisticated by assigning more sophisticated books to students? Just wait a couple years... Please! It will make all the difference.

Why Can't We Be Friends?

2008-10-07T17:09:00.001-04:00

This afternoon Emily of NYCSU told me about a program called the Borough Students Advisory Council (BSAC). It is a DOE run program in which every single school in Manhattan is invited to send two students. The students attend monthly meetings with each other and higher powers. The idea is to unite students from across the borough and discuss issues in their schools. It sounds ideal, right? It’s a chance to bring together students and give them access to unbelievable resources, connections with the DOE, contact information for every school and a place to meet every month.

Interestingly enough, their mission is almost identical with ours at the NYC Student Union- the only completely student-run group working toward a collective voice of change in the public education system. So my question is this: why have we never heard of BSAC? And why, when every school in the borough was invited to send representatives, are there only about 12 schools represented in the program? If Chancellor Klein and Mayor Bloomberg are serious about student involvement, I think they could do a lot better than that.

Every week we meet as a student union and we are constantly frustrated by our limitations: lack of communication with the people in charge and lack of communication with more students around the city (two things that BSAC could offer). And now, as I am discovering, there is also a serious lack of communication between different education activist groups. We are working in isolation for the same cause.

We proposed a couple of things today. The first one was a day where all education activists could get together and present their organization or cause. The second one was a wiki page for educational activists- allowing everyone to search for other groups that could work with them on projects, etc. We also considered the idea of using LinkedIn to
connect all the people in this education world- allowing us to share events and ideas.

In the past week alone I have heard of two or three organizations with goals closely aligned with ours in the student union. We are trying to reach out to them- today two representatives from icope came to our meeting and it was incredibly inspiring to talk to them. We are constantly impressed by the work of other groups trying to better our schools- and yet we rarely find the opportunity to collaborate them. So contact us! students@lists.nycstudents.org. Imagine someday all of us education activists will meet together and our concerns will live as one.

Ok sorry.. that was really corny.. I had to say it.

Is It Possible?

2008-09-27T12:40:00.003-04:00

The debate that's been around for so many years: should NYC schools be closed for Muslim holidays? As a Muslim myself, this debate has very real implications for me. We Muslims face this dilemma every year: should we go to school or should we skip a day to celebrate our holiday? It is often not a big issue to miss one day of school but for some reason we get unlucky with the day the holidays, Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha, fall on. I always seem to have them on the day of a test or some big project. A friend of mine in middle school would go to school because he didn't want to mess up his prefect attendance record, a matter of pride for some students.

Muslims make up 10% of students in NYC, or over 110,000 students. Such a big population of students should get recognition for their holidays, especially when their religion is the second largest in the world and America. And something is finally being done about this issue.

On Friday, the [City Council] will debate a resolution urging the state Legislature to pass a law declaring the Muslim holidays of Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha to be observed holidays in the city's public school system.
According to the resolution's sponsor, Council Member Robert Jackson, of Manhattan, the issue is a matter of fairness...( Benjamin Sarlin, The Sun)

It is intriguing to see that something is finally being done to try to give students the day off. The problem though comes from two directions; the Muslim calendar follows the Lunar calender so there so no 100% garantee that the predicted day of the holidays are accurate (though with modern technology it most likely is) and two more holiday days off means a longer school year. I personally have simply missed school for the holidays and have caught up with work missed later but it would be nice for the Muslim religion to get the recognition. And I am sure my friend from middle school would appreciate being able to finally celebrate the holidays.

Dreams From My Classroom

2008-09-24T21:25:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday my parents and I were in Pennsylvania canvassing for Barack Obama. As my mother said, "it's funny how you drive two hours away and suddenly you're in America." Indeed, the population of Frankford, Philadelphia caused us to breathe a sigh of relief when we passed the border coming back into Brooklyn. And yet it was one of the most interesting and educational experiences of my life. It definitely made me think that in the months leading up to this pivotal election, the high schools should be focusing on our two candidates. I can't think of anything more valuable to teach teenagers, who will be voting in the next election, then involvement and awareness during election years.

In my elementary school, P.S.321, fourth and fifth graders are currently involved in an intensive election study. Every four years, teachers take two months to abandon all traditional revolutionary war/civil war curriculum in order to get the kids to understand our country's political systems. The students are running as candidates, choosing vice-presidents and discussing practical solutions to their own school problems.

If elementary school students can have such inspiring yet informative political educations, I can only imagine the ways in which a high school staff could involve their students in the elections. For the first time in my life, myself and my peers are really following and caring about our future president. But I notice that whenever our class discussions move in a potentially heated political direction, teachers flash the lights and remind us of our aim for the day (what cash crop saved Jamestown during the early colonial period of American History?)

So I would like to encourage high school staff members to embrace the interest that their students are taking in the coming elections. Encourage discussion and most of all activism. What more could you want to teach your students than citizenship and political involvement at crucial moments in history?

Effects of the Budget Cut

2008-09-15T06:36:00.002-04:00

We fought it. Our parents fought it. Our schools fought it. But there was no stopping this menacing monster that charged at us, almost taking us off guard. The monster that would not go away - the budget cuts in NYC public schools.

The news of the DOE budget cuts last spring was met with uproar. After all, this is our future. But as more and more was slowly learned about the reasons behind the cuts, we began to understand. Tax revenues in NYC has significantly gone down and Mayor Bloomberg had to make the tough decision to cut $58.5 billion from the budget of all city agencies. The DOE experienced a $180 million budget cut, with other crucial city services experiencing massive cuts as well (the NYPD had $33.8 million budget cut). The figures seem astronomical and of course everything can be traced back to Washington and how poor our economy is doing.

Though the budget cuts were understandable, the actual amount of money cut was not. Every single public school in NYC saw a percantage cut in their budget. And of course when we found out the actual amounts, we protested again but in vain.

Now how exactly has the budget cuts affected us students in NYC public schools?

Personally, I could not take two AP classes I wished to take this year. My school, Brooklyn Technical High School, saw a cut of nearly one million dollars! We are known as one of the prestigios schools in NYC offering our students courses and materials they would not be found in most other schools. And that promise is what had to get cut off. My school had to make the decision to cut many AP and advanced classes, or the number of classes offered, to be able to offer even the fundamental classes. For now, most schools are surviving by employing similar methods. My brother's school, Beacon High School, now offers only two math classes to seniors with 40 students in each class! Obviously, the effects are huge.

But what message is our city, and Washington, sending us? Have times gotten so bad that the strongest nation in the world is no longer be able to invest in its future? Grants, donations, and other supplements can only offset so much of the cut. They cannot possibly allow schools to function at the normal level now so what will we do next year when the DOE budget cuts will rise to $324 million?

The Importance of Good Literature

2008-09-07T21:27:00.005-04:00

As the summer comes to a close and we begin the school year, many students are receiving their first reading assignments for English class. Some students will be reading the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn this year, others will read Of Mice and Men, and some will read To Kill a Mockingbird. What do these books have in common? Besides all being great works of American literature, they are three of a HUGE number of books that Sarah Palin tried to have banned from the public library in Wasilla, Alaska. The full list can be found here.

Now any person who reads the newspaper can tell you that the education system under the Bush administration has failed. So one of the top priorities of the next administration should be getting the education system back on track. The GOP's idea for this is to increase testing more and more. But tell me, how do you expect reading scores to go up when you ban literature that provides the very best usage of the English language for students. Granted she can't ban these books from public schools, but by attempting to ban them from libraries she is denying kids the opportunity to read these books for pleasure without paying for them.

And if you need any more proof that she's a crazy person, look at the second to last book on that list. It's the dictionary.

Edit: Turns out the person circulating this was not being entirely truthful. My bad. It's just a list of books republicans commonly want banned. Still, anyone who endorses a political philosophy that would have any books banned has issues.

Fighting the Test Prep Culture

2008-05-12T22:34:00.000-04:00

I've been tossing around this idea for a while now as I've been finishing up the final classes of my senior year. It's a little out there, so please stay with me till the end.

The test prep culture in our schools is bad and widespread. It detracts from learning. It pervades all of our classes. It impedes good relationships between students and teachers. How do we rid ourselves of this beast? Well, my answer, and I know it is kind of out there is this: Legitimize It!

What do you mean, Seth? That's ridiculous! Why would we legitimize something that we wanted to get rid of.

What I am suggesting here is that we legitimize testing by recognizing that for primary and secondary education students it is important to know how to take a test and how to take it well.

Standardized tests in 4th and 7th grade are sometimes the only way to distinguish among such a large and diverse field of candidates in middle and high school admissions. And the SAT and ACT tests are the current standard for college admissions (barring certain really amazing liberal arts schools.)

Right now, the social divide between people with college educations and those without is growing, and in today's world, you're going to have to take some tests in order to get that seemingly magical degree.

Thus, the ability to take a test is quite a valuable one. So why not create a class to teach that skill?

Testing Class, as I will call it, by its very nature would be a process (instead of content) based learning class, something we need more of in our schools. It would teach students how to approach many problems and issues. It would also be more helpful in preparing them for standardized tests, by focusing on specific skills rather than today's tactic of vaguely tying it into other subjects, which just confuses students as to what they're supposed to be concentrating on. This aspect of the class could also hopefully improve equality by giving students who can't afford pricey test prep services these helpful skills.

But the most important part of Testing Class, will be that it will alleviate the need for test prep in academic subjects. Academic teachers will then be able to focus more on other skills, such as writing, approaching a document, understanding complex conceptual ideas, and creative projects.

Just an idea...

Limbo

2008-05-06T21:15:00.003-04:00

What a frusterating time for education. I haven't blogged in quite a while. The truth is, I haven't known what to say.
Klein and Bloomberg are still promising budget cuts, but they won't release the budget. Principals wait in fear, but have no idea what's coming to them. Teacher's salary has gone up, but its unclear whether or not that's accounted for in the new budget. We protested and fussed, but now we don't know who to yell at or what we're even yelling about. I keep finding myself asking, "so whats going on with the budget?" and no one seems to know.

But keep the pressure on. Klein and Bloomberg have decided to be secretive, so we have to be loud. Until the budget is released, and even after, we can't let them forget about us. Don't give up the fight!

For all high school students, NYCSU is organizing a citywide petition against cuts. If you're a high school student interested in helping, please reply to this post.

A Return to your (and my) regularly scheduled programing

2008-04-17T17:46:00.003-04:00

In the time since my last post (I've been away on theatrical business), a lot has happened. My favorite candidate, John Edwards, dropped out of the presidential race. We all learned that Elliot Spitzer was a giant fraud. My boys the Boston Red Sox got their rings.

But while I was away, I also did a little reading of a very sad story. 17 of this country's 50 largest cities have dropout rates over 50%. Whatever happened to No Child Left Behind? The national dropout rate is around 30%. That's not even in the ballpark of where we need to be. And the fact of the matter is, the NCLB Act isn't the real problem. The people enforcing it are.

National standards will never work if you don't have national enforcement. Right now, our federal government says that all states must create a standard which their students must meet. That means that states are creating education tools out of their budget, which is limited to begin with. We need more federal funding and federal enforced testing if we want to make national standards work. If not, get rid of them.

Massive

2008-03-24T19:07:00.000-04:00

That's probably the only word I can use to describe last week's protest: Massive.

Students, teachers, parents and administrators lined Broadway right next door to City Hall and the DOE, temporarily creating a new branch of our education system, one that was based on the needs and concerns of the real constituents of our community instead of the impractical ideas of the Klein-Bloomberg complex.

We called for a restoration of the City's education budget, with signs reading, "Don't Cut the Future Out of Your Budget!", "Budget Cuts are Nuts," and "It's our Budget, Don't Fudge it!"

We called for a refocusing of our educational priorities: a shift from tests and worksheets, consultants and computer systems to project based learning and rebuilding the relationships between teachers and students around our City.

Most of all, we called for respect.

We brought out the numbers, guys! Take heed!

In my time as a student activist, I have never seen so many students up in arms, taking to the streets. The NYC Student Union alone brought out over 500 students, thanks to the online organizing of freshman Rebecca Morofsky of Brooklyn (special shout out to her for a great job).

Students realize the direct impact these cuts are making on our schools and on our lives. We feel the powerful disrespect when the Government fails to recognize that the future is at stake here. We have spoken.

Hooray for Global Conflict Awareness Day

2008-03-19T00:04:00.001-04:00

On Friday at LaGuardia Arts High School, the social action club had a display/presentations for all students to attend. Some teachers brought their students, other individuals went during lunch or a free period. While I am generally skeptical of events like this, I was really impressed with the display, and the general knowledge of the students. Not only that, I left knowing what I could DO to help.

