Spreekt u het Nederlands? (Do you speak Dutch?)

Posted by Philissa at 3:16 PM

If so, you might want to visit the website of Onderwijs Consumentem Organisatie, or the Education Consumers' Organization of Amsterdam. Schools are very different in the Netherlands -- there, the government supports private and parochial schools -- but parents aren't. There, just as they do here, parents want to find the best schools for their children and help make those schools excellent. For the last two years, representatives of OCO have visited Insideschools to share their experiences running a similar organization, and this year, the two sites created a formal relationship that has been recognized by Amsterdam's alderman for education. (That's Insideschools director Pam Wheaton signing on as a partner with OCO's Han van Gelder in the picture above.) We've already gotten several good ideas from the folks at OCO -- but we probably won't be buying Insideschools-branded bikes to ride to school visits!

An anniversary today; panel discussion tomorrow

Posted by Philissa at 11:43 AM

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first day black students successfully attended the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. Amid harassment and threats of violence, the students were escorted by soldiers whom President Eisenhower had deployed to Little Rock to do battle with the segregationist governor, the state militia he controlled, and the many ordinary Arkansans who opposed the Little Rock school board's vote to integrate. Although none of the Little Rock Nine graduated from Central (and in fact the governor closed all of the city's high schools the next year rather than integrate), their attendance was a watershed moment, at least emotionally, for Little Rock and the rest of America.

But now the nation's schools are as segregated as they were in the late 1960s, districts are trying to rejigger school zones in racially suspect ways, and black students are disproportionately punished and referred to special education. And of course in June the Supreme Court struck down voluntary integration programs that considered students' race in assigning them to schools.

At 4:30 p.m. tomorrow at Long Island University's Brooklyn campus, a panel of education experts will grapple with this troubling reality in a symposium titled "The U.S. Supreme Court vs. Equality in Education." Several of the panelists are New York City principals and parents, and I'll be there to hear what they have to say. I just hope some of the news is good.

Teaching the ethical treatment of animals

Posted by Philissa at 2:44 PM

Did you know there's a law on the books requiring schools to teach about the humane treatment of animals? Neither did I, but according to an article in today's Daily News, a Queens lawmaker is trying to get the law enforced and at least one Manhattan school is adhering to it. At Hunter College Elementary School, kids in the Animal Club learn the difference between pet and wild animals, how to treat all animals with respect, and why pets ought to be spayed or neutered.

Tony Avella, a City Council member from Queens, has proposed a bill that would require the DOE to send a memo to principals reminding them about the humane education law, in effect since 1947. The Humane Society wants you to tell Speaker Christine Quinn you support the bill, which hasn't advanced since Avella first proposed it last year. I'd be interested to see where in the litany of testing schools could find time to teach about being nice to animals.

Five years of Chancellor Klein

Posted by Philissa at 3:45 PM

Today marks Joel Klein's fifth anniversary as schools chancellor. He's now the longest-serving chancellor ever (the position has existed only since 1970). Earlier this week, he told the New York Observer that he's pleased with his performance so far but intends to do much more before he and the mayor leave office in 2009. The New York Sun predictably praised Klein in an editorial for "bringing meaningful positive change to a system rife with entrenched educrats and other special interests," while the NYC Public School Parents blog strikes a different tone, noting that class size hasn't decreased during Klein's tenure.

Over at NY1, you can grade Klein's performance according to the same scale he's using to evaluate schools. Edwize, the UFT's blog, has a similar poll, but with slightly different results so far. No matter what you think of Klein, no one can say he hasn't been busy these last five years — he's devised three different reorganizations for the system.

Happy belated Brooklyn-Queens Day!

Posted by Philissa at 2:05 PM

For most of us, yesterday was just another strange mid-week teacher workday. But you might be interested to know that the first Thursday in June is actually when the schools celebrate Brooklyn-Queens Day, formerly known as Anniversary Day. Anniversary Day was first celebrated in Brooklyn and Queens in 1829 as a commemoration of the first Sunday schools in those boroughs — students paraded to honor their Sunday School teachers. There was some tension between Brooklyn and Queens and the rest of the city over the day off when the boroughs were consolidated in 1898, but the holiday continued to be celebrated, even though fewer and fewer people seemed to know what it honored. Last year was the first time that students in all five boroughs got the day off -- and also the first time that teachers didn't, as a result of a clause in the 2005 UFT contract with the city.

Gothamist has a rundown of some of the history of Brooklyn-Queens Day, complete with links to articles in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle dating back to 1861.