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At some schools, parent associations pay for part-time music teachers. At others, they pay for lunchroom aides, or library workers who are considered consultants.
It's an open secret that parent associations in many of the city's well-heeled neighborhoods in effect buy staff members whom their schools couldn't afford on their own. But it's been difficult to determine the extent of this spending because the Department of Education tracks only a sliver of parent fund-raising and spending.
However, documents obtained by WNYC and SchoolBook show that at least 40 schools across New York City were able to pay for bigger staffs last year with money from parent groups. The list highlights the difference parents can make in providing services at the public schools during a time of budget cuts.
As expected, many of the 40 schools are in wealthy neighborhoods of Manhattan and Brooklyn where community members are able to step in to provide the kinds of programs common in suburban districts. But the list also includes schools in upper-middle-class neighborhoods in Queens. In more modest enclaves on Staten Island and in Queens, parents raised a few thousand dollars for part-time band teachers.
It also shows how little the Department of Education can regulate parent groups, because some have long-standing tax-exempt organizations and pay for part-time school staff members directly, enabling them to fly under the department's radar.
Among the parent groups at those 40 schools the department could track, the PTA at Public School 321 William Penn in Park Slope raised $176,665 for personnel last year, the second-highest amount raised by a school's parent organization in the city.
“That money went to pay for a full-time D.O.E. arts teacher and five part-time consultants,” said the principal, Liz Phillips. She said the consultants included “a computer technician, an arts consultant, our after-school coordinator, and two teaching assistants who mainly assist with our conflict-resolution/mediation program and our after-school program.”
It's absolutely disgusting and maddening that this is being framed as some sort of problem. This is what you're saying: "IF ALL SCHOOLS CAN'T GET HIGHER QUALITY EDUCATION FROM FUNDRAISING THEN NOBODY CAN". You would rather take away the hard work and donations of those people rather than be happy for those kids!!!
This is such a fu**ed up way of thinking I can't even begin to go off on this
The problem isn't the families raising money it's the families NOT raising money. You think all these parent associations are rich? Yes some are but most just work their tails off with bake sales every weekend and fundraisers and knocking on doors for commercial donations and sponsorships. In these poorer neighborhoods the parents can't be bothered to do any work, they expect the city to pay for everything and NOBODY shows up at the PTA meeting if there even is a PTA to begin with.
Do not take away from others because you are lacking, go out and earn it yourself!!!!
There's way too much emphasis placed on funding. There have been studies conducted decades ago that refute the role of funding in academic performance which have been ignored continuously. I could give a crap less about having even nice computers before high school. From my own experience all the stuff isn't necessary. In fact technology is probably making some kids more dumb and lazy. The easy access to a calculator on smartphones must be killing some kids' ability to learn to do basic small arithmetic in their heads. As a comp sci guy I would even say you an skip all this effort into trying to teach programming for all too and leave them as electives. As long as the students have a strong foundation in math all that stuff will come to them if they want it. It's the core fundamentals whether math or verbal that the majority of students in NYC lack that's holding them back. For me I just want a barebones school with up to date books, a big chalk or marker boards with good and well behaved students. They can save their money on all the extras and give me an extra tax refund for all I care. If kids can't even do long division in elementary school how much money do you want to throw at the problem to fix it? Can attempting to teach programming work if they can't even figure out what a remainder is? If so what kind of computer programming is it really?
Last edited by bumblebyz; 06-12-2017 at 11:32 AM..
You realize specialized public school and the best charter schools filter out the least desirable students? The advantage specialized public school have is it get to pick the brightest kids, while charter school has to accept a mix bag of kids and push the the least desirable ones out of school via suspension and repeating the grade.
Charter schools filter can get rid of students more easily but they still do have a high turnover rate for teachers. You can read some of the reviews of teachers who worked in charter schools. Something also tells me a lot of teachers who work in charter schools don't stay in the profession very long.
Sometimes I think it best to move to another part of the country to raise children that can enjoy a more relaxed and welcoming learning environment. The competitive nature of NYC brings out the worse in people. You have poor students with huge chips on their shoulder on one side and affluent people who treat their kids like “designer handbags” to enhance their social status on the other side. It feels like such an uptight place to raise children.
Asian's bully just as much as any other ethnic group. The former principal of P.S. 184 got in trouble for being too Chinese. The new principal received death threats from the Chinese community as they supported the previous principal.
I think a lot of people feel the same way. Why else to so many with the financial ability move to the suburbs. As for the competitive nature of NYC, I really don't think that was the case growing up for me. Pre-gentrification the overwhelming majority of people living in ghetto areas of NYC were poor with new immigrants poorer than others of course. Not sure if you know what I mean, but I don't think anyone including me was competing for anything, but doing well on exams cause you'd get a gold star because none of us knew better. For the most part we were all living in the poor bubble of NYC the land of plentiful apartments for sub-$500.