This is so, so crucial. Each station not only discussed a specific issue, they gave ideas on how to help. Sometimes it was writing letters to ambassadors, sometimes it was donating to certain causes. For the New Orleans station, we were given the opportunity to sign up to go down and help this summer.

I would like to compliment the work of the social action club. Awareness is great. But ACTION is even better.

Budget Cut Protests THIS WEDNESDAY!!!

2008-03-17T00:22:00.008-04:00

All students, parents, teachers, and everyone else:
Please come THIS WEDNESDAY, March 19, at 4 PM for a big rally opposite City Hall to protest the budget cuts to school; cosponsored by lots of education groups, including Class Size Matters.

Go to the above link for a copy of a flyer to distribute around your school and around the city.

As though the recent budget cuts weren't bad enough, there are proposals for further cuts starting next year. The priorities of our city and country are completely twisted- we need to show that education should and not and will not be forgotten.

See you there!

Counting All Students!

2008-03-10T22:59:00.000-04:00

As a member of the New York City Student Union, I feel that we represent not only the general body of students in the public education system but also those with special needs. When we consider reducing class size and other changes in the classroom we must not forget to incorporate students requiring special needs services. It is difficult to group students with special needs in one category because there are so many different needs. Once program that works with students with disabilities is the Collaborative Team Teaching or CTT. How is a child identified as a CTT student?

When a student enters the New York City Public Education system, identified as having difficulties starting off their education, they are given extra help, and if the difficulty persists, referrals are made for special education services. A psychologist would test the student and if it is determined that a student needs services (ex. Speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, or special classes) they will receive an IEP, which identifies exactly what their special needs may be. After receiving an IEP they would still be programmed for a CTT class which includes a general education teacher and a special educator.

“If a student continues to require more support after trying the services mentioned above, the next step on the continuum of services is called CTT.” This is where there are two full time teachers, a regular education teacher and a special education teacher where children with disabilities are in the same room with students without disabilities.

I Condemn the Weighted Regents Pass Rate and Everything it Stands For

2008-03-10T00:48:00.001-04:00

Plainly stated, the Weighted Regents Pass Rate sucks. For those of you who don't know, the WRPR is an assessment of a school's performance based on students regents test scores.

As you can probably guess, the Regents Pass Rate part stands for: What percentage of students pass their regents? I guess that one's okay. If your being taught well, you would likely be able to pass a regents test, (except for Math B, I know many kids who've scored in the top 5% on the SAT's and have had to take Math B two or even three times).

Then comes the "Weighted" part. That's where it gets tricky.

See, because of that little weighted part schools are given extra points for getting kids to take their regents earlier or achieving "mastery", scoring and 85% or above. This little tiny eensy-weensy "weighted" part, now puts the whole test prep culture that is so darn prevalent in our schools on STEROIDS. It is now become the SUPER DUPER AWESOME PUMPED UP EXCELLENT-TASTIC TEST PREP CULTURE.

See, because of that SUPER DUPER AWESOME PUMPED UP EXCELLENT-TASTIC TEST PREP CULTURE a lot of students' lives get kind of messed up.

I have a friend who passed her Math B in eighth grade based on the rock solid well oiled test prep curriculum at her middle school. She then came to high school, got dumped into pre-calculus, didn't know any of the material, struggled and even failed her first two years of math, and eventually had to be put in classes that were prerequisite for a test she'd already passed. This made her look kinda bad on her college apps and messed with her self-esteem.

So, while the school got points for having a student take the Math B so early, the student suffered.

In my discussions with the DOE regarding the NYC Student Union's positions regarding the Progress Reports, I have consistently argued that the Weighted Regents Pass Rate needs to be cut down or removed. Their reply has been that it is the only measure of "longitudinal growth."

Regents aren't supposed to measure any "longitudinal growth." This growth they speak of has more to do with the day's weather, test-taking skills, and student anxiety than it does with the quality of teaching and learning that goes on in the school.

Regents are there to make sure that teachers are teacher their students and students are attempting to learn the subject matter at hand, to hold standards. That's it. Maybe its okay to look at them for achievement when an individual student come to college admissions for CUNY and SUNY, but when it comes to measuring a school's success, a Regents Pass Rate will do.

Turn The Funds Around

2008-03-03T21:25:00.004-05:00

The other day in Global class we were dicussing the recent bugdet cuts for our schools. Because we were studying communism in China my teacher asked, "what would Mao do?" In his opinion, Mao would take the arts out of my school (LaGuardia.) Why should I get to go to a performing arts school with an enormous amount of resources when other kids can barely get books in their classrooms? he asked.

This got me thinking. I am not one to underestimate the importance of arts in a school, so this idea was very disturbing to me. I came to the conclusion that what our schools really need is a redistribution of funds. We spend millions of dollars a year paying Princeton Review, McGraw Hill and other companies for our standarized tests and regents. If we cut down on this, massive amounts of money could go towards art in school.

School Quality Reviews also drain education funds enormously. Reviewers are usually outsiders who know very little about our schools. They are paid tons of money to look through files and attempt at an evaluation.

For the last year or so education reporters seem to be repeating the terms "accountability", "transparency" and "cutting extracurriculur activities." It seems like the more "transparent" our schools become the more devestating the image becomes. So maybe its time to take away some money used to judge teachers, students and principals in meaningless ways and give the schools something to show off. (Like the awesome talent show LaGuardia just produced from its remaining money. Talk about school spirit!)

Knicks Poetry Slam

2008-03-02T18:22:00.002-05:00

Zora Howard just won the 2008 NY Knicks Poetry Slam. Zora goes to my school and is a ridiculously sick poet. She really has a different vision on how to approach a poem and bring to performance. Very emotional stuff. Every time I've seen her perform tears abound.

Slow News Month

2008-03-02T18:13:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since some really substantive, interesting edu-news broke. I feel like the budget cuts have really put a lot of the people in our community into a relative crisis mode. It's kind of sad.

This is one of those times when I look up into the vast world of that is the NYC Education system and am utterly terrified. The problems we face are daunting indeed.

Our classes are too big, our schools too segregated. We get way to little funding for the the large size of our student body. We are tested and tested and tested and get too much homework or too little depending on who you talk to.

I don't know how yet. But what we need is a shift in the way we look at our schools and think about education in general.

Bronx Science Students Walk Out!!

2008-02-23T23:21:00.006-05:00

Last week, about 200 Bronx Science kids participated in a walkout to protest some of their principals policies.

Way to go! Let the students be heard!

The protesters are being criticized for being too whiny and complaining about petty issues, such as "no senior trip" or a "strict cutting policy." I don't think 200 Bronx Science students would agree to walk out without good reason. If the students were able to organize a walk out and get themselves on the news, there was obviously enough of an issue to make it happen.

Recently there has been a lot of controversy over the firing of teachers and principals. The mayor and chancellor are trying to make it easier to get educators fired, and there is a proposed board of lawyers, former principals and others to judge who can be fired. In all this drama, no one has mentioned getting students involved in the decision making process. We're the ones who spend every day under the direct influence of our teachers and principals, and we're the ones who the entire education system is meant to benefit. If the students at Bronx Science have gotten it together to speak out, the people in power need to lend them an ear.
Its unfortunate that we have to protest and walk out for people to notice that we have opinions on our schools. But once again, way to go!

The Aftermath

2008-02-22T15:39:00.003-05:00

So the DOE school reports have been out for a while. A lot of discussions have formulated from them. But now what? Of course, every school wants an A for their school grade. But how do we do that? How can the survey conducted by the DOE about the students feelings towards their won college be used for any good? The answer is very little of the survey can be used, if any.

One thing the survey makes very clear is the attidude of students towards their school. Questions like, do you like your teacher?, do you have a role model at school?, and are you happy here?, are more geared towards how the student feels about the school than the eduaction level at the school. At a school like, for example, Brooklyn Tech, it is very hard at a large school to find a mentor or feel like you know everyone. The survey should be tailored towards the school and different ones should be made for different types of school. Also, students should be encouraged to take the survey with an unbiased mind, and consider their whole experience at the school, not just the fact that they failed a hard math test that week.

The DOE student and parent survey used to help rank schools is a great start at improving schools, but the survey has to be more reliable and different surveys should be made geared towards a schools circumstances. Only then can we have a good base to work from.

Taking Action on the Cuts

2008-02-13T18:52:00.001-05:00

On Thursday the 14th of 2008, St. Valentine's Day, NYC's Students are Taking Action.

In response to the City and State's recent education budget cuts, a group called Students Against Budget Cuts has organized a protest on the steps of Tweed Courthouse.

This is no surprise to me. These cuts have sent a shock down the spine of NYC's student body to larger extent than any education issue since the cell phone ban. Students feel betrayed. We feel as though the State and City are disrespecting us and demeaning our status as learners.

These budget cuts are more of a future-cut than anything else. They show a great lack of concern for the urgent welfare of our City's students and in doing so forgetting about the future of our City, our State and our Society

The education investment is one for the years to come. It won't always yield the quickest results but in the long term it is an investment for the future. Through these budget cuts, Spitzer and Bloomberg signaling to NYC Students that no, we are not the future.

So now, you've got us energized, Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Spitzer. Students are protesting. Facebook Groups against the cuts are popping up every day. Petitions are being circulated. At LaGuardia, the Student Government has put together a Budget Cuts committee to coordinate protest efforts and to examine the school's budget and make recommendations about how to respond to the cuts.

Do not take our investment in our learning for apathy. When you wrong us we will fight back. Listen.

Foreign-born Students, Academic Stars

2008-02-11T23:11:00.000-05:00

A study done by New York University has shown that recent immigrant students perform better academically than native students in New York City public schools. Foreign-born students actually succeed more when they start their public school educations in high school as opposed to middle or elementary school. The findings of this study contradict the idea that language and cultural barriers prevent foreign-born students from catching up with their peers. In fact, immigrant students are more likely to graduate when they are supposed to and score higher on math Regents exams. They are also more likely to take the SAT. The Manhattan Bridges High School, which only has recent Hispanic immigrants as students, was rated the best performing high school in the city.

This study has shed a new light on the situation of foreign-born public school students living in the city. Learning a new language and navigating the school system is most certainly not easy, and we must commend these students who not only accept the challenge, but achieve great things along the way.

Yes He Can!

2008-02-10T17:34:00.000-05:00

"I know how hard it is to make sure that we're lifting up our schools. Because it's not just going to involve teachers, not just going to involve administrators- it will involve parents and communities changing our midset about our children." -Barack Obama adressing Virgnia on Saturday Feb. 9th.

Thank you, Barack! Problems in education are not isolated. There is a general failure in the priorities of our city and nation. Now we have a presidential candidate who will get us out of our unbelievably costly war and support better education. It won't work to just fire more teachers, or improve principal accountablity or bribe students to preform better on tests. Unfortunately, we as individuals or groups have trouble tackling the "culture of education" and have to focus on smaller issues. If anyone can "lift up our schools" and bring hope back to a deteriorating system, it's Obama.

Vouchers

2008-02-10T15:28:00.000-05:00

As we come closer and closer to the election, we must realize that not only is the Presidency up for grabs, but the Legislative branch is as well. And while all the candidates (yes, including Mike Huckabee) have at least a few good ideas when it comes to education, we could very well see a conservative congress and senate that wants to press the issue of school vouchers. Not only do school vouchers cost more money, but they won't work, and that's a promise.

The reason private schools are considered "elite" is because they have more resources than other schools. They have high, private funding. They do not teach to standardized test curricula, so they have more opportunity to explore creative ideas. But most importantly, they have limited admission, and thus, small class size. If you put all the public school students into private schools, they will be faced with the same situation as the current system. And we would be forced to pay the tuition.

What students need is not a private school. They need smaller class sizes and more motivation to learn. The sad fact is, many students are getting to a point where they just don't care if they can't see immediate results. In New York City, we are trying various methods to get low income students interested in school again (i.e. Cash for Kids, Cell Phone Incentive). While I do not feel that the way our city is carrying these ideas out is particularly strong, it's a start. More attempts like this will get kids interested, and lowering class size is as simple as just taking the funding away from high stakes testing, and putting it toward opening new schools.

Depression Cheese

2008-02-06T22:13:00.000-05:00

I've been a bit depressed lately. After learning about the new Budget Cuts, I had to begin talking about how to work around the cuts with my school's SLT. It's a scary situation for principals, teachers, students and just about everyone else in our school communities.

