[Susan notes: These letters were published
under the headline Grading the Schools
Chancellor. Read them and see which writers stand
out as toadies. Also ask yourself: Where are the
teacher voices?]
Published in New York Times
03/13/2009
Re “Debate on New York Schools Pivots on One Man
at the Top” (“Controlling Interests” series,
front page, March 6):
I worked in the schools of New York City for 30
years as a teacher and principal. As a
consultant, I visited schools all over the
country and met with teachers, principals and
parents. I raised two children who attended New
York City public schools.
From those experiences, perhaps the most
important thing I’ve learned is this: In order to
create positive change in schools, the major
focus must be on teaching and learning — what
goes on in classrooms between teachers and
students, every day and every minute of those
days.
Good schools pay attention to what teachers are
teaching and how they’re teaching it, how they
can refine and add to what they already know, how
the curriculums are created and how they make for
fruitful learning.
If Chancellor Joel I. Klein is really interested
in “changing longstanding practices,” as the
article notes, he might consider valuing the
actual work that school people do every day,
directly with children, work that does not appear
in headlines.
Blossom Gelernter
San Diego, March 7, 2009
The writer is the founding principal of Public
School 234 in New York City.
•
To the Editor:
While it may be true that Schools Chancellor Joel
I. Klein is not a career educator, it is just as
important to note who he is.
He is a visionary leader who has high
expectations for all of our students. The
policies and innovative programs that he has put
into effect demonstrate his tireless efforts to
continue to improve our schools.
He has done more than many career educators who
served before him.
David C. Banks
New York, March 6, 2009
The writer is founding principal of the Eagle
Academy for Young Men and president of the Eagle
Academy Foundation.
•
To the Editor:
Mayoral control was passed by the State
Legislature in 2002 as an experiment in school
system governance, with a sunset provision set to
take effect in June. Framing the question as one
of how Chancellor Joel I. Klein has “wielded the
unprecedented power” bestowed upon him by the law
doesn’t take into account the very question
implicit in the phrase.
“Unprecedented power” is hardly a technical
matter. As a lawyer who has served several
previous schools chancellors, I can assure you
that before the new law, chancellors had
extensive authority to set citywide policy and
educational standards, enforce regulations and
operate the school system. They did not hesitate
to use that authority.
What the 2002 law did was eliminate checks and
balances to the exercise of that power. For seven
years, the school system has been run as a
centralized top-down system without those
safeguards.
Mr. Klein did not have to answer to the city
board, which was rendered toothless by the law,
nor did he have to respond to parents, who lost
the machinery that allowed their concerns to be
heard at the local level and appealed to central
officials.
The seven-year experiment is at an end. The State
Legislature should act to bring those voices back
into the system.
Nancy M. Lederman
New York, March 6, 2009
•
To the Editor:
In his quest for equity, Chancellor Joel I. Klein
has ignored the pleas of parents like me and
reduced our children’s schools to drab
environments dominated by test preparation.
I guess he’s achieved his goal, though: all New
York City students are now entitled to the same
dull, substandard education.
Martha Foote
Brooklyn, March 7, 2009
To the Editor:
I am the founder and principal of the Bronx Lab
School, a small new high school on the Evander
Childs campus.
When I arrived here in 2004, I saw firsthand just
how bad things were before Joel I. Klein became
chancellor. The campus was not safe for students
or staff. Only a quarter of the high school class
of 2004 graduated.
Mr. Klein invited me to do something about this,
just as he asked other educators to start schools
across the city. He believed in my ability,
despite my age (30 at the time). He empowered me
by entrusting me with key decision-making on
budgeting and hiring.
Thanks to Mr. Klein, to a band of tireless,
talented teachers and to students who are as
hard-working as they are deserving, last June at
Bronx Lab 95 percent of the class of 2008
graduated, with more than 350 college acceptances
and $2.5 million in financial aid.
The Bronx Lab classes of 2008 and 2009 — a
majority of whom will be the first in their
families to attend college — thank Mr. Klein for
giving them a chance to succeed.
Marc Sternberg
Bronx, March 6, 2009
•
To the Editor:
I am struck by how much the issue of personality
diverts attention from the urgency of developing
and sustaining effective school reform.
For our children to succeed and for our city to
prosper, students must graduate with the
knowledge, skills and personal attributes needed
for college, participation in the 21st-century
economy and active citizenship.
Improving student achievement and raising the
graduation rate are the foundations of meeting
this challenge. Under Chancellor Joel I. Klein’s
leadership, these measures have risen. Graduation
rates have stagnated in most other urban
districts.
As the senior counselor to the chancellor for
education policy from 2002 through early 2007, I
spent hundreds of hours with Mr. Klein meeting
with community and parent groups as he worked to
create a system of good schools. I can attest to
his commitment in fact as well as words.
Michele Cahill
New York, March 6, 2009
The writer is vice president for national
programs and program director, urban education,
of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
•
To the Editor:
Whatever your views on Chancellor Joel I. Klein
and the changes taking root in the New York City
school system, there seems to be a significant
number of parents who feel disenfranchised from
the schools.
A full-functioning citywide board of education —
as envisioned by state law — would go a long way
toward increasing trust by giving parents and the
public more opportunity for involvement in
education decisions.
Honest, sincere community involvement is one of
the foundations on which public education is
built. When open communication and trust are
reciprocal, problems can be explored and solved
together.
Timothy G. Kremer
Latham, N.Y., March 11, 2009
The writer is executive director of the New York
State School Boards Association.
— multiple authors
