FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com NOVEMBER 14, 2013 • THE QUEENS COURIER 49 oped HALL OF FAME Northern and 81st Incidents of graffi ti have risen. The Courier invites you, our readers, to submit photos of vandalism — or addresses where you see graffi ti — for our “Hall of Shame.” Conversely, if a home or business has “cleaned up their act,” submit them for induction into our “Hall of Fame.” Send all high resolution JPG images (300 DPI) to [email protected] with a location and a contact number. Otherwise, contact us at 38-15 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, NY 11361. Help us take our borough back from the vandals! street talk I want the crime rate to stay where it is. The de Blasio administration should let the police do their jobs. We have to keep New York City safe!” Bill Delawski BY RACHEL LANDAU They should change the manner in which they do stop-and-frisk, not get rid of it all together. Crime has dropped; why do away with it? Catherine Vodola I hope he makes borough healthcare services more accessible. Everyone from every walk of life deserves the best care possible. Emily Miao I hope the new mayor will enable children from all over the city, equal opportunities. I also hope he will continue programs that protect and support children. Heather Blackman I’d like to see him continue Bloomberg’s successful programs. He should continue focusing on education. He’s rather inexperienced; hopefully he’ll gain insight on the job. Dean Zias It would be great if he could think of some road and mass transit projects to ease traffi c/congestion on city highways. I think there are better ways to raise money for the city. Keith Dennis I would like them to bring our real estate taxes down. Rob Brtmandracchia I’d like to see de Blasio keep his promises! He should keep our public schools open, take care of our neighborhoods and put an end to minority targeting. Sharia Jones-Bey Co-location: What’s the rush? BY ASSEMBLYMEMBER DAVID WEPRIN Late last month the Department of Education’s Panel on Educational Policy voted on all co-location proposals. Martin Van Buren High, I.S. 59, August Martin High School, P.S. 40, J.H.S. 226, M.S. 72 and the Corona Arts and Sciences are the schools facing co-location in Queens. The Department of Education called off its plans to co-locate a new elementary school in the building of P.S. 1 after parents, teachers and elected offi cial spoke out against the proposal. At the Martin Van Buren High School co-location hearing, State Senator Tony Avella, Councilmember Mark Weprin and I along with the parents, teachers, civic leaders, students and community members urged the Department of Education to hold off on their plans to co-locate a new school in the building. However, the Department of Education has ignored our request to meet with them and is instead pushing through with their proposal. My biggest question is “what’s the rush?” One of the fi rst issues that needs to be addressed with the proposed co-location at Martin Van Buren High School is the lack of transparency in the process and the reasons the Department of Education is rushing to put in the second school. It seems the Bloomberg administration is rushing these co-locations before the next administration takes offi ce. The problem lies in that there is a clear disconnect between the Department of Education and the community. Parents, teachers, community leaders and students have only been consulted after the Department of Education issued its proposals. Parents and community members deserve to be informed and have greater involvement in the school’s decision-making process. I call for a more comprehensive and community-based plan in which all members of the community that are impacted by the change are able to be involved in the school Turnaround process. All of the schools dealing with the issue of co-location need to be thoroughly examined to determine if co-locating the school is the best plan for the school to thrive. The proposed co-location would eliminate 500 seats at Martin Van Buren High School and create a new six-year school that would give students the option to earn two-year degrees from Queensborough Community College. There is no reason why Martin Van Buren High School can’t have this program integrated into the school’s curriculum. If not well planned, having an additional school in the building can become a costly project that disrupts student learning and limits access to resources and school facilities. Often when schools undergo co-location, one of the schools receives preferential treatment. The issues that can arise from co-location are overcrowding, unsafe hallways, inadequate resources and tensions over sharing space and equipment with the other school in the building. The schools often have to compete for the use of shared areas such as cafeterias, gyms, auditoriums, playgrounds and hallways. The co-located school will take away essential resources from the traditional school, depriving students of school equipment and other resources. We have seen far too many schools in experience colocation, resulting in underfunded programs, overcrowding classes, and ultimately a spiral of academic decline. Instead of co-locating struggling schools, let’s fi rst discuss the option with the community and invest our time and resources into turning the school around. The students of our city deserve to be provided the best education possible and parents should have the choice for their child to attend one of the last comprehensive high schools in Queens. Assemblymember David Weprin was elected in a Special Election in 2010. Weprin represents the same district represented by his father, the late Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin, for 23 years and his brother Mark Weprin, for over 15 years. What would you like the de Blasio administration to do differently?
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