Notes from In-house exile. On re-reading Albert Camus’s novel The Plague

(1) March 17, 2020

What else is this “locked-down” high-risk senior citizen to do except read! A nation has chosen, yes chosen, perhaps the most unsuitable individual possible to lead this country in a national crisis. (And don’t bother me with the Hillary’s ‘popular votes’ story; enough people saw his putrid personality as their only hope that racism and bigotry could be made great, again); the 2008 election should not have even been close. It’s amazing (but not surprising) that in all of Trump’s Corona-virus presentations, he so mirrors the virus’s disconnection from, and indifference to human feelings; he can’t even summon up the most basic scripted words of compassion and inspiration; it seems that the plague can only take humanity, but it can’t create one.
A plague (like Trump, bail reform and “stop and frisk”) is a revealer and explainer of personal values. Mean people in the midst of a plague will horde their kindness, and others will become wonderfully heroic. This in many ways, is the same way a blank sheet of paper (or screen) confronts a writer, a blank canvas challenging a painter… A plague, any plague, invites and requires a personal individual response, based on the internal qualities of those upon whom the plague imposes its ugly ever-presence; we can neither hide from the plague, nor hide who we are in the plague. Our unique authorship assignment is our choice of who we choose to be in response to the plague; it will not make us something different, only point out and amplify who we truly are when no plague is present; it will only make us better if “better” is already settled and seeded in our spirits. Surely stifle and crush any good in us that is not anchored in serious truth and personal authenticity. The plague will severely test the truly brave and lose. Will we mirror the plague’s detached coldness in our own unique characteristic way? Or, do we become bravely bold in affirming the best and most heroic values any person can summon. Our ‘humanness’ is both our strength and our weakness. This is the hard part, the desire to be selfish; to narrowly define “family”; finding it hard to find the true meaning of “turning the other cheek”; compelling oneself to be compassionate and forgiving; to not find joy in the lost joy of others… to be, what a virus cannot be… to be fully human.

The Most Racially Progressive any NYC Teacher can be is to be Effective

“As a principal, I’ve met teachers I wouldn’t want anywhere near my kids, and then there were many great and wonderful teachers who I’d hire 100 times over, regardless of that teacher’s race or nationality. Black students can’t wait for America to get its “racial act” together; they need a quality instructional experience, immediately. I often tell school administrators…” Read the full article at: Our Time Press:http://www.ourtimepress.com/the-most-racially-progressive-any-nyc-teacher-can-be-is-to-be-effective/

Reading this blog post I could not get through many paragraphs without crying, so many memories, and every reason we should never give up on our children. So many of them, push aside their pain and suffering, and somehow manage to show up to school every day; just ‘being present’ in school for many, is a supreme act of courage. Since she was a teenager, this young lady was always a great source of inspiration for me every day of school; and now as a professional Librarian and wonderful mother, I could not begin to express my pride in the women she has become. This is the true “grit” that fake best-seller award-winning book authors ignore (They have even confused many should-know-better Black folks as to who are the most courageous and ‘grit empowered’ students in public education!) I know you are supposed to ‘let them go’ at graduation; but you can’t control when they make a powerful lasting impression on your heart, forever. Letitia like so many of my former students, has come to represent the full meaning of my life’s love, work and meaning: and as long as I have people like her, then whatever things ‘shows up’ in my life as ‘disappointments’; I can live with them.

“Having a Bad Mom Doesn’t Mean you will be a Bad Mom – How Foster Care Saved me”:
https://brooklyncocoa.mom/having-a-bad-mom-doesnt-mean-you-will-be-a-bad-mom-how-foster-care-saved-me/?fbclid=IwAR1z5vX-2zRybb6kEYBxpF4G9mhd5ChLO0hy9pMXSgijiWJ3uTNsSmUWir0

To create transformative school-based leaders, we need to invest time and thought into how we transform those leaders. The principalship in many school districts suffers from the absence of not having really good supervisory/coaching support.

“How the Job of Supervising Principals Is Changing”:

By Denisa R. Superville; Education Week; April 25, 2019

These are the moments when you feel that every sacrifice was worth it!

The email feedback about the book is great. The Book talks are great, in particular I love the professional conversations; and I always learn something important (about myself and the work) in the Q & A sessions. All of these experiences are helping to frame the next book. But I must admit, the feedback below is the #1 reason I wrote the book. I really want to help the ‘on the front line’ school based administrators to create the kind of change that will ultimately make them, their teachers and their students successful!

This warmed my heart!

This, from one of the nation’s top secondary school administrators speaking of her History department chairperson:

“…I asked her to read your book*…specifically the chapter about creating a strong social studies/History department. The end result was great…She centered her departmental meetings around the needs of the department and the guidance in your book. She told me to tell you thank you! For me, I too say thank you so much for your continued leadership.”

Excerpt From Building an Effective History Department:

“When developing or refocusing a history department, some of the questions the faculty must pose and answer are:

•Why are we requiring students to study past topics in the world, America, state, local, and civics-economics studies? Why is geography and cultural literacy important? Is this just about studying: “Dead people, dead places, and dead times?” Or, is there a larger and more important purpose at work here?

