PS.PAC - Recently Updated Pages

TOOLS

kjellzer@pipeline.co — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:10:35 CDT

Please post your POSTERS, BUTTONS, and other accessories here [click on "More tools" and "Add attachment"] for other parents to use. See below for attachments

To order buttons go to www.affordablebuttons.com

A PDF for our "Rooms to Learn" button is attached below

Order a banner here:www.wholesalebannerz.com/Banners

Please comment on our Community Handbook! We created it to give parents and community members a reference in navigating the NYC school system. It is attached below.

PS.PAC Home

kjellzer@pipeline.co — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:42:18 CDT

WELCOME TO THE PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENT ADVOCACY WEB PAGE
Interested in getting involved in this fall's elections as a parent? Check out NYC Kids PAC (www.nyckidspac.org), a grassroots political action committee of parents supporting politicians who have supported our schools.

If you would like to comment on our "Community Handbook," please click on "Discussions" and start a thread!

***

ABOUT THE PS PAC

The PS.PAC (Public School Parent Advocacy Committee) is a consortium of PTA PACs from different schools working together on issues of common concern.

We created this page to post information about our plans and to share posters, buttons, and other tools that we have created for our events. Please add to our calendar any events that you may think will interest other parents active in the public schools. Please click on our TOOLS page for posters and buttons. To post an attachment click on "More Tools," above, then "Post attachment." Feel free also to converse in our discussion forum. You can post a message to me by clicking on your Profile, then Messages, then Compose Message.

Thanks for getting involved!
Ann Kjellberg
PS.PAC, District 2

BACKGROUND READING

kjellzer — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:02:15 CDT

Read NYC SCHOOLS UNDER BLOOMBERG AND KLEIN: What Parents, Teachers, and Policymakers Need to Know, a collection of essays gathered (mostly) by Leonie Haimson, with the help of Ann Kjellberg. It is full of information about issues of vital concern to us all: What does standardized testing really show about progress in our schools? Are small schools serving students better than the schools they replaced? What are the legal requirements for class size? Buy a copy or get a download free here.

Find the Manhattan Borough President's report on school overcrowding here:
http://www.mbpo.org/uploads/SCHOOLSREPORT.pdf and the September 09 update here:
http://www.mbpo.org/uploads/StillCrowdedOut.pdf

Read the P. S. 41 power-point presentation on possible school sites in CB2

Look below for a note on the developmental importance of the middle school years by CB2 Social Services and Education Committee Chair and noted develomental psychologist Keen Berger.

CAPITAL PLAN

kjellzer — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 21:58:08 CDT

Every five years the School Construction Authority and the NYC DOE propose, and the City Council approves as part of its budget process, a Capital Plan for School Construction. The 2009-2014 passed last spring with only nine dissenting votes. Many parents who are believe that this capital plan is woefully inadequate to address the overcrowding facing our schools. Each year we should challenge the amendments that come before our CECs for comment in the late fall and demand more money for school infrastructure.

* Click here for a report by the Manhattan Borough President's Task Force on Overcrowding that analyzes the plan and the demographic trends in our neighborhoods, calling for the construction of at least two times more seats just to relieve current overcrowding.

* Click here for a report by the Manhattan Borough President's Office and here for a report by the Office of the Comptroller, saying that DOE's planning for enrollment increase has not responded to demographic change.

* See below for attached testimony from elected officials and others (add yours!) about the inadequacies of the capital plan.

* Scroll to the bottom of this window for links with more information.

Are you worried about asking for more money for school construction in a time of economic crisis?
Consider these points:

- School construction and repair has a smaller capital budget than at any other time in the last ten years. City capital spending on schools--where school construction money comes from--is actually shrinking, while city spending on housing and economic development, health and social services, and park, library, police, and cultural projects are all increased;

- The state reimburses 50% of school construction spending, so it is a good deal for the city;

- School construction is paid for not out of the city's operating budget, but through municipal bonds, which are amortized over thirty years;

- Economists across the political spectrum agree that infrastructural improvements are an effective economic stimulus, as is seen in our national stimulus policies;

- During the economic downturn of the 70s, the city failed to invest in education and we are still suffering the consequences today, in the form not only of a severely damaged education system but lost productivity, economic growth, equality of opportunity, and neighborhood vitality;

- The current plan is approximately equal in spending to the last, with substantially fewer seats. Why? Why have costs gone up? The economic climate seems to present an opportunity to renegotiate existing contracts and recalculate future cost projections in favor of less expensive school construction;

- The Manhattan Borough President's Task Force on Overcrowding has calculated that the capital plan funds the creation of only one-third the number of seats needed simply to relieve existing overcrowding and reduce class sizes to the levels the city committed to in its class size reduction plan.

