A major problem parents have is how to guide their middle school child to a safe and academically proficient high school. This post will help parents stay away from schools that have the best chance to potentially harm their child academically. The three types of schools are the Renewal high schools, high schools with a terrible administration, and diploma mill high schools with low academic proficiency. Some high schools may fall in more than one category. However, just being in one of the three categories should disqualify the school from consideration by caring parents who want a quality education for their child.
Renewal Schools:
The Renewal schools, which are academically struggling schools, are rapidly losing experienced and veteran educators to retirement, resignation, or transfer and are populated by "newbie teachers" who themselves suffer a steep learning curve to master the art of teaching. These schools suffer from classroom management problems, instructors struggling to learn the curriculum themselves, and are subject to an unstable school environment with high teacher turnover. Just take a look at this post to better understand why parents don't want their academically proficient child subject to the Renewal School environment.
Bad Administration:
Some of the highest teacher turnover rates are usually associated with terrible principals and their administration. For example the neighborhood around a school like William Cullen Bryant High School is middle class, yet the school cannot attract the neighborhood students because of the Principal, Namita Dwarka, and her Assistant Principals. Instead the school is forced to reach out to the DOE to get enough "over-the-counter" students to keep their numbers up. Under her four year tenure as Principal, of the 173 teachers she inherited, she has seen 137 leave. You can read my post about her and other bad principals Here.
Diploma Mills:
There are far too many schools that operate as "diploma mills" with very low "college and career readiness" rate. Many of the Rockaway High Schools fit into this category. In fact, almost all the high schools in Southeast Queens can fall into the diploma mill category. Add the Renewal Schools and you have unprepared graduates for the post secondary and the adult world.
Parents in the know and who have academically proficient children would be wise to avoid these schools at all costs.
Back to weekly rotations? What's going on?
ReplyDeleteI bet we will find out the new atr agreement just before the winter vacation. Maybe Friday afternoon as we are all driving home from our weekly rotation. The uft sucks!!
ReplyDeleteThe UFT is in cahoots with the DOE to purge the system of the most experienced workforce. Mulgrew is a disgrace.
ReplyDeleteI am in the belly of the beast. As a tenured teacher with more than ten years teaching experience, I am a rare bird in my Renewal school. Every year we get more newbies. They are ridden hard by our clueless admins who actually believe all our students are Einsteins, and who fail only because of the 'ineffective' teachers.
ReplyDeleteOur students (on average) are about 5-8 grade levels below their age level (as indicated by their entrance tests) and most speak no English and are SIFE and in need of IEPs. We play a lot of games in our school, however, and actually have 'good data." Go figure. Like most NYC teachers with kids, I send my own to private school. I have to pay for the kind of education that used to be free 20 years ago. No common core, no reformy fad of the moment, no social justice brainwashing. Priceless.
The DOE considers an experienced teacher nowadays to be a liability, it is not about the students anymore.
DeleteW.C. Bryant has suffered from poor leadership, chaos, incompetence and fraud. And our Chancellor and Mulgrew are unable, and unwilling to do the right thing.
ReplyDeleteLast year in W.C. Bryant High School they hired 26 new teachers, and 45 experienced teachers left. All this has been happening with the knowledge of the Queens UFT office, it is just a disgrace that our Union did not do a
ReplyDeleteanything to stop this exodus and toxic environment. Our Union with Mulgrew as its leader are not on the teacher's side. We do not know why? Why are ATRs being put on vulnerable positions, and are being observed? Maybe teachers should file PERB complaints because what is happening it is just unbelievable. Schools need a professional, stable and experienced staff.
I rather be at Rikers than work at WC Bryant HS. Queens UFT led by James Vasquez, Washington Sanchez and Rona Frieser are corrupt beyond belief. Instead of representing their members, they are informants. Stay clear of them at all cost.
ReplyDeleteWhy are they siding with principals that are destroying our schools, and showing neglect?
Delete137 teachers have left? That's a staggering number. The UFT and DOE have to be aware of this. No way, I don't care who your friends with, no way they allow that to happen without some kind of investigation. SMH
ReplyDeleteATRassignment who I trust more than the Uft stated to me in an email today rotations are month to month through June.
ReplyDeleteLess than 2 weeks ago they told me the same.
Everything is rumor and speculation.
However I wish Uft had a better track record and was more open with communications
HEKC, believe it...there has been investigation after investigation and it doesn't matter. No matter what evidence has been presented, what has happened there is exactly what they wanted to. Those who could retire, even if they didn't want to, did. As many as they could chase out to other schools left, and whoever they could frame with 3020 charges they did. The few that are left, struggle to survive day to day. I have said this before here, they (Tweed) has ZERO interest in getting rid of bad administrators.
ReplyDeleteTweed keeps protecting corrupt practices, and the Queens UFT office is looking the other way. It is all going to backfire.
ReplyDelete