Lock-Ins and Walkouts: The Students Changing City Schools From the Inside

@Lifelong Reader Or possibly these snot-nosed kids just saw right through you.

@Eric Think that if it makes you feel better.

@Betti: And you get to celebrate that on these pages. However there is an OP-ED writer, Thomas Edsall, who regularly chastises white folks (I do not know your race) who left a public school system as "white flight" and "fear of the unknown". This is primarily in flyover country. It sounds like such actions are celebrated in liberal NYC. That's interesting.

@RE I think you misunderstand her point, which she could've stated more clearly by saying, "It should be standard across private schools to teach a more inclusive view of history with respect to people of color."

@Darlene Boston - Your comment makes no sense. If you like what Success Academy is doing, then why are you not a fan? What does desegregation for its own sake have to do with the strategies that SA uses? No one is saying a child from a single parent family cannot learn. But a child who goes home to a chaotic living situation, less than nutritious food, and unstable adult relationships? Can you see how such conditions might present obstacles to even the most brilliant child?

@RE I used Success Academy school population to make a point. Those are the usual children that they say don't learn. And I don't have to like everything they do so no I'm not a fan. But you can be more informed by reading and doing some research.

@Darlene Boston Actually, the population of charter schools are is a self-selected sub-category of families in disadvantaged neighborhoods that actually care about their children's educations. That's why the parents took the time to apply to the charter schools, rather than just send their kid to the local (awful) public school. So they actually prove the opposite of your points -- that kids who want to learn will find ways to get into environments where they can learn, and those who don't aren't worth it.

@Lifelong Reader He declared we're in a 'new age' ... but was 6 years old when Obama was elected. The voting age is 18 for very good reason.

@Andy Deckman And yet I see kids this age being treated as if they were sages when they're only repeating the talking points of adults and suggesting idealistic scenarios with no clue as to how to back them up, just like many of the adults.

@Long Islander. That is exactly right. Every kid at Fieldston has the ultimate privilege, one every kid should have...access to a world class education, brilliant faculty and beautiful campus, Administrators who listen and responnd. The protesters find "racism" where there is none because they want to protest, and this is a "safe space" to fo so. Get a great education, go to college, then devote yourself to giving back, instead of picking meaningless fights at home!

@RE A privileged environment does not mean it is free of racism. I don't know if it was necessary for the students to lock themselves in a building, but they were protesting conduct that the school should not have tolerated and they appear to have gotten results. Now I hope they settle down to their studies. This article combines stories of very different students, situations, and grounds for protest. While I don't think much of Teens Take Charge, I do believe the students at Fieldston were justified.

@Lola Franco I keep reading that poor schools are receiving floods of money and still failing.

An enormous share of funding goes towards optimistic remediation programs that accomplish little.

They receive the same funding as the top schools. People always assume its about not enough money being spent in these schools. NYC spends more per student then any other city in the country, yet an overwhelming majority of students and schools in NYC vastly underperform. This is NOT a funding problem, it is a social issue.

Uh, where’s there, “more racism,” advocated here? Is this just the good old, “If you notice there are probs with the way students of color get treated, you’re discriminating against white guys,” argument?

@Robert No. (I've never heard anything like your hypothetical in quotes.) Using the imaginary concept of "race" to divide people, or give people of certain "races" special privileges, is racist. It's divisive. If people ever discriminate based on anything so superficial as skin color (without reason, e.g., you sell cosmetics) then that should be corrected as an individual instance. If there is a law, a rule, a covenant etc. that so discriminates, then that must be fixed, but AFAIK they have all been fixed in the US. (Except for anti-gay ordinances which I am told still exist - those have to removed/corrected.) If there's a group oriented by "race" (e.g., "Students of Color Matter" mentioned in the article) then that's racist. Even describing people as "white" or "black" is racist; there is no such thing as a "black" or a "white" person. Racism is pervasive, and many people have an unfortunate habit of making more of it when they *think* that they're working for less. Now I'm wondering if that's true of you, Robert.

@Carole Or they're just avoiding studying.

@InAllFairness Totally agree! If you get rid of the tests and take the top students from the various schools what you will end up doing is destroying the gifted programs. Between the top students in a low performing school and the top students in a high performing school there is probably a differential in I.Q. of at least one standard deviation point, which make a big difference in outcome. We end up punishing our brightest, which is harmful to them and the country. All students should be educated in order to perform to their capacity. Trade schools are needed. Not everyone needs, or can complete, a college degree in something that is a real subject. In this country we now have equality across the board in legal terms. Now use it!! It is so much easier to protest and be "woke" and a victim than to have to get in and really study and do the work. Get our there and accomplish something!

