Schools to Close

@hhusted 19 schools are scheduled to close in different boroughs of NYC with a the fate of a 20th school, the Alfred E. Smith Careers and Technical Education High School in the Bronx to be decided next month. The closure of these schools has evoked outrage among the affected parents-http://insideschools.org/blog/?url=http://insideschools.org/blog/2010/01/27/inside-the-vote-on-school-closures/

Isn't it horrible that the school has to close so many schools. Joe Klein, the city's School Chancellor, said the schools to close were a result of poor graduation numbers and so many students failing tests.

This is is so disappointing. I suppose we've just got to get more people playing the lottery...
or, you know, actually get more funding into those schools! Seeing the lack of attention paid ot education in this city erally does make me mad.

The most likely problem for these schools is the lack of performance of the kids. Most kids failed tests and did not graduate. So instead of replacing the teachers, they instead close the schools. I really don't know the sense of it, but of course, how can you make sense of what the city does any time.

What I can't understand that how come the city's budget is in such a disarray. Granted the last two years have been recessionary and Wall Street Bonuses( the lifeline of the city's real estate, retail and restaurant businesses) have been hit hard but you would think the powers to be would budget accordingly for the lean years with the millions collected by way of taxes from the preceding boom years or maybe I am being too simplistic even then to read reports like this -http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100128/FREE/100129871 is disheartening.

A little off the topic, but I heard an interesting piece on This American Life about New York City's "Rubber Room" - a place where they send teachers because they can't fire them without being killed by the union.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/10/education/10education.html

Wow, BroadwayBK, if that link didn't have the NY Times banner at the top, I might have thought that's a gag article from the Onion or something. I can't believe they have a rubber room!

@BroadwayBK the rubber room sounds terrifying I would go stark, raving mad if I was confined to such a place .. that being said there are certain meditation centers in India where people go on retreats. During these retreats which are known as Vipasna, the participants like the teachers in the rubber room have no access to TV, books or even music. Moreover they are not even allowed to speak to each other or even the conductors of the program but they have to meditate and reflect on their lives as they find their inner self. I know people who have done these retreats for some reason or the other. I for one can never ever imagine going on such a retreat no matter how bad a personal trauma I was facing, I like to talk to people way too much. That's also one of the main reasons I like to live in a big city like NYC at least I get to see and meet people everyday ( even if its just my doorman).. I could not ever imagine living in a suburb in New Jersey , yes I would probably manage to get a big house with ample space and a big garden but the loneliness and feeling of isolation would kill me.

@uraniumfish @uptowngirl The story I heard on the rubber room was decidedly strange.... most of the teachers had been going there so long that they had stationed themselves in certain seats, and so new people were sort of ostracized from the rest of the group. The people who'd been going there for months had like this gang mentality.... http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=1286

The Rubber Room sounds like a place I do not want to be in. I don't mind being alone. Loneliness does not bother me as I am an introvert. But I don't want to be tortured when in a room to myself. And the way you people describe it, I don't think I want to be there.