As many already know, for the last ten years Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City Department of Education have been on a campaign for what they claim to be education reform. Unfortunately, their plan has been an attack on public education. Using the cover-up of the business model, public funds have been funneled to private companies friendly with, and supported by, the administration to manage schools for profit.

Schools designated as failing have been targeted for reorganization, phasing-out or closure. Approximately 150 schools throughout the city have been through this process in the last ten years. Most of these schools were replaced by other smaller schools or by charter schools, the success of which has not yet been proven despite their questionable, to say the least, admission policies and additional funding. As a result, the most challenging students, who are not usually absorbed by these new schools, flooded nearby traditional schools, leading to overcrowding and their eventual failure.

Sadly, Bryant High School has not been immune to the domino effect of this process, and it was recently added to the list of schools to be reorganized. We, the staff of Bryant, feel that schools like ours have been neglected and treated unfairly. Bryant is a neighborhood school with an open admission policy that serves a large population of students, many of whom are English Language Learners. We are facing limited per-pupil funding and severe budget cuts. As a result, we suffer due to overcrowded classes and limited resources. A school such as Bryant offers a rich student experience, but, unfortunately, many of the good things happening here cannot be measured by the data-oriented DOE standards.

We do not yet know what the DOE has in store for us, but one of the possible models is called the "Turnaround". According to this model, all teachers will be removed, allowing the new principal to choose only a small number to return. This plan will be very disruptive and unfair to teachers and students, especially given the fact that we missed the DOE standards by a very small margin. As Bryant teachers, we are very proud of our relationship with the community. Many of us have been working here for fifteen, twenty, and even more years. Many of us live in the community and actually attended Bryant as students. We would like the time, guidance and resources to make the necessary improvements in teaching and learning. Above all, we want to keep the school that we love open, not fractured into small schools, dismantled or closed. In the bigger picture, we worry about the privatization of public education and the corruption that this will eventually allow.

At this time, we are asking for your support. Before these changes happen, the DOE has to hold community meetings at the school. The meeting will take place on Thursday March, 31st at 6:00 PM in the school auditorium. We are calling on parents, students, Bryant alumni, our politicians and local media, and the community as a whole, to attend these meetings and take an active role to help us save our school. Bryant has close to a hundred and thirty years' history. It has been a center of our community, and a point of reference for so many of us. Come and show that strong community still exists, and that we care for our neighborhood schools.

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