The Four Questions on Public Education: A Reflection For Passover 1999

 

As we recount the story of Passover this evening, children are central to our concern.  Not only are we instructed to pass on our historical experience to the next generation and to make all feel connected to what we explore, but the Haggadah also teaches us that every child deserves a place at the table, that all are capable of learning.  The Haggadah refers to four kinds of children, each with a different relationship to themselves, their people and the story being told tonight.  And we are taught that each of these children is our responsibility, to be treated with respect and with equal opportunity to learn and grow.

 

In our city today, many in the seats of power have forgotten this responsibility and would instead blame and punish our children.  Fifty percent of the children in NYC are growing up in poverty an daily we are witness to the dismantling of what remains of our public schools.  Our Mayor and Governor would punish our children for what they don’t know and diminish the space that they have to ask questions.

 

Tonight we speak about four additional kinds of children in NYC, four children who need our public schools.  All these children deserve a place at our table, all of the children are our responsibility.

 

1) The child who seeks more knowledge.  What does she say?

I’m about to graduate from high school.  I’m afraid I wont be able to pass the Regents exam.  If I am held back, how will I catch up?  If I do graduate, where will I go?  Where is the space for me?  And why do I need to deal with the police just to come to school?

 

To her our City and State say: Tough luck.

• Enacted in 1996 and taking effect in 1999, the NYC graduation standard require that all graduating high school students pass the Regents exams in five core subjects.  The Community Service society of NY has estimated that only 18% of high school seniors in NYC will be able to graduate, and that it would require over $1.5 billion in start-up funds - for teacher training , smaller class size, lab facilities and a host of other improvements – to enable all students to meet the higher standards.  And the creators of this new requirement refuse to allocate these funds
• For students who do graduate high school, there is yet another hurdle: recent decisions by the City University Board of Trustees as eliminated remedial education, and consequently, open admissions, at the city’s four year colleges.
• Security at all NYC P\public schools is now being provided by the NYPD, the same NYPD that is increasingly under attack for its misconduct and abuse of power, including repeated civil rights violations.

 

But we say: You deserve more.

• High standards must be accompanied by the opportunity to learn.  Initially they should be used to assess schools but not to punish students for the failures of the system.
• Universities all over America, even at the nation’s most elite institutions, provide remediation.  Ending remedial courses at the university level unjustly punishes students for the failures of our elementary and secondary schools.
• Security and safety in schools requires nurturing environments characterized by mutual respect and well-trained and well supervised, culturally attuned staff.

 

2) The child who is ready to give up and feels there is no place for him. What does he say?

There is nothing interesting provided for me, nothing about art or music or sports.  School doesn’t have anything to do with my life.  And the place is falling down.  Why am I even here? 

 

To him, our City and State say: tough luck.

• Sports and arts have been decimated, even with recent art initiatives.  Meaningful sex and HIV education/prevention programs have been gutted.
• According to the City Comptroller, the Board of Education’s $11B school construction and rehabilitation plan is only 1/3 of what it really needed to bring the school system into an adequate state of repair, meanwhile Governor Pataki vetoed $5M of funds for school facilities in 1998.

 

But We Say:  You deserve more.  We must provide more.

• Funding for educationally related support services which are critical to the development of quality intervention programs for at risk students must be increased.
• Effective arts, sports, and sex education and HIV prevention programs must be provided for all students.
• Capital improvements must be a top priority at Federal, States, and City levels, especially in this area of budget surpluses.  Providing high quality learning and working sites for our students and teachers is essential.

 

3) The child who is just starting out.  What does she say?

What about me?  I want to go to school.  Will I be left out?

 

To her, our City and State say: Tough luck.

• The public school system is 75,600 seats short of what is needed; 11 of the 32 community schools districts are operating over 100% capacity; 673 of NYC’s schools and high schools are currently overcrowded.  Governor Pataki’s budget has eliminated funds for Early Grade Class Size Reduction - $47.8 million for NYC
• Governor Pataki’s budget requests have eliminated funds for pre-schooling (Universal Pre-K) for all children
• The Governor’s proposed budget allocates $4.2B to NYC, an increase of only $76M over our current level o funding.  The City will receive only 28% of the statewide increase in education aid even though NYC educated 35% if the State’s children.

 

But We Say: You deserve more.  We must provide more.

• The State and City must address NYC’s inequitable share of State education funds.
• The Regents proposals for higher standards are based on providing quality education to all children from pre-K onward.  Funding for pre-K and small classes in the early grades is not negotiable, it is absolutely essential.
• Health, metal health and nutritional support systems are essential to creating a learning environment for all children.

 

4) The child who isn’t able to ask? She says in her own language:

What’s going on?  I don’t understand any of this.  I thought when I came here people would help me.

 

To her, our City and State say: Tough luck.

• The needs of English language learners are being ignored in the rush to implement standards.  Under the requirements, immigrant high school students are required to pass the English Language Arts Regents – which assumes English language fluency and knowledge of the English literature – without being adequately prepared.  
• The Governor proposes eliminating grants for bilingual education.  Innovative dual language programs are threatened by the single minded focus on English.
• The Board of Education has never implemented its stated policy that all children be fluent in two languages, and the increasingly single minded focus on English makes achievement of this policy even less likely.

 

But we say: You deserve more.  We must provide more.

• Creating a multiracial democratic society requires schools that provide high-quality, multiracial education backed by sufficient resources for all students.
• A child’s knowledge of a language other than English should be seen as an asset to build on, not a “handicap” to overcome.
• All students should become fluent in at least two languages; students who come in knowing only English should begin a second language in the early grades and students who come in knowing a language other than English should maintain and strengthen that knowledge while acquiring full English language fluency. 

 

We ask these questions and say these words tonight, to recommit ourselves to real educational opportunity for all our city’s children, to a public school system that is accountable to all our citizens.  The midrash of our Exodus from Egypt teaches us that Moses told Pharaoh that all the Hebrews had to be set free, adults and children alike.  His was an act of defiance.  It teaches us that freedom, access and opportunity for some of the enslaved is not freedom unless all are included.

 

The Haggadah says each of us is responsible to answer the questions of all the children in our midst.  The way to begin that is to tell those who have the power in our city that public education – the education of all NYC’s children – is our priority.

 

During this season of renewal and recommitment, let us be sure our words tonight reach those in our city: Let us pledge tonight to further action by day.

• Call/fax Mayor Rudolf Giuliani and tell him his proposed voucher plan is the beginning of the end to our public school system: Tel: 212-788-2902 Fax: 212-788-7476

• Call/fax Governor George Pataki and State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and tell them the proposed cuts to the public education budget have got to go:

George Pataki, tel: 518-474-8390 fax: 518-474-1513

Speaker Sheldon Silver, tel: 212-312-1400 fax: 212-312-1418