By JAME DELIZ
Representatives of the United Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court Thursday against the Charter Schools Committee, accusing them of lowering certification standards for teachers.
According to a report issued by the UFT, SUNY Charter Schools are cutting down hours of instruction in teaching skills, from “250 hours of instruction” to “about 150 hours,” said UFT President Michael Mulgrew.
Charter schools will also provide only a week of practice instruction, and only one certification exam. Under these new regulations, charter schools “do not require a candidate to have completed a bachelor’s degree,” said the report.
Mulgrew argued that teachers must have at least a bachelor’s degree and/or a master’s degree, as well as extensive supervised teaching experiences.
“This is a disgrace to our state’s education system,” said NYSUT President Andrew Pallotta.
Some charter school supporters say that a shortage of teachers necessitates reducing certification standard. But the UFT counters that 40 percent of charter school teachers quit, making it difficult to “maintain the required percentage of fully certified teachers on their faculties.”
“It’s not easy to become a fully certified teacher in New York, nor should it be,” said Mulgrew in the report. “All our kids deserve to be taught by teachers who have gone through a rigorous process, but the Charter Schools Committee has just approved a measure that would toss these standards aside for charters, all because some charter schools have trouble meeting them.”
Meanwhile, on the steps of City Hall, Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz said called the lawsuit unfair because “students of color” often don’t get the proper teaching because of the teacher shortage. “It’s unfortunate that they’re taking this away from them,” she said.
UFT representatives contend that the new certifications would deprive students of the education they need.
“It’s despicable what the charter schools did,” said Pallotta. “It’s about the children.”
Photo of Andrew Pallotta (r) and Michael Mulgrew by Jamie Deliz
By HERMIA JEAN-LOUIS
Glistening like ornaments under studio lights on Thursday the Rockettes “kicked” off a spirited rehearsal for their annual Christmas Spectacular.
Since their debut in 1933, the dance troupe of Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center has upheld the tradition of spreading Christmas cheer by performing highly synchronized, high-stepping dance routines that appear as smooth as silk, light as snowflakes and precise as surgery.
The rehearsal, where much of the glistening arose from beads of perspiration, the dancers showed all the hard work and preparation that goes into the shiny final product.
Choreographer Julie Branam, a former Rockette who considers herself a “mother hen” of the young women, described them as “athletic, strong and powerful.” The 80 dancers work from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. six days a week for 6 weeks, clacking on high heels until the first show on Nov. 10. Rehearsals are strict in making sure that every toe is pointed and every smile is brighter than ever.
One Rockette, Hailey, 18, described the feeling as a “great time”, adding that the pain of the nonstop dancing doesn’t set in until they stop rehearsing.. “We’re dancing so much, and our energy is up all the time so we don’t really think about it,” Hailey said. At such a young age, Hailey knew she wanted to be a Rockette when she first saw the show in 2013. Landing a spot on the line was“pure surreal-ness.” She advised other aspiring Rockettes to “never stop trying, keep at it and stay true to your dreams.”
Branam said the show features something new every year.
“We are always trying to up our game at Radio City,” she said. This holiday season Radio City has added new technical elements that gives a more interactive show with the audience, with new LED screens to create a more vivid and sharper image,
The innovations, however, will not overshadow traditions such as the Nutcracker, New York at Christmas, wooden soldiers and the living nativity.
By JOSEPH MODICA
Republican mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis called today for stiffer penalties for disruptive city school students, including bringing back five-day suspensions on students as early as kindergarten.
In front of Tweed Courthouse, headquarters of the Department of Education, Malliotakis slammed Mayor Bill de Blasio over what she portrayed as a “forgiving” approach to disciplining students, calling his policies as “too progressive and took it too far.”
Her plan for a tougher approach came less than two weeks after Abel Cedeno, 18, allegedly killed classmates Matthew McCree, 15, and critically wounded Arian LaBoy, 16, at the Urban Assembly of Wildlife Conservation in the Bronx. The killing has left a school shaken and created fresh doubts in parents’ minds that schools can keep their children safe. Since then, there have been 20 requests from parents to transfer their children out of the Bronx school.
She urged the school system to revert back to former mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 2012 reforms, the restoration of school survey questions that left out questions such as how safe do students feel in their school. She proposed that more counsellors and an emphasis of discussion over punishment, referred to as “restorative intervention,” should stay, but that talking out problems should be “complementing, not replacing” discipline. She recommended that teachers and principals be empowered to suspend children from kindergarten to second grade for mid-level offenses.
When pressed by reporters, Malliotakis defended her stance, saying that it should be handled on a case-by-case basis, and that Bloomberg’s 2012 reform lowered suspensions in school from 69,643 in 2011-12 school year to 37,647 by the 2015-16 school year said a study done by the Manhattan Institute. She remarked that the 10 day suspension on kindergartners as harsh, but “effective.”