- Remember! More than 40% of NYC kids attend overcrowded schools now, and hundreds of kids are on waiting lists for their own zoned kindergartens. The problem will only get worse if adequate construction is put off another five years!

- Read the capital plan here. Will there be any more seats in your neighbhorhood in 2014?
- Click here for a survey of principals: Do DOE figures adequately register overcrowding in their schools?
- Click here for a letter from politicians and parents demanding a better capital plan.

41 SLT survey

kjellzer — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:18:23 CDT

A page for PS 41 parents to exchange ideas for the SLT survey.
Click "EasyEdit" to add your own

Please no Hollywood movies for K-1st. No movies at all preferred, but some suggestions: Scholastic, Schoolhouse Rock, Red Balloon, movies of picture books. Perhaps we parents could donate a library?

Library every week for K-1st

No iced tea in snapple machine

Parent workshop suggestions: how the school handles bullying and teasing; cyber safety

Use independent bookseller for book fair: it's just become too cheesy

It would be good to have more of an explanation of the new report cards. Some parents were a bit confused by them.

Anyone else uncomfortable with the magazine drive? Could we ask not to have school time spent on prepping for it?

Really miss going to lunch.

Some discussion about materials in Kindergarten? Miss dress up, small animals, household objects, a place to hide, blocks, water table; also no easels. Is it money, or policy?

Miss reading buddies.

41 SLT

kjellzer — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 12:48:39 CDT

There is no abstract available for this page revision.

TESTIMONY

kjellzer — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:11:44 CST

See the attachments below for testimony by parents and advocates on vital issues in NYC education.

Of special importance this spring: mayoral control.

We attach testimony before the NYS Assembly Education Committee by Leonie Haimson of Class Size Matters and parent David Quintana. Read testimony by parent Maria Dapontes here.

Letters to Obama

kjellzer — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 13:18:49 CST

Rumors have been circulating that President-elect Barack Obama is considering NYC schools Chancellor Joel Klein as a potential secretary for education. If you have opinions about this choice, you might want to consider signing one or both of the following two letters, drafted by the parents of PS PAC.

[short] Dear President-elect Obama,

First of all let us congratulate you on your election. Many of usworked ardently to advance your cause, and today we celebrate thebright and hopeful years before us under your leadership.

We write now as parents in the New York City public school system. We would like to urge in the strongest terms that youselect a Secretary for Education with deep practical experience inteaching and learning. We feel that there is a fashion now forplacing school reform in the hands of leaders outside the field. Inour experience in New York this trend is catastrophic; in our view the administration of Chancellor Joel Klein has disastrously neglected the fundamental needs of children. To lead ineducation one must understand something aboutchildren, about human development, about the history of successes andfailures in pedagogy.

Please appoint an experienced educator, a person close to the lives ofchildren, to lead our nation's education system.

Yours sincerely,

Miguel Acevedo
Linda Aizer
Allison Astor-Vargas
Wendy Banner
Richard Barr
Stephanie Basch
Timothy Bascom
Ron Bath
Keen Berger
Sharlene Bingley
Heather Blau
Lori Bores
Sharlene Breakey
Susan Buttenwieser
Joy Canning
Jan Carr
Geraldine Claps, RN
Laurence Copel-Yamazaki
Mary Cozza
Susan Crowson
Alberto Cruz
Rebecca Daniels
Ann Marie De Falco
Solange Delleu
Cheryl Donegan
Fabienne Doucet
Caroline Eichman
Robert Ely
Annette Evans
Neil Fine
Traci Fields
Risa Fisher
Jennifer Freeman
Debra Freeman
Lewis Friedman
Harriet Glassman
Gwen Goodwin, Chair, Coalition to Save P. S. 109
Laurie Hardjowirogo
Samantha Harmon
Jessica Harvey
Robyn Hatcher
Michael Hausman
James J. Heidenry
Lauren L. Heidenry
D. S. Hill
J. H. Hill
Jennifer Jacobs
Diane Johnson
Tricia Joyce
Irene Kaufman
Sara Kimbell
Rachel King
Ann Kjellberg
Allan Korenberg
Regula Kurzen
Andy Lachman
Mari Lazar
Daniel Leopold

