Communities in Support of KGIA

On a recent rainy Tuesday, January 29, the Communities in Support for the Khalil International Academy (CISKGIA) continued its struggle for respect and justice for the Arab American and Muslim communities. They did so with a high-energy multicultural celebration with the enthusiastic support of over 200 diverse New Yorkers, performers, parents and educators.

“watching people literally sitting on the edge of their seats in anticipation of what the next speaker was going to say…glancing around the room and seeing so many pairs of eyes lit up with inspiration.”

The CISKGIA coalition, independent from the current administration of the school and the New York Department of Education, hosted the event to support the original vision of the Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA), which has been harshly attacked by Arab-haters and Islamophobes in media and local government, responding to the provocations of the extremist right wing group Stop the Madrassa.

After a delicious meal donated by Zaytoon’s Restaurant, Oriental Catering, and the Yemeni Café, the overflowing crowd gathered in a hall decorated with red white and blue balloons and showed their enthusiastic support during a program of passionate speakers and performers, mc’d by Mona El Khadry and Amy Shoenfeld. Event speakers and participants included noted Columbia University Professor Rashid Kahlidi and his wife Mona; the PTA president of KGIA; and several teachers of KGIA and their students. Seven diverse members of the original Design Team that created the school as an Arab language and culture public school were honored with bouquets of white roses.

Organizers also honored Founding Principal Debbie Almontaser, whose vision brought the KGIA school into existence, even though city bureaucrats forced her out of the job before the school opened its doors. Many New Yorkers followed this news story largely through the biased misrepresentation in the New York Post and the New York Sun.

“Anti-Arab and anti-Muslim groups have been obsessed with shutting this school down and have made clear their racism by depicting it as a “radical Muslim threat”,” observed Donna Nevel of Center for Immigrant Families. “They have attacked Debbie because she is an Arab, Muslim woman.and have attacked the school because the language being taught is Arabic. Rather than capitulating to this hatefulness, like the Mayor, UFT President, DOE, and New Visions did, we should be standing up for Debbie and her original vision for the school, which was based on respect for its families, for the community, and for Arabic culture and language…”

Long time civil rights activist Carol Horowitz of Brooklyn Parents for Peace added, “Instead of being divided, we should be gathering in community like at our event, which was so wonderful, I am at a loss for words. The way everyone worked together was like the 1960s civil rights movement — people just doing what has to be done regardless of what their assigned tasks may have been.”

Infiltrators from the Right wing groups may have been in the room, but security was ready for any outbursts. Instead of disrupting the packed event, the Stop the Madrassa group immediately scheduled another press conference at City Hall, to demand the closing of the school on the basis of the lack of support the Department of Education has shown since the school opened in September. They failed to note that these same problems arose directly from their own pressure to oust the Founding Principal from the school. KGIA Teachers have made it clear that bad teaching conditions, and a cut back in Arabic teaching, have been demoralizing the teachers. However they made clear that lack of support is because the original design had not been implemented after the founding principal was forced out, on the pretext of her balanced comments about the meaning of the word “intifada” printed on T shirts produced by AWAAM, a local girls’ group.

“These teachers should be protected from the attacks of the gutter media,” declared Professor Rashid Khalidi, who has himself been targeted by the far Right. And so, with the support of so many good people, the CISKGIA coalition resolved to fight on for justice and respect, together with amazing spoken word artists Leila Buck, the Spirit Song artists, break-dancers from El Puente, and many more young people whose artistry and creativity was a reminder that multicultural education must also include Arabic culture and a loving acceptance of our fellow humanity across boundaries of faith, race and ethnicity.

It was a magical moment, as co-organizer Amy Shoenfeld remembered, “watching people literally sitting on the edge of their seats in anticipation of what the next speaker was going to say…glancing around the room and seeing so many pairs of eyes lit up with inspiration…being brought to tears (collectively, I think) by Fatin’s mom, and then back to laughter again soon after.” She added that, “watching the urban word poets meet the el puente breakers…there was some serious movement building going on last night! It was just as we envisioned it…it couldn’t have happened if it weren’t for all the work that every single one of you did - and it couldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Debbie’s vision and the inspiration we’ve all taken from that.”

