Tag Archives: NYC Council

Times Ledger: Dromm urges Albany to give $2.6B to city schools

  March 9, 2015 ,

By Sadef Ali Kully

The Community Education Council for District 28 hosted a legislative networking event last Friday where principals, parents, school superintendents, and elected leaders met in Jamaica to present resources and address the state education budget.

The state education budget proposal, a $1.1 billion increase, includes raising tenure to five years and increase in the state’s role in teacher’s evaluations. Cuomo also wants to raise the charter school cap by 100 schools, put $100 million towards tax credit for private school, and establish a state-takeover model that could affect teachers working in more than 90 of the city’s lowest-performing schools. Cuomo’s overhaul of the education system has led to aggressive actions such as threatening to withhold funding from the budget.

“It is essential that we reach out and seek whatever we need for our schools,” said Dr. Vera Daniels, president of the CEC for District 28, which covers schools in Jamaica, Forest Hills, Ozone Park and Richmond Hill.

The keynote speaker for the event was Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), who was a teacher in the public education system for about 25 years before he joined the City Council.

“I survived my experience with the Department of Education and I am hear to speak about it,” said Dromm, jokingly. “One thing that I learned as soon as I walked into those doors was when the principal said to me to get the parents as your allies. I have to say parents were always there for me.”

Dromm, who chairs the Council’s Committee on Education, addressed concerns that parents, principals, and teachers have had across the city.

“The total education budget oversight is a little over $38.5 billion. Almost half of the city’s budget goes to education. That is a tremendous amount of money – that’s more than some countries,” Dromm said. “But we still desperately need the $2.6 billion from Albany.”

He addressed conflicts with charter schools, LGBT students, guidance counselors for college preparation, state funding, school trailers, school networks, and the celebrated return of arts program in public school

In attendance were Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest); Frank Guilluscio, district manager for Community Board 6; Adrienne Adam, chair of Community Board 12; state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach); and state Assemblyman William Scarborough (D-Jamaica).

Read more here.

New York Daily News: (EXCLUSIVE) City lawmaker demands that charter schools show how they use tax money

  February 24, 2015 ,

Councilman Daniel Dromm noted that charter schools 'receive over a billion dollars in taxpayer funds and we don’t know what’s going on.'

By Ben Chapman and Lisa Colangelo

A lawmaker is asking the city’s charter schools to hand over paperwork showing how they use millions of dollars in tax money. And they have five days to do it.

City Councilman Daniel Dromm, who chairs the Education Committee, said he is troubled by the “lack of transparency and accountability” of charter schools.

“They receive over a billion dollars in taxpayer funds and we don’t know what’s going on,” Dromm, a Queens Democrat, told the Daily News on Monday.

Dromm sent a letter to all 197 charter schools in the city asking them for copies of their committee board minutes and fraud prevention policies. He also asked if they would voluntarily submit to the city Conflict of Interest Board to examine relationships between school board members and developers.

Dromm’s action comes after The News reported in November that an analysis by the Center for Popular Democracy found more than $28 million in questionable spending and probable financial mismanagement in 95% of the charter schools examined by state auditors since 2002.

James Merriman, CEO of the New York Charter School Center, dismissed Dromm as an “attack dog” for the United Federation of Teachers, which is opposed to charter schools.

For more click here.

Western Queens Gazette: Tour Unkempt LIRR Overpass, Demand Improvements

  December 26, 2014 , , , ,

<br /> (L. to r.); Christian Cassagnol, district manager, Community Board 4 Queens; Councilmember Daniel Dromm; state Senator Toby Ann Stavisky; Rosemarie Daraio, president, COMET Civic Group; and Geraldine Walsh, treasurer, COMET Civic Group.

State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky (D-Flushing); Councilmember Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights); Christian Cassagnol, district manager, Community Board 4 Queens; Rosemarie Daraio, president, COMET Civic Group; and Geraldine Walsh, treasurer, COMET Civic Group, toured the 55th Avenue/Elmhurst Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) overpass with LIRR and Department of Sanitation officials to discuss the unkempt conditions and demand immediate improvements to address the situation.

“This site must be cleaned and made safe for pedestrians,” said Stavisky. “There is no substitute for an on-site visit to see conditions first-hand. Councilmember Dromm and I will continue to monitor the problem.”