She also said that de Blasio’s, “policies put in place an environment where a student can do anything in the class and get away with it.” She called these policies as “jumping through hoops” for school staff and that it impedes teacher’s and principal’s ability to remove uncooperative and violent students, and it puts staff and students in danger.
She pointed out that de Blasio’s 2015 removal of suspensions on first-time, low-level offenses and that the maximum suspension was reduced to five days to 10 days. The mayor implemented his sweeping discipline reform in 2015, aiming to continue the downward trend of suspensions, arrests and summons while easing the aggressive and unforgiving reforms that characterized Bloomberg’s 2012 school reform.
“Young people need to be taught to respect their teachers at an early age” Malliotakis concluded.
A spokesperson for the DOE was not available for comment.
Photo by Joseph Modica
By JAMIE DELIZ
New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer on Thursday announced a new $450 million investment to help fund mortgages for affordable homes for veterans and single-parent families whose members died in the line of duty.
“It feels harder than ever to purchase a home,” said Stringer at a press conference in his office, “and that’s true for all of us. These challenges become tragedies for our veterans, our friends and neighbors who return from serving our countries overseas, to find themselves unable to afford a place to live.”
This initiative will create “tens of thousands” of sustainable and affordable homes citywide, according to Stringer, and, under the Department of Veterans Affairs, $5 million of this “first of its kind” investment will go directly towards the about 200,000 New York City veterans.
How this works is, “You go to the bank, and want to get this mortgage,” said Stringer, “we are backing up that mortgage.”
Through economically targeted investments, about 2 percent of the overall funds, the program works towards creating affordable housing for low to middle-income communities. The program also links with private banks, like the RBC Bank, to provide funding for up to 30-year mortgages, encouraging both public and private lenders to create “more affordable housing mortgages and promoting lower interest rates,” according to the comptroller’s report.
Some $300 million was previously invested into the fund.
“Again, we’re expanding our investment, we’re adding another $150 million,” said Stringer, aiding single-families making less than the 80 percent area median income, about $77,000 a year.
Stringer aide Brian Cook said that half of the loans will be made for families who make less than $77,000, and “about half are made for, up to, about $140,000.”
Recipients are eligible for a maximum loan of a $600,000 loan. The loans are backed by a federal agency, according to Cook. Mortgages are at a fixed rate, and after it is backed and insured by an agency, Cook said, “We come in, and we purchase the mortgages.”
Photo by Jamie Deliz
By BRIAN MORENO & MARLENE GOMEZ
The Bronx woman accused of butchering her pregnant friend in order to extract her unborn baby and claim the child as her own was found guilty of murder on Thursday after jurors deliberated less than one full day in the so-called “womb raider” trial.
The defendant Ashleigh Wade wept on hearing the guilt verdict of second-degree murder and kidnapping. The victim’s parents, Bishop William and Deborah Sutton, also broke down in tears.
In rendering the verdict against Wade, 24, the jury rejected defense attorney Amy Attias’s request that they reduce the charges to manslaughter, citing the defendant’s “extreme emotional disturbance” as a mitigating circumstance.
In her closing argument on Wednesday, Assistant DA Meredith Holzman branded the butchering of nine-month pregnant Angelikque Sutton, 22, as “calculated. This is murder, plain and simple.”
Friends and family members of Wade testified that she faked her pregnancy and described how she removed Sutton’s unborn child by using a three-inch knife to slash her throat, cut her abdomen and uterus and before stabbing her several times, all this on the day that she was scheduled to be married.
The child, Jenasis Bradley, 22 months old, survived the ordeal and lives with her father, Patrick.
According to medical witness, Dr. Eric Goldsmith, Wade suffered from a mental disorder called pseudocyesis, a condition that allowed her to falsely believe she was pregnant.
Before the jury began deliberations, Bronx Supreme Court Justice Margaret Clancy replaced with an alternate a juror who fainted after observing gruesome photographs of Sutton’s mutilated body last week.
Before reaching the verdict the jury requested the Facebook and phone messages that were exchanged between Wade and Sutton and a through explanation of the definition mental condition offered by Goldsmith, leading courtroom observers to falsely conjecture that they were leaning toward a verdict of manslaughter
The jury also requested to know what time did Sutton arrived to Wade’s apartment as well to review the puncture wounds on Sutton’s neck.
Wade could face life in prison without parole.
Photo by Marlene Gomez of victim’s parent, jubilant after guilty verdict.
By AHMED JALLOW & JOSEPH MODICA
Bullying at the Bronx school where a students is accused of stabbing a classmate to death has been an ongoing and serious problem, said aggrieved parents on Thursday as they gathered outside the now heavily fortified building.
The principal suspended classes at Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation on the day after Abel Cedeno, 18, allegedly killed classmate Matthew McCree, 15, and sent Ariane LaBoy, 16, to the hospital when he plunged a switchblade into their chests and other parts of t heir bodies.
