New York State Chancellor announcement of New Graduation Results Released for High Schools Statewide

Statewide, almost 72 percent of the students who started 9th grade in 2005 had graduated after 4 years, by June 2009. This is compared with a 66 percent graduation rate for students who started 9th grade in 2001.

Graduation Rate Data

According to The Civil Rights Project at Harvard University and the Urban Institute, half or more of Black, Hispanic and Native American youth in the United States are getting left behind before high school graduation in a “hidden crisis” that is obscured by U.S. Department of Education regulations issued under the “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) Act that “allow schools, districts, and states to all but eliminate graduation rate accountability for minority subgroups.

The New York State School Report Card - Fiscal Accountability Supplement for New Rochelle City School District (Feb 25, 2010).

New York State Education Law and the Commissioner's Regulations require the attachment of the NYS School Report Card to the public school district budget proposal. The regulations require that certain expenditure ratios for general education and special education students be reported and compared with ratios for similar districts and all public schools in New York State. The required ratios for this district are reported below.

Similar District Group Description: Average Need/Resource Capacity

Due to a last minute soccer tournament in Dix Hills, we cannot attend and must sell:

Four (4) tickets to Bobby McFerrin's concert at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Peekskill, NY - Feb 27th at 8PM.
These are 2nd row (orchestra) tickets B11, B9, B7, B5. Tixs are face value of $55 each - $220 for all four. Must sell and will meet anywhere in WhitePlain, NY or New Rochelle, NY area on Wednesday (2/24) or Friday (2/26) evening. I check email frequently. Cash only - respond to masanchez1970@gmail.com Thank you

YA ES HORA CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES “COUNT THE ONE YOU LOVE” CENSUS INITIATIVE IN CELEBRATION OF VALENTINE’S DAY

LOS ANGELES, CA – In time for the love and friendship of St. Valentine’s Day, the ya es hora ¡HAGASE CONTAR! campaign creates a series of electronic postcards in English and Spanish designed to send a message of full participation for the upcoming 2010 Census.
The Cuenta a tu ser querido ("Count the One You Love") initiative is one element of the nationwide effort of the ya es hora ¡HAGASE CONTAR! campaign to ensure a full count of Latinos in the Census. The postcards can be accessed for free at www.yaeshora.info.
Since its launch on October 1, 2009, the campaign has enlisted over 140 official partners, conducted dozens of trainings for local leaders and elected officials, distributed tens of thousands of motivational and informational posters, fielded hundreds of calls to its bilingual hotline (877-EL-CENSO), and launched the most comprehensive bilingual website on the 2010 Census, at www.yaeshora.info.

LatinoJustice PRLDEF Launches 2010 Census
Contact: John Garcia, Director of Communications (212) 739-7513
LatinoJustice PRLDEF has launched a new initiative to further social justice and voting rights for Latinos through their participation in the 2010 Census and the subsequent redistricting process that will come in 2011.

El 3 de marzo, 2010, en la biblioteca de la High School a las 7PM, comenzara una discusion entre la comunidad y la junta escolar sobre como se debe de utilizar el presupuesto en el 2010-2011. Ustedes que tienen hijos en las escuelas, pueden hacer comentarios utiles que les afecta directamente a ustedes como por ejemplo:

porque hay tantas clases bilingues y nuestros hijos no avanzan?
porque hay tan pocos estudiantes latinos en clases superiores categorizadas AP or Honor?
porque hay tan poca representacion latina en los primeros 100 estudiantes que son sobresaliente?
porque nuestros hijos no se graduan a tiempo (menos de 60%)?
porque nuestros hijos en Isaac tiene menos recursos que Albert Leonard?
queremos sistemas para que nos ayuden a entender mejor el sistema educativo en los EEUU? Queremos que nuestros hijos triunfen.
Vengan con sus preguntas. Si no hay voz pensaran que somos invicibles? La presencia es fuerza! Hacer preguntas trae cambios.
Habra interpretes. Vengan con preguntas o inquietudes. Su presencia sera tan importante para nuestros hijos!

El 3 de marzo a las 7PM en la biblioteca de la high school. Gracias!

REMINDER: The 2010-11 New Rochelle School Budget will be released at 7:00 PM on Feb 11th at at the "School Budget Community Input Forum" which will be held at the New Rochelle High School library (enter the building through the teachers parking lot off of 265 Clove Road).

Don't shout at the waves. If you care, come! If you want to be heard, speak up! If you want accountability, you have to demand it!

OPEN LETTER

-----Original Message-----
From: Martin Sanchez
To: Richard ORGANISCIAK; Sara Richmond; Jeffrey Hastie; Jerome Smith; David Lacher; Deirdre Polow; cindybabcock; Chrisanne Petrone; Quay Watkins; Liz Saraiva
Sent: Wed, Feb 3, 2010 7:04 pm
Subject: school budget

For your consideration - see you all next week

I heard Bob Cox on WVOX this morning where he highlighted one the reasons he developed the New Rochelle Talk of the Sound. While I may not agree with much of the comments on the blog, I do understand and agree with his generalization that many parents in our school district are stifle, ignored, and simply discouraged from getting involved or much less advocating for their children in some schools. While I do agree that we have many good teachers and caring administrators, there are many occasions when something is wrong and if you complain, there is Fort Apache attitude of How Dare You Complain. In being suggestive or critical of some school misgiving, parents are punished, blacklisted, and in some cases as Mr. Cox, physically prevented from entering our school grounds. Note: Mr. Cox has a mission against the school district and it’s epic! Yet, his saga began by simply advocating for his child, when he was right, and the school district began a costly legal campaign to derail, discourage and silence him. Well, he won and the school district and Taxpayer lost. All he wanted was a simple correction and a well deserved apology.