Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Topics

Topics

Judge Defines Bullying in Case Involving City Schools


Bullying once meant dipping a schoolgirl's braids in the desk inkwell or throwing snowballs at the new kids. But 21st century bullying can involve schoolhouse shootings, tormenting gay classmates, ruinous sex videos, devastating Internet abuse and suicides. The new extremes may be due to increasing violence among children, and, ironically, may also flow from diversity, which provides bullies with targets who look or sound different or may be gay, or have disabilities.

In a federal lawsuit brought against New York City's Department of Education by the parents of LK, then a 12-year-old pupil at P.S. 6 on Manhattan’s upper east side, Judge Jack Weinstein of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has framed a test for defining schoolhouse bullying. Although the child in this case has disabilities, Weinstein's approach appears to be generally applicable.

Defining Bullying

The test, the judge wrote is, whether the conduct is "sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive that it creates a hostile environment," which the school does not correct and so "deprives a student of substantial educational opportunities." The victim need only show that the bullying is likely to affect the student's opportunity for an appropriate education.

The primary characteristic of bullying, as contrasted with rough play or teasing, involves power struggles based on a perception of strength (the bully) and weakness (the victim). According to a report of a recent White House Conference on Bullying Prevention, the critical element of bullying is "unequal and coercive power" or "at least a perceived advantage for the bully either physical or psychological."

LK, originally diagnosed as autistic and later as learning disabled, was enrolled in a class of children of varying abilities. The allegations, officially undocumented but confirmed by special aides assigned to her while in school, included that other children laughed at her when she tried to speak in class, tripped her in the hallways and generally shunned her to the point of refusing to touch any object she had touched. In this case, the only report the school provided described LK as the aggressor.

Testifying at an administrative hearing, the school's principal could not recall what, if any, investigation she had done into complaints made by LK's parents. According to the plaintiffs -- the parents -- heir child was not protected at schools and became fearful and discouraged about school. As a result, the family transferred the girl to a private school at their own expense.

Alleging a failure by the city to provide LK with a suitable learning environment and education, the lawsuit sought recovery of the costs incurred for private school. The defendants, however, counter that the transfer was not necessary and so the public should not have to pay for the private school. Where the public school system is unable to or fails to provide an appropriate education for a child with disabilities and her needs can instead be met in a private school, the family need not pay the costs.

The parent also asserted that LK had progressed in school, an issue the judge said did not nullify the hostile environment or bullying.

Weinstein wrote, "This case presents the largely unresolved issue of the extent to which bullying by other students inhibits a disabled child from being educated appropriately, and what her school must do about it."

Outlawing Bullying

Under federal law, all public schools receiving federal funds must provide an education appropriate to each child’s abilities and disabilities. Federal law further requires that harassment of someone because of a disability must be investigated and responded to promptly and appropriately. The question to be asked and answered in this case and all cases, Weinstein said, is "Whether school personnel [were] deliberately indifferent to, or failed to take reasonable steps to prevent bullying that substantially restricted a child with learning disabilities in her educational opportunities."

In a long opinion replete with citations to academic articles on education, psychology, sociology, and law, Weinstein referred to New York State's recently enacted Dignity for All Students Act, which is to become effective in 2012. That law is meant to assure "all students in public schools an environment free of discrimination and harassment." (For more, see Governor Signs Bill to Combat Bullying.) But the city has not implemented its own version of an anti-bullying law, although a regulation has been adopted. State law, when it goes into effect, would be available to victims in city public schools.

LK's parents had also claimed that they were not included in the child's Individualized Learning Plan, a program required for all students with disabilities, but the court dismissed this claim.

Based on Weinstein's preliminary findings and operative definition of bullying, the case can now proceed to trial to determine whether LK's treatment and neglect falls within the judge's parameters of what constitutes bullying. Trial evidence must establish whether she was the victim of bullying, and whether the unchallenged harassment in school had the effect of denying her a full, appropriate public education.

Emily Jane Goodman is a New York State Supreme Court Justice

Plans to Boost Two-Year Colleges Fall Victim to Budget Cuts


community college
Borough of Manhattan Community College
Despite being touted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and President Barack Obama, two-year schools, such as Borough of Manhattan Community College, must grapple with rising enrollments and falling resources

During his bid for a third term, Mayor Michael Bloomberg promised to make community colleges a top priority if he were re-elected. That campaign promise to help the City University of New York, which runs the two-year public schools, has now been abandoned in the face of proposed cuts of over $50 million in city funding for the next fiscal year.

