Sadly, we've had another fatality on the streets of Sunset Park. The most recent update to this story, which happened Thursday night at about 10 PM, is from the NY Post's Police Blotter. It sounds like a bicyclist didn't stop at a stop sign, and he was hit by a livery cab. The cyclist, Pedro Fernandez-Pacheco, was pronounced dead at Lutheran Medical Center. The driver of the car was issued a summons for an improper license, but he stayed at the scene and wasn't ticketed for the accident.
There is a bike lane on 7th Avenue, but apparently the cyclist was riding on 54th, which has a stop sign. 7th Avenue doesn't have any signs or lights at that intersection.
Stop signs, when heeded, do work! Seems like a good time to remind any interested readers to sign the petition to have stop signs installed at the 6th Avenue intersections around Sunset Park. Anyone who has tried to cross 41st or 44th at 6th Avenue to enter or leave the park understands why we need them! Read first, then sign here.
Showing posts with label petition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label petition. Show all posts
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Petition to Put Pre-K and Kindergarten Admissions Back The Way They Were, darn it.
I have mixed feelings about this. However, I believe wholeheartedly that everyone should make up her/his own mind about an issue and act accordingly. That does mean to actually read and educate oneself about a topic and not just go with "what she said." That leads to hearsay and the squeakiest wheels guiding policy changes. I'll put the link here so that those who don't want to read and/or respond to the following can just sign it and read it (not in that order, please).
Anyone who pays attention to young child and/or education issues will surely have heard a few earfuls about the "Pre-K Fiasco" that has recently occurred. Most of the attention was given to younger siblings being rejected from their older siblings' schools. As it turns out, that was only about 200 children. Now, for those 200, it was and is indeed a fiasco. (How do you drop off two kids at two separate schools - sometimes quite far away - at the same time?) However, considering the numbers of school children in NYC, not so much.
More disturbing to me was the lack of assistance that parents who aren't members of the Park Slope Parents listserve received. Navigating the NYC DOE is treacherous for those of us who are a part of it; for those who are disconnected from the processes and ways around the system, it's tear-inducing and teeth-grindingly painful.
For the three people that care about what I think, here's my take on it. Centralizing the admissions process doesn't have to be a bad thing. It's not currently run in an ideal way, but I can imagine some (unspoken) reasons as to why the process was changed. Favoritism and "buddy favors" are common. Oh come on, don't say they aren't. Another reason might be to cut down on the fraud. Most everyone knows that addresses within zone for favored schools are sometimes "borrowed" or "purchased." Centralizing the process could eliminate the first problem and mitigate the second by noticing discrepancies in the number of applications versus the households from which they come.
The petition supports giving individual schools back their control over the process. It (the petition) states that families often received two or three acceptances due to applying to their zoned school as well as lottery or magnet schools. This allowed them to choose the best option for their child. Uh, yeah. Maybe the families you know. But the same people who were out of the loop in the petition's informational "equity point" were out of that loop as well.
On the other hand, I don't buy the DOE's explanation as to why it wanted to centralize it. Just admit you want control. Just admit that people are soft and flawed when they have to work face to face with those they admit and reject. The DOE could easily obtain the data about how many spaces are needed versus how many they have. And Joel Klein's explanation of not wanting parents to "camp out" or miss information is flawed as well.
The first demand isn't necessarily a strong one. It pains me to say it, but it's only fair to allow the DOE more than one run of the process. This was the first go at the centralized process, and the numbers weren't as horrible as all the uproar promised.
I think the second, third, and fourth points in the petition are excellent. Separate the process for the schools that are separate. Keep families informed (and I'd say make the information available to the general public as well.) And obviously, add seats where they are needed.
I'd add that the process should begin earlier and include well-publicized community meetings in neighborhood languages and at different times of the day. It's nice to be able to leave work a little early without repercussions to make a 5:30 PM meeting, but what if you don't have that choice? Or what if it means you don't get paid for hours missed? Tough choices, especially these days.
Pre-K and K admissions are stressful and emotional. It's a young child you're throwing into the fray, after all. While middle school and high school admissions are scary in their own way, at least the kid has been through the mill a bit already. It's no wonder people got frenzied and nervous and nutty about the hiccups in this process. It's good to be the squeaky wheel, but it's also important to look at all sides of an issue. Loudly demanding change is important, but it's also good to realize that huge corporations (like the DOE) move slowly when changing.
Hopefully the results will work out to everyone's satisfaction. Hopefully it will be fair to everyone, not just those who squeak.
Anyone who pays attention to young child and/or education issues will surely have heard a few earfuls about the "Pre-K Fiasco" that has recently occurred. Most of the attention was given to younger siblings being rejected from their older siblings' schools. As it turns out, that was only about 200 children. Now, for those 200, it was and is indeed a fiasco. (How do you drop off two kids at two separate schools - sometimes quite far away - at the same time?) However, considering the numbers of school children in NYC, not so much.
More disturbing to me was the lack of assistance that parents who aren't members of the Park Slope Parents listserve received. Navigating the NYC DOE is treacherous for those of us who are a part of it; for those who are disconnected from the processes and ways around the system, it's tear-inducing and teeth-grindingly painful.
For the three people that care about what I think, here's my take on it. Centralizing the admissions process doesn't have to be a bad thing. It's not currently run in an ideal way, but I can imagine some (unspoken) reasons as to why the process was changed. Favoritism and "buddy favors" are common. Oh come on, don't say they aren't. Another reason might be to cut down on the fraud. Most everyone knows that addresses within zone for favored schools are sometimes "borrowed" or "purchased." Centralizing the process could eliminate the first problem and mitigate the second by noticing discrepancies in the number of applications versus the households from which they come.
The petition supports giving individual schools back their control over the process. It (the petition) states that families often received two or three acceptances due to applying to their zoned school as well as lottery or magnet schools. This allowed them to choose the best option for their child. Uh, yeah. Maybe the families you know. But the same people who were out of the loop in the petition's informational "equity point" were out of that loop as well.
On the other hand, I don't buy the DOE's explanation as to why it wanted to centralize it. Just admit you want control. Just admit that people are soft and flawed when they have to work face to face with those they admit and reject. The DOE could easily obtain the data about how many spaces are needed versus how many they have. And Joel Klein's explanation of not wanting parents to "camp out" or miss information is flawed as well.
The first demand isn't necessarily a strong one. It pains me to say it, but it's only fair to allow the DOE more than one run of the process. This was the first go at the centralized process, and the numbers weren't as horrible as all the uproar promised.
I think the second, third, and fourth points in the petition are excellent. Separate the process for the schools that are separate. Keep families informed (and I'd say make the information available to the general public as well.) And obviously, add seats where they are needed.
I'd add that the process should begin earlier and include well-publicized community meetings in neighborhood languages and at different times of the day. It's nice to be able to leave work a little early without repercussions to make a 5:30 PM meeting, but what if you don't have that choice? Or what if it means you don't get paid for hours missed? Tough choices, especially these days.
Pre-K and K admissions are stressful and emotional. It's a young child you're throwing into the fray, after all. While middle school and high school admissions are scary in their own way, at least the kid has been through the mill a bit already. It's no wonder people got frenzied and nervous and nutty about the hiccups in this process. It's good to be the squeaky wheel, but it's also important to look at all sides of an issue. Loudly demanding change is important, but it's also good to realize that huge corporations (like the DOE) move slowly when changing.
Hopefully the results will work out to everyone's satisfaction. Hopefully it will be fair to everyone, not just those who squeak.
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