Protest rally follows State Chancellor's statement that Bloomberg's closing schools policy has failed, leading to "warehousing" of high-needs students

One of my pals over here called me about this last week. IS 71 is in my old district and used to have the massive District Office in the building (still does but probably a desk now), in addition to a bi-lingual Yiddish program (don't get me started on how this came about). It is hard to imagine the DOE would infringe on the Hasidic Community and insert an Eva school there. But then again is it possible there is some idea of expanding space in the building for the Hasidics? Hard for me to tell since I am so many years out of that loop. I can't make this as we have the ATR meeting on Weds.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 15, 2011

Williamsburg's Juan Morel Campos school has added 120 students, yet lost more than $1M in funding over the past three years-while experiencing dramatic increases in special ed, homeless and ELL students.

Protest rally follows State Chancellor's statement that Bloomberg's closing schools policy has failed, leading to "warehousing" of high-needs students

Parents, students and teacher at Williamsburg's Juan Morel Campos school will rally before a scheduled meeting about the school's potential closure on Wednesday, protesting that Juan Morel's middle school grade has slid from an "A" to a "C" on its progress reports over the last three years because of deep budget cuts, a significant increase in students, and dramatic spikes in the percentages of high-needs populations.

Parents were enraged by the City's recent designation of Campos (IS 71) as a struggling school to potentially be closed, citing excellent past performance just three years ago. Since then, the school has experienced more than $1 million in budget cuts, added 120 students, and seen its percentages of special education, homeless and English Language Leaner (ELL) students all reach more than double the citywide averages.

Parents also say the school's decline is clearly evidence in support of State Education Chancellor Meryl Tisch's assessment last week that the Bloomberg Administration is "warehousing" high-needs students at certain schools to inflate performance at others and cover up the overall failure of the administration's "reforms".

Quick facts on IS 71 (Juan Morel Campos):

· School has experienced budget cuts of more than $1M over the past 3 years

· 27% of students are in special education, compared to 14% at high schools citywide

· 6% of students at the school are homeless, compared to 3% at high schools citywide

· 30% of students are ELLs, compared to 14% at high schools citywide

WHEN: Wednesday, November 16th - between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM

WHERE: Juan Morel Campos school - 215 Heyward St., Brooklyn

WHO: Dozens of parents and students angry with DOE move to close school; public education advocates.

###

Community Education Council
District 14
NYC Department of Education
215 Heyward Street, Room 238
Brooklyn, NY 11206
Phone: 718-302-7624