News From SWW

April 29, 2002 - CRISIS

To: Friends of School Without Walls
From: Dan Drmacich
Re: Crisis

As you may know, the Rochester City School District (RCSD) is facing a $66 million budget deficit. Other NYS urban school districts are in similar trouble. In order to balance the budget the RCSD will be recommending massive cuts, including the phasing out of SWW, over the next three years. There is also the possibility that they could cut SWW from the budget if they believe other cuts should be restored.

The main rationale I have received is that everything that is not mandatory, or is a choice, is expendable, given the enormity of the deficit. This coupled with the notion, perceived by some testing standardistos, that SWW promotes "soft" learning and does not have the graduation statistics to warrant exemption, are the major reasons that SWW is facing this recommendation. I stress recommendation, because that is what it amounts to at this point. The RCSD School Board must approve the recommendation.

Our job, as it has been in the past, when SWW has faced similar threats, is to convince the RCSD School Board that SWW should not be cut.

I can handle the data and pull together how our data compares to the RCSD averages over the years. I can safely say that for the past 30 years, overall, SWW is near the top for attendance, college entrance, low suspensions and drop-out rates. Our graduation rates are much better than the RCSD average. As far as test scores, our average is usually 100-200 points higher than the RCSD average with SATs.

Additionally, SWW has pioneered and disseminated many of the curricular and organizational strategies being touted in schools today. These include block scheduling, community service, interdisciplinary teaching, graduation-by-exhibition, teacher-as-advisor, summative and descriptive student progress reports, student-evaluations as a learning experience, daily student journal writing, school wide participation in decision-making, citizenship and values education, in-depth vs. superficial learning, rubrics as teaching and learning guides.

What can you do?

Write letters to the seven members of the RCSD School Board.

Call the seven members of the RCSD School Board.

Share your positive experiences and/or observations about SWW and demand that they restore SWW to the budget, given its 30 years of positive impact on students and the educational community.

The Board Members are:

• Bolgen Vargas (585-241-3136)
  
• Robert Brown (585-232-5300)
  
• Darryl Porter (585-342-1660)
  
• James Bowers (585-482-3351 or 654-5837)
  
• Rev. Dwight Cook (585-328-8451)
  
• Joanne Giuffrida (585-262-8525)
  
• Shirley Thompson (585-544-7655)
  

If you choose to write, the Board address is:

Rochester City School District
131 W. Broad St.
Rochester, NY 14614

Speak at the Public Hearings on the Budget. They are:

• This Wednesday evening, May 1st, at East High School, 1801 East Main Street, and
• Tuesday, May 7th, at Ben Franklin High School, 950 Norton Street.

In order to speak, you must register in advance, by calling 585-262-8525, and asking for the Board Office. To register for either meeting, call no later than NOON on the day of the meeting.

The meetings begin at 7pm and will probably run late, given all the programs that will also fighting for their survival. We need as many of you as possible to speak out in whatever way you can. Please call me at 585-546-6732, ext. 1015, or [Contact Us for Dan's Home Number], if you have questions.

I know this is hard work and demands a good deal of time; but it's the only way to win the battle. I hope you can help.

--Dan Drmacich

[Email is a much less effective way to reach these people. By writing letters, you are showing that you care enough to take the time to commit your opinions to paper. -Betsy]

Please note that the Rochester City Scool District's URL has changed. Their web site is now: www.rcsdk12.org.

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