Last Monday, Bloomberg proposed a cut of of $324 Million from NYC's education budget. He claimed that he was doing this as a healthy management exercise. He believes that it will force Principal's to examine the effectiveness of their programs and cut out the ones that aren't succeeding. Unfortunately because of the cuts, many Principals are being forced to cut programs that work.

This comes on the heels of a cut by Governor Eliot Spitzer, who claimed he was giving City schools $100 Million less than planned because of the economic problems we have been facing and will continue to face in the coming months.

As much as the Bloomberg-Klein Complex has been proven guilty of shady motives, I think this decision might make some (albeit terrifying) sense. Combine the Spitzer cuts and the threat of recession and you have yourself a sizable cut.

Also, as I've been learning in Economics class, recession is somewhat of a self fulfilling prophecy and by not admitting that that is the real reason for the cuts, Bloomberg is fighting the recession. Maybe I'm giving him to much credit but if the man knows anything, it's money. In addition, his statement about the cuts struck me to be a little phony, like he's hiding something.

Anyway, this leads me to believe that an important part of of the eduactivist's work in the troubling times ahead is to look for solutions that are non-fiscal and maybe even non-political. We need a change in how we look at education issues, as I discussed in my post about The Student's Role in Society, and how we can further improve relationships between the different constituent group of our Education System.

A good place to start is Queens student Ashu Kapoor's post on how her biology teacher effectively dealt with preparing students for the regents. Check it out.

Cross-Posted on the NYC STUDENTS BLOG

Learning for the Regents or for the Life

2008-02-05T20:49:00.000-05:00

As students in the New York City Public Education System, we are required to take a certain number of regents, but real information do we learn when we learn for the regents? Many of my friends from other schools complain about how they are fed up with learning just for the regents. As a student from the Academy of American Studies, I have not had this experience.
For example in my biology class freshman year we begin our class hoping to finish the topic, which my teacher intended to finish covering on a specific day, but instead we end up not even half way through the topic and instead on a related topic that we help us latter on in the future, but will not be covered in our exams.

Not only is this prevalent in biology class but also in our American history classes. We begin to talk about the Great Depression, and end up talking about the current election, and different stands each candidate is taking on a certain issue. This is very helpful to us as students because it molds us to be informed citizens and educated voters in the future. It can also be tied back to the Great Depression by connecting the current state of our economy and relating to that of the late 1920’s, and the different political tactics the presidents used to try to help the country rise up from the depression.

The idea of learning for knowledge should be the focus of the class and not to prepare solely for the regents. I do not condemn testing, because I do feel that it is an important tool in measuring a certain amount of information that the student has retained (although it may not be a correct calculation). While expanding our horizons our teachers were still on track with teaching us what was on the regents and so we were very well prepared for the regents as well like the real world.

GO GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-02-04T00:05:00.000-05:00

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Principal of the Thing

2008-01-31T21:20:00.000-05:00

The Bloomberg administration has committed to a new effort that would involve taking more control in the selection and evaluation of public school principals in New York City. Considering the amount of power principals have when it comes to budgeting expenses, education methods and hiring teachers, Chancellor Joel Klein has noted that a good principal is the key to improving the poor elements of certain schools.
Starting this fall, 160 new positions as public school principals are expected to open up. Instead of just handing the jobs over to assistant principals, the Department of Education has vowed to gather a group of qualified individuals (who have been deemed so as a result of résumés, personal evaluations and essays demonstrating their abilities) from which some will be selected as principals by district superintendents, with the help of parents and teachers.
This new wave of principals will also be subject to detailed, twice-yearly ratings on a scale of 2 to 4 (as opposed to the old unsatisfactory/satisfactory ratings), which will partially determine whether or not the principal keeps his job and will also be on his record if he decides to work at another school.
While these new means of picking and evaluating NYC public school principals seem to be perfectly reasonable, if not an improvement, to me, Ernest A. Logan, president of the principals' and assistant principals' union, seems to think there is nothing wrong with the current methods. To him, this idea of "centralized control" seems to be wishful thinking on the part of the Department of Education; something that is meant to improve schools but will not accomplish that goal. I must say that I disagree, Mr. Logan. In a city where public school students frequently have no access to vital components of education, such as textbooks, are crammed into classrooms so tightly packed with other students that they are forced to sit on shelfs or radiators instead of desks, and are forced to make do with boring, incompetent or inexperienced teachers, shouldn't we at least give this plan a try?

Annualization Vs. The Semester System

2008-01-29T22:57:00.000-05:00

This year, La Guardia High School- where I am a sophomore- started a new system of annualization. Previously, students got new schedules every semester. Now schedules are kept the same the whole year, with minor changes when necessary.
However, what constitutes a "necessary" change is very different in the minds of students and staff.

I understand that its impossible to accomodate a bunch of students who are trying to change classes because they hate their teacher. The school should prioritize changes for students who are missing classes etc.. But what bothers me is that the staff members in charge of scheduling refuse to consider changes for students who want a different teacher.

The importance of having a teacher you like is defenitely underestimated. If a student is trying to switch out of a class because they have a problem with a teacher, their request should at least be considered. Kids work so much harder for teachers they respect. Being forced to stay with teachers they hate makes kids resentfull of the class, and the entire school. I despised the entire subject of Science until 7th grade because my teachers had been so uninspiring. Once I was given a decent teacher, I realized how much I was interested in Science. I know there are so many people in this kind of situation.

Gaby Febland, a student of La Guardia High School says, "It's unfortunate, but many of New York City's teachers are forced to revolve their year's curriculum around the regents. Students are daunted with the task of excelling on the regents. New teachers are less familiar with the content of the regents exams. Students are accused of making teacher complaints when they are really displaying a concern for their test grades, which is all the New York City Public School System has been reduced to--test grades."

Mayoral Control and the Question for Albany

2008-01-27T23:33:00.001-05:00

It always surprises me how my fellow students always seem to take much more moderate and pragmatic positions on many of today's more controversial education issues than I would expect.

At last weeks New York City Student Union meeting, the issue that came up was Mayoral Control of NYC schools, which Albany can either reinstate or let sunset in 2009. While much of what we hear on the issue from other members of the education community (parents, teachers, activists) is outright condemnation, most students were supportive of the idea of Mayoral Control.

I've been on the fence about the issue for a while now, but after hearing my fellow students arguments, I am convinced that Mayoral Control is not the devil after all.

For starters Mayoral assures that at least someone is responsible and accountable for the success and failure of our education system. It makes education an important issue in the municipal election with both the largest voter turnout and the greatest amount of press coverage and it also serves to keep education in the news because there are always reporters surrounding the mayor.

Mayoral Control also centralizes education giving some hope for equal standards citywide and the possibility of important sweeping change.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe it needs some changes. I just took my US History Regents and the idea of Checks and Balances comes to mind. Since the President has to get his Secretary of Education approved by Congress, why shouldn't the Mayor have to get the Chancellor approved by the City Council? Makes sense right? I would also advocate that a Chancellor Selection Board be appointed comprising of Teachers, Parents, Students and Administrators to publicly review candidates for the position.

Up to now, most of what I have heard as criticism of Mayoral Control seems more to be criticism of what Bloomberg and Klein have done to our schools. What we have seen with the current Bloomberg-Klein Complex is a complete denial of some of the most important issues in education, namely Class Size. They have also shown a pattern of disrespect to many of the constituents of our education system and filled the Department with bureaucrats, lawyers and businessmen instead of educators.

We know that we need a chancellor who has experience as an educator in the classroom and in the schools. We need one who understands the delicate processes of teaching and learning. So I say, instead of drifting back to decentralization and the disorganization and confusion that comes with it, why not demand a mayor who will give us just that, who will pledge to put an educator in charge of our schools. This in my belief is one of the biggest positives of Mayoral Control is that we the people can make this statement.

In 2009, Albany will have a tough decision to make. Mayoral Control is an extreme system. It is likely to be very good or very bad because under it change comes much more easily. It does not tend towards moderation. However, in our current state of education, in which way too few of us students graduate and fewer leave our schools ready to support ourselves and become able participants in our democracy, we need a system that will enable change to occur. What we have had is not working. We need new solutions, new ideas. Mayoral Control is the most effective way to implement the changes we seek in our schools.

So the question before Albany is this: Do we want to abandon a system that has such a potential for good, just because it hasn't been used as such in the past six years?

Carnival's Up

2008-01-23T22:19:00.000-05:00

Check it out right this second!

All the Edu-Goodness you could ever want-- and all in one place!

Steps Toward Better Guidance

2008-01-22T00:48:00.000-05:00

In an earlier post I mentioned the issues with guidance counselors in high schools. It seems I was not the only one to notice. A recent blog on insideschools.org discussed the lack of individual attention given to students by their guidance counselors. Guidance counselors are usually swamped with paperwork and scheduling but rarely spend extensive time getting to know their students.

In my experience, a very small percentage of students at a middle or high school level consider their guidance counselor when they are looking for support in something. Guidance counselors are often strangers, and another authority waiting to punish you for something. Also, kids are intimidated by the requirements of guidance counselors to report anyone who might be in a dangerous situation. I have sometimes suggested to my friends that they talk to a guidance counselor about something (this is usually a last resort) and they respond by laughing or rolling thier eyes. This does not occur exclusively with me or my friends.

So how do we fix this problem? I maintain that weekly advisory periods are a great step. Advisory groups should only be about 15 kids, and they will meet with their guidance counselor for one period a week for open or slightly structured conversation. A counselor in a big school might be given more than one advisory group.

A group situtation like that doesn't make a kid feel pressured to open up, and most likely they won't discuss anything personal in front of their classmates anyway. But it still gives kids a connection with their guidance counselor and a person to come to who knows their name and is looking out for them. Also, its crucial during these periods that counselors try not to judge or preach to their students, but interact on a human and friendly level. I encourage all schools to impliment these periods and all counselors to work on better, more personal relationships with their students.

Querulous about Counselors

2008-01-21T01:33:00.001-05:00

It seems for any for us NYC students going to our counselor is a dread. This is exactly the opposite of the portrait of a counselor our society portrays. A counselor is supposed to be friendly, inviting, and a counselor's office is supposed to actually be an inviting one. But it seems counselors are far from that idealized view and lack the basics of caring for students and guiding us.

In Brooklyn Tech, a school of 4,500+ students, everyone is a number. And the sad reality is this is also true at the guidance counselor's office. Guidance counselors are only concerned with a child's report card and trying to get them into a college or at least graduate so the school record isn't tarnished, even after the college office exists for that purpose. By many students, counselors are seen as an annoyance, constantly hounding them about grades. And this precept ion deters those students who need counselors away from counselors. Counselors are no longer there to help students but the school at maintaining its record.

Guidance counselors have become less involved in helping students with their personal and psychological needs mainly because there are so few counselors. Each counselor in any school is burdened with a large number of students who they cannot give individual attention to so they have to treat the students like report cards. Also, counseling departments are ill funded by the DOE so lack effective methods of counseling. The situation has not changed in decades and this is very alarming.

As young adults, we need all of our needs meet. We need to be intellectually and psychologically guided and developed. Guidance counselors cannot do what they are trained to do, for the most part, because there aren't enough counselors in most schools to handle the number of kids in that school. Counselors have become another source of annoyance in students lives and not a source of comfort and a place to let loose.

The Student's Role in Society

2008-01-17T22:15:00.000-05:00

What is our role, the student's role, in our society?

As it stands now we are the constant object of the education discussion sentence. My english teacher told me (and mind you, this was last year... in my junior year of high school,) that a simple sentence contains three parts: the subject or actor, the verb or action, and the object or that which is acted upon

As in: "The Department of Education (that's the subject) puts (the verb) children(the object) first (I guess that's an adjective)."

In the American education debate, we are acted upon by many subjects: The Department of Education, who treats us like products, numbers that need to be manipulated so that they can look real good, the City, that treats us as criminals who need to be babysat by the NYPD for a couple of hours a day, and our Teachers, who people assume can snap their fingers and turn us into brilliant astrophysicists ready to herald in a new age of American economic glory.

In debates about the issues, class size for example, we always hear about how current conditions make teaching impossible. What about learning? Do you think it's any easier to learn in a class of 34 than it is to teach? Since when has learning become a passive action? Just because it contains no plosive sounds and seems to flow off the tongue a bit easier doesn't mean it's any smoother of a process. Learning is not an exact science. It takes hard work, intense concentration and in today's schools, quite a bit of luck.

If our education systems are truly trying to put "Children First," then it is time for us to become the subject of our education. People like Joel Klein need to stop asking, "Are our teacher's teaching?" and instead ask, in the words of the Bard, "Is our children learning?"

