MANY NYC SCHOOLS BECOMING ALMOST "PHANTOM" SCHOOLS

 Back when I was at Jamaica High School, there were always classes for the Long Term Absentee students. We called them "phantom classes" because they had listed as their room the assistant principal's office and there were never any students there attending class. The only exception was when one of the LTA's came back to school in which case he/she would show up at the AP's office and get a real program for real classes. 

In the current NYC blended learning environment created by Bill de Blasio, Richard Carranza, and Michael Mulgrew, we now have schools that soon will be approaching the status of "phantom schools" as there are so few students in attendance. Sue Edelman wrote about this in a NY Post article the other day. She called some NYC schools ghost towns.

In-person attendance at some Big Apple schools is so low, instead of students, teachers expect to see tumbleweeds rolling down the hallways, staffers told The Post.

Three weeks after Mayor de Blasio trumpeted the reopening of schoolhouse doors to kids from 3-K to high school, the city Department of Education refuses to publicly report any daily attendance data.

But insiders working in largely deserted buildings revealed last week just how bad attendance has become.

“Ghost town is definitely the right word for it,” a Brooklyn high school teacher said. “It’s very quiet.”

The teacher said only a handful of students — if any — show up daily for class. But it’s not the kind of class de Blasio and Chancellor Richard Carranza have touted.

The few students in the room log onto laptops or iPads for lessons broadcast to the majority of kids in the class — remotely. One teen who lacks a device takes the class on his cell phone.

“It makes the mayor feel good about himself to say the schools are open, while kids literally shiver in rooms, bored and isolated, in front of screens,” the teacher said.

Sue goes on to give other examples. She even cites an elementary school.

At the Fresh Creek School, PS 325, in East New York, a staffer told The Post the 200-student school had only 10 kids show up on Sept. 30, the second day of in-person classes, and 12 on Oct. 1.

“This is disgraceful,” the staffer said, calling the presence of two administrators, teachers and paraprofessionals “wasteful.”

Crystal Lewis has a similar article in the Chief Leader.

Our friend UFT Solidarity leader Lydia Howrilka, who teaches at Clara Barton High School, is featured in this piece.

The first day of classes turned out to be the last time Ms. Howrilka went to school—soon after, she began experiencing symptoms associated with coronavirus, including a fever, a loss of taste and smell, body aches and fatigue. Although a rapid COVID test came up negative, she has been quarantining at home.

Unbalanced Class Sizes

A myriad of issues have also come up because of blended-learning, including a Teacher shortage. Ms. Howrilka said the largest class she taught in-person was six students. “Meanwhile, other Teachers have 40 students in their online classes, which is above contract,” she said. “If we went fully remote, we could share the load, and make things more equitable.”

Lydia has applied for an accommodation to work from home. Remote teaching would make sense since most of the students are learning remotely but so far, even though she is part of the lawsuit that she inspired and she has worked hard for so many others to get accommodations, she has not yet succeeded in getting an accommodation.

She sent this to me earlier today:

WHY CAN'T THE GODDAMN CITY OF NY AND THE NYC DOE PUT ME AS A FULLY REMOTE TEACHER?

My colleagues who are teaching remote are seeing their classes grow as more parents pull their kids out of hybrid learning and my hybrid classes are shrinking. I have lost so far 5 kids from my hybrid classes (5 kids across 5 sections when you have sections no bigger than 6 kids is very substantial)

This kid is a likable child too. She stands up for herself, she's the mother hen who teaches younger siblings at home, and she wrote the most badass email to the AP for programming when her schedule was changed 3 times over 2 weeks.

I wish Lydia the best for a speedy recovery. Lydia's class size of six is not unusual. I actually know someone who has phantom classes where no students are present most days and this teacher tells me it is not unusual.

It's still the same old, same old at the DOE. Games and politics first with students and teachers last always.

There are three people who are most responsible for this mess in staffing and unbalanced class sizes: Bill de Blasio, Richard Carranza, and their great enabler: Michael Mulgrew. 

I dedicate "Ghost Town" by the Specials to these three giants of blended learning educational malpractice.