Maria Lea
Elizabeth Lesnick
Jenny Li
David Lulo
Melissa Dehncke McGill
Craig McMeekin
Taura McMeekin
Catherine Marino-Thomas
Bijou Miller
Joan Minieri
Mark Moraldi
Susanna Moraldi
Jennifer Mulligan
Daniel Neiden
Judith Newman
Denise Olis
Wilfred Ortiz
Eve Ottavino
Rebecca Oyer
Erin Peter
Joyce A. Rittenburg
Tamara Rowe
Jean Rosenberg
Ronnie Rosenberg
Tory Ruffolo
Emily Tenzer Santoro
Greta Schiller, MA Science Ed
Tina Schiller
Blair Schlumbom
Robin Shanen
Ann Shonbrun
Amy Silver
Mary Silver
Madeleine Sinor
Barry Stelboum
Shino Tanikawa
Kathy Tiru
Victor Tiru
Carol Turturro
Dennis Vargas
Wilma Velazquez
Dr. Andrea Weiss, CCNY
Laura Williams
Mariama James

[long] Dear President-elect Obama,

First of all let us congratulate you on your election. Many of us worked ardently to advance your cause, and today we celebrate the bright and hopeful years before us under your leadership.

We write now as parents in the New York City public school system, anxious to have our experience heard as you weigh the leadership of the nation's education program.

First of all we would like to urge in the strongest terms that you select a Secretary for Education with deep practical experience in teaching and learning. We feel that there is a fashion now for placing school reform in the hands of leaders outside the field. In our experience in New York this trend is catastrophic. Education leadership requires practitioners who understand something about children, about human development, about the history of successes and failures in pedagogy. Too many important decisions about our kids are being made by people with little knowledge of children and learning.

We would also like to ask you to consider with some skepticism several trends that have swept contemporary education reform.

Using high-stakes testing as an exclusive measure of school, principal, teacher, and student performance. Increased high stakes testing as a measure of system-wide performance punishes our neediest students, diminishes their educational experience, accelerates teacher turnover, narrows the curriculum, and diminishes the time and effort given to authentic learning in our schools. It also contributes to test score inflation, meaning that students’ scores will no longer provide reliable evidence of their actual level of achievement. We accept that standardized testing is necessary as one of a palette of measures of student and school performance, but the enormous expansion of testing under the last administration and in New York City among other local systems has done our educational system enormous damage.

Charter schools, vouchers, and other measures that privatize our school system. While charter schools have brought many fresh and creative ideas into our system, we argue that their segregation from the general system has increased disparities in educational opportunity, diminished resources available to many students, damaged the commitment of the system to adequate pay and working conditions for teachers and administrators, and created many dysfunctional schools with little supervision and wildly divergent educational standards. Let us work to create an educational system that will provide opportunities to all students and nourish fresh ideas from within.

These are the improvements that we believe are necessary to our public schools and would change the lives of millions of children throughout our country.

1- Safe and uncrowded schools with more counselors: Many of our students, particularly in urban areas, attend overcrowded schools in near third-world conditions, contributing to a variety of disciplinary problems that make it difficult for them to learn, leading to more violence and higher dropout rates. In addition to less crowding, these schools often require much more adult support; in many, there is only one guidance counselor for six hundred or more students.

2- Smaller classes: Despite the abundant research that conclusively demonstrates that smaller classes can significantly narrow the achievement gap, poor and minority students continue to attend schools with much larger classes on average than those in wealthier districts, and thus are deprived of the individual attention they need to succeed. Small classes in grades K-12 have been linked to more classroom engagement, more time on task, higher levels of achievement, and lower dropout rates. Moreover, in national surveys, educators throughout the country overwhelming say that reducing class size would be the most effective way to improve the quality of teaching in our public schools.

