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Real School Pests; School Funding


Whatever the schoolyard taunts about first-grade pests, New York City schools have a real pest problem. Nearly 80 percent of Inside Schools readers who responded to a recent poll about pest infestations said their schools had problems with mice or rats, while 76 percent said there were problems with cockroaches. While the poll is not scientific, it indicates that a pest problem exists and may be more of a norm than an exception in schools across the city.

Of 198 parents, students and teachers responding to the poll, 47 percent reported that mice or rats could often be seen during the school day, 29 percent described "occasional" rodent problems, 4 percent reported rodent droppings in the kitchen and cafeteria, and 20 percent reported no significant rodent problems.

Thirty-six percent saw a persistent infestation of cockroaches, while 30 percent described occasional cockroach sightings, 11 percent reported droppings in the kitchen and cafeteria, and 24 percent found no significant cockroach problems. And some readers pointed to problems with other city pests -- pigeons, squirrels, water bugs -- in and around their schools.

A parent at the Brooklyn New School said her daughter's kindergarten teacher vacuums the floors daily to rid the classroom of mouse droppings. This parent reported seeing rodents, as well as roaches, scurrying through classrooms and halls.

A staff member at East Village Community School in Manhattan described mice as "permanent residents" in the school. "Every day, there are droppings on desks, tables, and shelving." A parent at La Guardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts said, "The mice scurry in broad daylight in a room full of kids. There are mouse droppings on the costumes and books, and the pages of the books have been nibbled by the mice."

While some readers cited construction in their school as the source of pest problems, others pointed to the food in classrooms, particularly in younger grades where kids often eat snacks and meals in their rooms. "There wouldn't be any roaches in the school at all if teachers and students would eat [only] in the lunchroom," wrote Ray Ciano, a member of the custodial staff at PS 314 in Brooklyn.

In fact, schools that seem to have the problem under control are scrupulous about cleanliness and take aggressive steps to block any holes that might allow pests to come into the building. "If you don't feed them, they don't come," said Dave Daley, custodian at New Explorations for Science Technology and Math (NEST+M), a K-12 school in Manhattan. At his school, even teachers must eat their lunch in the cafeteria, and eating in classrooms is forbidden. Daley encourages his staff to check the building's exterior doors for cracks, to patch all holes, and to put good saddles on classroom entrances. The floors are scrubbed regularly. Glue boards are placed on floors to catch mice. Even so, he says, it is a constant battle to keep the pests in check.

While some readers wrote in to praise topnotch custodians for keeping school buildings clean and pest-free, the majority of respondents seemed to think custodians, schools and the Department of Education must make more of an effort to address the problem of vermin in city schools.

One reader complained that pest problems resulted from "classroom floors that are not washed often enough." And a teacher at a Manhattan schools wrote, "There are many holes in our classroom and they have never been filled, nor have I ever seen an exterminator."

Poll finds voters back billions more for city schools

With State Supreme Judge Leland DeGrasse about to issue a court order -- the latest round in the long-running Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit to get more money for city public schools -- most voters in the state think New York City schools should get an additional $5.6 billion a year, according to a new poll by Quinnipac University. But voters also say that New York City should pay for at least some of the increase in spending.

A court-appointed panel (in pdf format) said in November that New York City schools need $5.6 billion a year more, but left open the question of who should pay for it. The special masters' report also said the schools need a total of $9.2 billion more in capital improvements. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has maintained that the state should pay for the entire increase, while that state maintains that the city should pick up 40 percent of the tab.

A new poll, based on a survey taken between December 3 and 6, 2004 of 1,186 registered voters, shows voters statewide support the recommendations of the court-appointed panel by a margin of 61 to 31 percent. Support for the funding is strongest in the city and weakest upstate, but, even there, 47 percent of respondents favored the increased funding with 43 percent opposed. By a margin of 76 to 8 percent, voters also said New York City should foot at least part of the bill. Even New York City voters, by a margin of 62 to 30 percent, say the city should share in the cost.

Governor George Pataki has proposed paying for the increase by installing slot machines at racetracks and off-track betting parlors. But voters, by a margin of 54 to 40 percent, said that was a "bad idea." More popular, according to the poll, was the notion of cutting state funding to rich school districts to help poor districts, which 50 percent supported. The poll found 22 percent favored a state tax increase, while only 10 percent favored local tax increases.

This topic page has been adapted from articles that originally appeared on Insideschools.org, an independent guide to New York City public schools sponsored by Advocates for Children.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Spend the Money for the Schools


While awaiting the judge's order in the school funding case, three views on what's next:

• The Governor Delays and Denies
by Steve Sanders

• How to Spend the Money for the Schools
by Eva Moskowitz

• Parents, Educators and Advocates Must Have Their Say
by Leonie Haimson

The children of New York City have been waiting too long for the school funds that are rightfully theirs, and when Justice Leland DeGrasse issues his forthcoming court order in the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case, he needs to do it in such a way as to force the state government to stop its delaying tactics. Fines would be completely appropriate.

When the money finally makes its way to New York City schools, there is still the question of how to spend it.

Making Pre-K Universal For Real

I feel incredibly strongly that some money must go to early childhood education. We have something called universal pre-K, but that name is like something out of George Orwell's 1984. Our program is not universal in two ways. It is not universal because there are more than 50,000 four-year-olds and more than 75,000 three-year-olds who do not get to attend pre-K.