Seeking her reinstatement as Principal, Debbie Almontaser’s lawsuit remains in court.

01-17-2008

by Mary Frost

BROOKLYN — A press conference was scheduled to take place Thursday evening by “Communities in Support of KGIA” to call for the return of Khalil Gibran International Academy’s (KGIA) embattled founding principal, Debbie Almontaser.

“The DOE’s decision reflects educational policy based on anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism.”

Sean Grogan, a teacher and UFT Chapter Leader at KGIA, said in a release early Thursday that Almontasser “not only brought with her a great knowledge of Arabic culture and language, but was also a bridge builder who was uniquely qualified to bring our communities together and to lead such a school.”

Grogan and other supporters claim that KGIA “has been in great disarray” since Almontasser’s departure in August. Almontasser claims she was forced to resign after she appeared to condone the inflammatory term “intifada.”  Read more…

Press Release January 17:

KGIA TEACHER AND FAMILY MEMBER SPEAK OUT

Watch a video of KGIA teacher speaking out for the first time!

Watch a video of KGIA family member speaking out!

New York City, January 17, 2008 - Statement by Sean R. Grogan, KGIA Science Teacher

I came to the Khalil Gibran International Academy after being contacted by Debbie Almontaser. Within minutes of speaking with her and hearing her determination, drive, and love for the principles and ideals behind KGIA, I knew I wanted to be a teacher there. Her leadership took a very diverse group of educators and created a cohesive team dedicated to the success of a school with a unique focus, Arabic culture and language. She built many bridges between the community and staff, opening up doorways that would allow us to provide the best possible education for our students. Those bridges were burned and those doors were slammed shut when Debbie was forced to resign.

Since then, the school has been abandoned by all those who claim to support it. We have not received the instruments and items we were told to expect. Our space is inappropriate; we have been forced to teach in a reading room and a hallway. The partitions that were provided to us do not reach the ceilings. Lockers were not installed until last Friday, leaving our students with no where to store their belongings. We have been left and forgotten. Teachers have been chastised without being offered the proper supports. Our social worker is being let go, against the wishes of many of the students, parents, and staff due to a personal bias on the part of the former principal. These things may sound trivial to an outsider, but most any teacher can tell you that an inappropriate location can hurt a child’s success. Add to that the number of resources we are not set up to provide and the result is teachers scrambling to fill in gaps that they are not meant to fill.

KGIA has such talented teachers and staff that if we are given the proper setting, tools, materials, and leadership KGIA would be one of the top schools in the five boroughs. It is time for the community to come together in support of a school that can only lead to great things for the city of New York and our country.

As of the end of the school day today, New Visions informed the UFT that they will be providing KGIA with a special education teacher to serve the eleven students who have as yet, gone unserved, a school counselor, and a parent teacher coordinator.

New York City, January 17, 2008 -Statement by Fatin Jarara, KGIA family member

Good evening.

My name is Fatin Jarara. I am a Palestinian immigrant and a college student pursuing a career in adolescence education. One of the many reasons why the Khalil Gibran International Academy is important to me is because my youngest sister is a current student there. When my family learned of the opportunity to enroll her in this unique school, there was no hesitation to have her apply. We were very excited for her and for the other students that would benefit from such a curriculum that the school promises. For children of Arab descent, the school would provide the standard education that other six graders in public schools would receive plus the incorporation of Arabic language and culture. There is no better way that I could think of, as a language learner, a student and a prospective educator, to learn a language than have it fused with everyday learning. The school was also promising for children who are not of Arab background, as it is was to introduce Arab language and culture in a positive light and a student-friendly environment, and help students develop understanding of others and embracing other cultures. This is a deep contrast to how the government and the media portrayed members of my community, but I guess there are those who would not like anyone to learn about our culture, our cuisines, our music and anything else that might prove that we are human beings just like everyone else.

