Manhattan charter school accused of abusing unruly students
City investigators are accusing a Manhattan charter school that focuses on serving special education students of violently disciplining students and covering up the abuses.
Staff at Opportunity Charter School allegedly punched one student, threw another to the ground and pulled a third out of a classroom by her hair during the 2007-08 school year, according to a report released today by the city’s Special Commissioner for Investigation. The report documents a total of six cases of verbal and physical abuse.
According to the report, the school’s staff members who were accused of violently disciplining students were never punished themselves. The accused staff include the school’s administrative director, a dean of students, and specialists trained to work with special needs students. In some cases, the school also failed to document
City planning to help laid-off teachers get special ed jobs
Staff at Opportunity Charter School allegedly punched one student, threw another to the ground and pulled a third out of a classroom by her hair during the 2007-08 school year, according to a report released today by the city’s Special Commissioner for Investigation. The report documents a total of six cases of verbal and physical abuse.
According to the report, the school’s staff members who were accused of violently disciplining students were never punished themselves. The accused staff include the school’s administrative director, a dean of students, and specialists trained to work with special needs students. In some cases, the school also failed to document
City planning to help laid-off teachers get special ed jobs
Faced with the possibility of laying off more than 6,000 school teachers, New York City school officials are privately working on a plan to save some of their jobs.
The plan would improve laid off teachers’ chances of staying in the school system by retraining them for a new subject area for which schools are in perpetual demand: special education. The retraining would happen at local education schools, at night or on weekends, so that teachers could remain working in schools without a pause.
The plan would make teachers more marketable at a time when the city is struggling to fill classroom vacancies in special education, said Deputy Chancellor John White at a citywide school board meeting last night.
DOE officials estimate they will need to hire between 600 and 800 special education teachers next year, thoug
The plan would improve laid off teachers’ chances of staying in the school system by retraining them for a new subject area for which schools are in perpetual demand: special education. The retraining would happen at local education schools, at night or on weekends, so that teachers could remain working in schools without a pause.
The plan would make teachers more marketable at a time when the city is struggling to fill classroom vacancies in special education, said Deputy Chancellor John White at a citywide school board meeting last night.
DOE officials estimate they will need to hire between 600 and 800 special education teachers next year, thoug
