Punishing the Victim: DOE’s Approach to Banana Kelly High School
by Norm Fruchter
In December, 2010, the New York State Education Department placed Banana Kelly High School on the State’s list of Persistently Low Achieving (PLA) schools. Many critics, including some of the writers for this blog, have charged the DOE with setting up for failure high schools that struggle with difficult-to-educate student populations. (See, for example, New York City Independent Budget Office. (2011). Demographics, Performance, Resources: Schools Proposed for Closing Compared with Other City Schools. New York: IBO; Bennett, J. (2011). Third Turn of the Screw: The DOE and Closing Schools. New York: United Federation of Teachers, UFT Blog, http://www.uft.org/node/28350).
That seems to be the case with Banana Kelly. The school serves very high proportions of students eligible for free lunch — 72% compared to 58% citywide, very high special education (17%) and ELL populations (17%) – compared to 12% and 13% respectively citywide, and its incoming students have quite low proficiency levels – a 2.63 eighth grade proficiency rating for their entering class, compared to a 2.94 rating citywide.