A Breakthrough for East Side Families
January 20, 2011
Last night, the Panel for Educational Policy (PEP) voted to move forward with relocating Richard Green High School to allow PS 151 to move into the former PS 66 building. The PEP’s decision is a huge breakthrough for East Side families. After years of waitlists and overcrowding, our students are finally on their way to getting the classroom space they deserve. I applaud the PEP for doing the right thing not just for PS 151 and Richard Green, but for the 5,000 children that go to school every day on the Upper East Side.
I’m proud to have helped bring two new elementary schools to the Upper East Side, which was the first step toward solving the overcrowding problem. Not too long ago I was sitting with parents in the basement of a community center, working to make the dream of a new PS 151 into a reality. The new school has been a wonderful success – the only thing left was to find it a permanent home.
I’ve been advocating for the best and most obvious solution: moving PS 151 into the former PS 66 building, which was always meant to be an elementary school. This plan went hand-in-hand with the plan to move Richard Green High School out of PS 66 and into a much better location at the Broadway Educational Campus.
Moving PS 151 to a new home is a major piece in the school rezoning puzzle, which is so important to solving the overcrowding that’s been plaguing our community. The District 2 Community Education Council recently approved a rezoning plan based on the understanding that PS 151 will move into the former PS 66 building, giving it a capacity suitable for its newly enlarged zone. Without this move, the Upper East Side rezoning plan would have unraveled and East Side kids would have been condemned to more overcrowding, more waitlists, and more uncertainty.
Richard Green’s students also deserve an appropriate home. PS 66 was never meant to be a high school, and for 20 years, Richard Green’s students have been paying the price: they’ve been stuck with a dual-use auditorium/cafeteria, no gym, and no science labs. PS 66 was no place for growing young adults. Six foot tall seniors should not have to continually duck in small staircases built for six year olds. Moving Richard Green to the Broadway Educational Campus will allow these students to finally learn and develop in a space designed for them.
There’s still much more to do before we can finally put the East Side’s overcrowding problem to rest. We need more elementary and middle schools, and we need them now, not later – because with each coming school year, more children are entering Kindergarten. Ultimately, the continuing overcrowding and waitlists will only be solved by the creation of new schools.
I will continue to work hard on behalf of East Side students and their families, so that all our kids can get the education they deserve. If you have any questions about the PEP’s vote or about any other East Side education matter, please don’t hesitate to contact my office at (212) 860-4906, or you can email me.
A Key Victory for East Side Students
November 9, 2010
The NYC Department of Education announced today that the Yorkville Community School will have a permanent home of its own for the 2011-12 school year. This is tremendously exciting news. It wasn’t too long ago that I was sitting with parents in the basement of a community center, working to make PS 151 a reality. Now it will be right where it should be – in the former PS 66 building on East 88th Street, which was always meant to be an elementary school.
Moving the Yorkville Community School to a new home is a major piece in the school rezoning puzzle. Now that we know how many students PS 151 will ultimately be able to accommodate, I hope that the District 2 Community Education Council completes the Upper East Side rezoning so that every parent will finally have the security of knowing where their children will be going to school.
This move shouldn’t happen in a vacuum. The parents and kids at the Yorkville Community School came to love their temporary home at Our Lady of Good Counsel, and while they may be moving on, it would be a shame to have wasted so much time and money for only a short-term gain. The DOE should work with the Archdiocese to retain the space—they could use it as the new home for an expanded PS 77 Lower Lab, which could include grades K-8, helping to alleviate the middle school crunch that is surely coming to our neighborhood. If the DOE does this right, it will be a double victory for East Side families.
Upper East Side School Rezoning Meeting
Thursday, October 21st: Make Your Voice Heard
Thursday, October 21st: Make Your Voice Heard
October 19, 2010
The Zoning Committee of the Community Education Council District 2 (CECD2) will be meeting this Thursday, October 21st from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at Wagner Middle School located at 220 East 76th Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues). Elizabeth Rose from the Department of Education’s Portfolio Planning division will be presenting a zoning proposal that will redraw the boundaries of our local public school zones. This rezoning will determine where our children will attend elementary school.
