What’s up with School closings?

Instead of supporting the teachers, students, families or administrators in

schools that are struggling, the DOE’s policy has been to close them.
• 90 schools have been closed since Bloomberg took office.
• 26 are on the chopping block this year; and dozens more are on lists to be
“transformed” with little or no teacher or community input.
• The students most affected by these closings are those who struggle
academically or behaviorally. These students are overwhelmingly students
of color from high-poverty areas. Many of these students are shuffled to
the next struggling school. They end up in over-crowded classes with an
already overwhelmed and unsupported staff.
• Due to school closings, many students are forced to travel much farther to
attend school, reducing their ability to arrive on time, participate in extra-
curricular activities, or have their parents be involved in their school
community.
• The political agenda of the mayor, and many so-called “education
reformers”, includes diminishing the role of parents and teachers in
decision making at the school, district or city level, increasing the use of
standardized tests as the focus of curriculum, and putting public schools in
the hands of private entities. Closing schools is one way of achieving their
goals.
We demand that the teachers, parents and students of struggling
schools be allowed to decide how to improve their school. We demand
that the DOE actually put “children first” by providing the extra
resources a struggling school needs in order to serve its student and
support its staff.
Join our school community for a rally to call for:
Restoration of the more than _________ already cut from the
PS ____ budget!
An end to school closings.
Real support for public school teachers, students and families.
No budget cuts, no teacher lay-offs.
Jan 21st
City Wide Fight Back Friday!
What’s up with Charter Schools?
Charter schools receive public funding but are run privately. All over the city,
charter schools are taking precious space and resources from public schools
by taking over space in their buildings.
• Charters often receive large private donations that public schools do not.
Despite public funding, there is little or no financial oversight over charter
schools.
• Most charters do not have a parent association.
• Teacher turn over in charters is double that of public schools. (Vanderbuit
University, 2010)
• Contrary to claims in the media, the majority of charter schools have
academic results equal or below public schools. (Stanford University, June
2009).
• Despite calling themselves public schools, charters are not required to
educate all public school students. Students who struggle academically
report being asked to leave in the middle of the year, before state tests are
given. Families of students with behavior issues also report being asked to
leave. On the whole, charter schools serve many fewer English language
learners and students with special needs than public schools.
• The political agenda of the mayor, and many so-called “education
reformers”, includes diminishing the role of parents and teachers in
decision making at the school, district or city level, increasing the use of
standardized tests as the focus of curriculum, and putting public schools in
the hands of private entities. Expanding the role of charter schools is one
way of achieving their goals.
• We demand well-funded, high quality public schools for ALL students.
Join our school community for a rally to call for:
Restoration of the more than _________ already cut from the
PS ____ budget!
An end to charter take-overs city-wide.
Real support for public school teachers, students and families.
No budget cuts, no teacher lay-offs.

Jan 21st
City Wide Fight Back Friday!
What’s up with Budget Cuts?
Cuts to public school budgets have, and will continue to decimate schools
across the city. Many schools have lost teachers and other school staff leading to
increases in class size and unsafe conditions for students. Public schools lose out
on after-school and other extra curricular programs, materials and other crucial
elements needed to provide a sound education.
• These cuts always hit schools in high-poverty areas hardest since the
schools cannot raise funds in the community. Meanwhile those are the
schools that need more resources in order to combat the effects of poverty
on students.
• The department of education continually chooses to spend its resources
on more standardized tests, more data collection systems and high
salaries for DOE employees who provide no direct or useful services to
students or schools.
• Despite being mayor of one of the wealthiest cities, in one of the wealthiest
nations in the world, Bloomberg has repeatedly chosen to ask our students
and teachers to bear the brunt of budget shortfalls instead of forcing the
wealthy to pay their fair share through taxation.
• The political agenda of the mayor, and many so-called “education
reformers”, includes diminishing the role of parents and teachers in
decision making at the school, district or city level, increasing the use of
standardized tests as the focus of curriculum, and putting public schools in
the hands of private entities. Cutting school budgets is one way of
achieving their goals.
We demand fully funded public schools. We demand an equitable funding
system which ensures that more funding goes to the schools with the highest
rates pf poverty. We demand that the wealthy pay their fare share; that in hard
economic times those with the most, like Wall Street executives, pay more
taxes.
Join our school community for a rally to call for:
Restoration of the more than _________ already cut from the
PS ____ budget!
Real support for public school teachers, students and families.
No budget cuts, no teacher lay-offs.
Jan 21st
City Wide Fight Back Friday!
What’s up with Mayoral control?

From 1969 until 2002, there was an elected body called the Board of Education that
ran the NYC pubic school system, independent of the mayor’s office. No one would
argue that this system was perfect. It was not. Now however, instead of trusting in
the intelligence, dedication and collective knowledge of parents, students and
educators, instead of increasing democracy and looking to include more voices in an
attempt to make the system better, the entire NYC public school system is run by
the mayor and the mayor’s office alone.
This change has proven disastrous for all students:
1. Despite an increase in funding during the early years of mayoral control, class
size has increased and test prep for standardized tests has become the norm
for everyday instruction in many schools. And yet, as seen in the recent
scandal over test scores, academic achievement has not improved.
2. Community, parent, teacher and student voices have been consistently shut
out of educational decision-making. It is a mistake to have one person making
all educational decisions for 1.1 million students. It’s even worse if that one
person is NOT qualified for the job. In a system serving largely working class
families of color, to have a non-educator, super-wealthy white man making all
educational decisions is a travesty.
Mayoral control of schools gave us Joel Klein and Cathie Black.
Mayoral control gave us the testing craze.
Mayoral control gave us larger classes, and fewer teachers.
We demand community control of schools.

Join our school community for a rally to call for:

Restoration of the more than _________ already cut from the
PS ____ budget!
Ending mayoral control of schools.
Real support for public school teachers, students and families.
No budget cuts, no teacher lay-offs.

Jan 21st
City Wide Fight Back Friday!
Why is Tenure for Teachers Important?
In recent months a national debate has sprung up over the question of tenure for
teachers. The mayor and the so-called “education reformers” want to end tenure, or
at least tie a teacher’s tenure to the results of their students’ test scores. Here are
some things to consider:
FACT: Tenure does NOT MEAN a job for life. Tenured teachers CAN be removed
from the classroom.
FACT: Tenure simply means that teachers are protected from arbitrary firing through
a system of due process; the same as firemen, cops, nurses or anyone else in a
union.
FACT: Basing tenure on test scores leads to more test prep and less real teaching.
FACT: In addition to ensuring that teachers are protected from the whims of
administrators, and providing job security so teachers can provide for their families...
...TENURE IS GOOD FOR STUDENTS.
• A tenured teacher can raise concerns about unsafe, un-fair or disrespectful
practices towards students or families without fear of reprisal.
• Tenured teachers are advocates for children!
• Tenured teachers will stay longer in the position allowing them to accrue
extremely valuable experience. Experience makes teachers better!
The debate around teacher tenure is a way to blame teachers for the failure of
politicians to adequately fund and support public schools. It is a way to attack the
union, which is the only entity standing in the way of complete privatization of public
schools
We demand support for teachers and their students, especially in the schools that
are struggling the most. We demand an end to blaming teachers for the effects of
poverty and the failure of politicians.
Join our school community for a rally to call for:
Restoration of the more than _________ already cut from the
PS ____ budget!
An end to teacher bashing and tying tenure to test scores.
Real support for public school teachers, students and families.
No budget cuts, no teacher lay-offs.
Jan 21st
City Wide Fight Back Friday!