18 THE COURIER SUN • JANUARY 15, 2015 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.couriersun.com editorial letters sun WWW.COURIERSUN.COM Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Bob Brennan Tom Topousis Amy Amato-Sanchez Nirmal Singh Graziella Zerilli Stephen Reina Ron Torina, Jennifer Decio, Cheryl Gallagher Liam La Guerre, Cristabelle Tumola, Angy Altamirano Katrina Medoff, Eric Jankiewicz, Salvatore Licata Cliff Kasden, Samantha Sohmer, Elizabeth Aloni Cristabelle Tumola Demetra Plagakis Warren Susman Celeste Alamin Maria Valencia Daphne Fortunate Victoria Schneps-Yunis Joshua A. Schneps Publisher & E ditor Co-Publisher Associate Publisher Editor-In-Chief VP, Events, Web & Social Media Art Director Assistant to Publisher Assistant Art Director Artists Staff Reporters Contributing Reporters Web Editor Events Manager Senior Acc ount Executive Classified Manager Controller Office Manager President & CEO Vice President Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 Sales fax: 718-631-3498 www.couriersun.com editorial e-mail: [email protected] for advertising e-mail: [email protected] Entire Contents Copyright 2015 by The Courier Sun All letters sent to THE COURIER SUN should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should include a full address and home and office telephone numbers, where available, as well as affiliation, indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request. No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE COURIER SUN. The publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Errors must be reported to THE COURIER SUN within five days of publication. Ad position cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. VIctoria Media Services assumes no liability for the content or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold The Courier SUN and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement. IDENTIFY THIS PLACE Go to www.queenscourier.com and search “Identify This Place” to find out where this is A look at public schools’ suspension rates Suspensions of public school students for severe disciplinary misconduct have fallen dramatically. If that means that students are increasingly complying with reasonable standards that have not been compromised, then the news is cause for celebration. But if principals are covering up offenses because they feel pressured by Chancellor Farina’s goals to reduce suspensions practically to the point that they are discredited and replaced by other remedies, and if this message is by direct or subtle coercion passed down the chain of command to make it happen, then the data is a tool of deceit. It is not unheard-of for principals, occasionally with complicit subordinates they have bullied or lured with favors, to take the initiative of doctoring statistics and perfuming histories of mayhem in order to please their bosses while massaging their own vanity and career ambitions. A high suspension rate if justified is preferable to a lower rate when not. The best scenario, of course, is a low suspension rate that was achieved in fairness to everyone, including the student being disciplined. But can the Department of Education be trusted to “let the chips fall where they may”? (Those “chips” may be loaded!) Maybe yes. Perhaps no. Certainly questionable. A zero suspension rate is unattainable in the real world. It cannot be ruled out altogether as an option, though its wisdom must always be thought through. The circumstances can be argued up to a point. There are factors such as race and poverty that must be courageously acknowledged and addressed, and corrective action (if we dare call it that) must be colorblind. Regardless of any preventive measures, the quality of teaching and all other factors, some students will need to be temporarily separated from the general learning environment. It’s for their own good no less than to protect the rights of peers and staff. Mindless punishment, however, makes no more sense than the violation that prompted it. Expelling students to the streets and in effect telling them to get lost is a prescription for disaster from every standpoint. Punishment must be redemptive, at least potentially. And suspensions can be redemptive when done right. The DOE’s suspension protocols are far from perfect, but in recent years they’ve made a revolutionary stride with their Alternate Learning Centers. There are around 30 of these sites citywide. They serve a few hundred middle and high school students on shorter or long-term superintendent’s suspensions. These are not detention facilities. Students are not treated like they’re in a penal institution because they’re not and the whole experience is a reminder of that. They get earnest curriculum, not busywork. They’re not talked down to and they are held to high expectations for academics and behavior. Class sizes are very small and counseling and other support is intensive. The atmosphere is controlled but upbeat. Many of these students who had given up on themselves, in part because they picked up the signals that others had given up on them, go through growth spurts of maturity and responsibility. Many ALC students want to stay in their respectful and productive setting rather than return to their “regular” school. Their parents feel the same way. If the DOE were guided by evidence-based solutions, they would expand programs like the ALCs. Decreeing an outcome and ordering bureaucrats to make it happen and feigning legitimacy is a practice doomed to failure. For example, putting a mortar board on the heads and sheepskin high school diplomas in the hands of newborns when they are discharged from the hospital would not suggest that the DOE did a good job of boosting the graduation rate and lowering the age that criteria were met. The Department of Education’s track record is, to put it charitably, a mixed bag. They are neither friend nor stranger to logical, enlightened and fruitful policies. But programs like the Alternate Learning Centers validate a more robust hope. Ron Isaac, Fresh Meadows It’s time to end Shelly’s corrupt career An old adage says political leaders and diapers must be changed often, for the same reason. Sheldon Silver is a perfect example. He’s been “Pampered” by cronies in both parties for more than 20 years, leaving a lasting stench in Albany. Silver is now under federal investigation for failure to report income from a law firm. This is the latest of many scandals that have darkened his career and the state Legislature’s reputation. Why do Assembly members act like chew toys for this tyrant? It’s time for term limits and disposable dynasties, not Huggies hanging on for too long. Toss his tenure in the trash can. Dick Reif, Flushing COMMUNITY COLLEGE SHOULD BE FREE We applaud President Obama’s proposal to make community college tuition free for students. Whether we are talking about high school graduates or older students looking to update their skills for new careers, making community college easier to access is an important strategy for putting more Americans back to work. During the recession, one of the baffling statistics that came out of the U.S. Department of Labor was the number of unfilled jobs that existed at a time when unemployment was sky-high. The reason: skills that many of the unemployed had were no longer suitable for the jobs that were available. There is no doubt that the labor force in New York going forward will have to be better educated than at any time in the past. Giving people access to higher education is the most effective way to ensure that more of us — native-born and immigrants — are able to find real careers. Students can earn up to two years of tuition if they maintain a 2.5 grade point average and make steady progress toward completing their program. Schools will have their own requirements to meet. The president’s plan would benefit nearly 9 million students across the nation every year. But the proposal now hinges on Congressional approval. Surely students who benefit will be both Republican and Democrat. We encourage our lawmakers to support this measure in a bipartisan spirit. A NEW YORKER COMPETES AT THE SUPER BOWL The Giants and the Jets didn’t even come close to a run for the Super Bowl this year. But we still have one New Yorker competing at the big game. Alex Pepper, a 25-year-old actor and dancer from Astoria, will be at the Super Bowl in Arizona on Feb. 1 as one of 10 finalists from around the world who created a TV ad for Doritos. If he gets enough fan votes between now and Jan. 28, his ad will be broadcast during the game. Instead of a ring, Pepper, would haul in $1 million in prize money that he says he will share with arts groups in his neighborhood back home. So let’s vote for the hometown guy at Super Bowl XLIX. To cast your ballot for Pepper’s commercial, visit www.doritos.com. Voting is open through Jan. 28.
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