QNS. KIDS STRANDED WITHOUT TEACHERS (Queens, NY)

New York Post ^ | 10/20/03 | Carl Campanile

[GovernmentShrinker]

More than a month into the school year, Queens seventh-grader Angela Batista doesn't have a regular math teacher. Or an English teacher. Or a social-studies teacher. Or even a science teacher.

Batista and her classmates at IS 61 in Corona are eager and ready to learn, but all they've seen is an endless parade of substitute teachers.

[GovernmentShrinker]

I particularly liked the social studies teacher's claim that he's "as lost as the kids" in the SEVENTH GRADE math and science classes he's being asked to teach as a substitute.

[austinTparty]

The key words here are "credentialed teachers"... there are plenty of QUALIFIED teachers, but the NEA et al don't want the competition of people who can actually teach, so they stick in that weird little "credential" bit (i.e. certified).

[Republicus2001]

another great example of how government can do better than private industry

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

My brother tried to teach intermediate school math in Queens (Jamaica) for a few weeks. In one class a violent, sociopath would stand up and scream, calling him racial epithets (White m*****f***er - nothing clever or original) during the whole class. The principal didn't want to do anything about it. If he tried to correct students about uncompleted homework or attendance, the parents would complain to principal. It was one complete zoo. No one who cares about learning will attempt to teach in NYC because the system has collapsed, the administrators find it easier to manage failure than than try to fix anything.

[Betty Jane]

My question goes to the parents of those kids. Why do you allow this to happen to your kids? It's been six weeks since school started and they have no teachers. Why are your kids still in that school? My kid would have been put in a parochial school or home-schooling after the 1st week. At a minimum, I'd get the textbooks and have my kid doing a lesson from each subject while they were sitting there every day.

[GovernmentShrinker]

In this neighborhood, many of the parents probably can't speak English, and are barely literate in any language. Picking out books, and making sure children are completing assignments is beyond the capacity of many of them. Supposedly, the reason we NYC taxpayers have to foot the colossal bill for this colossal public school system, is so that the next generation won't be similarly illiterate. Obviously the program isn't working as advertised.

[GovernmentShrinker]

In this neighborhood, many of the parents probably can't speak English, and are barely literate in any language. Picking out books, and making sure children are completing assignments is beyond the capacity of many of them. Supposedly, the reason we NYC taxpayers have to foot the colossal bill for this colossal public school system, is so that the next generation won't be similarly illiterate. Obviously the program isn't working as advertised.

[Tamzee]

I've taught junior high as a substitute and there is no reason whatsoever that the subs can't follow the standard curriculum that the other teachers are using. The principal is the one who should be held responsible for this mess.

Even worse, any adult that can't handle junior high science or math has no business working in a school.

[Marie]

My daughter started official school for the first time in four years this Sept. The school didn't have a curriculum and asked us to be patient. I was patient for the first three weeks. Now we're back to homeschooling. There were a half dozen other red flags, but that was the biggie. If we can't count on the school to have such a basic thing such as BOOKS, then it's time to bail.