Teachers Going to Training Day May Not Find Trainers

Strange to some, the notion of Brooklyn-Queens Day has gotten a whole lot stranger.

Every year, schools in Brooklyn and Queens shut their doors on the first Thursday in June to commemorate the obscure holiday with protestant roots.

It was once the envy of students in other boroughs - at least of those who knew about it. This year, students citywide will celebrate Brooklyn-Queens Day by getting a day off from school on June 8.

The city's 83,000 teachers won't be so lucky. As part of the raise negotiated in their new contract, educators in all five boroughs must report to school on Brooklyn-Queens Day for workshops and seminars on school instruction.

But their bosses won't be there, at least not in Brooklyn and Queens.

Although the city has inked a new contract with the teachers, it's locked in negotiations with the principals. Unless a new deal is reached in the next five weeks, principals in the two boroughs for which the holiday is named can spend June 8 at the beach.

"All I know is that right now, my members who work in Brooklyn and Queens do not have to report to work on Brooklyn-Queens Day unless there is an agreement or contract," the president of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, Jill Levy, said.

Approaching its third year without a contract, the union recently declared an impasse in negotiations with the city and called on a state mediator to end the dispute.

Originally known as Anniversary Day, the holiday dates to 1829, when it was created to commemorate the founding of the protestant Sunday schools. Since then, youngsters have celebrated the day by donning their Sunday best and parading through the streets of Brooklyn.

In 1905, the Legislature declared the first Thursday in June (or the second Thursday when the first one falls in the same week as Memorial Day) an official school holiday in Brooklyn. In 1959, Governor Rockefeller signed a bill authorizing schools in Queens to close as well.

Despite the lack of principals, the city's Department of Education intends to go ahead with the planned seminars.

"We will ensure that the teacher professional development, scheduled for June 8, is appropriately supervised in all five boroughs," an education department spokesman, Keith Kalb, said.

The head of the teachers union, Randi Weingarten, appeared unconcerned.

"It's the supreme irony that teachers will be planning throughout the system for what happens next year whether or not principals are there," Ms. Weingarten said. "The whole notion that the principal is the only important person in a school is such a canard."