•What are the conceptual standards that would define the level of historical literacy required for a graduate of our school? What are the major (defining) historical movements, places, events, and people that we believe they should be familiar?

•How will the history department weave the study of anthropology, geology, political science, economics, social psychology, and social movements/ideas into the course of study?

•Very important, what is the history department’s approach to current events, an important study that I believe has become a lost instructional art. Also can the history department link current events to past events and further to their possible influence on future events.

•How will the department pedagogically, and in a safe and productive way, address the difficult past and current conversations around topics of race, economics, ethnicity, LGBTQ, gender studies, immigration, religion, and power?

•If the high school has a theme (e.g., STEM-CTE, performing arts, fashion, culinary arts), how can the history department reflect, reinforce, and enhance the school’s thematic mission?

•In a Title I school, or a school with large numbers of students of color, or in racially, culturally, and economically diverse schools, what role (if any) should the history department play in empowering students for whom the larger society (as well as public education systems) has systematically and historically denied access to the full fruits of the American Dream? And how do we address these issues while fulfilling our ethical requirements of making the school a safe and comfortable space for White students and staff persons?

•How will the history department address the issues of the curriculum cultural deficiencies, inaccuracies, falsehoods, and in some cases, demeaning historical portrayals and treatment of certain people; regions and nations of the world?…”

*Report To The Principal’s Office: Tools for Building Successful High School Administrative Leadership: reporttotheprincipalsoffice.net/

https://www.facebook.com/Brooklyn.cocoa.mommy/photos/a.311769256276066/410438626409128/?type=3

A great opinion piece from a great and talented journalist. The message for all educators: Assume greatness in every student under your care! I really hope that Shari and the NY Post don’t let up on this topic. As a professional educator I am dismayed by the huge amount of ‘negative messaging’ that suggest that Black and Latino children are born with inherent learning deficits that can only be helped by way of lowering standards. The truth is that NYC is blessed with many smart, wonderful and willing to learn at a high level Shari Logans, who are just waiting for someone to give them the opportunity to display their gifts and talents!

Setting a high bar for nonelite schools works — I’m proof
By Shari Logan–NY Post April 6, 2019

When I began high school 20 years ago in September 1999, I was not frightened about the impending workload. I had a clear idea of what was expected of me.
I had just completed a summer enrichment program for selected incoming freshmen. About 100 of us completed daily assignments in math, science and English. We read several books, such as “Gifted Hands” by Dr. Ben Carson. We learned about the school’s robotics team.

Our teachers constantly reminded us of their high expectations: Get to class on time, complete every assignment, pass every test with an “A,” graduate on time and get accepted into college.

I did not attend one of the elite specialized high schools, but Science Skills Center HS in downtown Brooklyn — one of several hundred city schools that don’t use the SHSAT exam to admit kids.

Whether or not the controversial SHSAT exam is kept or abolished, the other schools must raise the bar.

Science Skills Center seemed to have all the makings of a low-performing, inner-city school. The population was majority African American and Hispanic — like 70 percent of today’s public-school students. Many qualified for free or reduced-price lunch.

Despite those factors, we passed our Regents exams with flying colors and 90 percent graduated in four years. Our college acceptance letters were brightly wallpapered in the school lobby to encourage us to soar.

Each morning, Principal Michael A. Johnson shook each student’s hand and told us, “Make it a great day.” On Wednesdays, students took part in “Dress for Success” to get used to wearing career attire.

We boasted graduates in every profession imaginable — from cops and city employees to educators, entrepreneurs, and computer programmers, plus at least one journalist.

I know that creating a solid, rigorous education for all black and brown kids in NYC public schools can be achieved. I lived it.

Shari Logan is a New York Post metro reporter

Original Opinion Page: https://nypost.com/2019/04/06/setting-a-high-bar-for-nonelite-schools-works-im-proof/

I must say that the NY Post has properly nailed this topic! Congrats to Susan Edelman for some great journalism. This is the side of the story that is not being covered by most media outlets (I wonder why?). The focus unfortunately has been on the topic of ‘racial integration’, and not the vastly more important objective of the integration of rigorous high level learning for NYC’s Black and Latino K-8 children! Hat’s off to Jumaane Williams and Robert Cornegy Jr for standing firm for higher standards for all children regardless of zip code!

‘Educational genocide’: NYC schools are leaving black and Hispanic students behind By Susan Edelman NY Post April 6, 2019

New York City school districts with the largest black and Hispanic enrollment offer the fewest programs for gifted and talented children — a void one successful graduate calls “educational genocide.”

“It’s like killing off a group of people who are not getting the quality of education they deserve, and it’s a crime,” said Tai Abrams, a 2005 alumna of the Bronx HS of Science, a specialized high school that has bred eight Nobel and eight Pulitzer prize winners.

Abrams, who left Wall Street to tutor bright minority kids, and other alumni of the city’s elite high schools told The Post that they credit their early education in programs for gifted students for getting them into the top schools.
Today, 10 school districts with 88 percent to 96 percent black and Hispanic enrollment have only one K-5 Gifted and Talented program or none, city data show.
Of the 15,979 children in the city’s 86 G&T programs, only 21 percent are black and Hispanic kids, though they make up nearly 70 percent of the total public-school enrollment. Another 73 percent are Asian and white. Alumni, city lawmakers and educators decry the disparity.

