LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Deafening silence greets JFK closing

Posted

To the Editor:

As per your Jan. 26 editorial “Deafening Silence Greets JFK Closing,” I need to go to the paragraph about the Community Board 8 Education Committee meeting and correct what you have printed.

If you looked at the agenda, the main topic of the meeting was about bullying. It was a very informative and useful presentation by Ms. Heather Kagedan on the subject of bullying beyond the school building, and what to look for as possible signs of the problems. Ms. Kagedan had two handouts, one titled “Resources” and the other on how to respond if a child is a victim of bullying or cyber-bullying.

After the presentation the education meeting went into new business, where I spoke on three new separate items.

1. I spoke in favor of the new principal at PS 7 and recommended that he be invited to speak at a future meeting.

2. I mentioned a meeting later in the week (on Friday) at Kennedy High School about a phase out of the remaining Kennedy High School, to be replaced by two new charter schools. I showed the same handout that your reporter and I received at the School District 10 Community District Education Council meeting a few days before on the subject. I also added the fact that former Chancellor Joel Klein is now the chairman of a national organization called “Education Reform Now.” ERN is an organization that has a board of directors from the Wall Street elite that advocates for more charter schools such as the two new charter schools replacing the current Kennedy High School.

3. Continuing my concerns about education, I then mentioned the repeated reports about the way the mayor and new chancellor want to lay off teachers, which was laid over to the next meeting.

I do not speak for Community Board 8 or its Education Committee, but let me tell you that in my 17 years that I have been on the Education Committee, we care very much about the education that the children are getting and try to help the children in any way the we can.

Robert Press

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