To refocus this picture, we students need to take a more active role in our schools. That is the key mission of the New York City Student Union, a citywide, student-founded, student-run organization. Since its creation in 2006, the union's goals have been to act as a powerful collective voice for New York City's students, to give students a say in the decisions made about them, and to provide communication between students from all over the City.

Each Monday, these students from small schools, impact schools, specialized schools and others, meet to examine the problems in our City's schools and come up with student-generated solutions to them. For example, we've advocated the need for smaller classes to the Governor and other State officials. We testified before the New York City Council against the Cell Phone Ban, and most recently we've lobbied the Department of Education on improving their new Progress Reports and student surveys.

Additionally we work on student empowerment projects such as our Student Government Project, in which we are researching the state of student governments around the City and look to develop an effective Student Government model so that students can have a greater say in their individual schools, and the NYC Students Blog, the first-ever student run blog about the NYC education system, which features the voices of seven student bloggers, representing every borough, giving their take on education issues.

I believe that the only way to make students the subject of the education debate is for us to take a more active role in larger education politics and the goings on of our own schools. We must remember are the learners. That is an honorable position to be in. We are not products or tools or criminals. We are potential incarnate.

Carnival Time!

2008-01-16T14:38:00.001-05:00

This week's carnival of education is up and running at Eduwonkette. Mad good posts from bloggers all around the interwebs including one from yours truly.

Check it out! Now!

school vending machines

2008-01-16T10:50:00.001-05:00

Last week I forgot to bring a lunch to school and found myself at the vending machines in the La Guardia High School cafeteria. I expected to find a small, reasonably healthy snack to get me through the day. When I looked, all I saw were chips, cookies, pop tarts, pretzels and rice krispie treats. The one healthy choice- a bottle of water- was sold out.

Although the evidence that child obesity affects school performance is limited, nutrition clearly affects academic performance. Poor nutritional status and hunger interfere with cognitive function and are associated with lower academic achievement.

While school health classes encourage balanced and nutritious diets, the vending machines competely contradict this message.
Schools are concerned that if they change vending machine selections to be more healthy, they will loose money. However, in many cases where more healthier options were given to kids there was no decrease in sales.

I also know from talking to kids in my school that there are a lot of people, especially girls, who would be grateful for a healthier choice in their vending machines. Being overweight is a really difficult thing for a kid to go through. A lot of kids today are interested in eating well, and it's important that schools encourage this.

Student Voices: Mark Weprin, You're Really Doing It by Dana O'Brien

2008-01-15T19:20:00.000-05:00

Originally Published in the New York Times

As a public school student myself, as well as on behalf of the New York City Student Union, I would like to commend Assemblyman Mark Weprin on his public statement on the overemphasis on high-stakes testing in New York City public education.

While there are still many great teachers in this city who are working hard to foster critical thinking, creativity, imagination and all of the qualities that make a truly educated person, their efforts are often squelched by Department of Education policies and curriculums that value uniformity and accountability over teaching and learning.

While we at the Student Union recognize and appreciate the need for accountability in such a large system, we believe that a degree of flexibility and subjectivity is necessary in evaluating schools and students. We are working with Chancellor Joel I. Klein’s staff on improving aspects of the school report card system, but there is still much to be done.

The Education Candidate

2008-01-09T23:41:00.000-05:00

Author's Note: This is in no way the opinion of the NYC Student Union or any of the blogs it is posted on

Over the past few weeks, it's been hard to look away from the excitement of the Presidential primary season, especially since I just turned 18 in November and get to vote this time around. Because of this important and exhilarating election, my fellow student activists over at the NYC Students Blog have decided to take a break from our usual commentary on NYC education and instead talk about which candidates we as students (and some of us, first time voters) support and why the would be good for students around the country.

If NYC Students were to hold a primary election this week, I bet that we'd have a clear winner: Barack Obama, the candidate I will be casting my first ever vote for on February 5th.

I won't go to much into my initial reasons for supporting him besides saying that I really like his potential as a uniter and the possible historical and international impact of his election. As per education, and why I think he would he would be the best in that category, my answer, besides his great policies (which include a strong push for less high-stakes testing,) is Patriotism.

Right now, as many, including ED in 08, have pointed out, education is not really a priority on the national political scene. It loses out to many other issues on the importance scale, even though it is definitely one of the most important issues in terms of the future of our Country. It is so vital that the US Chamber of Commerce said that:

To maintain a competitive business environment in America, we need to have an accountable educational environment. We simply cannot have one without the other.

For the American Dream to thrive, it will require economic prosperity and opportunity for every American--and that requires a quality education that prepares our youth for the challenges of today and tomorrow.

I suspect that a large part of Education's fall on the issues list is due to apathy. American citizens have a government that they don't trust, a President who they don't approve of, and an economy that is failing at an alarming rate. If our Country is so terrible, who cares what happens to it? Right?

What we need to restart interest and investment in education is a resurgence of Patriotism: interest and investment in our Country. If we care about America then we care about its future and the only way to secure our future is to improve our failing education system.

The one candidate, in my mind, who has inspired this kind of energy is Barack Obama. The evidence of this was very prominent at his Iowa victory speech at which supporters spontaneously broke out into a chant of "USA! USA!" To us young people, Senator Obama represents the fulfillment of an American dream, the turning of a historical page, and the prospect of American unity after coming of age during two of the most divisive elections in American history. (On Wednesday, Matt Stoller of progressive strategy blog Open Left pointed out that in the NH primary, the youngest voting age group is extremely nonpartisan and voted 60% for Obama.)

If my youthful instincts are correct, an increased patriotic enthusiasm will lead to a nation more involved in its future and its education. Fiscally, this could mean larger edu-investments from both the government and the business communities. Socially, this could mean that the cultural roles of Teacher and Student, two groups which have for too long been withheld the respect they deserve, could improve as well.

While the policy wonks might criticize my thoughts as shallow, I truly believe that the only way we are going to improve the state of American education is to get get the public to care: to take a stake in the future of our Nation. In the market of America, education is an issue that's just not selling. In fact, it's sticking to the shelves. It will take a leader like Barack Obama, one who can inspire hope and faith in the essential goodness of our democracy, to make the American people realize that this issue is truly priceless.

My Campaign: Not Hillary '08

2008-01-09T20:51:00.000-05:00

This is the first post in the NYC Students Blog's candidate series, in which each of the student bloggers will discuss their candidate and why that candidate is the best for America's students. Enjoy!- Seth

It is the common practice to pick a candidate you support for president at this time of year. While I do not feel particularly supportive of any of the candidates (my favorite is Edwards, but he has his flaws, such as voting for the Patriot Act, and the war). However, I can say that while I have never supported a Republican, if things continue to shape up as they did in New Hampshire, I will be supporting John McCain come fall.

There are a lot of reasons I don't like Hillary Clinton, but one of my main reasons is her belief that No Child Left Behind should be funded. McCain, on the other hand, does not believe in the merit of high stakes testing. He believes values should be taught in schools nationwide, but he believes actual content should be a state and municipal issue. This is why he gets my vote as far as education goes.

Senator Clinton wants to continue to fund a program that only continues the competition and uselessness of high stakes testing. While Clinton's position endorses class size reduction, teacher recruitment, and mentoring (all programs I am big on), they stem from money that would go towards a reinstated testing program with a few more bells and whistles.

The NYC Public Education System- Not A Class(Size) Act

2008-01-06T22:19:00.000-05:00

The Department of Education has published a list of class sizes in New York City Public Schools, and the results are incredibly disappointing. Major classes (English, Math, Social Studies and Science) were the only ones included in much of the data, and it seems that some schools cheated by counting their large inclusion classes as separate classes of special and general education students. It has also been established that class size correlates with the size of the school, meaning that the biggest schools have average class sizes of more than 27 students, while the smallest schools have an average of about 21 students.

The hypocritical aspect of all this is that while the effect of large class size on students' learning abilities is frequently being downplayed by the DOE, the newer, smaller schools that are constantly being built seem to have progressively smaller class sizes. I don't think this is a coincidence, and I don't think that students who did not have the opportunity or the desire to attend one of these small schools should be punished by having their education trampled. Large classes take away students' chances to participate or make an impression on their teachers, as well as taking away teachers' abilities to know students well enough to be able to sense a problem and help them. I sincerely hope that the movement to push for lower class sizes continues to grow.

Class Progress

2008-01-06T00:31:00.000-05:00

Hooray! Big steps are being taken toward lowering class size. On November 27, A detailed plan for helping low-performing schools in the city by substantially lowering class sizes was unveiled.

Recently, UFT president Randi Weingarten praised this plan and requested that it be put into effect immidiately

Lowering class size is one of the most important things that could be done to NYC public schools today. The benefits of having a teacher who really knows you as a student are endless. First of all, i know from expericence that students are almost always more motivated to work for a teacher they respect. It's hard to respect a teacher who doesn't communicate with you or show interest in your success.

Also, when students become numbers on delaney cards, then teachers become strangers, and school becomes meaningless to a student. Having a teacher who will pull you aside if they notice a problem makes a huge difference. School is already based too much around numbers. The more faces and relationships, the more relevant school is going to feel for a student.

Now that schools are accountable for individual students progress in each subject area, its even more unfair to create large classes where they can't get to know their students. Teachers need to be able to push their students, and to do this they have to understand them. Smaller classes are better for students and principals who are now being graded on their student's preformance.

Thank you to the Department of Education and to Randi Weingarten. Small classes are the key to so many improvements in our schools.

Teen birth rates up again

2008-01-01T18:13:00.000-05:00

Insideschools.org has reported “teen birth rates have gone up for the first time in decades, at a time when more money than ever has been sunk into abstinence”. What is causing this?

Researchers think that misinformation about safe sex practices are the cause of this, others say its because young women want babies. Are these young women ready for this responsibility? The DOE is now recommending a program about sex –Ed and not only abstinence. This is to try to fix the “miscommunication” of information. It will include more information about contraception.

As a student in NYC I am looking forward to this new program. I know some teenage girls, that have gotten pregnant, and it was not because they wanted a baby. I’m not sure how effective this new program will be, but it does comfort me to know that the state is doing something to address this disturbing problem.

The Wrong Path

2007-12-21T22:37:00.000-05:00

Recently there have been some scandels about administrators fixing grades in their school to make the school look better and have more kids graduate. There have and always will be corrupt administrators but the DOE is only giving them motives to cheat the system now.

The new DOE school reports created a lot of contoversey and heated debates over the results. But one thing is for sure, the DOE relied heavily on cold hard academic grades. Of course this opens the old can of worms about if this is the best way to evaluate schools.

Standardized tests aren't going to tell the whole picture. Too many students are not good test takers and this isn't a skill we are taught well in school. We all know tests don't show the true capabilities of a student and definatly not a fair pciture. Some students are just good test takers but lack the creative intellects behind many courses while others get bad grades but make it up with good essays, projects, creative assignments, etc.

Relying on the standardized tests and numbers of a school isn't the best way to evaluate it. And of course some administrators, in an attempt to draw in talented students and more funding, will do what it takes. So these scandels are only the beginning and under it lies the real problem, the evaluation of public schools by the DOE.

Not-So-Great Expectations for NYC Students

2007-12-20T22:45:00.000-05:00

Amidst the scandals surrounding many schools over principals who apparently encourage teachers to "dumb down" their standards, I am left thinking about how unfair it is that students who do not work as hard out of pure laziness are being lumped into the same category as students who stay up all night studying.

Honestly, isn't the point of school to learn so that you can challenge yourself and achieve success, not to sit at your desk staring at the ceiling while your teacher continues to pass you for no reason other than keeping up the school's appearance?

Principal Bennett Lieberman of Central Park East High School is in trouble for telling teachers that if they were not passing 65% of their students, they should lower their expectations in order to pass more so that the school would fare better in its progress report. Teachers who help students cheat when they are proctoring tests or principals who artificially boost regents scores also give a bad name to the institution of education.

It is time for the enormous emphasis on test scores and progress reports to come to an halt, because, in the end, the students are the ones who suffer. They are the ones who are going to be behind when they move to the next grade up or go to college and cannot grasp the material. They are the ones who are going to wonder how they passed a certain subject when they had no idea what they were even learning about.

This current situation would horrify the generations of old, who attended school when passing grades were earned based on merit. Let's bring that concept back to the NYC public school system.

"Guidance" counselors?

2007-12-19T23:43:00.000-05:00

Last week one of my teachers reminded us that if he knew a student was cutting him or herself (or doing a variety of other things) he was legally required to report them to a higher authority. He expressed his contradicting feelings on this issue, and the class erupted in an extremely emotional conversation over the rule. Many different opinions were expressed.