When the tragic events unfolded prior to the first day of school, however, we became wary of what would happen to my sister and what would happen to the school. I have known Debbie Almontaser for many years, and have acquainted my family and many of my friends with her. Anyone that I ever met that knows of her, even people outside of our community, had only great things to say about her. Knowing that she was going to be the leader of the school gave my family no doubt that my sister was going to be in good hands. When we learned of her resignation, we could not believe that Debbie would throw away her dream of leading the school and jeopardize its wellness as well as that of its community of students, staff and family members. I knew that something was not right, and only extreme measures would lead Debbie to do this, and when I learned that she was forced to resign by the Department of Education as well as members of New Visions and the Mayor’s office, I was very disappointed but not surprised. The ordeal that Debbie is going through makes me nervous about how I will be treated once I become a teacher.

The Department of Education makes it seem like they are taking good care of the school. The first harm they have inflicted is to force Debbie to resign, which deprives the school of its caring and well-qualified mother. Furthermore, they have failed to protect the school from the slander it has been receiving from its racist opponents and the media. In appointing Holly Reichert as the new principal they pretend that they have solved all problems, but when I asked my sister about how the school is like since then she tells me that it gradually gets worse. Ms. Reichert seemingly does not have the leadership skills it takes to manage the school well. In addition, her condemnation of the word “intifada”, in which she also condemns a group of young girls, is insulting. She completely disregarded the true meaning of the word, which Debbie has explained and was victimized for doing so. Perhaps Ms. Reichert did not want a fate similar to Debbie’s, but this makes me wonder: if she was so eager to condemn the word “intifada”, what would she say to her Arabic-learning students if they asked her what the word “madrassah” means? Would she condemn that word as well, or do the right thing by explaining the true meaning of this word? Her submission to racism and bias is dangerous for the Khalil Gibran International Academy and its students.

As a KGIA family member, as a student, educator and concerned member of the Arab and Brooklyn community, I challenge the Department of Education to live up to their words. They are failing this school, its students and staff, and if they do it at KGIA, any school may be next. The Department of Education, New Visions and the Mayor need to protect the school rather than allowing racist and hateful forces to vandalize it with their illegitimate accusations. They need to provide the students and staff the support they need rather than jeopardizing the wellness of the school and the education of the students. Last, but not least, they need to reinstate Debbie Almontaser as she is the rightful leader of the school, and as she, being the one that envisioned it, worked tirelessly to see its birth and having been an educator for many years, will not be matched for her deep care for the school. This will get the school moving in the right direction, and will be a sign to Arabs and everyone else that racism will not be tolerated in New York City.

For Immediate Release Contact Mona 917-703-0488, Donna 917-570-4371

January 14, 2008 kgiasupport@gmail.com

KGIA Teacher speaks out on Thursday, January 17th

Community Groups and Others Point to Racism and Problematic Process in the Appointment of New KGIA Principal

On Thursday, January 17th at 5:30pm at PRLDEF, 99 Hudson Street, 14th floor, the school’s UFT Chapter Leader and others will speak about the vision of KGIA, the reality inside the school, and why KGIA needs Debbie Almontaser’s leadership.

The New York City Department of Education (DOE) announced its decision to appoint a new principal for the Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA) on January 8th. The announcement came amidst charges of racism and a lawsuit challenging the DOE’s removal of Debbie Almontaser, the dual-language school’s founding principal. Ms. Almontaser was forced out of her position as principal when the DOE, New Visions for Public Schools, and United Federation of Teachers (UFT) President Randi Weingarten called for her resignation. According to those organizing for the re-appointment of Ms. Almontaser, her removal was the result of a smear campaign against her and the school. “The DOE’s decision reflects educational policy based on anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism,” says Amy Schoenwald, a representative from Communities in Support of KGIA, a coalition of over 25 community groups and individuals from diverse communities in New York City and from across the country.

When the DOE forced Debbie Almontaser to resign, they forced an Arab-American woman (identifiable as Muslim by her hijab/headscarf) out of a leadership position in a school intended to focus on Arab language and culture. KGIA was long envisioned by Almontaser, with the help of a diverse school design team, to be a community-based school with deep and meaningful relationships with Arab-American and multicultural communities and educational institutions throughout NYC. The DOE replaced Almontaser with a white woman without roots in these communities. While the DOE unjustly—and unjustifiably—forced the Arab-American woman out after she would not condemn Arab-American girls and other girls of color who were being vilified for t-shirts bearing the word “intifada,” the woman it chose to replace her offered such a condemnation on the very day of her appointment. “Her comment was totally irrelevant to her job as principal and showed little respect for the Arab community”, said civil rights lawyer Abdeen Jabara.

