[lg policy] New York: New policy paper on Bronx education is a call to action for parents, students and community members

[Harold Schiffman]

New policy paper on Bronx education is a call to action for parents,
students and community members
Reform strategies came from Education Summit

By Corinne Lestch / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 6:00 AM


Building upon the momentum of the Bronx’s first Education Summit,
Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. is rallying the best and the
brightest to a call for action on education. In a policy paper
released last week titled “Unclogging, Strengthening and Insulating
the Bronx Educational Pipeline,” academics and activists tackle reform
strategies for English Language Learners, gifted students and students
with special needs. The paper notes that parents of special needs
students should be better informed and trained to successfully
navigate the complicated system. In the poorest neighborhoods in the
Bronx, students with disabilities have a 22% four-year graduation
rate.

“This paper will serve as the roadmap towards making substantive
change that will lead to both better implementation of Department of
Education policies and higher performing students in the Bronx and
citywide,” said Diaz Jr.

Acceleration should replace remediation, meaning a wider variety of
early college high school programs should be offered in the borough,
the paper continues.

The report also echoes a widespread concern among parents and students
who feel locked in a system notorious for phasing out low-performing
schools.

“Investing efforts to ensure that students in the final years of a
closing high school continue to receive academically rigorous and
college-preparatory instruction must be a priority,” it states.

The summit, which was held in October, brought together a variety of
experts in education.

Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and Diane Ravitch, an outspoken
critic of charter schools and mayoral control of the city school
system, each gave keynote speeches to a packed Lehman College
Performing Arts Center.

Workshops on higher education and other topics were held throughout
the day for teachers and other stakeholders.

“We will continue to partner with the educational institutions,
community based organizations, service providers and parents to enact
these recommendations, so that our public schools can see change for
the better," Diaz said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/policy-paper-bronx-education-a-call-action-parents-students-community-members-article-1.1032129#ixzz1oRhK8nVD


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