In general, people understood the reasoning behind the rule. Teacher's are not necessarily trained in dealing with issues like cutting, especially if they are life threatening to the student.

However, many students were extremely opposed to the idea of forcing someone into therapy, or sending them to the guidance counselor against their will. One girl complained that the guidance counselors help you so they don't get sued, but don't really care about you. I have heard from other students in many different schools that going to the guidance counselor of their school is something to be avoided at all costs. A guidance counselors is often seen as another dean, someone out to get you.

If that's the way students are feeling about the person meant to support them, something must be changed.

I do not believe that the role of guidance counclers should be diminished. Having a trained and trustworthy adult on your side is important for every high school student. However, many guidance counselors around the city are not giving a true sense of support and understanding totheir students.

One of the biggest problems is that guidance counselors in many schools do not know their students on a personal level. If there were more guidance counselors per school in charge of less students, a better relationship would be formed. Students should not be sent to complete strangers to confide in. I also believe in the idea of a small group advisory period each week, led by the counselors. Additionally, one and one meetings should be arranged at some point so every student can meet their guidance counselor. Hopefully, guidance can be seperated from the idea of discipline.

I know there are some really great guidance counselors out there, and I respect their effort and their important role in students lives. However, many need to become more involved with their students and really provide a place for students to come.

ID scaners..2 weeks later

2007-12-13T17:42:00.000-05:00

It has now been more than 2 weeks, since the ID scanners have been put into place in our school.

Surprisingly I have not found it to be such a hassle and problem as I had thought. Every morning students use the side entrance to enter the building and swipe their cards. Many students have stopped complaining because the process is not tedious at all, and does not force us to stand in long lines.

Although the process is not tedious it is still unnecessary in a small school such as mine, which also has two buildings. Because our school has two buildings and has only one ID scanner, it is useless since teachers in the other building still have to take attendance.

One complaint that is still rampant is the complaint that we now have to enter from the side entrance instead of the front, which is much more convenient. Overall I believe that the ID scanners in my school were not a failure, but did not, and do not really serve a purpose.

How half are you?

2007-12-12T23:51:00.000-05:00

Last week an article in the Times showed studies that claim violence in NYC has dropped by 20 percent in the last couple of years. But "...dating-related violence is on the rise among NYC teens, with 10 percent of girls and 5 percent of boys reporting being raped or forced into sex by a partner." (Insideschools.org)

The increase in dating-related violence poses a possibly greater threat than violence in schools. Violence in relationships or abuse by someone you think you know and can trust can create life-long pshychological problems. These teens may grow up to be insecure, cautious, vulnerable, unhappy, and not trust others.

There are other problems rape or forced sex pose - pregnancy and transmission of STDs. The violence itself can be crippling to any person, but these long term effects can leave a person feeling completely destroyed by someone they thought they could trust.

It is great that violence of any kind has decreased but it has to be eliminated, not channeled to other sources. For those with violent behavior, proper control must be disciplined at an early age, mostly at school by teachers and counselors, so the victims of the violence don't have to suffer from an avoidable act.

The Importance of the School Progress Debate

2007-12-12T21:58:00.001-05:00

A few days ago, walking to the train after an NYC Student Union meeting with some of my fellow students, it struck me to ask "Why has the debate on the NYC DOE's Progress Report program garnered so much attention?" Why have so many newspaper articles been written on it, so many people been riled up about it? It's just a silly report card program right? Aren't there so many important issues out there?

Well, yes and no.

While there are more urgent issues facing our schools, especially class size, this issue gains its importance because it very thoroughly defines the main theme of Klein/Bloomberg's tenure running our schools: The Search for Results. Under this administration and probably in many other school systems around the country, the focus of broad educational policy will be measurable results. These results will set the agenda for individual schools and school systems as a whole.

Hopefully, all of us witnessing and participating in this event can use what has transpired as a learning experience on the short term future of American education politics.

Since the first School Progress Reports were released (basically, Report Cards giving each school an A-F letter grade based on Student Progress (Test Scores, Credit Accumulation,) Student Performance (graduation rates,) and Learning Environment (Teacher, Parent and Student Surveys and Attendance)) many education advocacy groups have viciously attacked the DOE on the Reports, alleging that they are a waste of money and encourage a culture of constant test prep.

Many of these attacks have been directed at DOE Accountability Czar James Liebman. I personally feel that these were uncalled for. The man is trying to create a system that brings a measure of accountability, transparency and most importantly attention to our schools. In that third category, Liebman has unquestionably succeeded.

The progress report debate has brought education issues into the public eye more than any other issue this year. It has stayed in the paper and on the minds of parents, politicians and plain old people. It has inspired questions to be asked and answers to given and has gotten more people thinking about their schools. Without the letter grade, bold and big in the top left hand corner of the progress report, (the main qualm for some anti-report card activists,) this would have been a non-story and no change would have come of it.

If there's one thing I would like to put out there before the debate begins to die down it is this: The Report Cards Are Not Inherently Evil. They are flawed, but their spirit is important and good. For my school's SLT at least, our Progress Report has given us important information about what can be improved in our schools and has forced us to develop strategies to deal with the areas in which we did not do as well. Hopefully, the progress reports also got more parents informed about what's going on in their children's schools and inspired them to take some action.

As I said, however, the Report Cards are flawed. Last week several reps from NYCSU went to meet with Mr. Liebman to explain our grievances about the current progress reports. They are as follows:

1) The NYC Student Union supports the Progress Report program because it adds a sense of accountability and transparency to our schools and gives Principals and SLTs important information about how to improve their schools.

2) We believe that students should be involved in revising the surveys to make them more student friendly and informative. In addition, we believe that like the parent survey, the student survey should include a question like "What is the most important thing that could be improved about your school?" We also thought that surveys of teachers, parents and students should carry more weight in the overall school grade.

3) We believe that the Student Progress section should be reduced to at most 50% of the great and more weight should be given to the Learning Environment section.

4) We believe that the Weighted Regents Pass Rate does not say as much about the output of the school as the survey desires and that that WRPR should be reduced or eliminated in favor of a larger emphasis on Credit Accumulation and Graduation Rates as both of those use regents scores to determine real student output. It also puts too much emphasis on test-prep by giving schools points for trying to make students take regents earlier.

5) We believe that Attendance, though it is somewhat of a difficult factor, should be given more weight because it forces schools to reexamine policies on a day to day level and create more incentives for students to come to school. (Shanna Kofman, a Staten Island representative, pointed out, that at SI Tech, the school offers SAT tutoring the day before SAT Exams so that students wont stay home to study.) This is an important example because this occurs only several times a year but the school cares enough to adapt to the students in order to keep them in class for those few days.

6) Finally, we suggest that a student or students should be included in the evaluation of data collected from surveys and quality reviews, so that the effect of positive and negative aspects of every school can affect the school's report card grade in a way that accurately reflects the way those aspects affect students. Because schools are made up of people of diverse educational perspectives, the teams that evaluate schools must reflect this diversity, and therefore must include students.

The edu-activist community has, to this point, missed out on a great opportunity to revise this system and make it into a more positive factor in our schools. Instead, they have, for a large part, condemned the program outright and has severed a possible avenue of communication between the various constituents of our school system.

I hope that the education community can eventually use this issue to give parents, teachers, and students more influence on the results-based system that seems soon to overtake American education (i.e. keeping the general program but working to decrease the importance of certain elements like high stakes testing). By refusing to compromise on this we are decreasing the possibility of working together on the more important issues like Class Size. In this City, Compromise Matters.

Let's Talk About Sex Education, Baby! Part II

2007-12-10T19:24:00.000-05:00

As a follow-up to my last post about sex education in New York City public schools, I would like to mention that teenage pregnancy rates have risen for the first time in 16 years. Considering that many teenage girls who get pregnant do not plan on doing so, it is probably due to a lack of information about sex and contraception that these pregnancies happen.

This is why abstinence-only sex education will not be effective in NYC. In such a big, crowded city filled with things to do and places to go, it is only logical that young people living here will "grow up" fast, and have lives that include sexual activity. Teenagers are also, by nature, rebellious. Telling them a flat-out "no, you shouldn't" when temptation is right in front of them is a dangerous thing.

Each person has a right to make his or her own choices about when to be sexually active, but it is the job of the trusted adults in their lives to provide them with information that will help them be responsible.

While in other parts of the country the sentiment is that non-abstinence-only education encourages teenagers to have sex (which has resulted in large amounts of government money being spent on programs that just teach abstinence), the increasing teenage pregnancy rate seems to say the opposite.

As with all major life decisions, it is best for the choice to be left for the individual person to make after getting the right information, instead of the person blindly following instructions with no reasoning of his own.

So thank you, New York City, for rejecting abstinence-only sexual education funding!

Where have all the readers gone?

2007-12-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

A recent New York Times report by Motoko Rich claims that, "Americans — particularly young Americans — appear to be reading less for fun, and as that happens, their reading test scores are declining." The decline in pleasure reading is often attributed to the popularity of electronic entertainment and the workaholic nature of so many Americans today.

Really, the root of this problem lies within the school system. Reading has become so technical and overwhelming in NYC schools that it seems natural for people to start rejecting reading for enjoyment.

In elementary schools today, children's independent reading books are leveled from A-Z. Children are told what level they are on (letters are often represented by colored dots) and told only to take books from baskets for their level. This year, children's reading levels are being put on their report cards for parents to see. First of all, children are loosing the ability to pick books for themselves by being told only to take "red dot books."

In elementary school, I learned to look at the size of the words, the vocabulary, and to read the first page before deciding if it was a "just right book." Second of all, how is a child supposed to enjoy reading when they are concentrating all their efforts on moving from being a level J reader to being a level K reader? Kids can no longer try out different, sometimes amazing books and decide what they like.

In high school, it's a million times worse. It's impossible to read a book for enjoyment if you have to take notes on every page, keep your mind in tune for thesis statements and prepare to critique the author. I have been unable to pursue my independent reading book for several weeks due to intensive reading assignments for my English class and other classes.

It is the job of schools to bring back the idea of reading for pleasure. English classes should encourage students to pick their own books, and allow time for them to just read. Not only will this improve test scores on reading tests... it might even get kids to love great literature!

No Child Left Behind??

2007-12-07T18:22:00.000-05:00

It has been six years since President Bush's landmark bill "No Child Left Behind". And until recently, it has been lost to history. Now, just like health care, public education is once again at the forefront with the new election. And No Child Left Behind is, so far, failing at its goals.

Under the NCLB accountability system, schools in their forth consecutive year of failure must take at least one "corrective action," such as adopting a new curriculum, replacing some staff, or extending the school year. After six year of failure, schools face restructuring.

So far, most schools failing for four years have not been punished or reformed accordingly. This sends a bad message to other schools and the federal power over state schools. Most of these failing schools are in low income and minority districts in New York, Illinois, California, and Michigan. Big surprise there!

It seems the federal government considers funding a war some consider already lost more important than funding the future of America. But there is good news. US House Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings are working on a new bill to address the problems with the NCLB bill and a stricter measure of enforcing the bill.

The First Step to Saving Our Schools

2007-12-04T21:08:00.001-05:00

As of this year my younger brother is no longer a public school student. Like me, he attended public elementary and middle schools, however, when it came to choose a high school, he and my parents decided that he would do better at a private school. Fortunately, they made a good decision for my brother. He is now at a school that he loves, he really succeeds in and he feels does a good job in educating the students.

Out of curiosity, I asked him what the difference was between the public school he had attended and his current school in terms of educational value. His answer was quick and simple: the adults in the building have time to care about the students.

In the NYC education system, the first step to improving schools is creating a situation in which educators have time to care about the students. This can only come for significant reductions in class size and teacher load.

One problem with my brother's public school experience, he said, was the feeling that whenever he approached a teacher for extra help or just general academic support, he felt as though he was burdening them, like they didn't have the time to help their student. This is a major problem and it is not the teachers' fault.

Through my high school experience so far, I can count on one hand how many of my classes were below the union cap of 34 (even though the City claims the average is 25). As a member of the NYC Student Union, I know students from every corner of the City, and over and over I have heard the same sentiment when it comes to class size. Just as problematic is the problem of teacher load, the total number of students a teacher teaches at any given time. This number is often around 170 in high schools.