Sean Grogan, an educator and current teacher at KGIA, where he is also UFT Chapter Leader, comments, “I, as well as others, came to KGIA because of Debbie Almontaser’s vision and the leadership she brought with her. I was honored to be working with someone so talented and committed to our children, who, as an Arab educator, not only brought with her a great knowledge of Arabic culture and language, but was also a bridge builder who was uniquely qualified to bring our communities together and to lead such a school.” Grogan added that “Debbie Almontaser by far remains the person most qualified to lead the Khalil Gibran International Academy, which has been in great disarray since her forced resignation.” KGIA parent Saleh Altaheri agreed: “It is Debbie Almontaser—her vision and qualifications to be the leader of KGIA—that we most need at this time.”

The DOE has withheld a significant detail from the media and public regarding Holly Reichert, the new principal: Reichert comes to her position from New Visions for Public Schools, one of the key players in forcing Almontaser’s resignation. But all of the DOE’s descriptions of Reichert’s qualifications for this position, as cited in numerous media reports, omit her affiliation with New Visions, on whose Board both the Chancellor and UFT President sit. “This omission is misleading and obscures the fact that the DOE’s search for principal began and ended in its own backyard,” added Carol Horwitz of Communities in Support of KGIA.

“The DOE tried to give the impression that its principal selection process is open and designed to determine the strongest possible candidate. This was most certainly not the process used for KGIA. Debbie Almontaser was not given appropriate or fair consideration,” said Sally Lee of Teachers Unite.

“Through this appointment, the DOE and New Visions have demonstrated their fundamental unwillingness to challenge the right wing. Instead, they have allowed ignorance and divisiveness to prevail,” said Dr. Sarah Sayeed, a concerned community activist and a communication consultant. Debbie Almontaser was uniquely qualified to be the principal of KGIA at the time she was forced to resign. As the visionary architect of this school, she remains the person most capable of ensuring that KGIA becomes what it was meant to be: a school that teaches tolerance, respect and embracing differences, all of which are essential lessons for a diverse city like New York.”

Ms. Almontaser’s lawsuit against the DOE will be heard before the Court of Appeals in the next two weeks. Despite the recent developments, supporters of the original vision of KGIA, as developed by Almontaser and the school’s design team, remain steadfast in their demand for justice.

ON THE APPOINTMENT OF KGIA PERMANENT PRINCIPAL

Statement from Communities in Support of KGIA

Contact: kgiasupport@gmail.com

New York City, Januray 8, 2008-Given the circumstances in which Debbie Almontaser was forced to resign and that the DOE’s decision not to consider her application to the position is still being challenged in court, this appointment is illegitimate.

We challenge any self-respecting professional who would accept a position at the school at this time given the evidence of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism that hangs over Debbie Almontaser’s discharge.

Although the new principal may be qualified as an educator, she clearly does not have qualifications or experience for this position that come anywhere close to those of KGIA’s visionary and founding principal, Debbie Almontaser. Just take a look at each of their qualifications, and it is more than obvious that the best person was not selected for this position.

Additional statements from Communities in Support of KGIA representatives:

“It is clearly not in the best interest of the school for the DOE to have appointed a new principal when the case is going to be heard before the court of appeals in the next few weeks, determining whether or not founding principal Debbie Almontaser was unfairly excluded from the selection process for the position . The new semester doesn’t begin until the end of the month, and so there was no reason to bulldoze this through now. It shows a lack of integrity and concern for the well-being of the students and families of KGIA.”

            -Rabbi Michael Feinberg

“The new principal is an employee of New Visions, whose president played a central role in Debbie Almontaser’s forced resignation from her position.  Is it possible that the DOE or New Visions played an improper role in hand-picking the new principal? Something is very off here.”

