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December 15th, 2009

Press Conference: Our Kids Need College Prep, Not Just Test Prep!

by Gotham Schools

New York State is months from knowing whether it will win coveted Race to the Top funds, but already community groups are offering ideas for how to spend the money.

The Coalition for Educational Justice held a rally on the steps of Tweed Courthouse today calling for the federal stimulus funds to be spent on lengthening the school year and increasing the school day by 30 percent for low-performing schools. The proposal also calls for schools to place less emphasis on standardized tests and to offer more arts education and Advanced Placement courses.

Teachers union president Michael Mulgrew, who seems invigorated by UFT’s renewed war with the Department of Education, criticized the department for ending a program that had given some schools extended days. “The city does not have a plan to help these students,” he said.

NY1

Parents rallied outside the Department of Education headquarters in Manhattan Tuesday where they called for a longer school day and school year.
The Coalition for Educational Justice, the teachers union, and local politicians are pushing for a new academic calendar, with 30 percent more time added to each day for low performing schools.

“The main point is to redesign and expand the school day. We feel that the best public schools, traditional public schools, and the best charter school have redesigned the day,” said rally participant O’Cynthia Williams.

“We can talk about how to take a school structure that was created 100 years ago and bring it into the 21st century. I’m not sure it was ever in the 20th century but we’ll leap right over the 20th century and bring it into the 21st century,” said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

The parents group proposes funding the extended time with federal stimulus dollars, but New York is already competing against other states for that funding.

Coalition members acknowledge the tough budget climate, but say changing the school calendar should still be a priority.

CBS

Local parents have launched a campaign for longer school days. Supporters say instead of closing schools, New York City could close the achievement gap by expanding learning time.

More than 100 parents rallied outside the Department of Education on Tuesday calling for school days to be re-designed, adding about 30 percent more time for learning. The target is low-performing schools.

“It’s about changing the culture of the way we think today about how education looks. This system was designed 100 years ago,” said Zakiyah Ansari of the NYC Coalition for Education Justice.

“How do we get our children not only into college but prepared and ready to stay in there and finish?”

The idea is already in play at the Eagle Academy for Boys in the Bronx, a public high school where students take everything from culinary arts to mentoring to music. Students often spend Saturdays in school and are here during the week as late as 7 p.m.

“It made school more fun in the sense that I stay after school normally without even noticing that it’s late and realizing ‘Oh it’s time for me to go home,'” student Marc Peralta said.

Marcus Eley was in special education and then mainstreamed at Eagle Academy, where his mom said the mentorship program changed everything.

“He has a mentor who, for instance, he turned 14, set up his working papers so now he can get a job on the weekends and in the evenings,” Maria Sanders said. “His mentor is also instrumental in helping him. He’s doing mentoring and music, so he’s learning about the music industry and he’s taking field trips. He’s learning about finance and music.”

Added David Banks of the Eagle Academy Foundation: “Our young men get a chance to go visit colleges and universities all across the country. They get a chance to be engaged and study abroad programs, internships.”

The parents and teachers at the school said the success is also in the numbers. The graduation rate among Latino and African American boys in New York City schools is less than 40 percent. At Eagle Academy it is 80 percent.

The school is funded through everything from government money, to corporate donations.

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