De Blasio - Strengthening Our Public Schools

STRENGTHENING OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS August 2009

By Councilmember Bill de Blasio, Democrat for Public Advocate

Paid for by Friends of Bill de Blasio 2009. Printed in-house.

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I. Schools Help Define the Community • Borough Education Forums • Engaging Communities in School Siting II. • • •

Parents as Partners in Education Public School Parents’ Bill of Rights Community-Based District Offices Parent Outreach and Engagement

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Restoring Trust through Transparency Making Performance Data Public Defining Responsible Testing Shining a Light on Budget Data

IV. Special Education Students and English Language Learners • Options for Special Education Students • Support for English Language Learners and their Families • Special Education and ELL Accountability V. Looking to the Future • Commission on the Future of Education • Preparing for the Jobs of Tomorrow

Paid for by Friends of Bill de Blasio 2009. Printed in-house.

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STRENGTHENING OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS Employment trends are clear: more and better paying jobs of the future require higher levels of schooling. President Obama has set a goal that by 2020, America will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world. Over the last seven years, New York City schools have raised expectations for students, and more students are graduating from high school. It is undeniable that this progress is due to the hard work of New York City’s educators, students and their parents, and to the framework of Mayoral Control. But there is more to be done. The graduation rate of New York City students still lags behind the State average.1 Even within the City, there are wide differences in graduation rates across high schools and across ethnic and racial groups, with African American and Latino/a students graduating at significantly lower rates than their white counterparts.2 New York City’s public education system must prepare every child for success upon graduation from high school. Our investment in public education is our collective future. As a public school parent, City Councilmember and former School Board member, I know firsthand that no other City service needs the Public Advocate’s independent oversight and assistance more than public education. As Public Advocate, I will use the office to build on the successes of Mayoral Control and also bring about much-needed reform. I. Schools Help Define the Communi ty Schools help define a community. When authority for schools is removed from the community, so is responsibility. Community Education Councils (CECs) lack a mechanism for having a meaningful impact on local education issues, and are therefore ineffective bodies for involving communities and improving education through public input. Our City government must actively seek out a greater voice for parents, community members, students and educators to work with the Department of Education (DOE) in shaping educational policy. Involving the community in local schools can empower teachers and principals by creating an atmosphere of trust and collaboration. Providing communities with better access to information, opportunities to engage in meaningful dialogue about education, and a role in affecting important decisions about local schools will strengthen our schools and our neighborhoods. •

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Borough Education Forums: I will hold the DOE accountable to communities by convening Borough Education Forums. My office will partner with the DOE to convene monthly public meetings in each borough for community members to voice their questions and concerns to, and hear from, senior DOE officials. The meetings will be modeled on local Police Precinct Council meetings held to enhance police-community relations. Each month, the meeting will be held in a different school district within the borough. The focus of these sessions will be to raise questions and solve problems collaboratively. The City's four-year graduation rate was 56 percent last year, compared to a statewide average of 71 percent. New York City Department of Education, “Graduation Rates Class of 2008 (2004 Cohort),” June 2009. Paid for by Friends of Bill de Blasio 2009. Printed in-house.

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Engaging Communities in School Siting: My office will facilitate community engagement in the school siting process, particularly with regard to procedures for closing or changing the use of schools.3 Schools should be recognized as more than places where students learn and adults work. Schools are often one of the few public spaces in many neighborhoods and can serve communities in multiple ways. Over the next ten years, the DOE proposes to spend over $26 billion on school construction, rehabilitation, expansion and infrastructure.4 Community members should be able to provide informed input into decisions about the location, design and use of school buildings. I will work to ensure that communities have advance notice about opportunities for public input and engagement in school siting issues. o I will keep communities informed by employing outreach techniques I have used successfully in the City Council: local papers, blogs, press releases, distributing fliers to every house in an affected neighborhood, and collaboration with other elected officials and community groups. o I will utilize new outreach tools as they become available, such as texting and social networking websites. o I will ensure that communities are informed about: how school closing or use changes would impact services for Special Education students, English Language Learners or low-performing students; and how DOE will ensure that the proposed new schools will continue providing these services to students.

II. Pare nts as Partne rs in Educati on Parents can be powerful allies to teachers and principals — they provide the support needed for students to attend school each and every day and to be motivated to achieve their highest potential. As a public school parent, I know our City can do more to involve families in their children’s education. It is ultimately in the interest of our public schools to increase parent engagement. Parents who are informed, supported, and included in important conversations about education will help to empower educators, strengthen our schools, and increase accountability. •

Public School Parents’ Bill of Rights: I will promote a set of fundamental rights for public school parents intended to ensure that we treat parents, teachers, administrators and DOE representatives with the same level of respect, and provide parents with the appropriate tools to perform their role effectively. I have proposed a Public School Parents’ Bill of Rights5 to

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The law reauthorizing Mayoral Control implements important reforms to school closing procedures, such as advance notice and public hearings. My office will work to maximize community notification and involvement within the new framework. 4 New York City Council, “Analysis of the Mayor’s Fiscal 2010 Preliminary Capital Budget for the Department of Education,” March 2009. 5 See Addendum, Parents’ Bill of Rights. Paid for by Friends of Bill de Blasio 2009. Printed in-house.

