Submitted by Ellie Weisberg, Dec 2, 2007 13:34

The previous comment's attack on Jackie Bennett is way off base. In fact, if anything, she went too easy on the progress reports. And, she taught high school English to city kids for many years and fought for Staten Island schools long before she worked for the teacher's union. One thing's for certain… She's taught a lot longer than anyone at the Dept of Ed. To dismiss as her as being vested in some agenda is laughable.

But if that's not enough, listen to the PTA of PS 35, which published this letter today in the Staten Island Advance.

Yours,

E. Weisberg, Staten Island

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Sunday, December 02, 2007

These are excerpts from our letter to Schools Chancellor Joel Klein on behalf of PS 35 in Sunnyside:

We have received our school report card and are still reeling from the shock of being labeled a failure, despite our excellence. As concerned parents of PS 35, we express our disappointment in this egregious mistake committed by the Department of Education (DOE).

Have you been too busy calculating percentages to notice the high caliber of consistent academic excellence at PS 35? A 2006/2007 comparison shows a mean score in Math 4 for both years and in ELA 4 for 2006 and 3.34 for 2007. Our students have already received among the highest scores possible, yet we are stigmatized for a lack of progress? This analysis is seriously flawed.

Two of the most violent schools in the Bronx received an A. This grading system is nothing short of deceptive to parents who are attempting to find the best school for their child. It is irrational to give a failing grade to a school that has shown a history of academic success and award an A to a school that has a history of violence. The DOE must have a grading system which recognizes high performing schools like PS 35 and places them at a different standard than low performing schools for the sake of preserving the credibility of the DOE.

The finite test scores implemented by the DOE have impeded our children, not PS 35.You must assess a child for progress in proficiency over the 10-month school year. PS 35 is a rich and diverse learning environment which nurtures the individuality of our children. The DOE has forced schools to treat our children like statistics instead of celebrating their uniqueness.

Instead of threatening closure, why not embrace PS 35 and apply our learning strategies to schools that lack academic excellence? Chancellor Klein, we implore you to reconsider your method of evaluating our schools by paying particular attention to high-performing schools. We make this request on behalf of not only the children of PS 35, but the children of the entire City of New York.

CHRISTINE ROOS and TONI ANN BARONE FRANCIOSA SUNNYSIDE

[The writers are president and parliamentarian, respectively, of the PS 35 PTA.]

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