-Mona Eldahry

“The DOE may point to all the qualifications of the new principal.  What the DOE has failed to address is that the new principal’s qualifications fall dramatically short of Ms. Almontaser’s qualifications.  The DOE forced Ms. Almontaser to resign and then unfairly excluded her from the process to become KGIA’s principal.  Now they are offering the position to an individual far less qualified and with far less experience than Ms. Almontaser to lead a school that has fallen far short of its mission and vision without Ms. Almontaser’s leadership.”

            -Carol Horowitz

“Today’s selection of a ‘new Principal’ of KGIA is very disappointing and yet another wrong move. Like Ms Reichert, the new Principal, I also taught students in Arabic as a Peace Corps instructor. And while I tend to regard fellow Peace Corps volunteers almost as family, I really have to wonder about Ms Reichert’s judgment here, choosing to step over Ms Almontaser in order to get the job. That is not the Peace Corps way and that is not the way to inspire confidence or support.

I am less surprised about the Department of Education and its partner New Visions which have shown a consistent lack of good judgment– in this case, selecting a new Principal when the court case could invalidate that selection. What brutal bureaucratic logic! Moreover, it is also clear that DOE will not hire an actual Arab American for this position. That racist message will seem very clear to many in this city and around the world.”

                        -P. Adem Carroll

Seeking Justice, Speaking Truth:
An Evening of Celebration and Performance in Support
of The Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA)

The Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA) was founded as a place for our children and our city to learn about and celebrate Arabic language and culture. Then, however, hate groups rallied NYC tabloids and city leadership behind their agenda of racism and lies. Communities in Support of KGIA will not let anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate jeopardize this school and the ability of Arab and Muslim educators and administrators such as Debbie Almontaser to take leadership within it. Arabic culture is an essential part of the cultural mosaic of Brooklyn and all of NYC. Join us for a night of speakers, art, and performance highlighting the importance of KGIA, its goals and its purpose, as well as the challenges it faces.

TUESDAY, JANUARY 29TH 6:30 P.M.
Park Slope United Methodist Church
410 Sixth Avenue (Corner of 6th Ave. and 8th St), Brooklyn
subway: F train to 7th Av or R train to 4th Av and 9th St.

FOOD AND CHILDCARE WILL BE PROVIDED..
contact: kgiasupport@gmail.com or (415) 595-1433

January 6, 2008

By Robert F. Worth

One dark afternoon last winter, after too many hours spent studying Arabic verbs, I found myself staring uncomprehendingly at a video on my computer screen. An Arab man was holding forth tediously, his words half drowned by the rain outside. At first all I could make out was the usual farrago of angry consonants and strangled vowels. No progress there. Then, at last, the letters lighted up at the back of my brain.

“I understand what he’s saying!” I shrieked to the empty apartment, spinning backward in my desk chair. “I understand every word!”

 Last winter, New York City announced plans for a new Arabic-language public secondary school in Brooklyn. An aggressive campaign against the school soon sprang up, despite the uncontroversial presence of Chinese, Russian, Spanish and other dual-language schools in the city…  For Arabic speakers, the very title of the “Stop the Madrassa” campaign — now national in scope — is bound to have an uncomfortable ring. Madrassa is the Arabic word for “school”; it could not be more wholesome.

I felt a warm rush of gratitude to the speaker, a bespectacled doctor. It made no difference that he was Ayman al-Zawahri, Al Qaeda’s No. 2 man, or that he was threatening to slaughter large numbers of Americans. He spoke a slow, clear fusha, the formal version of Arabic I had been struggling to decipher on the page for 10 hours a day. Even better, his words matched my limited vocabulary: arsala, “to send”; jaish, “army”; raees, “president.” I was almost drunk with exhilaration.

Moments later the darkness dropped again. The terrorist disappeared, his rarefied language replaced by the clipped, quotidian accents of a political analyst. This was closer to the ordinary Arabic I would need for my work, and I understood precisely nothing. Was I wasting my time?

Learning Arabic has been like that: moments of elation alternating with grim, soul-churning despair. The language is not so much hard as it is vast, with dozens of ways to form the plural and words that vary from region to region, town to town. With every sign of progress it seems to deepen beneath you like a coastal shelf. Read more…