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enhance the DOE’s current, narrower Parents’ Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.6 The Public School Parents’ Bill of Rights responds to numerous frustrations that I hear parents voicing in communities across the City. While the issues faced by parents may differ from one day to the next — one day it’s the DOE’s decision to suddenly change school bus routes in winter, the next day it’s kindergarten overcrowding — they consistently illustrate the need to better define and support the role of parents in schools. I will organize parents to build support for the Parents’ Bill of Rights and urge the DOE to adopt it as policy. In addition, I will utilize the Public Advocate’s office to realize as many of the individual rights for parents as possible. For example: o I will help parents secure their right to “real and independent transparency, including access to academic data and budget information” through my role with the IBO Advisory Board and my authority to request information from agencies.7 o I will help parents secure their right to “open lines of honest, respectful, two-way communication with local school representatives and Department of Education officials” through hosting Borough Education Forums and support for communitybased Superintendent offices.8 o I will help parents secure their right to “schools that grow with the community, respond to changing local needs, and have sufficient capacity for neighborhood students and their siblings” through my appointee on the City Planning Commission, who can help to ensure that the land use process accurately estimates and plans for the additional school capacity that is required by development projects.9 •

Community-Based District Offices: I will work with District Superintendents, community organizations and schools to establish community-based approaches for addressing local education issues. District Superintendents should have a physical presence in the community, as well as sufficient staff available to support students, families and schools.10 I will facilitate partnerships between District Superintendents and community based organizations to: o Provide outreach to communities, parents and students regarding the services offered by the Superintendent offices.

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New York City Department of Education, “Parent Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.” http://schools.nyc.gov/RulesPolicies/ParentBillofRights/Parents+Bill+of+Rights+and+Responsiblities.htm 7 See Addendum, Parents’ Bill of Rights, #8. 8 See Addendum, Parents’ Bill of Rights, #10. 9 See Addendum, Parents’ Bill of Rights, #2. 10 The law reauthorizing Mayoral Control requires District Superintendents to maintain staffed district offices, among other improvements. I pledge to oversee and enhance its implementation through this proposal. Paid for by Friends of Bill de Blasio 2009. Printed in-house.

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o Ensure that the offices are sufficiently supported by recruiting volunteer parents and/or retired educators to assist staff, liaise with parents and schools, and conduct outreach.11 •

Parent Outreach and Engagement: I will increase parent engagement in schools by facilitating innovative use of internet resources. Many parents, because of family responsibilities, work or other obligations, cannot visit their children’s schools on a regular basis or have difficulty participating in bodies such as Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs). In the age of the internet, physical distance should not prevent parents from participating in school issues. 12 I will employ a variety of strategies for increasing online parent engagement including: o Webcasting PTA and CEC meetings, an initiative I have already started advancing through City Council legislation. o Providing parents with information about free internet resources in each school district. o Encouraging schools to develop listservs and utilize social networking sites to build online school communities.

III. Restori ng Trust through Tra nsparency Providing real transparency and demonstrating a thoughtful, responsible approach to information will help to build a climate of trust in our schools that encourages critical examination of data and open discussion about approaches to education. •

Making Performance Data Public: I will provide user-friendly access to DOE data that can often be difficult to obtain. Through the Public Advocate’s authority to access and review agency information, I will ensure that the public has regular access to critical performance data via the Public Advocate’s website and, whenever possible, through the DOE website. The data will be updated regularly and will generally reflect constituent concerns of a recurring and multi-borough or citywide nature. Examples of data to be posted include: o Annual reporting of City graduation rates broken down to reflect rates for students who graduated after completing credit recovery programs. The use of credit recovery programs, which allow students to obtain credits for graduation through make up assignments rather than summer school or retaking a course, has generated concern about the validity of graduation rate data.13

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It is important that volunteers be well trained and are utilized to support Superintendent staff, not supplant them. Because internet access varies widely among families, online communication should not be relied upon to replace existing, traditional forms of communication. 13 Gootman, Elissa et al, "Lacking Credits, Some Students Learn a Shortcut," New York Times, April 11, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/education/11graduation.html. 12