It is also not universal in the sense that it does not cover the instructional needs of the kids. Today, kids are expected to know in kindergarten what they were expected to know in first or second grade 25 years ago. You cannot have a mere two hours of pre-K, which is what they fund now, and expect children to be ready for kindergarten.

There is a complete consensus in the research community and among educators that to give children a good start in life, they must have early childhood education. If not an all-day program, which would be ideal for working parents, it must at least be a nine-to-one program.

More Qualified Teachers

The most important factor in a child's education -- and it is somewhat cliché to say -- is the quality of the teacher. If you have a poor curriculum and a great teacher, your kid will be fine.

There are two factors in getting more qualified teachers. One is the pay and the second is the working conditions. The pay is better than it was 10 years ago, but we still need to improve it.

Addressing working conditions is so simple. You cannot expect to retain teachers if you send them into a school where not only is the pay inadequate, but they have to scrounge around for the most basic supplies. When you get a job in the corporate world, you get a desk, a chair, a telephone, paper, pens. You do not have to buy your own. You do not have to scrounge around.

Fixing The Labor Contracts

We have to decide whether teachers are assembly line workers or professionals. In my view, they are professionals. They need to be paid as such and they need to contribute as such without complicated work rules. A good time to do this is when you come up with more money, so the additional funding from the state could create an opportunity here.

And sometimes the issue is money. For example, we cannot get qualified science teachers unless we pay them more than some other teachers. If you can be a nurse or a pharmacist for much more money, why would you go into teaching? A few do, but, in general, it is not going to happen. But the teachers contract prohibits differential pay.

Reducing Class Size; Upgrading Facilities

The final thing is class size reduction and facilities upgrades. As part of this, we have to stop thinking of arts, science and sports as luxuries that we can afford only if we are not in a fiscal crisis. All the private, independent and parochial schools recognize this. Art and sports engage kids. If kids are engaged they will do better in geometry and reading.

But we do not have the facilities for arts, sports and the like. For example, 55 percent of New York City public schools do not have an outdoor playground. The New York City school system has very few chorus risers. Many schools have an auditorium but no curtain. The curtain was purchased 40 years ago and has since disintegrated. It is hard to have a play with no curtain.

It would be great to have robotics labs. But that is not what we are talking about. We are talking about the bare minimum.

Eva Moskowitz chairs the City Council Education Committee.

Keep An Eye on the Money for Schools


While awaiting the judge's order in the school funding case, three views on what's next:

• The Governor Delays and Denies
by Steve Sanders

• How to Spend the Money for the Schools
by Eva Moskowitz

• Parents, Educators and Advocates Must Have Their Say
by Leonie Haimson

Last fall, despite an increase in $300 million in state aid for education and a substantial hike in the city's education budget, public schools all over the city saw their budgets drastically cut. Although some of these cuts were eventually restored, the Bloomberg administration never explained why it made the cuts in the first place. With such a history, it should not be surprising that many people are concerned how the city might spend any money it gets from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has argued that people can be assured that the money will be well spent because he is the mayor. The city's lawyers have said that requiring Bloomberg to do anything specific with this money would take away from that mayoral control.

Our concerns were further stirred by the plan that city officials have submitted on how it will use the Campaign for Fiscal Equity dollars. (See the administration's full plan in pdf format or a summary.)

The plan does not include an assessment of what the system needs, there are few measurable goals and objectives, and it lacks a list of annual benchmarks for improvement. It allocates only two percent of the settlement dollars to reducing class size, one of the core issues in the case, while spending more than $1 billion to further enlarge the bureaucracy, hiring thousands of additional administrators and "specialists" to be housed outside school buildings in leased office space. The city's lawyers have said the plan was arrived at after public participation -- a claim that would probably surprise parents and other community members, most of whom do not even know that it exists.

But the state's highest court found that our children are being denied their constitutional right to a sound, basic education. A process must be established to ensure that the additional funds the city receives be spent on programs to provide students with the education they need and deserve.

Since none of the attorneys in the case has proposed how to do this, a group of parents and advocates put together a proposal for accountability and submitted it to the court on January 10. (See the text of the letter and a list of signers and our complete accountability plan)

Our proposal would create a system of checks and balances to ensure that the city spend any additional funds efficiently and appropriately.

First, there need to be concrete benchmarks for improvement. In four years, the schools should, at minimum, reach adequacy in the areas where the court found New York City schools to be constitutionally deficient: class size, teacher quality, and "instrumentalities of learning" -- this last category includes school labs, libraries, textbooks and so on. In these areas, city schools would, at minimum, have to attain the levels that exist in the rest of the state.

The court should also require that the city's spending plan for the funds go through a review process that includes the public. Our proposal lays out a precise process that would involve meetings at individual schools, public hearings, recommendations by the public advocate and approval by the New York State Education Department.

Our proposal also calls for yearly audits by the state comptroller's office to determine whether the money is being spent in a way that meets the goals in the plan. This will help gain the confidence of parents in New York City but also reassure taxpayers throughout the state who fear that their money is going to go into a black hole.

Our proposal for accountability has attracted widespread support, reflecting the importance the public gives to the issues of accountability and public review. We want to ensure that billions of dollars are spent not on enlarging the bureaucracy at Tweed or on unproven educational fads, but to improve classroom conditions.

Leonie Haimson heads Class Size Matters.



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