Brooklyn ENY Crisis T.E.A.M

East New York activist Kevin McCall is equally angry about the issue.“We are not going to allow this to happen. Many of our youth in EastNew York depend on their school. Maxwell used to be an F school and itcame all the way up to a B, so we’re not going to have them just decideto close the school.”

One the schools that was reported to be one of the worst performingthat is scheduled for closure is Jamaica High School in Queens, whichhas a 46 percent graduation rate.

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein released the third annual public schoolprogress report for more than 300 New York City public high schoolslast month. The results reflected performances at schools during the2008-2009 school year.

The data reveals that 67 percent of schools that received a D or Fgrade last year improved with a C grade. Ratings are given to schoolsbased on surveys given to parents, teachers and students about theschool’s learning environment.

“We continue to see more high school students making progress towardgraduation and more students meeting the milestone of graduation, whichis exactly what we want to see and exactly what the high schoolprogress reports are intended to reward,” Klein said. “High schoolprogress reports continue to serve as a useful tool for parents andother stakeholders—especially for families of eighth graders who aredeciding where to apply to high school.”

McCall told the AmNews, “Bloomberg creates schools like he’s running abusiness—like New York city is his corporation. We’re not having it.Even though the closure is not scheduled to happen until 2013, we willhold public forums and we will rally. How do you have schools beingpraised and awarded one minute, and threatened with closure the next?This is why we continue to say that Joel Klein should no longer be, andshould never have been, the schools chancellor. All the electedofficials should be supporting the parents in their outrage.”