“There’s nothing wrong with the brains of black and Latino kids,” said Michael A. Johnson, a respected former Queens principal and superintendent. “Good, rigorous gifted and talented education can prepare them.”

Led by Robert Cornegy Jr., 19 City Council members sent a letter to Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza last month saying the disappearance of G&T programs for black and brown kids was to blame for their low rate of acceptance to eight specialized high schools.

Black and Hispanic kids received just 10.6 percent of the 4,798 seats offered for the 2019-20 school year at those high schools, while whites got 28.5 percent and Asian Americans 51 percent.

Before 2008, the 32 community school districts each used various measures to choose kids for G&T classes. Then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg changed the system citywide to require a minimum 90th-percentile score on national standardized intelligence tests.

As a result, from 2009 to 2013, the city Department of Education closed some 60 G&T programs, mostly in black and brown neighborhoods. Not enough kids took the tests or As a result, from 2009 to 2013, the city Department of Education closed some 60 G&T programs, mostly in black and brown neighborhoods. Not enough kids took the tests or scored high enough to justify the cost, officials decided.
“Parents living in poverty don’t know about this test. It’s an awareness problem,” said James Borland, an education professor at Teachers College, Columbia University, who focuses on gifted issues.

“In the wealthier areas of town, more kids take the test. And standardized tests advantage kids from wealthier families who can afford the test prep, so it’s a double whammy.” Asian students received most offers to city’s elite high schools
Since 2016, the de Blasio administration has added G&T classes in eight schools in black and brown neighborhoods for kids in grades 3 to 5 who are chosen without taking the test. While 88 percent of kids in these classes are black and Hispanic, the enrollment totals only 176, data show.

Several alumni told The Post that more G&T programs could change the equation.
Abrams, the daughter of Guyanese immigrants and raised by a single mom, was valedictorian of the first graduating class of PS 235, the Lenox Academy, then a K-8 public school for gifted children in Flatbush. Today, the school runs an advanced reading program for high-performers. All passed the Regents math exam in seventh grade — Abrams got 100 — shocking school officials who demanded they retake it. “They thought we cheated,” she said. All seven kids scored high enough on the SHSAT, the sole entry criterion for the specialized schools, to get in: One went to Stuyvesant HS, Abrams and another went to Bronx Science and the rest went to Brooklyn Tech.

Abrams earned a bachelor’s in math from Duke University. After two internships on Wall Street as an investment banker, she worked for a business-consulting firm.
But she left to give minority kids the same prep she received. In 2016, she founded AdmissionSquad, a nonprofit that helps get high-achieving middle-schoolers into top city high schools and colleges. It charges fees on a sliding scale from $100 to $350 a month. Her philosophy: “Give them the access, give them the opportunity to rise to the occasion, and you’ll see that they can do the work.”

Last year, Safina, Ralph and Semira Davis — a set of eighth-grade triplets from Mount Vernon, The Bronx — traveled to AdmissionSquad in Brooklyn for four months. All got into top city high schools: Safina was one of 10 black students admitted to Stuyvesant, Ralph went to Brooklyn Latin and Semira got into Beacon HS.

Abrams is against abolishing the SHSAT — which Mayor de Blasio and Carranza say is the way to boost diversity.

“I believe those schools are designed for the city’s gifted and talented students. They’re designed for advanced learning. The test serves as a mechanism to select those students,” she said.

“The test is a meritocracy. You’ve got to study hard, study well and show up on exam day. From that perspective, it’s fair,” she said.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams agreed. Schooled in G&T, he said he wouldn’t have gotten into Brooklyn Tech if not for his SHSAT score. “My grades were terrible, and I had behavior issues,” he said. He graduated Tech in 1994.
While Williams may back multiple measures to admit kids, he vowed, “I will not support any plan that takes away having the test.”

As for G&T programs in black and Hispanic areas, “I think we have to bring them back,” he said.

Brooklyn Tech alums Michael Walker and Stephanie Jackson say gifted classes got them into the elite school.

Michael Walker attended Brooklyn Tech from 1979 to 1983, when black students outnumbered white ones. G&T in elementary and accelerated Special Progress classes in middle school paved his way.

“That education was our prep program. We weren’t taught how to pass an exam. We were being taught the material on the exam,” he said.

His fiancée, Stephanie Jackson, Brooklyn Tech Class of ’86, was placed in an Intellectually Gifted Children class in grade school and went on to gifted classes at the former Satellite West, a middle school a middle school near the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

“I recall reading ‘Othello’ in eighth grade,” she said. “Satellite had a rigorous program in science, math, English and the arts. We were nurtured and prepared and told we could compete.”

Jackson and Walker also oppose elimination of the SHSAT.
“It’s a badge of honor to be able to say you went in there, didn’t choke under pressure and delivered what was expected of you,” Jackson said.

Original article:https://nypost.com/2019/04/06/educational-genocide-nyc-schools-are-leaving-black-and-hispanic-students-behind/