Hurricane Relief for PS 15, The Patrick F Daly School

As you may know the PS 15K Red Hook Community has been hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.  Many of our families and several of our staff members have been displaced, have lost a tremendous amount, and our school has suffered losses including the contents of our basement and various planned fundraising opportunities due to our temporary relocation.

We appreciate all of those who have reached out to us and those who have already shown tremendous generosity whether it has been through sharing your time, talent or treasure.  We are committed to continuing to provide our families with not only excellent educational opportunity but also a community center where staff and parents together work to meet the needs of our children.

 There are several ways you can help support the PS 15 Community.  For those who wish to help, here's how:

1. Financial donations can be made via check made out to:  The PS 15 School Fund (write in the subject line:  Hurricane Relief) and send to: 
PS 15, The Patrick F Daly School
71 Sullivan Street
C/O:  Parent Coordinator, Juanita Laboy
Brooklyn, NY  11232
*Financial donations will be used to support our hardest hit families through gift cards and specific purchases to replace items lost due to flooding and financial hardship due to the storm

2. In kind donations can be made on a week by week basis.  Check capeducation@blogspot.com for the latest lists and updates.  For the week of November 12th-16th donations can be dropped off at 27 Huntington Street, The Red Hook Community School, to the Principal, Ms. Peggy Wyns-Madison or Parent Coordinator Juanita Laboy. 

Current donations needed for families include:
-Thermal Underwear for children and adults
-Sensitive skin dry skin relief such as Johnson and Johnson's dry relief gel
-Flashlights and Lanterns
-AA, C, and D batteries
-Hand Sanitizer
-Water
-Socks for children and adults
-Underwear for children and adults
-Baby care items
-Gift cards for Target or other easily accessible locations where families can independently meet their needs
-Wet Wipes
-Cleaning supplies and paper towels
-Dry/non-perishable foods
-Winter items for adults and children
-Bookbags

Current donations needed for the school:
-Tissues
-Hand Sanitizer
-Snacks (no peanuts please)
-Paper Towels
-Cleaning Wipes
-Copy Paper
-Chart Paper
-Notebooks

3. Information for PS 15 staff impacted by the storm will be forthcoming (we have set up a bank account and are in the process of setting up a separate location for those donations as well as a paypal account.  For more information email:  msirotniak@yahoo.com and alevdervish@earthlink.net

Thank you again for your support and for thinking of the families and staff at PS 15!

It's Time to Change the Stakes

We all know high-stakes testing has gotten out of control, and the effects have been devastating. In the age of globalization and national discussions of "competitiveness" we must be challenging the idea that schooling should be constant test preparation. Our former Chancellor, Joel Klein, once said that there's nothing wrong with test prep: “If that’s what test prep is about, teaching people to read and understand paragraphs, that’s what I think education is about.” But we know that when schools become test prep factories, especially for low-income students, we as a society have failed in our promise of a quality education for all. And as long as the stakes on these tests remain high, the disastrous consequences will continue.

Join us for an evening with Dr. Yong Zhao...

Yong Zhao is one of the most eloquent critics of the high cost of high-stakes testing and an expert on the Chinese educational system. He argues persuasively that the greatest strength of the United States education system has been the cultivation of creativity: “To be creative is to be different. Creative people often have ideas, behaviors, beliefs, and lifestyles that deviate from the norm, and from tradition.  How these people and their ideas are treated by others has a defining effect on creativity and indeed on different social groups.” He argues that our current focus on tests moves us in a different direction that is already spelling disastrous consequences for students' well-being as well as for our society as a whole.

Zhao is the Presidential Chair and Associate Dean for Global Education at the University of Oregon, where he also serves as the director of the Center for Advanced Technology in Education (CATE).  For more information visit:  http://zhaolearning.com
October 12, 2011

Location:  I.S. 89
 201 Warren Street  
New York, NY  10282

Time:  6:30-8:30 PM

Sponsored by:  Class Size Matters, Grassroots Education Movement, I.S. 89 PTA, Parents Across America,  Time-Out From Testing

Please come and show your support against destructive school closings and charter co-locations!

WHAT: Parents and school leaders gather to support the UFT/NAACP Lawsuit


WHEN: Tuesday, June 21 at 1:15p.m.


WHERE: The plaza across the street from Manhattan State Supreme Court,60 Centre Street, 
                 New York,NY

PARENTS, STUDENTS & EDUCATORS JOIN US IN STANDING UP FOR A QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL OUR CHILDREN

New York City Parents & Community Stakeholders To Convene Press Conference
Supporting NAACP Lawsuit

 WHAT: Parents, Students & Educators Press Conference in support of the
lawsuit to stop school closings & inequitable charter school co-locations

 WHO: NYC Parents Union, Coalition for Public Education, Alliance for
Quality Education, Concerned Advocates for Public Education, Grassroots
 Education Movement and New York Communities for Change

WHY: We believe every child must have equal access to a quality
 education. Separate and Unequal facilities are unacceptable and foster
 divisiveness in our communities.