For the past several years, the number of children zoned for East Side schools has been greater than the number of seats available, resulting in waitlists and school overcrowding. Redrawing of school zone lines is essential to creating zones with more evenly distributed students.
I strongly urge parents to attend the CECD2 meeting on Thursday, where there will be time for public comment to voice your questions and concerns.
I have included the current zoning plan and the proposed plan below so you can better understand better understand the impact on your child.
Please email my office at kellnerm@assembly.state.ny.us if you would like to receive updates on Upper East Side school rezoning.
Upper East Side Current Zone Lines
Upper East Side Dep. of Education Rezoning Proposal
A Victory for Students: Agreement Preserves Teaching Assistants for 2010-11 School Year
May 10, 2010
Over the past several weeks, dozens of concerned parents have contacted me to let me know of their support for maintaining parent association-funded teaching assistants in our public schools during the upcoming 2010-11 school year.
I know the important role teaching assistants play in the lives of students and agree that our public schools cannot afford to lose the benefits of the vital services they provide. The hiring of teaching assistants is popular in New York City for good reason—it allows for more individual attention to students struggling to learn in overcrowded classrooms. Maintaining these positions ensures that students continue to receive the education they deserve.
I am happy to report that today an agreement was reached between the United Federation of Teachers and the New York City Department of Education which will maintain our PA-funded teaching assistants for the 2010-11 school year. The program will be a continuation of the temporary agreement from last summer for the current school year.
While today’s news is a victory for our schools, we must not lose sight of the main goal—a permanent, long-term agreement to maintain our invaluable teaching assistants. Since the temporary solution was reached last year, I have worked very hard to bring the UFT and DOE back to the negotiating table in order to develop a comprehensive plan for the future. I will continue to work with the DOE, UFT, our parent leaders, and school administrators to ensure that a long-term solution is reached as soon as possible.
Support for the Creation of PS 267
March 10, 2010
Last night I delivered testimony to the Panel for Education Policy (PEP) in support of the proposal to co-locate P.S. 267, a new elementary school, in the P.S. 158 building beginning in the 2010-11 school year. This proposal represents a big victory for East Side students and their parents, offering immediate relief from school overcrowding and avoiding the earlier, much criticized plan to create a “mega-school.” The new PS 267 will have its own administration and will move into its own permanent location in the former Manhattan Ear Eye and Throat Hospital (MEETH) building on East 63rd Street.
The PEP will be holding a final vote on the proposal at its regular public meeting on March 23, at 6:00 pm in the Michael J. Petrides School, 715 Ocean Terrace in Staten Island.
My testimony is below.
3.9.10 PS 267 Public Hearing Statement
Opposition to Dept. of Education Rezoning Proposal
December 14, 2009
The Upper East Side has faced a steadily worsening overcrowding crisis for the past several years. Schools have been forced to convert art rooms, libraries, and even closets into instructional space to keep pace with rising enrollments. A number of new school projects on the Upper East Side are already or will soon be coming to fruition. These new seats should help ease the space crunch. The District 2 Community Education Council (CEC) and New York City Department of Education (DOE) rightfully understand that rezoning will be needed in order to make effective use of the new school capacity that is becoming available.
However, I do not believe that the DOE’s proposal for the space at PS 158 that will become available after East Side Middle School relocates is appropriate.
The bottom line is that the proposals put forth by the DOE create a school that is simply too big. On the East Side, we are fortunate enough to have supportive, nurturing schools of reasonable sizes. Creating a mega-school in the PS 158 building would be detrimental both to the existing PS 158 community and to the students who would be rezoned to attend the school.
Research from both the Brookings Institute and the Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy found that student learning tends to diminish in schools that enroll over 800 students. In addition, it becomes significantly more difficult to build the sense of community that is the hallmark of successful schools in a school of more than 1,000 students.
I, along with Council Member Jessica Lappin and Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, wrote to the CEC to urge it to reject the rezoning proposal and instead adopt a plan to incubate a new elementary school, with its own zone, at the PS 158 site. You can download a copy of that letter from the Publications section of this website.
Interviewed on PBS
July 10, 2009
Recently, I was featured in a lengthy interview with Dara Welles on WLIW 21′s “New York Insiders.”
