What to do About NYC? (A Teacher's Dilemma)

“I will not serve that in which I no longer believe…I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can, using for my defence [sic] the only arms I allow myself to use—silence, exile, and cunning.”(p. 268-9)

- James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

I am very conscious about keeping politics out of my blog posts.  While I have many opinions, I am trying to forward the practice of teaching, particularly in urban settings.  However, the recent events in New York City cannot go unmentioned.  It is not my intent to push a political agenda, or to engage in baseless attacks.  I am more interested in looking at: 1. How we got here 2. What the different components of the “education war” in New York look like 3. Make suggestions for where we go from here.

How We Got Here

In short, schools are being overcrowded and underfunded. Test scores serve as the only metric for measuring "success"—they determine, among other things, if a school will a school be closed.

In Queens for example, a borough with a high population of immigrants and non-English speakers, large high schools started being closed over the past several years.  Low graduation rates were cited in one of the largest closings, Jamaica High School (GothamSchools, 2009).  Knowing that closing schools probably would not be able to best serve students, concerned parents began enrolling their students in other high schools.  Many of these schools were already at capacity, but as public schools rightly do, they opened their doors to displaced students.

Meanwhile, these over-crowded schools around the city were receiving edicts from the DOE: “raise your graduation rates in three years, or risk being shut down.” 

I hope the domino effect is becoming clear.  “Failing” schools had little chance for “success”, in terms defined by the DOE.

Last week, in his State of the City Address, Mayor Bloomberg announced he planned to bypass the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and remove up to 50% of the staff at each of the 33 schools marked as PLA (persistently low-achieving). This was in direct response to the UFT’s refusal to accept evaluation standards proposed by the DOE in which teachers with “U ratings” (unsatisfactory) could be released without a hearing by an objective third party.  The DOE walked out of the negotiations.  (New York Times, 2012)

The Different “Battles” Being Waged
There are several battles being fought. The first, and most important, is parents’ and students’ fight for the right to quality education that their children/they deserve.  (Parent/activist Leonie Haimson has been a tireless advocate for parents and children in New York City.)

While there is great work being done, many parents feel removed from the decisions affecting their children’s educations.  When Chancellor Dennis Walcott sent letters home to the parents of students in the 33 PLA schools last week, they were only distributed in English.  One student I spoke with bluntly stated, “I didn’t even bother giving my mom the letter—she doesn’t speak English.”  When asked, “Will mom attend a school meeting to state her opposition?”, a similar response, “Why should she waste her time?  She doesn’t speak English.” 

Additionally, when students from schools slated for closure are reassigned, they often travel great distances to attend their new schools (Ravitch, 2010).  How many parents would like to be involved, but cannot necessarily make an hour-long commute in each direction after a long day of work?

The second “battle” is being fought by the UFT—defending the teaching profession and struggling to keep unionized labor relevant.  Michael Mulgrew has been swift and serious with his responses to the mayor (see several statements at UFT.org).  The UFT is fighting an uphill battle—there is much vitriol aimed at teachers on a daily basis by Mayor Bloomberg and other politicians, as well as by their media mouthpieces, namely the New York Daily News and New York Post.  The UFT is trying to resist unfair treatment of teachers without seeming that their policies are protecting “bad teachers” (a term that has yet to be clearly defined.  Although, I gave it a stab in a past post.)

The third “fight” is the most abstract: it is being waged by educators, bloggers and others for students in these schools (and to some degree, their parents.)  It is philosophical—what does/should quality education look like?  Do we believe in social justice, and how do we reach this end?  This, too, is a difficult task, as clearly demonstrated by the elitist and dangerous coded language in today's New York Post[1]. 

Over twenty years ago, Jonathan Kozol pointed out in his seminal book Savage Inequalities (1991) that segregation still existed in American schools (as he also did in Amazing Grace [1995]).  He pointed out that there were many urban schools, especially in New York City, which had student populations composed mostly of non-white and/or low-income students.  He also raised a dismal thought: Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896!) established the idea of “separate, but equal.”  What were we to make of (in 1991) schools that were obviously “separate, but not equal.” 

Fast forward to 2012.  There are still school that resemble those described by Kozol.  How can we stand by silent any longer in a time such as ours?

What is One To Do?

Of course, these events affect my daily life.  My profession and livelihood has been under constant attack.  How am I—not to mention, all of my colleagues—to deal with the stresses we face?

For me, I am not as sure as James Joyce how I will fight these “battles”.  I am bothered foremost by the trend in education that favors testing over quality, project-based learning.  I have many great students—making sure that I provide for them the best education that I can is at the forefront of my thinking.  Second, I am concerned about the teaching profession in general.  Teaching is a difficult job without the daily assaults by politicians and the media.  How many future teachers, I wonder, are reconsidering given the current climate?

At this point, I think that being honest and looking out for the well-being of my students are the best ways for me to spend my energy.  I hope that I succeed.

Sources

Cramer, Philissa.  DOE to Close Four More High Schools, Including Jamaica HS.   
     Gotham Schools.org. 3 December, 2009. Accessed 18 January, 2012.  Web. 

Goodwin, Michael.  Teacher’s Blind to Reality.  The New York Post. 18, January, 2012. 
     Web.

Joyce, James.  The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.  Penguin Classics:
     London, 2003. Print. (original date of publication, 1916)

Kozol, Jonathan.  Amazing Grace.  Harper Perennial: New York, 1995.  Print.

Kozol, Jonathan.  Savage Inequalities.  Harper Perennial: New York, 1992.  Print.

     (original date of publication, 1991)

Ravitch, Diane.  The Death and Life of the Great American School System. Basic Books:
     NewYork, 2010.  Print.

Santos, Fernando.  Bloomberg Unveils Ambitious Proposal for Schools.   
     The New York Times:Schoolbook.  12 January, 2012. Accessed 18 January, 2012. 
     Web.

United Federation of Teachers.  UFT.org. Accessed 18, January 2012.  Web. 

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[1] Not to mention, the questionable grammar of the title.  I have omitted the link to this article as I feel readers of this blog may be offended by the questionable (adult) content on the NYP's webpage.