Wednesday, October 31, 2012

DOE peddles its B.S. in LIC


From the Times Ledger:

Education and elected officials announced at MoMA PS 1 last week that two new schools are set to open in Hunters Point, adding much-needed seats to the growing neighborhood, but some parents were still worried their children would not have a spot.

“Two new schools is great,” said City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside). “It’s a great victory for our community, but I believe we need even more schools.”

About 200 parents filled the performance dome of the art museum, once a school, at 46-01 21st St. in Long Island City, for the town hall Oct. 17. The officials answered questions about the new schools scheduled to open in the neighborhood in September 2013: PS/IS 312, at 46-08 5th St., and IS/HS 404, at 150 51st St. PS/IS 312 will have 542 seats and IS/HS 404 will have 1,072 seats.

IS/HS 404 said the current plan is to make the middle school zoned but the high school open to students from across the city, Rawlins said. While the middle school will take in students when it opens in 2013, its zone will not be implemented until 2014.

“We will work with [Community District Education Council 30] to zone the school,” Rawlins said.

Community Board 2 Chairman Joseph Conley said given the school’s proximity to the waterfront, he hoped IS/HS 404 would have an emphasis on the environment and sustainability.

But a fair number of parents said that while the current administration has opened high schools based around a theme rather than a geographic location, they would like Long Island City students to get priority rather than have it be a themed school.

“That’s definitely still an option on the table,” Rawlins said.


I hope you folks in LIC don't buy this. They dumped a high school in Maspeth and the kids who live 3 blocks away can't go there. It won't be any different in LIC. Furthermore, most new schools are sited on contaminated land (since developers already snatched up the good land that was left), including the Maspeth High School, as well as one in the Bronx, where the City was just slapped by a court for failing to inform parents of their remediation plan.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It gets worse.

Jimmy, a product of our Queens, what some snidely call the Queens of Archie and Edith, is now jumping the queue for the hipsters.

Yes, the rest of you in Queens, who have waited in some cases decades for school for your kids will have to wait for hipsters who get YOUR taxes for THEIR schools... libraries.... utilities.... transit.... and the attention of the elected representative that YOU voted into office to serve the interests of YOUR family.

Its about time we send some of our drug treatment facilities and half-way houses that plague our blocks into THAT neighborhood, too.