3- Adequate resources and teacher support to assure that all students receive a rich, well-rounded curriculum including the arts, physical education and project-based learning in a curriculum connected to their own lives and culture, with progress evaluated by high-quality, appropriate assessment tools that are primarily classroom-based.

4- More parental involvement: Studies show that the more involved parents are at the school level, the better the outcomes for students. And yet the top-down, corporate approach to school governance on the rise in cities throughout the country, such as Chicago and New York, has consistently and systematically worked to eliminate the ability of parents to have a real voice in decision-making and thus to be true partners at the school and district level.

We urge you not to buy into the faddish school reforms that have achieved recent publicity in several of our urban districts but (1) have not shown measurable results and (2) have notably diminished the richness of the education we offer to our students. Much public money has been spent on these reforms in the hope of creating a quick fix, while meanwhile the deep, nourishing work our schools need--developing resources, developing successful pedagogies, developing staff--goes neglected. We urge you to take a real look at what's really going on in our schools and to work with teachers and administrators and parents to develop the nourishment and support they need rather than the pummeling they take under NCLB and the reforms popular in New York City, Chicago, and several other urban school districts. We don't think you'd find many public school parents writing to you in support of these reforms.

NEWS

ShinoT — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:05:30 CST

Upcoming Hearings on Mayoral Control

The New York State Assembly Committee on Education is conducting citywide hearings to review the impact of Mayoral control over the New York City public school system. The Manhattan hearing is:

Friday, Feb. 6th at 10 a.m. 250 Broadway, 19th Floor, Room 1923

All hearings are open to the public but you must rsvp if you want to speak.
Details are at: http://assembly.state.ny.us/comm/Ed/20090119/

Background on Mayoral Control:
In 2003, the New York State Legislature voted to give the mayor of New York City control of the New York City public school system. But the law is set to expire on June 30th this year and the Assembly committee wants to hold hearings before voting on whether to continue mayoral control.
Critics of Bloomberg’s interpretation of mayoral control, which includes the PS3 Political Action Committee, have many concerns about continuing this policy as it currently stands. They cite the following problems: schools have had to endure several major reorganizations to the entire system and increases in standardized testings; parents have less ability to have their voices heard; and there are no checks and balances in place to prevent the Mayor from making unilateral decisions. The current system puts all the powers in the hands of two men, neither of whom is an educator.
During a City Council hearing last March on mayoral control, critics voiced concerns that Bloomberg was exerting more control than the Legislature had meant to give him. “Mayoral control was not meant to be martial law,” Councilman John Liu said. Meanwhile, schools are increasingly overcrowded and graduation rates remain virtually unchanged at 50%.

Here is information about the hearings in the other four boroughs:

QUEENS STATEN ISLAND
Thursday, January 29, 10:00 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, 10:30 a.m.
Queens Borough Hall, Room 213 College of S. I. Center for the Arts
120-55 Queens Blvd, Kew Gardens Williamson Theater
2800 Victory Blvd, Building 1P

BRONX BROOKLYN
Friday, March 13,10:00 a.m. Friday, March 20, 10:00 a.m.
Lehman College, Lovinger Theatre, New York City Technical College
1st Floor Speech & Theater Building Klitgord Auditorium
250 Bedford Park Blvd. West 285 Jay Street

CEC D2 has solicted responses by D2 schools to DOE's May "Blueprint for D2 Enrollment and Capacity." Read the responses here.

The NYS Senate Democratic Task Force on NYS School Governance is holding a series of hearings on governance. See calendar for schedule of meetings. See their announcement below.

Class Size Matters, along with a group of Community Education Council members and President Council members, has formed a Parent Commission on School Governance and Mayoral Control. All parents are invited to join in to help create recommendations to the State Legislature about what governance system should be put in place when Mayoral control sunsets next June. Meetings are in the student lounge on the 3rd floor of Pless Hall at 82 Washington Square East, NYU. Dates: Sept. 12; Oct. 3; Nov. 7; Dec. 5; Jan. 9; Feb. 6. For more information: parentcommission@gmail.com

MEMBERS

ShinoT — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 22:25:10 CST

P. S. 41, District 2
Ann Kjellberg, Irene Kaufman, representatives
www.ps41.org/resources/ps-pac

P.S. 3 and M.S. 260, District 2
Shino Tanikawa

Class Size

ShinoT — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:11:06 CST

Background

Schools in the city have historically had larger class sizes than the rest of the State
Landmark lawsuit resulted in more funding from the State
NYC required by State to reduce class size
Class size is one of the most important factors affecting student learning and teacher retention