But today I realize that it's becoming an academic/social arms race everywhere and perhaps it always was among the more well to do. I've even heard of wealthy people in top rank suburbs putting their kids in private high schools instead of their local top ranked public high school because it's part of their strategy to gain admission to an ivy which is believed to have all sorts of non-academic quotas from race, perceived social standing, wealth, target school, etc. That has led some to believe that paying top dollar for a top private school even though your local free high school is just as good academically is still worth the money. That kind of stuff is definitely above my pay grade. So for the upper middle class thinking that they can have their kids mingle with the really wealthy kids in Westchester or Connecticut by buying a house there think again.
Also the bullying you're describing is different. At least that's adult vs adult and not random racial targeting. All that dumb stuff that I've encountered I still don't get to this day. The pervasiveness was similar to catcalling women in the hood. It's a bit different than regular bullying because there was no one in particular doing it, but so many were. As yet another example of stupid stuff, I went to buy something at a corner store one evening and while I was paying the guying standing next to me said something in Spanish to the grocery store owner. Next thing I knew I had to pay for the guy's drink or something. It was like god, what the heck are these people doing. Do they not get that people don't like that and people will actually remember? I mean what was I supposed to do the guy was like 17/18 and probably had his friends outside I was like maybe 12/13 and the store owner was in his 40s probably. And it wasn't even my first time in that store, I would think that the owner recognized me. Robbery by grocery store something you'd only find in crappy areas of pre-gentrification NYC. Sometimes when people mention gentrification here and how those bodegas changed, I just think to myself good riddance.
Last edited by bumblebyz; 06-12-2017 at 12:51 PM..
Charter schools filter can get rid of students more easily but they still do have a high turnover rate for teachers. You can read some of the reviews of teachers who worked in charter schools. Something also tells me a lot of teachers who work in charter schools don't stay in the profession very long.
Don't public school teachers get paid more over the long term and have more benefits? If so why would any teacher want to stay in a charter long term? If I'm going to be doing the same thing for even the same pay vs a gov't job, I'd take the gov't job any day.
Don't public school teachers get paid more over the long term and have more benefits? If so why would any teacher want to stay in a charter long term? If I'm going to be doing the same thing for even the same pay vs a gov't job, I'd take the gov't job any day.
Because teaching jobs at schools where the students don't try to stab you in the parking lot are hard to get
Also charter school jobs tend to be better working environments and progressive in terms of teaching, you're not locked down by union rules for everything. Some teachers want to clock in and out and it's just a job for them, others are genuinely interested in shaping the lives of students and then tend to favor charter school positions
As yet another example of stupid stuff, I went to buy something at a corner store one evening and while I was paying the guying standing next to me said something in Spanish to the grocery store owner. Next thing I knew I had to pay for the guy's drink or something.
You were scared enough to pay for somebody's drink to avoid confrontation? Thats terrible. You should never have to feel like that.
__________________
"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
There's way too much emphasis placed on funding. There have been studies conducted decades ago that refute the role of funding in academic performance which have been ignored continuously. I could give a crap less about having even nice computers before high school. From my own experience all the stuff isn't necessary. In fact technology is probably making some kids more dumb and lazy. The easy access to a calculator on smartphones must be killing some kids' ability to learn to do basic small arithmetic in their heads. As a comp sci guy I would even say you an skip all this effort into trying to teach programming for all too and leave them as electives. As long as the students have a strong foundation in math all that stuff will come to them if they want it. It's the core fundamentals whether math or verbal that the majority of students in NYC lack that's holding them back. For me I just want a barebones school with up to date books, a big chalk or marker boards with good and well behaved students. They can save their money on all the extras and give me an extra tax refund for all I care. If kids can't even do long division in elementary school how much money do you want to throw at the problem to fix it? Can attempting to teach programming work if they can't even figure out what a remainder is? If so what kind of computer programming is it really?
In your experience, but you have no background in education and admissions. Schools that don't have things such as foreign language, arts, or certain extracurricular activities put their students at a competitive disadvantage while applying to colleges, and there will be some students who NEVER recover from this advantage.
Have been a kid yourself does not make you knowledgeable about what's needed to run a school.
And as noted, teachers like to be paid well enough to support themselves, districts that poorly pay them cannot retain quality teachers long term.
You were scared enough to pay for somebody's drink to avoid confrontation? Thats terrible. You should never have to feel like that.
I don't mean to sound rude, but I always thought there was a lack of manhood from some posters here. Nobody goes on constantly about how scared there are, and about how they need to flee to some mythical place where there's no bullying unless they have seriously issues with their masculinity and self confidence.
Now if he said he was mugged with a weapon or something I could see. But buying a guy at a deli a drink out of fear? I can't imagine either you or Airborneguy would do that.
Charter schools filter can get rid of students more easily but they still do have a high turnover rate for teachers. You can read some of the reviews of teachers who worked in charter schools. Something also tells me a lot of teachers who work in charter schools don't stay in the profession very long.
They don't. The long hours, lower pay, overall harsh working conditions typically take their toll on them. So they either transfer to the better public schools or leave the profession altogether. Teaching for a couple of years looks excellent on grad school, law school, med school, etc. applications. The same could be said for Teach for American teachers.
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