Middle schoolers are at a vulnerable stage, one which City Council Speaker Christine Quinn recognized and decided to address via the creation of the Middle Schools Task Force earlier this year.
The Task Force has been meeting and holding public forums in each borough since March. Through the forums it has collected information about the condition of middle schools, and the concerns and suggestions of middle school teachers, principals and parents.
More than a dozen parents and educators voiced worries and questions to the Task Force members, who were joined by Council members John Liu (D-Flushing), Hiram Monserrate (D-Corona), Helen Sears (D-Jackson Heights) and Chair of the Education Committee Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan) at last week’s final public forum, titled “Equity, Access and Choice in Middle Schools,” held at JHS 145 in Jackson Heights.
The discussion was of the City’s middle school crisis, which is affecting the City’s 200,000 middle school students, their parents and their educators.
According to the Council, less than 50 percent of middle school students met the English Language Grade standard last year, and only 38.9 percent of 8th graders met math standards. Partly contributing to these numbers are the middle school teachers, 20.6 percent of whom were teaching out of license in 2005.
To Jackson, this is desertion by the City.
“We cannot expect kids to have the skills they need to graduate from high school if we abandon them at such a crucial time in their lives,” he said.
Quinn shared those sentiments when she first chose to convene the Task Force.
“Too many of our middle schools are failing, allowing kids to fall through the cracks between elementary and high school,” she said. “And if we lose them there, it’s a short road to high school drop out and a lifetime of limited opportunity.”
Speakers at the forum agreed, citing problems with lacking and inadequate English Language Learner programs and questioning the affect the education department’s restructuring will have on children’s education.
They discussed the logistics for student placement, the scarcity of gifted and talented programs and the problems with zoned schools. One speaker asked that the Task Force outright challenge the DOE to provide middle schools pedagogical choices.
“Compare districts two and three to district six,” she said. “It’s appalling – the disparity of choice.”
Karen Muntu of the Helping Involve Parents for Better Schools group brought up the lack of parental involvement in education – a problem partly resulting from poor communication between the DOE and parents.
Calling parental involvement the determining factor in the success of children, Muntu said the education dept. needs to find more ways to engage parents and better connect them with teachers.
On the agenda of New York Immigration Coalition representative Jose Davila were three propositions: establish an English Language Learner dropout prevention/high school readiness program, create an immigrant parent initiative to eliminate language barriers and help parents navigate the school system, and give ELLs more access to smaller high schools where they can transition better and receive proper attention.
Using these suggestions (among all those gathered since March), the Task Force will work to develop a blueprint to reform and restructure the middle school system, which they will present before the City Council sometime in June. Quinn and members of the Council will then work with the education department to implement the Task Force’s proposed policy initiatives.
