If those closings were put on hold until a fair evaluation could be made, or changes made, I would have no problem with that. But as of now, neither Mr. Liebman, Mr. Klein or the mayor has admitted to any flaws in these report cards.

As for the evaluation process, many years ago we had a PASS review system in place. Principals, teachers and parents knew the area of improvement. However, teachers were never really given any sense of empowerment to make the changes needed. And, they are still not.

As you must have read in the news or on various education blogs, principals are telling their teachers to pass a percentage of students. Klein wants to give chair credit to students who don’t deserve it. The NYTimes quotes Mr. Liebman’s “spin” on the issue of high rates of teacher turnover in schools that got A’s as positive when the real reason is violence against teachers and their students.

The fact that someone gives you “face time” does not necessarily mean they are respectful people. If so, they would act upon those suggestions accordingly. Then, these schools should not close until, as you say, they are given the chance to make improvements. Instead these “meetings” are a way to quell constructive criticism by making people feel they are change agents. Politicians do this all the time. However, when Mr. Liebman met with parents, he ran away from their questions and concerns.

As for your suggestions, don’t you think they were brought up last year when principals were given workshops on the rating system? Their concerns were met with a deaf ear. As a result, successful schools received failing grades.

I believe Mr. Liebman was given a goal–to close more schools–and he used the report card format to do so. It’s the same when a “study” is performed on some issue. Depending on the political agenda of the organization conducting the study, they make sure the facts fit the conclusion they want.

As for smaller class size, the DoE has and will continue to fight it.