By Bob Friedrich
The forces of stagnation and inertia were on display recently at a city Department of Education public hearing on the Martin Van Buren High School P-Tech colocation proposal. This program, modeled after a similar school program in Brooklyn, was visited last week by President Barack Obama and is being touted as a model for the nation.
The program’s focus is on technical skills and offers an education pathway with a two-year, tuition-free college degree at Queensborough Community College for motivated students. Successful students will have an opportunity to expand the two-year college program to four years, saving families thousands of dollars in tuition. A multinational company partnering with the program will create internships and hire graduating students.
So, who could oppose this? You will have to ask the local elected representatives who have aligned themselves with the United Federation of Teachers instead of civic leaders from the surrounding communities.
The promises of social engineering has transformed MVB from a school with deep community ties into one where nearly 96 percent of its student population comes from outside the community. Although Principal Sam Sochet has had some success moving MVB from a “D” to a “C,” its environment rating of “F” has remained unchanged over the past two years. Decades of decline and neglect by the DOE has killed the MVB brand and the school has been abandoned by the community that is unwilling to send its kids there.
Community parents might be persuaded to take a new look at the school without the trepidation they currently feel if they could be convinced that P-Tech is a separate school with a separate principal and separate teachers, classes, curricula and start and finish times. The P-Tech program does just that, which is why I, as president of a co-op zoned for MVB along with eight other civic leaders from the largest civic associations in eastern Queens, voted to support the program. We see this program as a game-changer and win-win for our families and a fast-track to the turnaround of MVB.
Others argue that the P-Tech program should not be structured as a co-location school with its own principal but instead made part of MVB under the direction of MVB’s principal. Those who make this argument fail to recognize the amount of work required of a principal in setting up this college-model program. It would also create divisions in teacher ranks as P-Tech teachers are required to work longer days than MVB teachers. Removing the co-location component is a poison pill that would doom the program.
Standing on opposite sides of the community was state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside), who aligned himself with UFT leadership to oppose the program. Remember, it was the UFT that propelled Avella across the finish line, defeating longtime incumbent Sen. Frank Padavan in a close race. UFT contributions, endorsements, campaign mailers, phone banks and spare hands on Election Day provided his margin of victory. Any connection? Draw your own conclusions.
And if you think this is ugly, let me expose a nasty side of politics that few in public ever witness. At a DOE public hearing, I crossed paths with Avella. Although we are on opposite sides on this issue, I put my hand out to shake, but he refused and accused me of manipulating the civic leaders to support this program.
Stunned at the accusation, I asked him if he was suggesting these civic leaders were incapable of thinking for themselves, and would it also be manipulation if they agreed with him.
He had no answer. Unmasked and exposed, politics can be ugly.
City Councilman Mark Weprin (D-Oakland Gardens), who also opposed the plan, at least conceded that it might not be that bad if the DOE had done a better job reaching out to him and the local community — and he and I always shake hands and can agree to disagree.
Thankfully, the forces of stagnation and inertia have been defeated. The DOE unanimously voted to co-locate the P-Tech program to MVB. This is the catalyst needed to renew the learning environment at MVB and lead to greater local parental participation and student enrollment and begin to end the decline and stigma long associated with MVB.
Bob Friedrich is president of Glen Oaks Village and a community leader.
