Children First

Mayor Michael "Accountability" Bloomberg is very big on insisting people do what they're responsible for, whether or not they're actually responsible for it. This applies, of course, to teachers, who are responsible for absolutely everything. Factors that occur outside of school are meaningless, excuses, and in Mr. Bloomberg's New York, there are no excuses.

However, there's a different standard when it's not quite so easy to point to a teacher and assign blame. For example, in a Bronx school, a clear toxic chemical contamination was not enough to provoke action from the Tweedies. Rather, it was an opportunity to run another test, examine all the mitigating factors, sit down and think about things, and allow the students and staff of Bronx New School to enjoy continued exposure to carcinogenic toxins.

Because putting "Children First" is not actually about protecting children. (Poison? City kids are tough, so let's hope for the best.) "Children First" really means let's screw all the adults, to the adulation of editorial boards all over the city. "Yeah!" cry readers of the NY Post, without the remotest awareness that crappy working conditions for adults now means much the same for their children tomorrow.

The city's depraved indifference to the health of our children (not to mention adults working at such locations) ought to be enough to dispel the preposterous claims of putting children first. This is not, by far, an isolated incident, and Mayor Bloomberg has no problem using toxic waste sites for public schools.

No Clean Air For You

That's a photo of the cafeteria at P.S. 256 in the Rockaways, a school for children with developmental difficulties, autism or severe emotional disorders.

According to a report in the NY Daily News, the rest of the school building isn't in much better condition than the cafeteria. The peeling paint, crumbling plaster and broken tiles in the building contains asbestos, lead and other dangerous substances.

Now I'm no scientist, but if the rest of the building looks even half as bad as the photo of the cafeteria, I'd have to say the place sure isn't safe for use.

Apparently the Department of Education doesn't feel the same way, however. The Daily News says education officials "toured" the building in July and "made note of the disrepair" but continued to allow 60 staff members and 120 children to finish out the summer session at P.S. 256, which ended on August 15.

Gee, that makes sense. Kids with developmental disabilities need continuity, you know? You wouldn't want to upset them by moving them midway through the summer session.

DOE officials haven't decided what to do with the school yet, but the Daily News says they are meeting today to "review the situation."

I suspect now that the News has done the story and the photos have made it into the press, the school will be closed for a bit and the kids and staff will be moved somewhere else.

But you know that if the story hadn't made it into the papers, Chancellor Jolly Joel Klein and Mayor Moneybags could have cared less if kids and staff at P.S. 256 were breathing in asbestos every day and carrying the fibers home on their clothes to friends and family.

Now if these kids were attending a charter school or one of Bill Gates' small schools, that's a different story. As NYC Educator noted yesterday, the DOE has been pushing regular schools out of spaces in their buildings in order to place newly formed charter schools.

You see, all school students are equal, but charter school students are just a little more equal than others and charter schools must always receive precedence over the needs of regular schools.

After all, this is the mayor's reputation as an "education reformer," we're talking about here, and given the mayor's desire to break term limits and run for a third mayoral term, he's got to continue to show "accomplishments" to make an effective case to voters.

So charter schools must be given every opportunity and every resource necessary to make the mayor and the chancellor (and perhaps Bill Gates or some other corporate "education reformer") look good at year's end. Whatever it takes - space, money, clean air - nothing's too good for those charter school kids (see here for the latest charter school p.r. extravaganza/exercise in self-aggrandizement by Jolly Joel and Mayor Moneybags.)

But you kids and staff at P.S. 256, stop whining and finish your summer session - you're lucky you have environmental contamination at your school. If your school had been safe and clean, they would have stuck a charter school where you are and put you guys into a series of broom closets in the basement.

This is serious stuff, of course. Health problems related to lead show up pretty quickly, but health conditions related to asbestos do not show up for decades, so by the time any of the kids, family members of kids, or staff members are diagnosed with cancer as a result of their exposure to the contaminants at P.S. 256, the DOE and city officials responsible will be long gone.

Nonetheless, if that building at P.S. 256 contains exposed asbestos and DOE officials avoided doing anything about the problem until forced to by negative press reports, they will be guilty of murder when kids, family members of kids and staff members start dying from asbestos-related conditions decades from now.

There ought to be a study set up to track the health conditions of all the people exposed to that building, including family members (even people who have not been exposed to the contaminated site can be in danger because asbestos can be carried away from a contaminated area on clothing and other personal articles.)

The study ought to track how many of these people come down with health problems that can be traced to asbestos and/or lead exposure. That way we will know just how many people were harmed by this mess.

But I bet those will be the one set of statistics that normally stat-happy Jolly Joel or Mayor Moneybags won't want tracked.

Saint Rudy Talks Numbers

Well, we all know Saint Rudy's favorite number--9/11. After all, on 9/10 he was a bum, about to slink away from NYC, and the next day he was America's sweetheart. That's pretty good for a guy most people would be afraid to invite to their houses for spaghetti.

And it's damn good for a guy who went to court to demand the right to bring his mistress to a home he shared with his wife and young children. No Bill Clinton there. More like, "Damn right I was with Ms. Lewinski, and I'm bringing her home to meet the wife and kids right now."

But now Rudy is on a mission to make sure health care doesn't get to the bootless and unhorsed. To that end, he put an ad on the radio:

In the radio ad, Giuliani, who has suffered prostate cancer, said the U.S. survival rate for the disease was 82 percent, but the survival rate in Britain was just 44 percent "under socialized medicine."

It appears, though, that Mr. Giuliani got his statistics from the same folks who said we needed to invade Iraq:

A health department spokesman said the latest figures from Britain's Office of National Statistics showed a five-year survival rate of 74.4 percent for prostate cancer.

