Primary and secondary schools

Pablo Neruda Academy for Architecture and World Studies opened its doors in September 2003 in New York City. Students explore the built environment by walking across city bridges and around local Bronx communities. After studying the math and science involved, students design and build their own architectural models. In much the same way, they practice the arts of global citizenship. Through school community meetings, students help set school policy. Taking Pablo Neruda as guide, young men and women will seek to become poets, statesmen and compassionate and engaged world citizens (http://www.pablonerudaacademy.org /nav.htm).

The start of the 2003 school year saw an unprecedented number of New York City teachers retiring, a staggering 477 compared to last year's 268. The United Federation of Teachers blamed Mayor Bloomberg's recent school reforms for the retirement walkout, which deprived the schools of their most experienced staff (City Limits Weekly, October 6, 2003, www.citylimits.org).

The Dignity in All Schools Coalition of New York City called a press conference and City Council hearings on October 7, 2003 to urge the members of the City Council to pass the Dignity in All Schools Act (Into 418). The Bloomberg administration is looking to institute new rules with severe penalties to discipline certain behaviors in school. In response, The Dignity in All Schools Coalition is looking at root causes of homo/bi/transphobia, racism, sexism, genderism, xenophobia, etc. and works to eliminate those causes.

The City University of New York's Preparatory Transitional High School, based in the Bronx and run partially by CUNY, opened its doors October 29, 2003. A full-time, one-year program, CUNY Prep has 250 seats for low-income teenagers between 16 and 18, prepares them to take the GED, but also sharpens writing and math skills necessary for success in a community college. The funding for CUNY Prep restricts the program to only U. S. citizens and permanent residents (City Limits Weekly, October 22, 2003, www.citylimits.org).

The Trip Factory is a company that operates as a go-between for local schools and corporate chains, setting up 3,300 "field trips" to Petco. Toys "R" Us hosts school field trips allowing students to use the merchandise under the guise of educational opportunity.

If you would like to help stop this commercialization of school children, support the Parents' Bill of Rights being circulated by the watchdog group Community Alert. For more information, call 503-235-8012 (In These Times, November 17, 2003).

George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind law, signed into effect in January 2002, seeks to raise achievement by penalizing schools where test scores do not meet annual targets. Being in operation for two years, and damning thousands of schools for not doing their jobs, NCLB is being challenged by numerous school districts across the country. For an analysis of the failures of NCLB, see The New York Times, January 2, 2004, and "Bush Flunks Schools," The Nation, December 1, 2003.