Despite this killing, the school was open the next day but a mere 34 percent of the students attended, said a representative of the Department of Education. The principal used the time to meet students and gauge how safe they feel while counselors provided psychological succor.
Mayor Bill de Blasio also paid a visit for a second time in two days to have a discussion with administrators before quickly leaving by car. He was not available to the press.
Joseph Ramos has a goddaughter enrolled at P.S. 67, an elementary school located inside the same building. Ramos mocked de Blasio’s arrival as a token visit. “If it was something he really cared about, ” Ramos said, “honestly it wouldn’t be no school [today]- he just don’t care about the poor.”
In an attempt to bolster security, school safety officers brought in three metal detectors, a dozen detector wands, two x-ray machines and extra officers. Earlieer, no metal detectors were present at the school because administrators said they feared it would create an prison-like atmosphere.
“No I don’t feel safe, I feel like all these safety officers was a show for the media.” said parent Uneek Valentil. “Today, tomorrow, let’s see what happens Monday, let’s see if we have all of these safety officers with metal detectors here Monday”
“The bullying is out of control,” said parent Enrika Estella, “they do nothing about it at all.”
“My son will come home to me, telling me that two or three boys would close the bathroom door on him and would push him.” said Estrella, who has an eight-year-old boy enrolled in the school. “There were times he would come home from school saying he did not want to go to school because he was scared because of the students.”
Parent Luz Abreu showed reporters a video depicting her son cowering in a corner of a bathroom as another student yells and threatens to hit him. The video was taken last May and shown to officials but nothing has been done.
Cedeno was arraigned Thursday morning, charged with murder, attempted murder, assault and criminal possession of a weapon; no bail was set
“It’s an extreme case of bullying due to the perceived sexual orientation of the suspect,” said Savannah Hornback, a longtime friend of the family. “he was constantly being called faggot and spic and I think he felt no way out other than the way he went.”
Photo of school by Ahmed Jallow
By BRIAN MORENO
Whether Republican, Democratic or even Independent, every mayor of New York City has always faced the same enemy in his administration: rats!
Mayor de Blasio on Thursday went to the Hippo Playground in Riverside Park on Thursday to announce his plan to combat the rat infestations in playgrounds and schools.
The plan includes daily patrol of parks enforcement officers in targeted areas, accompanied by more cleaners, investing funds in better rat-proof trashcans across playgrounds and buying better food storage equipment for schools.
“We heard the complaints, we heard the pleas for help, people been writing in this community that we could do better,” said de Blasio in a sun-dappled portion of the park. “I’m here to say help is on the way and you going to start to see the results of it very very soon.”
The Norwegian brown rat has plagued parks, playgrounds and neighborhoods for centuries.
“The rat scourge is overwhelming even the toughest of New York City parents,” said Tali Etra, a member of the Hippo Playground Project. “The stories on the parents’ board and forums about aggressive rats crawling in strollers and sandboxes have been dreadful.”
Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal has helped de Blasio’s war on rats by expediting the use of dry ice, with the approval of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
“Today is a powerful example of government in action,” said Rosenthal. “With the right people working together to trim the bureaucratic red tape in the right places, we find ourselves here unveiling a full-fledged plan of attack.”
No four-legged vermin appeared at the press conference.
Photo by Brian Moreno
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Billionaire real estate developer Harry Macklowe’s attorneys claim Linda’s condo in The Plaza is actually worth $107 million, tagging it the most expensive apartment in New York City as the estranged couple continued to fight for an edge in their Manhattan Supreme Court divorce trial on Thursday.
The fought-over apartment, unit 710, has five bedrooms, and apparently an extremely large master bedroom.
“It’s probably the largest bedroom I have ever seen in my career,” said Jonathan Miller, CEO of real estate consulting agency Samuel Miller Inc. and expert witness testifying on behalf of Linda Macklowe.
According to Miller, the apartment is “two-thirds or three-quarters” of empty space, mainly to resemble an art gallery.
Also on the line is the Macklowe couple’s art collection, which is worth $625 million or $1 billion– depending on whom you ask.
The art enthusiast wife’s attorneys claimed her collection, which includes Warhol, Picasso, Debuffet and Alberto Giacometti is worth $625 million, while the defendants argue that Giacometti’s “The Nose” sculpture is valued at $70 million alone and that the entire collection is worth $1 billion.
“[The Macklowes] put together the top 10 art collection of its kind in private hands,” said Elizabeth Von Habsburg, director at Winston Art Group, largest art appraisal firm in the United States, who was called as a witness by the defense team.
Von Habsburg testified that the value of the collection is more valuable after being in the hands of the Macklowes. “There’s a premium when a collection is extraordinary like this,” said Von Habsburg. “It’s known to belong to a great collector.”
Justice Laura Drager is there to help the couple “split their assets 50/50”, but it’s hard to do so when $2 billion is at stake and both parties want to walk away with more than the other.