We had a great conversation about what’s next for New York City’s schools, as well as Second Avenue Subway construction issues – and we also discussed broader topics like marriage equality, disability rights, the upheaval in the State Senate, and my own plans for the future.
PBS is linking things strangely, so when you click to see the video of my interview the title will read Suffolk County Legislator Steve Levy – but don’t worry, it’s me.
A Message from Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner
June 18, 2009
While the New York State Senate is completely dysfunctional, the Assembly is hard at work doing the people’s business. This week, we held dozens upon dozens of committee meetings and acted on well over 300 bills. Among the important legislation we have passed this week is a measure improving New York City’s school governance by making the mayor and chancellor more accountable and giving parents a greater role in their children’s education, as well as a balanced and fair tax package for the New York City budget which includes relief for freelancers and entrepreneurs, and my own bill expanding the tax credit for wheelchair-accessible taxis.
I am also proud to report that my bill to require that residential tenants who have submetered electricty (A.7867) are provided with annual notice of their right to access the Public Service Commission’s complaint process without going through any other court or arbitration has passed the Assembly. This bill is part of my 5-bill package to reform the way that submetering works for residential rental tenants in New York, which I blogged about in May.
As well, my bill to prohibit the siting of a waste transfer station within 800 feet of a public housing project (A.6829) is advancing in the Assembly and has already been passed by two of the three committees it needs to go through before it can come to the floor. This bill would prevent the City from implementing its disastrous proposal to build a marine transfer station near Asphalt Green in the northern most part of my district.
All of this work is essential to the neighborhoods that I represent, and I am very pleased with this progress. It is therefore doubly disappointing that the bickering in the Senate has prevented that chamber from doing its job, holding up issues of critical importance to our community and to all New Yorkers. All legislators should be accountable to the people–and that means putting the people’s business before personal or professional interest.
Despite the chaos in the Senate, I will leave Albany this month knowing that I’ve done my part to serve the people of New York. I sincerely hope that the Senate can stop its petty fighting over who gets what title, and get back to work on helping our state weather this unprecedented financial storm.
–Micah Z. Kellner
More on School Overcrowding
October 24, 2008
Here is an audio file you can listen to of a recent interview I did about the problem of school overcrowding with CNPI reporter, Florence Wapimewah, in late September. The interview was recently aired on WBAI 99.5FM.
Click here to listen to this interview: Interview with Assembly Member Micah Z. Kellner on School Overcrowding
The ABCs of A Better Capital Plan for Our Schools
September 23, 2008
Councilmember Jessica Lappin and I spoke to PS 158 PTA President Erinn Deri this morning before class started to distribute postcards as part of a campaign to encourage Mayor Bloomberg and Education Chancellor Klein to give schools more capital support.
For the next few weeks I will be visiting schools throughout our communities asking parents, teachers, and concerned residents to sign postcards to Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein asking them to give students the small classes they need to learn and grow.
It clear that school overcrowding is a growing problem throughout New York City and especially on the Upper East Side—and it is a problem that will not go away until the Department of Education and the Mayor take action to make a proactive change. I am a member of Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s Task Force on School Overcrowding. Since January, we have been working to create a comprehensive plan to submit to the City which we believe would help solve the overcrowding dilemma. This November, it is critical that the City’s new five-year capital plan for school construction take into account the projected growth in population and residential construction, especially on the Upper East Side.
To that end I am working with the Borough President to promote “The ABCs of A Better Capital Plan”. The ABCs would:
Address overcrowding and implement the city’s state-mandated class-size reduction plan: 20 students per class in K-3 and 23 in all other grades.
Be proactive and plan ahead to add school seats as neighborhoods grow.
Correct the way school capacity is calculated so the loss of art rooms and other critical spaces to overcrowding is acknowledged.
If you are interested in signing a postcard please stop by my office. Together we can ensure that the next generation of New York leaders receives the education that they deserve in schools that we can be proud of.
- Via @MicahKellner + @MMViverito NYPD, never sensitive to Trans NYers, but if these allegations true its beyond the pale http://t.co/UGWWI9Tn
9 hours ago from ÜberSocial for BlackBerry