Problems

Despite the increased funding from the State, class sizes continue to increase
DoE's Capital Plan does not create enough school seats to reduce class sizes to State mandated levels
Many schools have class sizes beyond the maximum acceptable level in the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) contact

Actions

Find out class sizes at your child's school and report them to Class Size Matters (see below)
Attend Community Education District Council (CDEC) meetings and demand that the Capital Plan be aligned with reduced class sizes mandated by the State

Resource Links

PSPAC101: Education Issues at a Glance

ShinoT — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:49:31 CST

There are distinct but related issues that require parents' involvement. Here is a very brief and simplified overview. We hope you find one issue (or more!) on which to focus your activism. These pages are works in progress -- please check back periodically.

Mayoral Control

School Overcrowding

Class Size

Education Budget

Testing

Many of the suggested actions require you to contact elected officials who represent you. To find out who the elected representatives are, visit League of Women Voters of the City of New York

School Overcrowding

ShinoT — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 08:51:28 CST

Background

Development without proper planning
Development projects approved without adequate analysis of impact on schools
City's population expected to increase by one million by 2030
18% increase in school age children expected in the next 5 years in District 2

Problems

DoE's Capital Plan is woefully inadequate in relieving overcrowding
Overcrowding leads to large class sizes
Schools sharing the building with another school have added challenges of scheduling space
In some schools overcrowding has resulted in students eating lunch at 10:40AM and intervention work conducted in a broom closet

Actions

Attend the Community District Education Council (CDEC) meetings
Reach out to local Community Boards to bring attention to overcrowding

Resource Links

Class Size Matters
Read the documents posted on the "BACKGROUND READING" and "TESTIMONY" pages of this wiki

Education Budget

ShinoT — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 08:44:43 CST

Background

Schools receive funding from both City and State
The State historically did not provide adequate funding for our children to receive quality education. This inequity led to the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit brought on by education advocates
As a result of the lawsuit, which took more than a decade, our schools are entitled to increased funding from the State

Problems

Both City and State proposed significant cuts to the next year's school budget
Mid-year budget cuts by the City for two years in a row (07-08 and 08-09)
Questionable spending practices by the DoE -- no bid and frivolous contracts to private consultants

Actions

Support the effort to amend the personal income tax law that would generate more State revenue

Resource Links

Testing

ShinoT — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 08:28:21 CST

Background

Federal law, No Child Left Behind, requires all schools to be "accountable"
Accountability has been equated to test scores and school performance (and in turn the performance of teachers and administrators) is evaluated based on standardized test scores
Klein administration further instituted interim assessments, many of which are multiple choice, fill-in-the-bubbles tests developed by private for-profit companies

Problems

More time spent on preparing students for the tests (teaching to the tests)
Test scores used to evaluate student, teacher and school performance

Actions

Tell your Congressional representatives and Senators that the No Child Left Behind law needs to be amended so that testing is not the only assessment tool

Resource Links

Mayoral Control

ShinoT — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 09:25:28 CST

Background

School Board system was dysfunctional (although some School Districts were working very well)
State law gave the Mayor control of our school system in 2003
Two system wide re-organizations in five years

Problems

While the Mayor holds teachers and principals accountable, he and the Chancellor are not accountable to anything
Using the largest PR department in the history of DoE, the Mayor is misleading the public with questionable statistics
The law has been interpreted in ways not intended by the State Legislature
Autocratic approach to school governance that has alienated parents, teachers and administrators
Business model applied to education -- principals as CEOs

Actions

Call your State Assembly Member and Senator and tell them the law needs to include checks and balances
Go to the forums hosted by the NYC Parents Commission on School Governance

Resource Links

PS.PAC - Recently Updated Pages

TOOLS

PS.PAC Home

BACKGROUND READING

CAPITAL PLAN

41 SLT survey

41 SLT

TESTIMONY

Letters to Obama

Archive

NEWS

MEMBERS

Class Size

PSPAC101: Education Issues at a Glance

School Overcrowding

Education Budget

Testing

Mayoral Control