This change has sparked criticism from many advocates who have protested Bloomberg's cuts in funding to CUNY during a time of high enrollment and tough economic times -- especially after the state already cut $95 million, according to CUNY officials.

"With the increasing need of services for students at both community colleges and senior colleges in the CUNY system it is unacceptable to continue to cut CUNY's budget the way the administration has done the past few years," said Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez, who chairs the higher education committee. "These drastic cuts come on top of a quarter of a billion dollars worth of cuts that have been handed down to CUNY over the past three years."

The administration defends its decision and blames its own fiscal problems.

"The city has had to make some hard budget decisions for the coming fiscal year, and we're asking everyone to do more with less," said Jessica Scaperotti, a spokesperson for the mayor.

CUNY officials say that while they understand the city and state's economic situation, the budget cuts and the economic downturn are taking a toll on CUNY resources.

"The university recognizes that state officials are diligently endeavoring to meet the fiscal challenges associated with the current budget deficit," CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein said in a statement. "At the same time, record-breaking numbers of students are seeking higher education opportunity at CUNY so that they may compete effectively for careers in an unforgiving economy and increasingly international marketplace."

While the cuts will affect the entire CUNY system, they come as a particular blow to the two-year community colleges. During his 2009 campaign, Bloomberg proposed a "Gateway to the Middle Class" to help increase community college graduation rates by 20 percent by 2020. The plan was a response to President Barack Obama's plan to graduate 5 million more people from community colleges in 10 years. Bloomberg vowed to expand access and "help those who are enrolled stay enrolled." The mayor also called for an investment of $50 million in hopes of graduating 120,000 students from college.

"Community colleges really do have the power to help more Americans get through this recession and come out with better skills ready to build new careers in good paying jobs," said Bloomberg at his presentation. "Investing in those who wants to invest in their own education and careers is one of the single best ways to promote economic growth and help most New Yorkers earn good paying jobs and improve their financial security."

Bloomberg’s office declined to comment about the promise to invest $50 million in CUNY, and CUNY representatives have refused to disclose if the system even received the money. According to Kate Pfordresher, director of research and public policy for the Professional Staff Congress, the union representing CUNY faculty, the $50 million pledge amounted to nothing more than a campaign promise.

The Two-Year Solution

When the nation was hit with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, many public officials turned to community colleges. Bloomberg focused on the increased role of community colleges and vowed to make the modernization of community colleges a top priority.

"Education is the future of our country, it is the future of our state and city, it is the future of our world," said the mayor announcing his Gateway to the Middle Class initiative. "If there's one thing that we should do to help everybody … it is making sure that everybody gets the kind of quality education they need to participate in the world and particularly here in the great American dream."

Many other public officials also called for increase enrollment in community colleges. Obama even referred to community colleges as "the unsung heroes" of education.

"They may not get the credit they deserve, they may not get the same resources as other schools, but they provide a gateway to millions of Americans to good jobs and a better life," the president said last year when presenting his Skills for America's Future partnership.

Now, though, community colleges around the city find themselves in a precarious position, with record admissions and decreasing funds. Many blame CUNY's financial woes on the lack of commitment from the state. According to State Sen. Toby Stavisky of Queens, the state's share of CUNY funding fell sharply in the past 20 years from 65 percent in 1991 to 40 percent this year.

"That's not the fault of CUNY; it's the fault of the state -- because we had budget crises and higher education has not been a priority," she said.

Increase tuition has made up some of the shortfall. The CUNY board of trustees already authorized a tuition increase of $75, bringing tuition for a year to $3,300. Fall 2012 will see an additional $30, bringing the yearly total to $3,360. When Bloomberg announced his initiative in 2009, tuition for CUNY community colleges was $2,800 a year, Pfordresher said.

According to the City Council Committee on Higher education, in 2009, tuition made up $840 million of CUNY’s budget. For the projected 2012 year, that number is expected to jump to $1.1 billion. Barbara Bowen, president of Professional Staff Congress describes students as being mobilized and determined to block further hikes., "Our students can’t afford to pay more. They don't have the resources to support that," she said.

