Re: What's next?
 

I read this article yesterday, and my first thought was what 2D stated above.

I went to a high school that was 80% white, I live in a neighborhood that is about 80% white, I beleive that you have to learn to deal and adapt to things that are different from you in order to grow. This takes me back to that seperate but equal thing.....nope it wasn't right then, I don't feel that this is right now.

I have a question. Ok it was stated in the article this school is so GLB teens can go and feel comfortable and get their learn on right. Well what about on their way to school, or when they get out of school. I think that this is putting them at being more a target to hate-crimes because now they "haters" know exactly who they are, and can do bodily harm to them if they want when they are going to and from school. Just something to think about.

Taxpayer dollars usually support a lot of public schools with a special focus, ie, performing arts, gifted programs, vocational education. So, this school may be trying to just fit in with the rest of those, which means our dollars will still support them.

I think it's unfortunate that this school will open. How will the selection process be? Do you have to have your parent's permission? I didn't realize there were that many teens that were just so out that they would choose this type of school...there are usually just a few flamboyant ones at that age. But even the quiet, suspect ones might not be comfortable in that environment.

I also don't see how this is going to help the overall education process. Teasing, cliques and popularity contests are an unfortunate part of school. Are they going to start a school for kids with acne or kids who get picked on by bullies so that they can feel more comfortable too?

In NYC there are a number of GLBT folks with a LOT of money and a lot of influence.

The school is a done deal folks.

...and she comes out of hiding!!! :D How are you?

Re: Re: What's next?
 

This is EXACTLY what I thought when I first heard about this school. I could see this school getting HIT several times a week with hate crimes.

Right, but it is ILLEGAL for my students to attend a school that is exclusively for students with disabillities. What is the difference? :confused: I'm not totally comprehending this. I see all of it as a way of slyly getting back to segregation. Even though, I'm not totally against segregation (as far as education is concerned).

Sorry folks, but I do not agree with this public GLBT High School. Honestly, how many people really had it easy in high school? Kids get picked on, harassed, tauted, etc for ANY kind of reason (their clothes, race, car, parents, house, looks, clothing etc.).

I totally believe that schools and teens in general have become more prone to violent acts today period (which is a whole 'nother thread in itself). I am not saying that schools should not be held accountable for the safety of ALL students (or that ANY students should put up with verbal or physical abuse), but goodness........what's next?

A hetero-sexual ONLY school (for those that feel "threatened" or uncomfortable around homosexuals thereby distracting them from learning)? :confused:

Don't agree with it.

I honestly do not have a problem with kind of school at all. If the kids are being educated in an environment that is safer and more conducive to learning than the other schools can offer, then so be it. I'm not even worried about the tax dollars issue because my tax dollars fund a lot of programs and institutions that I probably don't agree with. That's life.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't starting this school technically illegal? When the Supreme Court reached it's decision in Plessy vs. Ferguson, it said that "separate but equal is equal" which basically gave the go-ahead for segregation. When it reached the decision for Brown vs. Board of Ed, it said that "separate but equal is inherently unequal" which was supposed to end segragation in public schools and institutions. By creating a public school for kids of only a certain sexual orientation, the NYC Board of Ed is going by the basis that "separate but equal is equal" which basically violates Supreme Court law.

DaisyKLP:

I, as a New York City resident, do not agree with the school. If it were a private school I'd have no problem at all, but this is inappropriate for a publicly funded institution.

Re: What's next?
 

DITTO!!!

DITTO
 

as a former resident, i know PLENTY of schools that can use some serious upgrades.

`Gay school' not state's only specialty school
 

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wi...-regional-wire

By MICHAEL GORMLEY
Associated Press Writer

July 30, 2003, 5:25 PM EDT


ALBANY, N.Y. -- When the nation's first public high school for gay and transgender students opens in the fall, it will join other "specialized schools" that include programs for pregnant teens and a school for racial justice.

Among the alternative public school programs is the Pregnant and Parenting Students programs in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, where the curriculum includes, a "Mommy and Me" course, staying healthy programs and classes in social skills. The program, which has 250 students at each site, offers onsite health services and is also open to young fathers-to-be.

Other alternative schools include:

_Several "international high schools" for immigrant children who don't speak English.

_Schools with flexible schedules for working students

_The Young Women's Leadership School, a small college preparatory school where girls wear uniforms and teachers are "advisers" called by their first names.

_The Choir Academy of Harlem that teaches through the arts in collaboration with the Boys and Girls Choirs of Harlem.

_The Urban Peace Academy in East Harlem where the curriculum is designed to "address issues of peace and justice, wealth and power, racism and oppression and the creation of ourselves and our cultures," according to the school's annual report.

Statewide, most alternative programs are through charter schools, created by law to experiment with innovation. These publicly supported schools include all-boys and all-girls schools and schools with multicultural approaches and new teaching techniques, said L. Jeffrey Perez of the Charter Schools Institute of the State University of New York.

Perez noted, however, that charter schools are open to all students and usually provide more assessments and accountability than required by the state.

The Pregnant and Parenting Students program and other specialty programs do not yet have that accountability and that has been a concern to state and federal officials.

These programs _ as opposed to the separate schools for girls, immigrants, gays and others _ are run not as schools, but are under the city Education Department. As such, the academic performance of students and the success of teachers and administrators can't be measured or tracked through the state's school report cards and standardized tests.

"Kids have to belong to schools," said state Education Department spokesman Tom Dunn. "There's just no accountability for a program so they have to be a registered school."

The state Board of Regents and the federal No Child Left Behind initiative, however, require these alternative programs to be reorganized as schools or as part of schools by the coming academic year, Dunn said. Accountability and performance, then, will be measured by the same standards used in mainstream public schools, including the Regents tests required of all New York students.

City Department of Education spokesman Kevin Ortiz said the programs are still evolving to provide the kind of accountability required by state and federal laws. He said the programs and alternative schools provide choice to parents and nontraditional ways to motivate and serve students.

State Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long, who condemns the Harvey Milk High School for gay and transgender students, praises many of the alternative schools that often have smaller classes and themes that interest and attract like-minded students.

"Most of those schools sort of lift up the student, are sort of a helping hand," Long said. "Some are driven philosophically, but they are open to students. The Harvey Milk School ... goes way behind that. It really is more of a social engineering school."

He said he also supports the pregnant and parenting program.

"A pregnant girl has special needs and I applaud the (city) Board of Education for having that kind of program and not promoting abortion," Long said.


Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press