Mark Naison received a letter from a first-year teacher who is working in a school that the New York City Department of Education is closing because of low test scores. How would you advise this teacher?
This is the letter Naison received:
“I wanted to touch base with you about the chaotic and seemingly fatal
status of my school. Tonight, I attended a Joint Public Hearing between
the DOE and the School Leadership Team, along with an opportunity for
public comment. All 3 proposals that were introduced [all including
charter schools] seem to lead nowhere fast. Sheepshead Bay HS has taken
in the lowest performing students from across Brooklyn; students who
are no longer able to go to their local community high school because
the large high schools [Tilden, Canarsie, South Shore] were broken down
into smaller schools that screen their students before admission and do
not accept these low performers. SBHS has a huge population of ELL
students, students with multiple and profound disabilities, and those
who live within the traumatic world of poverty. If these students are
not going to be admitted into the charter schools that are housed
within the corpse-like building of former public community schools,
where are they to go?
“I know that you feel as passionately about this issue as I do [we are
facebook friends], so I’m sure you can accept and witness the
pain of a first year teacher who is struggling to hold on to her
idealism”
Mark D Naison
Professor of African American Studies and History
Fordham University
“If you Want to Save America’s Public Schools: Replace Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan With a Lifetime Educator.” http://dumpduncan.org/
Diane Ravitch's blog 
So, if I understand this correctly, Sheepshead Bay HS takes in students who’ve been screened out of their local high schools, which are being broken down into sets of smaller schools that are allowed to limit their admissions. The result is that, because of government action, these kids are denied access to their own local high school and shuffled into SBHS, giving it a uniquely low performing population. And now there’s discussion of closing it or changing it into a charter school.
My initial reaction is astonishment. A public entity has created this uniquely low performing high schools and now, because it’s a low performing high school, they intend to close it down? That’s beyond the realm of imagination it is so harsh and cold hearted. Shame upon that public entity. It’s role in the creation of SBHS’s unique population places the burden upon it to do whatever is necessary in the way of supporting the school with additional funds and personnel and expertise. To do otherwise is a classic, “Let them eat cake!” attitude.
Then reality sets in and my next reaction is to suggest teachers get the hell out of this abusive relationship! People who could create SBHS’s uniquely low performing population and then punish it for being low performing are beyond help. They are unreasonable employers and will likely never be anything else. Get out of there, now!
Yet, in the end, a fear of what’s in store for those kids makes me want to fight back. And the only venue left to fight in is the courts. If this story is true, someone needs to be suing the daylights out of that school district and it’s board. The kids and their parents deserve at least that much. NEA/AFT, where are you? These people need help!
I’m guessing that a little investigation would find that the person(s) controlling the strings at this “public entity” responsible for the mess at SBHS have strong (financial) ties to private interests, in fact, the very same private interests that will benefit from the destruction of the school.
The problem with the solution of “leaving the abusive relationship” is that reality that would soon set in of “now where do I go?” The scenario of this teacher is playing itself out throughout the country. When data reported and applied in a manner to justify an ideological end (one that is pro-privatization and to create an opportunity for profits to be made from a newly formed “public school industry”), more and more of this will be happening and there will not be places for dedicated public servants such as this teacher to land….
For the teacher this is what I would advise:
If you really want to be a k-12 teacher, get your applications out to schools where the test scores are already high and the teachers are appreciated. If you are not certain about your life work, go back to graduate school to explore other options, such as higher education, business or medicine. . At this time teaching poor children is not valued and their teachers are being chewed up and spit out. You have a right to protect yourself from this abuse. In my opinion, the only thing that will stop this “reform” movement is a severe teacher shortage, which I believe is on the horizon.
For the students who are being shut out of the charter schools:
These schools are public institutions that are supposed to be open to all. Ask your parents to go to Legal Aid to see what your options are. You are entitled to an appropriate education.
Good luck to this teacher and the students. We are presently divesting in education for the poor. I believe the courts will eventually put a stop to this, but it will take time.
The problem and the disgrace is that it is the stolen time from the lives and futures of the students. What is unforgivable is that it is
the very faces and eyes of those who could put a stop to it. Good people doing bad things. No such thing…..
Professor Naison–Linda Johnson, above, has a good idea. However, perhaps you could share this letter with the ACLU? You probably have more influence than most, as per your reputation as a highly respected professor at an excellent school. That having been said, this appears to be a violation of students’ rights, which would appear to be best addressed through the ACLU. (Excellent analysis, Ken Mortland.)
Diane, thank you again for this blog because it surely is a public forum whereby, I truly believe, we can all throw our ideas together, connect the dots, and come up with some viable solutions to these seemingly overwhelming conundrums.
I’d tell this teacher to let everyone know about the good things happening at his/her school. Be the voice. Go to the school board…or whatever governing board there is. Write letters. Get other teachers, parents and students to do the same. Focus on the positive. If that doesn’t work and the school is closed or turned into a Charter school don’t give up. Being a teacher is like being an artist because it is a part of you that cannot be fulfilled by anything other than teaching. That leads me to my second piece of advise, which is to focus on teaching. Figure out what works in the classroom to build your arsenal of tools. Stay away from people who say it’s not worth the time because they are wrong, it is worth every minute of time you can afford to give it. I have been an educator for 15 years and there is nothing I could possibly love more. I’m currently an Assistant Principal at an urban high school that is struggling to maintain it’s level two (out of five) status. I have seen the good things that can come from tests and data, but I have also seen how the right information in the wrong hands can be damaging. I haven’t seen but I am looking at the possibility of over-testing becoming a real problem. This is not this teacher’s fight. A first year teacher has enough to worry about and should be focusing all of his/her energy on becoming the best teacher they can be. The rest of us can focus on making this teacher’s future less testing-oriented and more learning based.