Tuesday, February 21, 2012

There are No Dancing Lemons

The other evening I was invited to watch Waiting for Superman with Long Island University Education Department admin and a few students. Because all in the room had viewed the movie previously, we could ask the person controlling the DVD player to forward to a particular scene.

In short, the group was displeased with stated and implicit messages. For example, the national teachers unions were so strong that observably incompetent teachers can't be fired; rather, principals within a district or another one would trade their so-called "lemon" to another school. This trade was in the hopes the "new lemon" would be a bit better than who they had before. Can you believe that after two or three switches, no principal realized that an incompetent teacher would not improve under his watch? This film wants you to believe that hope springs eternal; that an experienced principal would know anyone worth having would be kept.

More interestingly, someone in our small crowd explained that you can't stop someone from his working profession (teaching), so a principal may reassign someone out of the classroom into a clerical or administrative duty, in the hopes the person looks for another school. An alternative is to have the poor performing teacher to agree to find another teaching post rather than go through disciplinary procedures.

Another segment described tracking children for different roles and occupations. First track students were headed for executive-leader positions; second track students were headed for clerical jobs or small business; and third track were prepared for factory or farm work. The US economy made a significant shift into the information age and office environment in the 1970s. If tracking still exists or neighborhoods are designated to produce low academically perform students but most factories have moved out of the US and family farms have been taken over by agribusiness, what is the rationale for the type of education given to American children in the 21st century?

The production explains the need for charter schools as a counter to the strong teachers unions. If bad performing teachers can't be fired then the US will allocate public dollars to schools that aren't controlled by these unions. On the US east coast, we find charter schools' with total pupil seats anywhere from 100 to 350. How do these small schools meet the needs of large and medium-sized cities? It becomes even more intense when a charter school is placed in a low income neighborhood. 500 or more applications may be submitted to a charter school with 150 seats. The solution is school lotteries. Waiting for Superman allocated ten minutes to watching five young children in different parts of the nation go through the anxiety of participating in a lottery. The five weren't the lucky ones the day of their respective lottery dates. Both parents and children were so crestfallen. One little boy was later selected for a seat at a sleep away school.

It was a great experience listening to these sharp minds analyze and synthesize the statements and images of Waiting for Superman. I took away the need to understand what motivates the positions anyone may energetically advance to the public. Is it money? Is it a vision? Is that vision in line with values of a society as a whole?

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Sunday, March 2, 2008

NYC Admin for Children Services Has Centers at Each Other's Throats


A November 2007 letter from ACS Commissioner Robert Mattingly says all center- and family-based providers have until April 30, 2008 to be enrolled to license capacity—no excuses. Publicly funded childcare services all over the city face closing, sponsor board merging or sharing space with other centers if they can’t meet the goal. This situation is similar to the closings and mergers experienced by public high schools. ACS Office of Child Care and Head Start keeps centers abreast of enrollment status by sending monthly counts. Childcare is a major employer in NYC. Closings affect thousands of low- and moderate-income families and childcare staff.

Here in the Gowanus community, it has become a competitive situation. Centers use various tactics to meet the goal. Some centers with infant care instruct new families to move their preschoolers from their current care providers to theirs in order to get service for their babies. “This is disruptive for the preschoolers and reduces our numbers,” states an unnamed local center worker. Some providers resort to low rating other centers and suggesting the possibility of religious instruction at certain publicly funded centers. The fact is ACS-funded programs can’t provide such instruction. Communities experiencing gentrification have racism and classism rearing their heads. Centers that have operated for decades in a community now are questioned about their innovation and ability to care for children from more affluent families.

Bethel Baptist Day Care Center, a 35-year-old community institution, made changes in teaching staff and, now, boasts of NYS certified teachers and assistant teachers who passed the NYS Assistant Teacher examination. “We focus on continuous quality improvement in teaching, nutrition, sanitation, safety and recreation,” says Carlene Smith, Bethel’s education director. “Our staff distributes flyers throughout the area to families, local schools and community centers. We’re proud of their commitment.” Rather than take the low road, Bethel Baptist Day Care Center gets prospects from current and past families.
Rising above competitiveness, all centers agree that the new requirement for single parents to petition for child support and reduced staffing within ACS Resource Areas are major obstacles. Day Care Council of NYC has publicly raised these issues in recent months. Centers like Bethel will hold open houses and extend a year-round invitation to spend the day in classrooms to judge quality for yourself.

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