“Quality of life issues are vitally important to the growth, strength and happiness of the community,” said Dromm. “Monday’s walk-through hopefully marks the start of a stronger commitment from the LIRR to keep their property clean. I thank the railroad, Senator Stavisky, the Department of Sanitation and the many community activists for working on this issue.”

Times Ledger: Jackson Heights middle school opens much needed annex

  October 22, 2014 ,

By Bill Parry

Relief has come for one school in District 30, one of most overcrowded in the city

Elected officials joined educators and students of IS 230 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a new middle school annex, at 74th Street and 34th Avenue, that contains science labs, an art studio, a library with computers, classrooms, a cafeteria and bathrooms on every floor.

“This new annex will help alleviate overcrowding at the main IS 230 middle school building,” City Councilman Daniel Dromm (D-Jackson Heights said. “These rooms are essential to a well-rounded education. It will go a long way to improving education in our district.”

The School Construction Authority also bought two lots on 74th Street that will be utilized as an outdoor play and exercise area. In addition to other amenities, the SCA made sure the new building fit in with the aesthetic of the surrounding historic district.

“The new IS 230 annex is not just about giving students a new state-of-the-art building, it’s about creating an environment that fosters learning and gives every child that walks through these doors and opportunity for endless growth,” SCA President and CEO Lorraine Grillo said. “We have created a new outlet for students to pursue their dreams in wonderful Jackson Heights.”

Construction on the new annex took two years and cost $22.8 million. It will add 400 seats for the students at IS 230.

“Over the years, there have been some creative approaches to dealing with the overcrowding crisis in this district,” state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst) said. “But the bottom line is until there’s a seat for every child, it’s a game of musical chairs. “No matter what you do, or how you zone or rezone, someone is left standing. This community desperately needs this annex. And this community desperately needs more annexes and more new schools. We are enormously appreciative of the commitment of the mayor, schools chancellor and School Construction Authority to ending this decades-long overcrowding crisis in this part of Queens.”

State Assemblyman Michael Den Dekker (D-East Elmhurst) took the opportunity to push for legislation. “I hope also that voters will vote in favor of the Smart Schools Bond Act in November, so we can get more school space, and equip all of these classrooms with state-of-the-art technology. Our children deserve better than overcrowded classes and we will keep working to eliminate this problem.

Center For Investigative Reporting: Rikers Island is eliminating juvenile solitary confinement. Now what?

  October 1, 2014 ,

By Trey Bundy and Daffodil Altan

rikers impact photo

Rikers Island in New York, the second-largest jail in the U.S., is eliminating solitary confinement for 16- and 17-year-old inmates.

 

For years, New York City’s Department of Correction has worked to conceal its practice of putting adolescent inmates in solitary confinement. But this week, the agency announced plans to eliminate such confinement for 16- and 17-year-old inmates.

The swift action indicates that juvenile solitary confinement has become a human rights issue that officials nationwide can no longer ignore.

The changes come after several months of media scrutiny and a critical U.S. Department of Justice investigation calling on the agency to revamp its treatment of adolescents. The Center for Investigative Reporting was the first to report on the issue earlier this year. Here are some key things to understand about juvenile solitary confinement in the U.S. and the efforts to reform it.

Most youth detention facilities in the United States use some form of prolonged isolation for teens.

Solitary confinement often is the default intervention used for teenagers in lieu of adequate staff training and supervision and mental health services for inmates.

While correction officers say solitary confinement is needed to control violent young inmates, our reporting found that teens are routinely sent for minor infractions. At Rikers Island, guards are permitted to isolate inmates for days or weeks for talking back, horseplay and possession of “unauthorized amounts” of clothing or art supplies.

We know little about how many young inmates get placed in solitary, why and for how long.

This is what Juan Méndez, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture, called “a chaos of information.” Juvenile solitary confinement is torture, he said, and no one knows how common it is.

Because most U.S. facilities are not required to track or report their use of isolation for juveniles, the practice has flourished in the shadows. And because no federal laws prohibit isolating teenagers indefinitely for 23 hours a day, young inmates can spend months alone in their cells without anyone outside their facilities noticing.

Many facilities suppress information and close their doors to scrutiny.

New York City Councilman Daniel Dromm sponsored a recently passed bill requiring corrections officials to report detailed data about who is held in solitary, why and for how long, after officials refused to provide him with data he requested. His legislation could be a model for other jurisdictions seeking the access and information required to understand what is happening to teenagers in local facilities.

Read full article here.