A New Initiative

Despite the cuts, CUNY officials have praised the mayor for leading other initiatives in community colleges, such as the Accelerated Study in Associate Program, or ASAP, which started in 2007 and aims to increase the graduation rate among community college students and to keep students in school. All ASAP students attend class full time, which makes them eligible for financial aid, and receive regular tutoring help. Students meet with academic advisors twice a week and also meet with job developers who help them find employment while they go to school. The program provides free Metro cards, textbooks and tuition assistance.

"ASAP would not exist without the steadfast support of the mayor and the city's Center for Economic Opportunity," said Goldstein. "It can be extremely challenging for community college students to balance a college schedule with the demands of work and family. ASAP helps eliminate these stresses by providing students with the academic, social and financial support they need to graduate."

While not disputing the value of the program, Pfordresher said it reaches only a small number of students, and low funding restricts the program from being expanded to accommodate more students.

he initiative, though, will be the basis for a new community college, called the Innovative Model Community College, slated to open in Midtown Manhattan in fall 2012. Students who attend the new college must enroll full time for the first year. As a way to help students graduate faster, the college will offer remedial classes, along with six majors related to industries with increasing demand: business administration, health information technology, human services, information technology, liberal arts and sciences, and urban studies.

Those students who don’t need remedial help will be automatically placed in the college's ASAP program. The college's president will be Scott Evenback, a psychology professor and founding dean of University College at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis. According to CUNY, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation and the Carnegie Corp. will contribute funding.

"The new community college employs an innovative model for improving student performance and graduation rates," Goldstein said. "Over the next year, the new college's team will flesh out the concept developed during more than two years of intensive work by faculty and staff from 15 of CUNY's undergraduate and graduate institutions and the central administration."

The school will launch with 500 students and will grow to 5,000 students. It will be the first community college opened in the city in over 40 years, and will eventually move to the John Jay College campus on the West Side of Manhattan.

The Money Hunt

Meanwhile CUNY has looked to other funding sources. "Many public colleges were not really focused on how to sustain higher education in an era of reduced resources," said CUNY director of communication and marketing, Michael Arena.

One proposal in the Gateway to the Middle Class initiative that did not materialize included restrictions on out of State students getting Financial Aid.

Under the so-called CUNY Compact, the state pays all of CUNY's mandatory costs, such as labor, benefits and energy costs, along with 20 percent of the academic initiatives in the four-year master plan. The other funding is to come from donations and "internal restructuring." The funding formula also allows for incremental increases as opposed to large spikes in tuition.

Former Gov. David Paterson wanted to allow individual CUNY and SUNY schools to set their own tuition in accordance with a national higher education price index as opposed to having to the state legislature approve an across-the-board tuition increase. The state legislature rejected the idea. Recently, though, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has come out in support of a similar proposal for SUNY.

In the meantime, CUNY has no guarantee that the state or city will increase funding, leaving students to face tuition hikes.

There are many obstacles put in the path of students who are trying to get an education," said Bowen. "At a time when the economy needs to be revitalized it makes no sense to cut one of the chief engines in that revitalization.

Bowen criticized the city for cutting back during the recession instead of being as innovative as it once was.

"During the Great Depression, NYC built three new colleges for CUNY: Brooklyn College, Queens College and Lehman College," she said. "If during the greatest economic depression New York can have the response of adding colleges, why can't New York have that response now?"

Education Mayor Takes a Hit


Photo (cc)

In a stunning reversal and a glaring miscalculation in the Bloomberg administration's third term, Schools Chancellor Cathie Black stepped down Thursday just three months after she took the reins of the nation's largest public school system.

In a somber and humbling press conference at City Hall, Mayor Michael Bloomberg appointed Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, who has overseen educational policy for the mayor since 2002, as her replacement.

Bloomberg said he had met with Black early Thursday, and the two "mutually agreed" she should step down. The move came just one day after a deputy chancellor resigned -- the latest in a string of top educational officials to leave the department during Black's tenure. It also followed a Marist/NY1 poll this week that put the former chancellor's approval rating hovering at 17 percent.

Bloomberg took responsibility for Black's failure -- a rare moment of defeat for a mayor who typically balks at admitting errors in judgment. At the same time, Bloomberg thanked and praised Black, the former chairwoman of Hearst Magazines.

"I take full responsibility that this has not worked out," Bloomberg said. "I have nothing but respect and admiration for her," he said of Black.