Education is based on relationships, the most basic and important being that between a teacher and a student. Large class sizes and teacher loads, prevents many teachers and students from developing the relationships necessary to make education happen. Furthermore, while classes of 34 are extremely difficult to manage and teach effectively in, it should be noted that they are equally difficult to learn in. When I entered ninth grade, when confronted with larger classes, I came to an academic standstill. I tried to do the work and do well on tests, but inside I knew that I was just not learning as effectively as I had in previous schools.

Because these factors make teaching and learning just so impossible, they also prevent the clear evaluation of new academic strategies, as even the best programs are doomed to fail under these conditions. Thus, as the title reads, class size and teacher load reduction is the requisite first step to saving our schools.

What we need in New York City, is an education system that makes education possible. When educators are so overburdened that they don't have time to care about the needs of individual students, this is not the case. When the classroom is completely unmanageable and knowledge can not pass through the barrier between teacher and student because of population overload, this is not the case. And when students feel as though they are just another "problem" for the all-to-busy adults in the building, this is not the case.

It is time to cut class sizes and trim teacher loads. If we really want to save our schools, that is the first step.

Homework Matters

2007-12-03T15:56:00.000-05:00

A recent article by Grace Rauh reports that Peter Vallone of the New York City Council is proposing a limit on homework. His main motivation seems to be his children who, "...are routinely swamped with homework and stuck at home, slogging through it." Mr. Vallone also says, "As a parent, I have been unable to have fun with my kids. We can't go for bike rides. We can't go to the park. We can't go to the museum, and that's not fair." His proposal is for a maximum of 2.5 hours of homework assigned each night, and one night of no homework each week.

As a high school student, I fully appreciate where Mr. Vallone is coming from. I am given almost 4 hours of homework every night, and have at least 3 tests a week to study for. There is no doubt that limits need to be set in schools.

Here's how I would do it. The DOE should consult with parents, teachers and students to decide on the right number of hourse per night, and then set it as a guideline. There would probably be a different number of hours for different grades, rather than 2.5 hours for everyone. Then, the principal of each school should be responsible for coordinating among teachers so that most students have no more than 2.5 hours of homework per night. That means each teacher would probably be given a limit, but the limit could be adjusted at times when other teachers are giving less.

At the High School level, students who take a lot of honors or AP classes would have to accept that their workload could exceed the 2.5 hour per night guideline. It's true that homework loads are taking away from other important activities in students lives. More homework means less time for exercise, music, familiy, friends, etc. But at the High School level, this is a choice that some families might want to make, on the basis of interests and ambitions.

I have attended public school in New York since kindergarten, and I agree with Mr. Vallone. Restrictions on homework time should be put in place by the DOE, and implemented by school principals.

Vallone getting it done!

2007-12-02T23:53:00.000-05:00

It's finally happened. Homework is becoming illegal. Okay, not really but some limits are being set...it's a start:

Upset about the amount of time he's spending helping his middle school-aged daughters with homework, City Council member Peter Vallone of Queens wants to introduce a resolution to limit homework to 2.5 hours a night and require schools to create one homework-free night a week.

No, the mayor isn't interested, but the council has already overridden one big veto this school year. The fact is, homework has it's benefits in that it reinforces what you learn during the day, but more than 30 minutes of homework for each class is just busy work. And I also agree that students need a night off, preferably Wednesday, the middle day, so students can recharge their batteries a little bit. I think Vallone has exactly the right attitude on this, not abolishing homework, but making sure the amount stays in check.

Mobilization for Uganda

2007-11-26T18:50:00.000-05:00

It is nice to hear about benefactors and their selfless charity, and it's nicer to hear when the benefactors are children. Five elementary schools throughout NYC have come up with creative ways to raise funds for children to have an education in the Rakai district of Uganda. The region has a lot of orphans due to the AIDS pandemic, most of whom are forced to drop out because of lack of funds. NYC students have raised $16,000 to give the children in Rakai a chance at an education, as well as clothes, shoes, books, and other scholastic materials. Authorities in Uganda plan to use the money to build school houses with furniture, buy textbooks, and pay teachers to provided education for many children.It is truely an inspiration and pleasure to see young children in action for a good cause.

Update On ID scanners

2007-11-25T23:53:00.000-05:00

On November 19, 2007, my school was going to begin its experiment with ID scanners. When students arrived on Monday, they were directed towards the side entrance, but they did not have to scan because the system was down. On Tuesday, it was raining, and so they decided to let students in without scanning, and on Wednesday, we once again did not have to scan our ID's. This great news has now relaxed our student body, yet we anxiously await this coming week to see if this new system that was supposed to be in place last week, will still be followed.

The Schools Are Alive With the Sound of Music!

2007-11-21T17:00:00.000-05:00

Starting as soon as January 2008, 29 New York City public schools will be receiving free music education from Little Kids Rock (LKR). LKR is a non-profit organization that teaches public school children how to play multiple genres of music, such as rock, pop, hip-hop, rap, and blues, as well as providing them with free instruments. The kids they teach also have the chance to record their own albums and music videos.

How wonderful is this?

Every child should be so fortunate as to have musical instruction. Many scientific studies have shown that just listening to notes and rhythms can significantly heighten one's brain functionality. Schools all over the city, with their lack of funding and desire to focus on more academic subjects, have had their music and art programs shut down left and right, and this is really a shame.

I know that when I was younger, one of the highlights of each week was my school music class. I still remember the words to the songs we were taught. However, instruments and private lessons are so expensive that a substantial amount of parents cannot afford them, and thus a great opportunity becomes lost. Now, thanks to LKR, which is backed by celebrities such as Paul Simon, B.B. King, and Bonnie Raitt, it will be possible for lower-income children to experience the richness of a music education.

Just like math and science, music deserves a place in the curriculum of New York City students, and one can only hope that more organizations like will be founded to make sure it stays.

A Student's take on the "Gotcha Squad"

2007-11-20T17:00:00.000-05:00

In a recent New York Times article, Elissa Gootman states that the Bloomberg administration is beginning a drive to remove unsatisfactory teachers, hiring new teams of lawyers and consultants who will help principals build cases against tenured teachers who they believe are not up to the job. It is also urging principals to get rid of sub-par novices before they earn tenure

The controversy over this action stems from varying interpretations of the purpose of tenure. Tenure was created to allow teachers the freedom to research into any area and bring controversial ideas into the classroom. Ideally, it protects teachers from being fired for intellectual exploration that might lead them to unpopular conclusions.

This concept is very important. If teachers are constantly under the threat of removal, their creativity and autonomy as teachers will be lost. However, spending three years on probation as a teacher (the current requirement for receiving tenure) is not an appropriate way of determining whether or not a teacher can be easily fired or not. Instead, all teachers should have equal rights and protections. A system should be imposed which allows all teachers to be fired based on very strong evidence that they deserve it. I agree with the idea of a committee- made up of lawyers and also administrators from many schools- to determine whether or not a teacher should be fired in given circumstances. The reasons should be based on a failure to teach the basic concepts required for their course, and only after warnings and chances to rectify this. Also, a teacher should be fired for unlawful, inappropriate or dangerous behavior. If a teacher has a strong bias that actually keeps them from addressing all the content, that is the only reason why their personal opinions should be considered in whether or not they are allowed to teach.

Teachers deserve job security, but principals, with the approval of objective judges, should be able to remove any teacher that does not serve the best interest of the children.

ID Scanners Come to AAS

2007-11-19T17:00:00.000-05:00

On Monday November 19th, 2007 my school will begin using the CAAS system for student entry into the building. This is an ID scanning system. Many students were upset after receiving this information on Wednesday. The Academy of American Studies, a tight knit community of students, who are familiar with all the teachers, and staff in the building, were completely puzzled by this new system. Why was there a need for scanning ID’s when there have been no reported problems with just showing ID’s to the school safety officials? According to this new policy students would enter from the side entrance instead of the main entrance. This has created many concerns for the students in my school. This system will be put in place from 7:10 to 10:00a.m from Monday to Friday.

Personally I wake up at 5:00 to reach to school at exactly 7:15, and this new system creates a new problem for me. I would have to wake up earlier, to arrive at school earlier, just to wait on line, to swipe my ID. I would have to wait for the people who may have left their ID's, and for those who may not know how to swipe their cards, and for those whose ID cards may be invalid or do not work. This creates chaos and havoc not only for the students but also for the teachers, who will have students continuously walking in late to class because of the new ID swiping machine.

My school is a campus, and has two separate buildings. These scanners are put in place in the north building but not in the south. This to me seems unfair. What is the point of the scanners then if only one building has them?

There is also a safety concerns connected with this new policy. Students will now be entering through the side door instead of the main door; this may lead to more students cutting school. This also is a safety concern because students would have to cross the street and walk all the way to the opposite end of the street and turn a corner to get to the side entrance. There is still a great deal of confusion between students around this policy. I for one am looking forward to seeing how this policy is implemented, and how it will affect my classes. I know I will be a very upset student if on Wednesday I am late of my AP calculus quiz at 7: 15 because of this new system.

Trust and Relationships in Education

2007-11-18T16:23:00.000-05:00

The key factor in both the transmission of knowledge and the growth of a student as an individual is trust. This trust is necessary to build the relationship between a teacher and student in order to achieve these goals. To run a school effectively, there must be an atmosphere of trust between teachers and administration. This principle of trust as the mortar that holds together our education system also applies to the relationship between the DOE, the City and the members of individual schools, specifically the teachers.

The City's new initiative to fire more teachers is a betrayal of this trust. The DOE's new Teacher Performance Unit, a group of five lawyers headed by a former District Attorney, has been given the goal of helping Principals create cases against tenured teachers and getting rid of young, unsuccessful teachers before they get tenure.

The way that the DOE has handled this program reflects a pattern of disrespect that the DOE has shown to other members of the educational community. Through programs like the Cell Phone Ban, the DOE has continually antagonized students, teachers and parents. Instead of engendering the trust necessary to hold our schools together, they are creating a situation filled fear.

Students have often felt over-criminalized by policies like the Cell Phone Ban and Random Scanning. By hiring former prosecutors to fire our teachers, the DOE has, as InsideSchools.org Blog's Philissa Cramer says, made being a bad teacher a crime. The program also sets Principals against teachers, further dividing our school community.

In order for Mayor Bloomberg and Joel Klein's reforms to be successful, they must first end their pattern of bullying and disrespect. They must instead seek to create an atmosphere of trust, one in which the most basic relationships within the system: those between students and teachers in a classroom setting, mirror the relationship between the City and DOE and the various constituent groups within our education system. That is the only way that we can hold an education a large and complex as the one we have together.

Cell Phones

2007-11-15T21:00:00.000-05:00

I thought I was confused when the DoE proposed the Cash for Kids program. But the brilliance doesn't end there apparently. According to a recent New York Times article Plan to Use Cellphones as a Reward for Good Schoolwork Begins to Emerge, the DoE wants to reward students with cell phones. The appropriate response would be, "Huh?" The department of education wants to keep the current cell phone ban in place, even though a student now has a LEGAL right to carry a phone to and from school (which, by the way, would imply that the school is breaking the law if a phone is confiscated and not returned by the end of the day).

These cell phones would all be donated by Motorola and they might even have have ringtones recorded by famous rappers like Jay-Z! Okay...now I'm really mad. What a waste of time, and money (and no, the city isn't paying for it, but somebody produces those phones). Also, the DoE is making a stereotypical generalization: all low income kids (the ones who would reap the benefits of this project) listen to rap. As mentioned in another recent post, if class size was lower, students just wouldn't use the cell phones because they would get caught. Furthermore, why is the city providing contraband? If they want test scores to go up...spend the money to improve learning. Don't give us a fake upgrade to a system that isn't working (Contracts for Excellence), or motivations that only apply to some students (Cash for Kids). Spend the real money to improve everybody's education!

A Solution to the Cell Phone Issue

2007-11-14T20:27:00.000-05:00

Today, it was reported that the DOE's plan to install cell phone lockers outside of several schools has been put on hold. This plan was created as a possible resolution to the Cell Phone Ban, the contentious rule that states that NYC students are not allowed to have their cell phones in school, even if they are turned off.

In short, the ban is wrong because it puts students, who commute up to 4 hours per day, into an unsafe situation because it takes away their main line of communication with parents and the police in the event of an emergency. This is in turn contributes to distrust between students and that makes the already difficult tasks of teaching and learning slightly more impossible.

This new plan of building lockers outside of school in which students would pay to store their cell phones is a waste of money. The safety issues that transparent outdoor lockers raise are to complicated to resolve. It doesn't adequately relieve the distrust in our schools. And it does not address the real issue that the Cell Phone Ban is trying to address: Academic Integrity.