@Joe Gagen Parents who constantly talk WITH their children and encourage curiosity, and a love of knowledge will have very successful scholars.

@Joe Gagen Protest is not a problem, per se. Youth activism is a good thing and I don't see it as necessarily impeding studies, anymore than any other extracurricular activities. But, I do agree completely that the problems begin at home. My parents made it clear to me when I left the house every morning that I represented our family, and was supposed to dress appropriately, treat others with respect, and most importantly bring home good grades or else face the ramifications. It became readily apparent to me in elementary school that many of my classmates did not necessarily come from the same type of family. Still, there is no reason, none whatsoever, that every neighborhood school in this city can't provide an excellent education, regardless of who sits in the seats. While integration is admirable (though in NYC segregation is the result of immigrant settlement, persistence of ethnic enclaves more than anything else), it alone will do nothing to change the quality of schools. And, just as an aside, to your point about color, all the Spanish speaking nations to the south of us are immigrant nations the same as the US and attracted millions of immigrants from Europe (mostly south Europe), Mid East, Asia, as well as being the destination for 12 million African slaves and home to large and diverse indigenous populations. Race is just as alive and well there as much as it is here. Hispanic is a linguistic heritage; not a race.

@Mon Ray You are right, but that's a long game that doesn't make nice headline worthy soundbites. My child tested G&T eligible in NYC - and we kept her General Ed in our zoned elementary and middle school because we believed in neighborhood school idea. We live in nice middle class neighborhood. Zoned elementary school supposed to be great. Endured FIVE principals, three math curriculum changes, and Common Core standards, with no teacher training fell out of the sky in 4th Grade. There were no books for advanced readers, no extra math work for math advanced kids, one teacher and huge class size (EVERY year, 7-10 kids over UFT contract allowed). Gym no more than TWO days a week. Some YEARS, no art - think about that - no art for elementary school kids. No staff to supervise daily 20 minute recess so kids sat every other chair in auditorium in mandatory silence watching movies (we were told budget cuts no money to hire recess supervisiors). Gets A LOT worse in poorer neighborhoods. My point: Education in NYC schools is broken. The enrichment for all Carranza talks about is non-existant - and the politicians and embattled UFT can't be trusted to provide it. Yet, we need to raise quality of education in ALL neighborhoods. Then let the kids compete on level playing field for spots in competitive academic environments. And work to help all the kids become their best selves.

@John High poverty schools with minority populations tend to have more inexperienced teachers that are hired as Teaching Fellows, who train for a few months with a classroom teacher who, most of the time, has only been in the classroom for a year or two. Furthermore, these "teachers" quickly leave the classroom to become administrators when they realize that teaching in a high poverty school is much hard work for not much money. In addition, these low performing students are come from environments with a single mother, not much parental involvement, lack of cognitive stimulation and attention. No amount of integration or protesting will alter these realities. You need to first reform the family unit to begin with.

So it’s all the school’s fault? There is nothing lacking in the communities? Every kid comes to school well fed and dressed and ready to learn. Every child is read to each evening by their parents. Get the point? Schools do not exist in a vacuum apart from the community they are in. The responsibility is everyone’s, and kudos to these kids who are working to make a difference. How about some of you who complain about the schools think about what you could do in your community?

@dba The problem I find with not having adequately trained teachers is again lack of leadership. The city of NY spends $25k per pupil. So resources cannot be the problem. The problem with teachers is the arcane rules needed to become a teacher. I have a MA in a liberal arts subject from a great university and I would not be able to get a job teaching in the NYC public school system. But I would be allowed to start teaching immediately in a private school.

@Mon Ray I completely agree. Back in the 1970s, busing was about access to resources. A predominantly white school was a proxy for an institution with better resources and one which the system cared about more. Busing black students from bad schools to white schools was supposed to give them access to better facilities, equipment, and environments, while busing white students to under-resourced black schools was supposed to awaken the concern of white parents and the system, who would want to build up the school. Diversity also was a goal. That ship has sailed in NYC. There just aren't enough different groups for complete diversity. Whites have left in part because of the overall deterioration of the schools and the uncertainty. Better to build up every school in every neighborhood while allowing students to travel to better schools if they wish. Complete equity is a worthy goal, but it's idealistic to think that there will be no "bad" schools as Chancellor Carranza promises.

@Cousy Joining lawsuits against the mayor, creating school-wide clubs, protests and rallies. I am genuinely confused about what you mean about activism vs advocacy.