Herbert H. Lehman High School
(Will continue to be updated as i see it fit to)
For many years now our City has been under increasing pressure to evolve as a city that can compete with other States around the world. In this battle our city schools have gone through what some would say a "hot mess." In New York City we live by and are forced to live by a little known fact : Business, essentially our schools and institutions have become or will become a way of the Dollar ! We have an illegal mayor who decided that charter schools would be the solution to everything. The conflict of course was... what is wrong with our Board Of Education ? Well its simple does not give enough power or money to a man driven by money our Mayor Bloomberg.
History of Board/Department of Education
In 1969 Mayor at the time Lindsay was forced to relinquish power of schools to the Board of Education due to rising demand for community control and he did they were made up of seven members appointed by borough presidents and the mayor.Elementary and middle schools were controlled by the community boards, while high schools were controlled by the Board of Education. The control of the community would only last until 2002 when the Mayor decided to " reform" and "reorganize" the system. An ongoing power struggle between the Democratic and Republican parties, state senators failed to renew mayoral control of the city's school system.On July 1, 2009, Mayor Bloomberg announced summer school sessions would be held without any problems.] On August 6, 2009, the state senate approved a bill returning control of the schools back to the mayor for another six years with few changes from the 2002-2009 mayoral control system. One of these perks was the start School to Prison Pipeline, for those who do not know about that basically around this time students were being placed under arrest in alarming rates.
Race to the top and Charter schools
The president intrudced a strategic plan to help schools nationally called race to the top, this program would help fund city schools and help better improve schools, so while the mayor closed schools the city looked more to charter schools, now i do not see charter schools as bad because my family is in two of them at the moment and they are more helpful to the students but not to a school like Lehman. The talk of Lehman becoming a charter school started when the removal of Robert Leader Principal of Lehman when i first started my high school journey, Lehman began a downward travel from that point til what it is today a school that went from a B to F in a matter of two years which in reality is unheard of.. Last year the school began hearing about a change that would involve closing out Lehman, it is a sad fate to a school that has done so much for our live's.
Should Herbert H Lehman High School close or Not ?
I would boldly disagree with the closure of Hebert H Lehman High School because this school is not a bad school, despite the suspensions and the report card mess. It is obvious that the problem does not involve the students it involves the administration, Lehmans' administration can not handle the amount of students it has on record. The Problem also lays in the hands of the mayor of New York City because his only agenda is money and businesses, closing Lehman would be a gimic and a citywide joke. I firmly believe that if Lehman sees' a completely different administration it would be successful, this school has so much potential that if it is closed all hope will be lost.
UFT PRESS RELEASE SEE BELOW ------>
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 20, 2012
MEDIA CONTACT:
Anne Looser, UFT Chapter Chair
anne@lehmanuft.org
Herbert H. Lehman High School:
STOP PLAYING POLITICS WITH OUR STUDENTS' FUTURES!
Bronx, New York – On January 25, 2012 at 6pm in the Lehman High School auditorium (3000 East Tremont Bronx, NY 10461), parents, teachers, students and community members will meet to discuss the fate of Lehman High School. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is threatening to “close” 33 schools, including Lehman, give them new names, and let go at least 50 percent of the staff in those schools. The current students will continue at the schools. As recent research has demonstrated, students with a consistent set of teachers increases students' success. However, a 50 percent loss in staff will have a negative impact on the students who remain at the effected schools, decreasing the likelihood of students' graduation rates and learning achievement.
At Lehman High School, teachers and staff developed (and are currently developing) strong programs, such as SUNY college-credit and AP courses, peer negotiation and mediation programs, student leadership and peer mentoring programs, and community clean-up programs. In fact, some of these new programs and initiatives are being funded by a grant from the Department of Education’s Office of School and Youth Development. The school received this grant in December 2011 with understanding that staff at Lehman High School would develop new programs for students. These are the very same staff people who now stand to lose their positions at Lehman High School. Further, as reported on Edwize.org, “…Lehman has 15.2% college-ready, [while] similar new schools in its peer group average a college readiness rate of only 6.5%.” These programs have a proven track record of achievement. They will not be sustainable without the staff that created them. Students will lose invaluable resources and opportunities for learning success and preparing for college.
The Mayor is doing this because the teacher’s union (the United Federation of Teachers) and the Mayor have been in negotiations around a teacher evaluation system. In recent weeks, these negotiations broke down, preventing the city from collecting $60 million in state funds. The Department of Education does not want to allow an appeal process for teachers who are rated ineffective. Yet, appeals are an important protection for teachers being rated ineffective for issues other than their performance – such as refusing to lie about students’ grades, or requesting mandated services for students. Allowing teachers and staff at Lehman High School the opportunity to appeal ratings enables educators to put
their students first by advocating for education equity and making sure students with special needs have the resources and services they need for employment and college readiness.
The Mayor's proposal to replace the current staff at Lehman High School and firing 1,700 teachers at 32 other schools will actually cost the Mayor more money ($100 million) than the federal funds he aims to collect by closing schools ($60 million).
Closing Lehman, giving it a new name, and firing 50 percent of the staff who are in the middle of creating new student programs will harm the school. The Department of Education should seek new interventions to support our community and involve the community—students, parents, teachers, staff and community members—in deciding what is right for Lehman High School. The Mayor should not play politics with students' education. Our students' future should be the city's priority.
UPDATES:
Since i posted this blog there has been two events the first a rally and town hall in which the schools chancellor walked out of a meeting with students because he was supposedly being interrupted by students, parents and so on.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/dennis-walcott-abruptly-ends-meeting-bronx-high-school-angry-students-interrupt-article-1.1015110
The second was a walk out by students and another town hall at Gompers, next week however there will be a final decision and a student protest driven walk out. Feb 9th, 2012 in Brooklyn, New York, thats when it all goes down finial decision from NYC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtPB_xqeWTI&feature=youtu.be
