NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY OFFICE OF ASSEMBLYMEMBER ARAVELLA SIMOTAS For Immediate Release April 4, 2012 Contact: Samantha

Darche, 917-763-7694

Simotas Holds Rally to Save Bryant High School

Community and Leaders Speak Out Against DOEs Turnaround Proposal at Bryant ASTORIA, N.Y.- Assemblymember Aravella Simotas held a rally at William Cullen Bryant High School yesterday in opposition to the NYC Department of Educations proposal to dramatically overhaul the structure of the western Queens institution. Simotas, a Bryant alumna, was joined by State Senator Michael Gianaris. Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer, community leaders, and Bryant students, teachers and parents in calling on the city to reconsider Bryants designation for the Turnaround model. Our students come first, and we should always work to make improvements that ensure they get the best education possible, Simotas said. But these drastic changes will only increase uncertainty and stunt any progress that students, teachers and administrators have been able to make. "Putting Bryant High School through such an extreme turnaround would do more harm than good and would undoubtedly jeopardize students' ability to learn, State Senator Michael Gianaris said. The disruption such a move would cause will hinder the education of those who should be first and foremost in our minds. Our children deserve a good education provided by caring teachers, which can be achieved without invading and 'turning around' the entire school, its faculty and its functionality." Bryant is on the states list of Persistently Lowest Achieving (PLA) schools. While the schools had originally been approved for targeted, less intrusive intervention models, Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced in his State of the City address that he would now attempt to implement the Turnaround model. This approach, which needs state approval, would give the city authority to close PLA schools, reopen them under new names and replace up to half of the teachers and staff.

Tuesday Morning, the Mayors office announced reprieve for seven schools on the closure list, none are located in Queens. These averted closures prove that we can work to build better schools, if we devote the resources. Bryant High School, these students deserve nothing less than the best resources we can provide with the least disruption, Simotas told the crowd. A public hearing was held at Bryant Tuesday night so that the community could voice its opinion about the planned changes to the school community. During her remarks, Simotas presented hundreds of signatures from community members opposing the drastic overhaul of her alma matter. No one knows better than the community what our students need, and the community knows our students do not need turnaround, Simotas said. Students need a consistent investment in their education. Simotas noted that comprehensive high schools like Bryant are what come to mind when one thinks of high school. Students of different interests and abilities mingling and learning from one another is the hallmark of a public education, Simotas said. A comprehensive high school provides a general education to children who have not yet chosen their career path. This is a necessity in a community as diverse as Western Queens. Bryant student body president Sotiria Zouroudi told her fellow students, teachers and community leaders that everyone keeps saying that with this turnaround method students don't get affected; while in reality they are. We will end up losing teachers that have helped us, pushed us to learn and people that we don't feel embarrassed to go to in order to extra help in a subject we will need. It will be like the first day of high school all over again. This plan doesn't affect only the teachers, but the school as a whole. Simotas applauded the students and alumni who attended the rally and hearing for showing the city that Bryant has the support of its community. She pledged to work with her fellow lawmakers and community leaders to find a solution that would allow the school to make progress but keep it intact. ###

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