Tell the children the truth

Why even bother holding a public hearing on the Department of Education’s planned phase out of John F. Kennedy High School?

The decision to shut it down is clearly a foregone conclusion.

That fact was painfully illustrated last week when somebody leaked internal DOE documents to The New York Times detailing plans for which schools would replace those slated for “possible” closure.

Or when, in December, the Department of Education “backpacked” home a notice with students for a meeting only two days away to discuss the “proposal.”
It was apparent then that turnout of those who would be most intimately affected by the decision was not high on the agenda.

Even our elected officials — a representative from Councilman Oliver Koppell’s office, then Assemblyman, now state Sen. Adriano Espaillat and Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez — had a meeting and gave the phase out a thumbs up before parents, teachers and educators ever had a chance to make their voices heard.

Only one, Mr. Rodriguez, reacted with public anger when DOE documents were leaked, releasing a statement that said, “I am very disappointed that the parents and the elected officials of this community are going to read about the Department of Education’s new school proposal in the newspaper rather than hearing it from the Department.”

According to his office, approval was conditional on parental involvement and the type of school that would replace it. And now we know what the DOE has been keeping from us all along.

Two New Visions charter schools — flashier, brighter, smaller, newer than the gargantuan JFK — will likely find their places on the Kennedy campus, regardless of what parents, elected representatives, students and educators think or say.
Maybe the new schools will be an improvement. Kennedy has been afflicted with high dropout rates, low scores and a dwindling student body for years now. But the same people rallying for its closure never did much about that.