The main reason that Bloomberg has articulated in support of the Ban is that students misuse cell phones in class. He says that students make calls and text messages in class and use their cell phones to cheat on tests. While my first instinct is to ask the Mayor why we does not ban pen and paper from schools (because if you did a statistical analysis of cheating in NYC schools I'm sure you'd find that students use those as means of cheating much more often than they use cell phones,) I believe that it is more important to propose a simple and effective solution to the issue of students misusing cell phones in class.

Instead of banning cell phones and creating a host of new problems, or building super-high-tech-theft-proof-safety-guaranteed-outdoor-transparent cell phone lockers and wasting too much of the DOE's valuable funds, why don't you just LOWER CLASS SIZES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A student won't get away with using a cell phone in a class of 25! They just won't. And by lowering class sizes you will also increase the amount of actual education that goes on in our school because teachers will be able to develop better learning relationships with their students. As an anonymous high school teacher told me, "Lowering class size would fix everything." Everything including preventing students from misusing their cell phones in class and thus getting rid of the need for a citywide ban.

There you have it: A Real Solution.

A Quick Fix

2007-11-13T21:55:00.000-05:00

In a continuation of Joel Klein's new policy of material awards for academic achievement, a new campaign is being planned that uses cell phones to motivate students to stay in school and do well. Cell phones are given to everyone in the schools affected by this plan, as well as cell phone minutes and ring tones for meeting certain standards of performance. The campaign will specifically target minorities and schools in poor neighborhoods.

The campaign also involves mentoring for the targeted students. This, I think, is a more appropriate action. If the city spent money on making school a positive, supportive environment, they wouldn't need to spend it on buying hundreds of cell phones.

Mentoring does not teach the lesson that one should learn for immediate, often monetary, rewards. Instead it creates a place where kids might be more willing to learn, and gives them a person to turn to rather than dropping out. While this seems idealistic, I think it's time we worked towards a larger goal rather than continue with shallow solutions to deep-rooted problems.

One day when my brother was in his sophomore year of high school, he found at that a philosophy club was meeting at lunch and there would be free donuts. He went to the meeting, and, upon realizing that there were no more donuts, promptly turned and left. What's going to happen when the public school's budget needs to be cut and students can no longer receive cellphones? Well, they'll turn and walk back onto the street.

We need to focus more on the idea of mentoring, small classes and better learning environments. It will take time, but it's better than wasting time.

My Letter to Chancellor Klein on the Report Cards

2007-11-11T14:24:00.000-05:00

Dear Chancellor Klein,

My name is Seth Pearce. I am a senior at LaGuardia High School and a member of the NYC Student Union (http://nycstudents.org), a citywide, student-run and created, education advocacy organization. I am writing to you to express both my support for your new school Progress Report program and my criticism of some of its parts.

At last week's NYC Student Union meeting, students from schools around the City discussed the Progress Reports. Some students supported them and others didn't. There was, however, a general agreement on the need for accountability in our schools. These Progress Reports bring added accountability and transparency to our City's schools. They help give valuable information to our City's parents. The most important benefit of the Progress Reports might be increased involvement from these parents who now have a clearer view of what's going on their children's schools.

While I support the principle of the Progress Reports, I also believe that the system needs revision. A large problem with your report card is the small amount of influence the Learning Environment section has on the overall score. Attendance is also as a major indicator of school performance. Students who go to bad schools will probably go to school less often and vice versa. If students are in the habit of going to school it is more likely that they will progress academically and proceed to the next level of education. Surveys should also play a larger role because parents, students and teachers have the most direct insight into the schools output.

I would also like to say that while standardized test scores deserve a place in the Progress Report they are given too much value in this system. While they provide some insight into student performance, they are inadequate and distract from the real business of education: teaching and learning. Emphasis on these tests also devalues the roles teacher and student. Furthermore, the need for constant progress to succeed in their progress reports is unrealistic for high performing schools and can actually distract them from the great work they are doing. In my mind the importance of progress for these purposes should be taken on the sliding scale determined by a school's previous performance, e.g. progress would more important for low performing schools.

Thank you for taking the time to hear a student's opinion. If you ever want to read some student commentary about our school system, check out the NYC Students Blog at http://nycstudents.blogspot.com or stop by at one of our Monday meetings.

Have a nice day,

Seth Pearce
seth@nycstudents.org
http://nycstudents.org

Student Government Project: How has LaGuardia's SGO improved student involvement and representation this year?

2007-11-09T16:29:00.000-05:00

When I became President of LaGuardia's Student Government this year, the first thing that I felt needed addressing was: Who gets to be on Student Government?

Since I joined SGO in sophomore year, students had been appointed to be representatives by putting in an application consisting of an essay, a recommendation, and their transcript. In most schools, this is an effective way of selecting representatives because there will not always be enough applicants to represent every grade, official class etc. When I joined, there were about 25 SGO members and I was the only one from my grade. An application process for lower level officials increases the number of students involved in their school.

However, there were also several requirements for aspiring SGO representatives that I disagreed with. First, a grade point average requirement of 85 or above and second, a clean dean's record.

My problem with both of these requirements is that they exclude important members of the student community: those who have not succeeded academically and students who have not followed school rules. These students have just as much right to representation as any others. They are also affected by the school's successes and more so by its failures.

For that reason, my fellow officers and I decided to repeal those requirements and since then, the number of SGO representatives has jumped from 46 to over 100, with greater representation of students from every class, major, race and gender.

As we increased in size, we also created a Speaker position. Someone who would run personnel of SGO and would work on recruiting new representative, accepting/rejecting their applications and helping new members find the committee that they would be best for.

We also created a new Student Opinion Committee: a committee of 15 SGO representatives whose sole job is to research how students feel about the goings on of our school and then report their findings to the officers so that we could bring them to the school committees that we sit on: SLT, Attendance and Safety.

Report cards--Huh?

2007-11-08T17:42:00.000-05:00

Schools get grades

Yes...it's report card time for everybody, including the schools. And while these report cards for the schools are a good way to communicate what improvements the DoE thinks should be made, they are being done in the wrong way.

85% of th grade a school gets is based on tests (30% student performance, 55% improvement). While tests do mean something, they don't mean that much. Students fail tests for a number of reasons, not just because of how much they no the material. But the real problem is with the improvement section. There were high performing schools that didn't get "A's" because they didn't improve enough. That doesn't mean they didn't have good averages, they just didn't improve. The current system is not right and it's not fair.

Report Cards: The Day After

2007-11-07T20:44:00.001-05:00

It's the day after report cards! As always, parents sit at home analyzing grades, conferring with friends and generally working themselves into states of panic. This time, parents are seeing grades given to their children's schools and principals. Like a child's report card, though, school report cards lack depth and are narrow in scope.

"Many educators object to a score that is largely based on standardized test scores," says Beth Handman, assistant principal of P.S.321 in Park Slope, Brooklyn. "although it is broken up in a variety of ways, the fact remains that 85% of a schools grade is related to testing. It is also true that the people doing the grading do not spend time in the schools they grade. That alone makes the report card somewhat invalid. You cannot evaluate a school with a mathematic formula, schools are made of people."

Ms. Handman's words are echoed around the city. Many parents see these grades as another step toward an entirely test-centered curriculum for their children.
While I agree with Mayor Bloomberg that, "information is power," this is one of those situations where we are forced to question the accuracy of our information. Not only do grades focus on test scores, they focus on improvement from year to year in test scores. This means that an extremely high functioning school may receive a low grade simply because their test scores were equally excellent two years in a row.

In a recent New York Times article by Jennifer Medina and Elissa Gootman, Ellen Foote, the principal of P.S.289 says, "I do not want to devote more time to teaching to the tests... Is that what's required now to get a good grade on this progress report? That's a compromise that I don't think I am willing to make." Here, Here!

NYC Students get in on the blogosphere

2007-11-07T20:08:00.000-05:00

Last month, the New York City Student Union officially launched the NYC Students Blog (nycstudents.blogspot.com), the first ever student-run blog about the NYC education system. In doing so they have joined the many teacher blogs, organizational blogs and the NYC Public School Parents Blog to contribute to the discussion on many of the important issues in our City's schools.

Ashu Kapoor, a senior blogger from a Queen small school:

For too long, students have been left out of the decisions made about our education. This blog will begin the task of giving students a real voice in our schools. Students are most affected by the successes and failures of our schools and deserve some say in the policies made about them

The NYC Students Blog currently features nine student bloggers who represent every borough and many different types of schools. So far these students have tackled issues such as Student Government Organizations, the Contracts for Excellence debate, recycling efforts in New York City's schools, and changes in Sex Education around the City.

If you get the chance please check us out at http://nycstudents.blogspot.com (and blogroll us if you feel like it!) We're really excited to contribute a student voice to the issues that so affect us and look forward to working with the rest of the education blogosphere to continue these conversations and improve New York City's schools.

Student Thought: Report Card Report Card

2007-11-06T17:50:00.000-05:00

B

What does this grade mean?
Your [The Department of Education's Report Card program's] overall score ranks within the 45th-85th percentile among accountability strategies for an incomparably large school system. Although this is a step in the right direction for accountability and is necessary in a system this large, some of the factors you grade schools on are a little misguided.

School Environment- Out of 15%
A large problem with your report card is the meager amount of influence this section has on the overall score. Attendance should be seen as a major indicator of school performance. Students who go to bad schools will probably go to school less often and vice versa. If students are in the habit of going to school it is more likely that they will progress academically and proceed to the next level of education. Surveys should also play a larger role because parents, students and teachers have great insight into the schools output.

Student Performance- Out of 30%
High Stakes testing is not a great way of measuring results. Test-taking requires an entirely different skill-set from learning. Its emphasis also reduces the amount of actual teaching and learning that takes place in our schools. However, it is still the most feasible way of assessing student performance and deserves to be a factor (albeit a smaller one) in a school's overall grade.

Student Progress- Out of 55%
Measuring student progress is a toughie and the McGraw Hill period assessments are a great way of doing it. Maybe with ARIS you can track a students grades and how they've improved or worsened over time. Also: Tracking a students progress from 8th to 9th grade is ridiculous and impossible. Puberty and the transition to high school make expecting all students (especially boys) to progress academically is unrealistic. After being a really good student in middle school it took me until my sophomore year to really get back on track. This section should bear less weight.

Additional Credit
I have to agree with Errol Louis on this one. It is a step in the right direction. Hopefully these assessment will show over time that principal empowerment is a good idea (as it has been at LaGuardia). Accountability is necessary. These report cards help spread the information to the public and let parents get a better picture on how their school is doing. However, the factors of assessment and their weights need heavy revision. Also, the system of relative letter grades will help the DoE and the other education wonks out there learn more about the benefits of competition between public schools in a system as large as New York's.

Joel Klein's new report card system gets a B. It's an interesting and well-intentioned concept but like Joel Klein's other programs, it is most definitely a work in progress.

Documentary on Policing and Metal Detectors

2007-11-04T23:31:00.000-05:00

Students at Bushwick high school have to go through metal detectors daily. One student had his pencil sharpener and white out confiscated because “they” said these items could be used as weapons.

Santy Zambrano from the Bushwick School of social Justice said “We should feel comfortable in our schools. That comfort zone isn’t being provided”. Many students at schools with these permanent metal detectors feel the same way. Metal detectors have been a serious issue. How safe do metal detectors actually make schools? What affect does this environment have on the students?

Three 5-minute documentaries on policing in city schools were screened by students in the Urban Youth Collaborative with help from the New York Civil Liberties Union. These students are trying to convey a point. These students are not criminals. Creating an environment where students do not feel safe, will lead to upset students who will turn to crime, or dropping out of high school. So much money is going into providing school safety equipment and to hire police forces, why not spend this money on creating a better school environment?

Coming from a small school environment with no metal detectors, I can say with pride that my school is a safe and has a welcoming environment. School Safety agents are friendly but strict on policies such as clearing the school building after school, or when it comes to showing Ids before entering the building.

Some students recently heard that students will begin to have to swipe their Id cards to enter the school building, and this alone caused alarm. It is very important for students to feel welcome in their school, because they spend most of their day there. It would not be a good idea to risk the mental health of the other students in the school, just for a couple of bad ones.

There should defiantly be measures taken to keep the students in school safe, but making them feel like they are in a prison is not the right way to go.

The Reports Are In

2007-11-04T18:46:00.000-05:00

This week the New York City Education Department will issue brand new, detailed report cards for nearly every school in the city. Chancellor Joel Klein has created a quantitative analysis of which schools have improved, which failed, or which haven't changed at all. The schools get a basic summary grade of A-F, with a lot of factors taken into account.