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o Daily attendance data for every public school. For students to succeed in our public school system, they must attend school regularly— period. This will allow the public to track this fundamental indicator of school performance. The DOE has already demonstrated its capacity to rapidly share attendance data, as it began posting daily attendance reports during the swine flu outbreak in the spring of 2009.14 This should be regular practice. •

Defining Responsible Testing: While more information is welcome, opinions vary about the appropriateness and frequency of standardized testing, particularly in kindergarten and grades 1 and 2.15 Additionally, decisions about assessments should not be made without a complete understanding of the costs and how the information will be used. The gathering of information not only has economic costs, but also academic costs, as time spent on test preparation can result in a narrowing of school curricula to exclude areas such as art, music and other enrichment activities.16 o It is time for a vigorous, informed public debate on the benefits, costs and administration of testing in New York City. I will engage the numerous stakeholders, including students, teachers, administrators, parents and education experts, in an open discussion about testing policy. I will seek input and facilitate dialogue through partnerships with PTAs, CECs, and community organizations, as well as through the Borough Education Forums my office will convene. o My office will implement a review of DOE testing programs to provide transparency about the requirements of testing, the purpose of tests and the ways that tests are used. The review will recommend areas of testing that can be reduced to save costs and decrease the loss of instructional time. The review will also target the availability of funding to provide teachers with time and support to use student performance results effectively.

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Shining a Light on Budget Data: I will open up the DOE budget to the public. Increased budget accountability will help us to maximize classroom funding and root out wasteful DOE expenditures.17 In the City Council I have successfully fought DOE classroom funding cuts,

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New York City Department of Education, “Spotlight.” http://schools.nyc.gov/Home/Spotlight/closures.htm The DOE recently began to pilot standardized testing in kindergarten through second grade. Gootman, Elissa, "A Plan to Test the City’s Youngest Pupils," New York Times, August 26, 2008. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/education/27test.html?_r=1&ei=5070&emc=eta1. Also; Jennings, J.L. and Corcoran, S.P. “Beware of Geeks Bearing Formulas: Reflections on Growth Models for School Accountability,” Phi Delta Kappa, May 2009, Vol. 90, No. 9, pp. 635-639; Engel, B.S., “Second Grade Testing: A Position Paper,” 2007. http://www.fairtest.org/second-grade-testing-position-paper. 16 Economic costs include those associated with: developing or purchasing assessments; providing training to teachers and administrators about proper test administration; salaries for countless hours required to administer, collect and analyze the results of the assessment; and training and time for teachers and administrators to understand the purpose of the assessments and use the results appropriately. 17 The law reauthorizing Mayoral Control provides the IBO and Comptroller with authority to audit the DOE budget. I will collaborate with these offices to ensure that DOE funding is allocated effectively. 15

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and as Public Advocate I will use my role with the IBO Advisory Board and my authority to review agency records to: o Make critical DOE budget data available to the public in a format that is understandable and easily accessed, such as via the Public Advocate’s website. o Offer recommendations for cutting unnecessary costs and allocating funding for areas such as reducing class size, services for students, and professional development. IV. Special Education Students and English Language Learners In spite of gains in student performance among other groups, progress of students needing the most support for learning is still lagging. Just over twenty percent of New York City’s approximately 160,000 students classified as having a disability graduate from high school in four years,18 and the Individualized Education Program (IEP) diplomas that are only available to Special Education students do not provide the basic benefits of a diploma, namely access to college, the military or jobs that require diplomas.19 Disproportionately more Black and Latino/a students receive IEP diplomas.20 Of the approximately 146,000 English Language Learner (ELL) students in New York City public schools, well over half do not ultimately earn a New York City high school diploma.21 We can, and must, do better. •

Options for Special Education Students: I will help parents of Special Education students to become full participants in decisions about services for their children. I will pilot a program to offer drop-in counseling to families about the variety of Special Education programs in New York City schools as well as the different diploma options they can work toward. My office will seek partnerships with community-based organizations, the DOE, and District Superintendents to advertise and provide this service free of charge.

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Support for English Language Learners and their Families: I will open up the lines of communication between ELL families and schools. My office will partner with parent groups to help them access translation services offered by the DOE to increase engagement. For example, schools with a high Russian-speaking population could benefit from having translation services at PTA meetings, and should be aware of such an option.

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Special Education and ELL Accountability: I will hold the DOE accountable for providing a quality education to students with disabilities and ELL students by:

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New York City Department of Education, “High School Graduation Rate Rises Above 60 Percent, Marking the Seventh Consecutive Year of Gains.” http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/mediarelations/NewsandSpeeches/20082009/20090622_grad_rates.htm. 19 The ARISE Coalition, “Educate Include Respect,” April 2009. www.arisecoalition.org. 20 Ibid. 21 New York City Department of Education, “Graduation Rates Class of 2008 (2004 Cohort),” June 2009. Paid for by Friends of Bill de Blasio 2009. Printed in-house.