Black's short tenure was mired by embarrassing gaffes and political unpopularity. Her replacement comes at a crucial time for the Department of Education.

The department faces losing more than 6,000 teachers thanks to budget cuts. Simultaneously, the Bloomberg administration is attempting to convince the State Legislature to repeal the city's last in, first out policy -- which requires layoffs based on seniority.

Given the upheaval, city and state officials question whether the administration will be able to get its policy priorities, like LIFO, accomplished even with Walcott's good reputation in and outside of the Tweed Courthouse.

A New Occupant

Walcott is no Black.

While Black was often criticized for her lack of teaching experience, Walcott's appointment has already received a warmer reception. The deputy mayor has taught kindergarten and served as an adjunct professor at York College. He also sat on the old Board of Education.

Before joining the administration in 2002, Walcott was the president and chief executive officer of the New York Urban League for more than a dozen years.

While Black sent her kids to boarding school in Connecticut, Walcott's four children were all educated in New York City public schools. He too is a product of the city's school system.

At City Hall on Thursday, both Bloomberg and Walcott were quick to list off the deputy mayor's resume. After bumping fists with the mayor, Walcott confidently took over the podium, describing himself as "just a guy from Queens."

"The great equalizer in society is assuring that every child receives a quality education, especially a quality public education," said Walcott. "I'm a believer in reform. I'm a believer in this mayor and more importantly, I'm a believer in our 1.1. million students as well."

Unlike Black, who was asked whether she had set foot in a public school before she became chancellor, Walcott said he has visited "hundreds" of classrooms across the city.

To add to the dramatics of the day, the administration's press conference was flooded by students from P.S. 10 in Brooklyn, who Walcott said he was committed to helping succeed. The deputy mayor promised to visit them and make them waffles next week.

Despite his experience, Walcott, like Black, will need a waiver from the state in order to serve as chancellor. State law requires the schools chancellor to have a master's degree, a certain amount of teacher experience and graduate courses.

Walcott has a master's degree in education and in social work. Bloomberg said Thursday he didn't anticipate the waiver proces would cause a problem.

Walcott's Agenda

When Bloomberg first arrived at City Hall, he laid his legacy down on the city's public schools. He quickly acquired the pseudonym: "The Education Mayor."

"Under mayoral control the mayor's in charge," said Councilmember Robert Jackson, who chairs the body's Education Committee and is supportive of Walcott's appointment. "Not the chancellor or anyone else."

For that reason, officials and advocates don't expect a dramatic shift in policy at Tweed.

Nonetheless, the Black debacle has tainted Bloomberg's educational legacy. Some experts question whether the last three months will curtail the mayor's ability to accomplish his policy agenda over the next two years.

"If anything, Bloomberg is weakened by this," said David Bloomfield, the chair of the education department at the College of Staten Island. "His judgment has been severely called into question."

Nowhere could that have more of an impact than on the mayor's pursuit of the repeal of LIFO . While the State Senate has approved legislation that would give the mayor the authority to layoff teachers based on merit, the State Assembly has balked at the proposal.

"I would be surprised if this indicated any change in the status of where things would go legislatively for the mayor," said Billy Easton of the Alliance for Quality Education.

On the other hand, because Black's appointment was so contentious, some state officials said Thursday Walcott would have an easier time getting Albany officials to sit down. But that doesn't mean they will listen.

"To some extent, his personality might be more suitable," said State Sen. Bill Perkins, who is a frequent critic of Bloomberg's educational policy, of Walcott. "He's been around. He knows a lot of individuals. Maybe our policy differences may not come with so much antagonism."



Print Friendly and PDF

Editor's Choice


Gotham Gazette: New York Voters Approve $4.2 Billion Environmental Bond Act
New York Voters Approve $4.2 Billion Environmental Bond Act
Gotham Gazette: 
New York City Voters Approve Racial Justice Ballot Measures
New York City Voters Approve Racial Justice Ballot Measures
Gotham Gazette: 
Housing Development in New York City Slows to a Crawl as Officials Debate Tax Incentives
Housing Development in New York City Slows to a Crawl as Officials Debate Tax Incentives
Gotham Gazette: 
City Council Examines Low Voter Turnout, Moving Local Elections to Even Years City Council Examines Low Voter Turnout, Moving Local Elections to Even Years