 WHEN: Monday, June 13 at 5:30PM

 WHERE: Department of Education Headquarters, 52 Chambers Street


Contacts:
 Muba Yarofulani, NYC Parents Union, (347) 785-3418
 Mariama Sanoh, NYC Parents Union, (646) 498-7628
 Faye Hodge, NYC Parents Union, (917) 566-6202




 ###

 WWW.NYCPARENTSUNION.ORG

From Our Friends at Class Size Matters:

Welcome back from the Memorial Day weekend; I hope you had a nice break.  In the next few weeks, it will be decided whether NYC will lose 6,000 teaching positions next year, which would cause your child to suffer from huge increases in class size.  This is when the negotiations over the budget get serious. Here are five easy steps to take to fight back against these unconscionable cuts:



1.       Tomorrow, Wed. June 1  at 9 AM at City Hall, Council Member Robert Jackson will be holding a press conference to protest these cuts; please join us, along with the other elected officials, parents and advocates.



2.       Later in the day, at 5 PM, a safety net will be strung across Broadway, near City Hall, and then cut,  to symbolize how the mayor’s budget would eliminate the safety net for millions of New Yorkers.  Please come if you can and show your support.



3.       Our NEW petition opposing these cuts is up and running.  Please sign it, even if you signed an earlier one – it automatically sends a message in your name to Bloomberg, Speaker Quinn and Finance Chair Recchia, saying that we cannot afford to lose a single teacher next year.  This is especially important, as in many districts, our school population is growing fast.  Add your own personal story if you can.



4.       This year, our “Skinny” awards are being given to four teacher-warriors, Jackie Bennett, Julie Cavanagh, James Eterno and Christine Rowland, all fighting to save NYC schools; this is a very hard time for teachers, being constantly attacked by this administration as well as nationally by the corporate reformers who have hijacked education policy.  Check out our Facebook page, and leave a comment in appreciation of one of these teachers, or any other teacher of your choice.



5.       Please come to the Class Size Matters dinner on June 15, co-hosted by Diane Ravitch, Patrick Sullivan, and others,  where we will give out the “Skinny” awards; click here for more information and to buy a ticket.  Or simply consider contributing  a tax-deductible donation  to Class Size Matters; we need all your support to do battle against the damaging tide of budget cuts and the other dangerous policies eroding our children’s schools.



Finally, many petitions have been launched in opposition to the mayor’s budget cuts, but not all of them talk about saving the 6,000 teaching positions that would be lost if his budget is adopted.  Some only talk about preventing 4100 teacher layoffs – while still allowing 2,000 positions to be eliminated through attrition.  But if we lose 2,000 teaching positions, that means hundreds of thousands of children will still be subjected to larger class sizes next year.  That’s why we have to fight to preserve every one of these 6,000 positions.  Make sure that the petition you sign addresses this critical need.



Leonie Haimson

Executive Director

Class Size Matters

Fight Back Friday! Stand Up For Public Educatio

NO CUTS!  NO LAYOFFS!

Friday, May 20^th

 Join Public Schools Across the City

Let your voice be heard: sign a post card, call your city council member

get involved at: www.fightbackfridays.blogspot.com/

or e-mail sam@nycore.org for a toolkit

WANTED:

 $350 Million

To save 6,000 teaching positions, 4,700 through lay-offs

Billions FOUND…

Bloomberg’s Budget Spends:

·      More than $700 million in 2011-2012 on charter schools

·      $542 million in new technology

·      Hundreds of millions on testing

Cost of layoffs for our students:

·      Dramatic class size increase

·      Less safe schools

·      Less help for struggling students

·     Less time for teacher/parent communication

Did you know?  A small surcharge for city earners making $175,000 or more would yield $450 million in revenue.

(Independent Budget Office, City of New York).

Tell Bloomberg and the DOE to stop wasting our money

and start prioritizing education!

Make the wealthy and the banks pay their fair share!

Sponsored by the Fight Back Friday Committee

(CAPE, ICE, GEM, NYCoRE, PPM, TJC, TU)

Lots of Protesting Budget Cuts this Month! Here is the first one (please also keep in mind the big rally on 5/12 at Wall Street and Fight Back Friday 5/20!)

STOP SCHOOL BUDGET CUTS!


Because of Mayor Bloomberg’s cuts, our schools have

already suffered:

• Higher class sizes

• Fewer after school programs

• Cuts in basic educational supplies and services

Now the state legislature has made further cuts, and Mayor

Bloomberg is calling for layoffs.

Both the Mayor and State Senator Marty Golden oppose

renewal of a Millionaire’s Tax which could add $700 million

dollars this year and $4 billion dollars the following year,

eliminating the need for any more cuts or layoffs!

Get involved in our campaign against budget

cuts.

See how on the reverse side!

Join us for a rally outside

State Senator Marty Golden’s office

Friday, May 6th @ 4 PM

7408 5th Avenue (bet. 74th and 75th

Street)

Budget Cuts Hurt Our Schools

Take Action Now

• www.facebook.com/Budgetcutshurtourschools

Join our Facebook page for updates about future rallies.

• www.votesmart.org Type in your address in the top

white search box, Contact your local politicians and

let them know cutting our children’s education is

cutting their future and that is unacceptable!

• Call 311 and leave a message for Mayor Bloomberg

explaining how budget cuts hurt our children

• For more ways to get involved email us at

psuftogether22@gmail.com