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o Publicizing the performance and graduation outcomes for ELL students and District 75 students (including information regarding the implementation of students’ IEPs), analyzing the data obtained, and working with the DOE to set an implementation plan for improving Special Education and ELL achievement. o Ensuring that Special Education and ELL students have equal access to neighborhood and small schools, and that the schools in turn are equipped to provide these students with the support they need. My office will regularly review the enrollment policies and enrollment data for these schools, as well as the supports they offer to students. Additionally, I will advocate for small schools to incorporate the needs of these students as they develop from the ground up.22 o I will use my power of appointment to the Citywide Council on Special Education to help ensure that the Citywide Council includes individuals who have experience with Special Education issues and will work effectively on behalf of the students who need an advocate most.23 I will work with my appointees to help the parents of Special Education students organize around education issues and fight effectively for the services their children need. V. Looking to the Future It is time to re-think the relationship between New York City and its public schools. The relationship between public schools and the City as a whole should be a two-way street— this means bringing New York City’s diverse set of industries into schools, and helping schools become active participants in moving New York City ahead. Schools should be forward-thinking centers of innovation —leaders in green building, on the cutting edge of technology — that propel New York City into the future through our students and their engagement with the world. We must draw on New York City’s unparalleled resources to turn our schools into integral parts of our City’s economic, intellectual and cultural landscape, and we must create schools that will graduate students who are ready to face challenges of the future. •

Commission on the Future of Education: I will broaden the discussion about public education by working with New York City industries, cultural institutions, citizen groups, community organizations, unions, universities, parents, students and educators to convene a Commission on the Future of Education in New York City. The Commission will be charged with recommending partnerships, policy changes and other actions that will strengthen our schools, re-orient them toward the future and, most importantly, prepare students to effectively face the challenges of an intensely competitive international marketplace. Areas for the Commission to consider include:

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Designing small schools specifically for Special Education students should be explored as well. The Public Advocate appoints 2 members of the Citywide Council on Special Education. NY CLS Educ § 2590-b.

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o Promoting public schools as centers of innovation that generate new approaches to teaching and learning. o Exploring new ways of providing services through partnerships and innovative uses of technology to extend and support learning beyond the school day. o Defining the essential academic, artistic, athletic, citizenship and enrichment opportunities that should be available to all students at each school level. o Identifying and responding to trends in future opportunities upon high school graduation. •

Preparing for the Jobs of Tomorrow: Career and Technical Education (CTE) schools offer a substantial resource that should be more fully developed. I will work to increase students’ access to quality CTE schools that can prepare them to be part of a well-rounded, wellprepared workforce ready for employment in high paying careers. My office will seek to expand CTE opportunities by creating new school partnerships between the DOE, unions, and industries that are growing or expected to grow, including bio-tech, energy retrofitting, information technology and healthcare. Partnerships would emphasize opportunities for apprenticeships and internships, and would provide opportunities for students to develop relationships that can open doors to employment after graduation.

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ADDENDUM Public School Parents’ Bill of Rights New York City Public School Parents are partners in education. Given the opportunity, they can be important allies to educators, and provide critical support to schools and students. It is in the interest of our public school system to include parents in conversations about education and important decisions that will affect families. We should treat parents, teachers, administrators and DOE representatives alike with the same mutual respect, and we should provide parents with the right resources and tools to perform their role effectively. New York City Public School Parents have a right to: 1) Free, quality zoned schools, regardless of race, income level, primary language, or neighborhood, that set students on a path to being college ready and career prepared. 2) Schools that grow with the community, respond to changing local needs, and have sufficient capacity for neighborhood students and their siblings. 3) A safe and respectful environment for children while they are in school, and while in transit to and from school. 4) Direct communication with children in times of distress or emergency, including a reasonable approach to cellular phones that addresses the concerns of parents and children. 5) Timely and accurate information about opportunities available to students, and any policy and programmatic changes that may affect families—parents should be the first to know, not the last. 6) Participate with other parents and community members in an effective body that has a defined role and provides meaningful input into school policies and programs before decisions are made, particularly decisions affecting their children, local schools and school siting. 7) Access to comprehensive and thoughtful information about the performance of children's schools, as well as the ability to regularly provide evaluations of both schools and central administration. 8) Real and independent transparency, including access to academic data and budget information that, at a minimum, breaks down spending on classrooms, individual DOE initiatives and programs, and central operations. 9) An accessible, independent and enforceable grievance procedure. 10) Open lines of honest, respectful, two-way communication with local school representatives and DOE officials who have the capacity to solve problems within their children’s school, as well as access to translation and interpretation services to enable all parents to communicate effectively. Paid for by Friends of Bill de Blasio 2009. Printed in-house.

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