Basic indicators like school attendance, school safety and the ratings given the school by parents, teachers and students make up 15% of the grade.
The level of student success on standardized math and reading tests will count for 30%, and schools can get extra credit for innovative or unusual programs.
But 55% of the final grade will be based on the most important factor: how many students are making academic progress, scoring higher from one year to the next.*

There will be any controversies and political bickering over the reports. Many protests and maybe even lawsuits, as Klein promises to take strict action against failing schools. But we should take the city's word for its data and focus on what needs to be fixed in the system. Its time for action and to fix all the problems, going down to its roots of bad teachers, poor educational environment, poor curricula, and many others.

*Errol Louis, Daily News

Eliot Spitzer, You're Really Doing It

2007-10-30T22:11:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, the Sun reported Governor Spitzer is investing billions of dollars into SUNY and other New York colleges to increase their presence in public middle and high schools.

This increased "collaboration" will come in the form of associate degree level classwork and more interaction between the Universities and public students, some as young as twelve years old. Students involved in these programs would also receive increased financial aid and a guarantee that they would be able to go to a four-year college.

This IS a good idea.

Some might argue that putting kids in failing schools into college programs is unrealistic. It is not. In order for students to succeed in school it is vital that they have a goal, a future plan. High schools are a common part of middle school culture, they become part of a middle school students' future plans and thus a large majority of middle school students end up in high school. In a great number of high schools, college is not a part of the culture. It is not within reach. It is not familiar.

This program could help many high school students, from schools without a college culture, to understand what college means and how possible and important it really is. It could increase the number of students with "college" somewhere in their future plans.

Then, once they have college in their sights this plan throws in a double-whammy. First, you get guaranteed college placement. (Awesome, right?) Second, you get financial aid bonuses. As a senior going through the college process with many of my friends, I see everyday how vital these bonuses could be. It could mean the difference between succeeding in college and dropping out or not even going. Any program to encourage students not only to attend but also to succeed in college would not be complete without a financial aid aspect to it.

Getting colleges involved in high schools is always a good idea. For recognizing that, Governor Spitzer, I commend you. You are really doing it.

Politics... As Usual?

2007-10-30T12:39:00.001-04:00

Editors Note: Paula is the newest NYC Student Blogger. She reps the Bronx and will be tackling more general NYC youth issues and ideas with her own literary style (she is a known for her skills as an ill poet and performer). Enjoy! -Seth

This aphorism is one of the most annoying, and outrageous phrases that we as nation have decided to accept and stand behind. "Politics as usual." Isn't the point of politics to generate change within the government? To stand true to a nation, accepting all of its CHANGES!!! It is evident that as the election rolls around the corner, candidates like BARACK OBAMA and HILARY CLINTON have gone against "politics as usual".

With the announcement that Obama was entering the presidential race more than eight months ago, the junior senator from Illinois electrified the electorate like a certain Bill Clinton, back in 92. One noted difference is that I was still a baby, young and technologically limited. The irony, of course, is that man's wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, is proving to be Obama's greatest obstacle on the road to the Democratic nomination. Polls in the past few months suggest that Clinton has strengthened and in some cases widened her lead over Obama, including among black voters.

This is where "politics" meets its exception, Obama still maintains a strong online presence: His Internet fund-raising power has been massive, and his overall influence on the younger generation has blossomed. If MySpace friends and Facebook supporters (my self included) equaled electoral votes — his current friends list total is more than 180,000, well ahead of any of his rivals — the young senator would have this in the bag. And if the "Obama-mania" of early '07 has subsided a bit, maybe it's because people are just taking a closer, more serious look at what this man is all about.

Everything about him is fresh. It is unclear as to what is going to happen come PRIMARY DAY, but it is safe to assume that the majority of young Americans have given up on "POLITICS AS USUAL." It's time for politics that create change.

What ever happened to recycling?

2007-10-29T00:47:00.000-04:00

We all remember recycling back in elementary school, for some of us even in middle school. The recycling lessons once a year, the recycling games and worksheets. It was almost intrinsic in us to recycle, inculcated into us. It was the right thing to do, and we all knew it! But recycling is the last thing to pass by in our heads in school now, even as we stand over the garbage bins.

High schools hardly make an effort to have us recycle, it seems. This may be mostly because of the fact that the DOE and all its schools get no penalty for violating NYC recycling laws and at the high school level DOE feels it has done all it can to instill recycling into us, a vital habit in our climate changing world.

Some teachers say that they have kids recycle in classrooms but papers and garbage get mixed up by the time they get out on the sidewalk. Furthermore, the DOE has to central code for recycling but leaves it up to every school to do as the wish. As one teacher pointed out, as long as there are no penalties, recycling isn't a priority.

The good news is the DOE has new recycling standards inplemented in its administrative offices and hopes to expand those standards to schools soon. But as your colleague, I can see when it comes down to it, recycling is up to us. It is the right thing to do, and we all know it! Lets not forget the bigger things in life (that low test grade wont affect your health 10 years from now) but not recycling might.

We need our parents

2007-10-28T18:57:00.000-04:00

Our parents raise us, support us, feed us, and put a roof over our heads. It is our parents that make us who we are, and they are a huge part of our success (or not) The same applies to education, because if students don't have parental support at home, what motivation will they have in school?

Good parents seem to know what they are doing already, and according to a recent article on commercialappeal.com, they could really set an example for others:

They are less interested in how schools are accountable to boards and in the accompanying array of bars, graphs, and reports. They want schools to be accountable to parents by telling them regularly in easy-to-understand language how well or poorly their child is faring and how well the student's school is faring.

They want real, not relative, measurements of their child's progress, and they want to get rid of schools incapable of making sure that every child lives up to their fullest potential and ability.

We need more parents like this. If a school has a parent base that involved in the goings on of the school, you can be sure the school will get its act together. Not to mention the wonderful support that parents can provide as far as extra curricular activities and fundraising are concerned. So get going parents: help your child out!

Let's Talk About Sex... Education, Baby!

2007-10-28T17:31:00.000-04:00

The New York City Department of Education wants to implement a new sex education curriculum that would discourage public school students from getting prematurely involved in sexual activity but would also provide them with important information about birth control and sexually transmitted diseases. This program, also known as Reducing the Risk, certainly seems to be a better fit for NYC public schools than Title V, an abstinence-only education program that offered the DoE $3.5 million to use it last month.

It is the job of health-education teachers in this city to inform students about their different options, not to force their opinions and moral standards on them. Teachers are not allowed to tell students what religion to practice or what political party to associate with, so why should they be able to tell them what their sexual choices should be? So many teenagers are going to get involved in one kind of sexual activity or another while they are still in high school or even middle school, that it would be foolish to not teach them about contraception and preventing STDs. Telling them that sex before marriage is wrong will not protect these kids at all. Even if they do decide to wait until they are married to have sex, use condoms and/or birth control every time, and get tested regularly for HIV and other STDs, there is always the chance they might be raped, in which case even the most responsible of teenagers need to know what action to take in order to protect their health.

So, unlike in many of my other posts, I am actually congratulating the NYC Department of Education on going with the more fair, less-biased sex-education program. Good job!

Student Government Project: LaGuardia High School

2007-10-25T22:09:00.001-04:00

For the NYC Student Union Student Government Project, the members of the union are profiling their own schools' SGO's. This is my entry on the LaGuardia's SGO

At LaGuardia, our SGO is run by five elected officers and one hundred representatives appointed by application that meet every week.

The officers are the President (me), Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and as of this year a Speaker. The first four positions are elected by the entire student body and the last, though appointed this year, will in the future be elected by returning SGO representatives.

The President and Vice President both sit on the School Leadership Team and one of them (we switch off) sits on the Safety, Attendance, and C-30 (administration hiring) committees so as to actively advocate for our peers. The Secretary and Treasurer also appear at SLT meetings, though they do not vote.

In addition, the officers each serve as liaisons for the SGO's nine committees, where the main work of the SGO is done. Each representative serves on one of the committees. This years committees are:

Academic- Dealing with academic issues that arise and advocating on behalf of students to the Academic AP's.
Building Beautification- Working on improving the school environment by making it more appealing and sustainable.
College- Working with the College Office to improve LaGuardia's college process.
Communications- Getting information out to the students by writing a section in the school's weekly bulletin.
SNAP- The LaGuardia Student Performance Society which produces student generated art and performance. (e.g. Poetry Slams, Hootenanies and the like)
Student Activities- Helping student organizations get funding and space and assisting them in the logistics of event planning.
Student Court- Students may appeal demerits or punishments before a court of their peers. (I'll go more into detail in a few weeks)
Student Opinion- Actively seeking out student opinion on the goings on of LaGuardia High School through polls and social networking sites.
Website- Runs the SGO website (lagsgo.org) and works to improve the SGO's internet presence.

Next Post: How has LaGuardia's SGO worked to improve student involvement and representation this year?

Got Something to Say?: Student Government

2007-10-23T22:52:00.000-04:00

Editor's Note: Below I have copied a conversation over Ashu's recent post "Are Student Governments Necessary". It's a very interesting conversation and the kind of debate we really look forward to having on the NYC Students Blog. It also gives you a nice sense of the kind of debate that takes place at our meetings. BTW I re-formatted both posts for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy- Seth

Louis said...

Let me preface the comments with my guarantee of the utmost respect for your work Ashu and the work of your SGO. That said there were a couple points I felt it important to make.

While I agree with your contention that SGOs are important, their role as displayed seems contrived. You talk about helping the student body and this is indeed imperative but I would say this is not helping them to feel at home but rather to handle the numerous administrative issues that undoubtedly arise. Further, planning activities is fine and dandy, but I personally feel that there are enough issues already in each school: funding, scheduling, structure, etc. that are more crucial and should take an SGO’s focus.

Indeed the effectiveness of the school is crucial and should take precedence over its welcoming atmosphere. Though this is entirely imagined, it is not beyond the pale of reality to have a school with glorious activities and no curricular achievements or uncommunicative teachers, or the ilk. Creativity is also very nice and pleasant but sometimes all a problem needs is some clout and an avenue to a faculty ear.

You contend that if students like their environment they will stay in school and learn. While this is true, there needs to be a proper and adjusted system in place, achievable only through communication between student body and administration as handled by a SGO, to educate those children remaining in school due to your efforts. You seem very interested in empowering students to implement ideas but in so neglect reaching out to students who have major problems and have no clue, or worse no power, to fix them.

Finally, “It is necessary for all schools to have a student government” not simply for a student’s comfort but because otherwise schools would continue to operate in naïve counter-educational fashions.

Ashu said...

Your arguments are valid such as "Though this is entirely imagined, it is not beyond the pale of reality to have a school with glorious activities and no curricular achievements or incommunicative teachers, or the ilk. " But I believe that small steps lead to greater results. So, if we start out by putting a student government in every school, that is inviting, and makes the school inviting, I believe that it could be considered the first step toward many problems. Student governments should be dealing with all aspects of a student’s life, and that includes teachers, staff and administration.

The way to solve problems of an uncommunicative teacher is to try to solve the root problem (if possible, and this is usually through trial and error). The teacher may not feel comfortable in the school and thus may not be cooperating with students. Using my school as an example we hold many events that get teachers and staff involved. Our student government sends cards thanking teachers, for their hard work and dedication. There can be many reasons, and I am not saying that every problem has a simple solution as the one described above. Once students with the help of their SGO’s feel more comfortable in their respective schools, they would be willing to cooperate with staff and fellow classmates, making the school environment better.

You mentioned the administration, well student government is the link between the administration and students, and so for those students who do not know how to solve certain problems, student government can be the go to point for them. My SGO has a council called “Principals council” which meets once a month and consists of 4 representatives, one from each grade and our principal. Last Friday one of our representatives on the council presented the issue of soaps in the bathrooms, because many students had brought to his attention the lack of soap quality. He brought this concern of the students, who otherwise may have never had their voice heard, to the principal. Monday morning we had new soap in out bathrooms. I understand that the type of soap may not be the first concern of many students in other schools, but this is just an example of how student governments are effective in a school, and how they affect the school environment in a positive way.

There are problems with every solution. I am simply advocating for student governments in other schools, because I see first hand the difference it can make in a school. SGO sponsored events pulls together people from all different backgrounds and groups and making the school achieve a more united feeling. With this united feeling, students can feel more safe and welcomed within their schools. Of course all schools are not going to achieve this, because of maybe the ignorance or apathy of some students, but if it helps some students, it would be worth it.

I appreciate the feedback, and I believe that you made some very strong and valid points. My views on certain issues may be slightly biased because of my personal experience in an effective student government.