That's a significant difference. And that's not all:

Even that difference, as experts explained, probably has nothing to do with the British National Health Service and much to do with the aggressive screening programs employed in this country. (And for the moment, let's merely mention another highly pertinent issue, namely that the great majority of prostate cancers occur in men over 65, which indicates that many if not most are treated successfully under Medicare -- our version of national health insurance for the elderly -- or by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which comes as close to truly socialist healthcare as any system in the world.)

But the supreme irony is this--Saint Rudy was actually treated under a government program--specifically GHI, then a non-profit health care network popular with New York City employees (like me). So I guess it's easy for him to say we don't need to help those who've got nothing. After all, that was his entire approach to the school system--My kids don't go there, so what the hell do I care? That's why he had no problem proposing welfare recipients be required to work in public schools. Why shouldn't people chronically unable to find jobs serve as role models for our kids? After all, they're not his kids.

Sadly, that approach is precisely the one taken by the current administration, which has no qualms about sending kids to toxic waste sites or fighting tooth and nail when people ask leased schools be inspected as thoroughly as city-owned schools. Note they don't build sports stadiums on toxic waste sites. The billionaires who own the teams would never put up with that.

I read somewhere, "If Rudy becomes president, every day will be 9/11"

Mr. Bloomberg Addresses the Facts

Mayor Mike claims his critics favor a return to "failure, indifference and paralysis." Those are things of the past, claims hizzoner. Consider how things have changed. What about the unqualified success of charter schools? What about his record of achievement?

To buttress his position, Mayor Mike appeared with a completely impartial group of those who understand common sense:

...the group was composed of many people who also have business dealings with the school system, including two former Education Department officials, leaders of nonprofit organizations that are helping to run schools and high-profile donors who have given millions to support the mayor’s work.

That ought to make it perfectly clear his critics lack the vision to privatize public schools. None of them are willing to construct public schools on contaminated sites while concurrently giving Randall's Island to private schools in a sweetheart deal. Which of them would devote a former school building to new condos while sending public school kids to study in brownfields? How many of them have the vision to close schools in the face of unconscionable overcrowding?

Which of them would jail a thirteen-year-old girl for writing on a desk? And which of them has the courage to blatantly fudge statistics, so as to improve the dropout rate?

But the worst of it was when he went after UFT President Randi Weingarten. Ms. Weingarten supported and enabled mayoral control, gave up guaranteed placement for senior teachers, sent every working teacher back to the lunchroom forever, gave away the UFT transfer plan, allowed her members to be suspended for 90 days based on unsubstantiated allegations, and did all that and more for less than cost of living.

Mayor Mike needs to stop criticizing Ms. Weingarten. Instead, he should place her statue on the dashboard of his limo.

Mr. Blomberg's Integrity Is Called Into Question

Despite Mayor Mike's personal assurances that contaminated land is good enough for New York City schoolchildren, a group of uppity lawyers is taking him to court, simply because he failed to live up to cleanup recommendations.

The organization claims the city has failed to live up to a deal to adhere to recommendations made by an environmental consultant for the $235 million plan.

Mayor Mike's rep says it's "unconscionable" to object to the current plan, as the city and state say it's good enough for public school kids. Next, they'll be asking them to build schools on Randall's Island. Though Randall's Island doesn't happen to be contaminated, it's earmarked for private school kids. It's a well-known fact that private school kids are more sensitive than public school kids, and more susceptible to contamination.

Furthermore, the deep pockets of their parents can make for longer and more protracted lawsuits.

I Want It, I Want It All, and I Want It Now!

So says Mayor Mike, referring to the school he wishes to build on a toxic site. After all, toxic waste is a real product of our contemporary society, and Mayor Mike is a hands-on guy. Don't expect to see his hands, or those of his kids anywhere near the place, but it's high time public school children got a firsthand look at it.

While Mayor Mike and his minions claim it's absolutely safe (and since their kids attend private schools, what's the difference?), I can't help but notice that the most he ever proposes luxury housing and sports stadiums on contaminated land is never. Now that, in my view, is not a very high percentage.

Mayor Mike had promised to partially pay for and wait on an independent environmental assessment, but why wait? After all, what if they decide against the project? If Mayor Mike wants it, he wants it, and it must be a good idea, because why would he want it if it weren't? Available non-contaminated fields on Randall's Island are needed for private schools. The Livingston Street building is being converted to condominiums.

I once cornered a Tweed spokesperson and questioned him about the city's actions, which I considered superficial and ineffectual, particularly when compared to what works. His defense was the following:

"Well, at least we're doing something."

If you really want to do something, Class Size Matters has a suggestion:

Call Speaker Quinn’s office today - let her know that this she should allow a vote to block this plan from going forward; this sort of double-dealing on the part of the city should not be allowed, especially since the health of our children is at stake: 212- 788-7210.

Children First

That's Mayor Bloomberg's mantra. In order to help children, he's going to push a 230 million dollar school project on contaminated land in the South Bronx. In a concession to critics who say kids shouldn't study on contaminated sites, Deputy Mayor Walcott says he'll clean it up.

Meanwhile, non-contaminated grounds are being devoted to private schools, Mayor Mike won't guarantee that area residents can attend his new proposed schools (or any other new schools), he routinely excludes kids who might bring scores down, he excludes dropouts from graduation statistics, and rejoices that there will be no oversight of CFE funds (reduced by two-thirds as a direct result of his intransigence).

Way to go, Mayor Mike. It's a good thing you've rejected all that nonsense about good teachers, smaller class sizes and decent facilities. That stuff may work in Nassau County, but it's too expensive and New York City needs to innovate.

It's entirely possible that one day, one of the innovations may work. Why should 30 years of abject failure discourage you?