Students Protest DOE’s Secret Decisions about Struggling Schools
Close to one hundred high school students from the Urban Youth Collaborative (UYC), New York City’s largest student-led group, gathered on the steps of the Department of Education headquarters today to protest the City’s secretive selection process for choosing which schools get precious transformation funds from the federal government, likely to determine which schools close and which flourish.
UYC students are concerned that lack of public input and oversight will lead to more federal money left on the table, as last year the DOE foolishly failed to apply for more than $10 million that could have saved up to half-a-dozen high schools citywide—many of which were closed instead.
Thirty-four struggling New York City high schools qualified as federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) schools last year—eligible for up to $2 million a year apiece for up to three years. The City is allowed to apply for up to