Schools

Interesting article in the Daily News seems to point fingers at not only charter schools, but Bloomberg's small schools model for public schools as creating greater disparity and segregation in NYC schools

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/bloomberg-move-smaller-schools-leads-big-disparities-article-1.2151180

"Even within the district schools, there were huge gaps in achievement — often predicated by equally huge gaps in income among the students’ families.

The biggest financial disparity was found on the Upper West Side, in a multi-school building where kids at Public School 333, the Manhattan School for Children, learn science in a “stunning rooftop greenhouse” donated by parents.

Only 18% of those students qualified for free or reduced lunch — a difference of 69 percentage points compared to the kids at Middle School 256, Academic & Athletic Excellence, where 88% qualified for free or reduced lunch. Proficiency rates were in the single digits at M.S. 256.

Those two schools on W. 93rd St. between Amsterdam and Columbus Aves. also have the second-highest disparity in racial makeup in the same building. Academic & Athletic Excellence is 96% black and Hispanic; The Manhattan School for Children is 80% white and Asian.

There's also a stark inequity in their respective Parent Teacher Associations. The parent group at P.S. 333 reported raising more than $400,000 last school year for classroom and office supplies, field trips, professional development and technology."

Bloomberg was to schools as Guliani was to crime.

They made things much nicer in wealthier, white neighborhoods.

As opposed to a charter school, DeBlasio is pursuing a merger of this Crown Heights School.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/28/nyregion/merger-of-two-brooklyn-schools-is-an-alternative-to-citys-small-school-model.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0

Does anyone know if there is a data set people can access to see how many seats in the public schools went to kids who live in the zone? I think it would be a very interesting investigation into how gentrification affects school choice patterns. 

My spidey sense is that many of CH's schools draw a lot of kids from other low-income neighborhoods; perhaps our schools are viewed as marginally better. And at the present moment, most gentrifying types are trying to figure out how to send their kids to the better District 13 or 15 schools (or choosing private school or the progressive charters). As more and more gentrifying types choose the CH schools (starting with 705 and 316, perhaps) there are less spots of out-of-zone/District kids, who are then channeled back their neighborhood schools and not benefiting from the changing class dynamics of the gentrifying schools. 

Is my spidey sense totally off? 

@maggie might be able to help.

@crownheightster, I think some of that is the result of natural displacement. Families that move make the decision to keep their kids in schools that they have been attending for many years rather than relocating to new schools mid-year or before the kids graduates out. I've seen the same thing with other institutions like churches and sports leagues. They move to different neighborhoods but continue to return to those places where they have deep ties rather than severing those ties. 

Look at all of the money that PS 9 now receives via Donors Choose: http://www.donorschoose.org/school/ps-9-teunis-g-bergen/518/?teachers=true

The Charter Schools recently issued a report, and held a rally:  

http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2015/10/school-equality-rally-thousands-protest-segregation-in-nyc-schools/

They are not playing around.

DOE takes a step to ensure diversity in coveted public schools. 

http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2015/11/brooklyn-schools-carmen-farina-implements-diversity-quotas/

I am really interested in how the priority admission for low-income/ELL students will play out in the Crown Heights area. Perhaps more gentrifying types will be forced to send their kids to schools other than Brooklyn Academy of Arts and Sciences, if spots are not available for their kids b/c of the set-asides. 

Perhaps.

I guess the answer depends upon how many gentrifiers decide to remain in the area once they have children.

....and how whether private schools are able to expand to meet some of the demand.

I see a lot of 35 year old pregnant women locally....

Hello Board,

I'm researching the options for elementary schools in District 17, so I read through this thread. Many thanks to everyone who already posted their insight, it has been helpful.

I am curious to hear if there's anything new and/or noteworthy for local parents, or any updates from parents of District 17 PK-5 students who completed their school search, or even are in the midst of it. Feedback from people with or without kids is welcome - it's really helpful to get the perspectives of teachers and school workers. In short, given the choices currently available for September 2016, where would you send your kids?

Thanks.

Me? My kid is 2. 

But if he was four, and I had to send him somewhere, my top choices are: PS 705 Brooklyn Academy of Arts and Sciences, PS 770 New American Academy, and PS 316 Elijah Stroud. 

Bed-Stuy Parents Committee has some great stuff happening. I wish something like it could happen in Crown Heights.

There are active Facebook groups around for Prospect Heights and Crown Heights parents, some of whom have school age kids.

A good read:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/magazine/choosing-a-school-for-my-daughter-in-a-segregated-city.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

A follow-up to the above piece from Rebecca Carroll (of WNYC"s There Goes The Neighborhood" podcast): http://www.wnyc.org/story/choosing-a-school-for-your-kid-when-race-main-concern/

Another follow up piece: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/magazine/many-echoes-of-my-familys-journey-readers-react-to-school-segregation.html

UWS version of the same story:

http://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/ny/2016/06/21/behind-the-scenes-parents-mount-coordinated-campaign-to-block-upper-west-side-rezoning/#.V2rNRU3D9aR