“MAYOR AND DOE CLOSE THE KHALIL GIBRAN INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY’S MIDDLE SCHOOL, THE NATION’S FIRST ARABIC DUAL LANGUAGE SCHOOL” : Press Release

For Immediate Release

April 10, 2011, NYC— After having done a great deal to ensure that the Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA) would not succeed, the New York City Department of Education is closing the middle school—citing its low enrollment and failing marks on its School Report Card.  KGIA was founded in 2007 to be a model Arabic-English dual language school designed to “help students of all backgrounds learn about the world and foster in them an understanding of different cultures, a love of learning, and desire for excellence in all of its students.”

The DOE has, over the years, taken numerous steps that undermined any chance for the middle school to carry out its mission:

Even before the school opened in 2007, the DOE and Mayor (with Dennis Walcott as the Mayor’s messenger) forced the resignation of founding principal Debbie Almontaser after the New York Post, which asked her to define the word intifada, misreported and sensationalized her response. Right-wing groups that had been opposing the school chimed in with their own brand of anti-Arab/anti-Muslim bigotry. Ms. Almontaser was fully vindicated by a March 2010 ruling of the federal Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, which stated that, in demanding her resignation, the “DOE succumbed to the very bias that the creation of the school was intended to dispel, and a small segment of the public succeeded in imposing its prejudices on the DOE as an employer.”  Her removal from the school reflected the willingness by the Mayor and Chancellor Klein to bow to right-wing hate groups.

After a deeply flawed search in which the DOE refused to consider Ms. Almontaser’s application, it replaced this long-time educator, who is bilingual and bicultural, with a New Visions’ employee, who spoke no Arabic and had no local community roots or demonstrated commitment to KGIA’s initial vision. The school’s next leader, who also came from New Visions and who resigned with the school in disarray, also had little knowledge of, or relationship with, NYC’s Arab communities, and had no experience leading a school.

The DOE and New Visions consistently refused to provide KGIA with the staff and other resources necessary for it to succeed. Months went by, for example, without the school having a special education teacher.  Increasingly, the school was staffed by those who lacked commitment to KGIA’s initial vision; as a result, a school that had begun with great promise as a grade 6-12 dual language school designed to educate its students about the Arabic language and Arab culture, became just another middle school in which students study a foreign language a few periods per week.

Without consulting with parents of KGIA students, the DOE decided to move the school in September 2008 from its original site near neighborhoods with sizable Arab communities to a site in Fort Greene, where only 1 percent of the population is of Arab descent (U.S. Census) and public transportation is sparse.  Although parents of students then enrolled in KGIA objected to the move, they were too late.  As is all too typical, the DOE informed parents only after it had made its decision.

“This is one more story of a DOE and a Mayor who–without the participation of any community and in capitulation to a campaign of racism and hatred–destroyed a school whose purpose was to educate students of different backgrounds to be socially engaged citizens,” stated Mona Eldahry of AWAAM: Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media.

In a letter to the Mayor at the height of the controversy, a group of nationally respected educators wrote the following:

“For those of us working in the field of education, the treatment of Debbie Almontaser represents a threat not only to our rights as educators and citizens in a democratic society; it is also an attack on the small-schools movement and on the push for diversity and equity within our system of public education. Will bigotry be allowed to decide which public schools can exist and who can lead them?”

Ujju Aggarwal from the Center for Immigrant Families added, “We need KGIA and schools like it more than ever. At a time when profit is being put before the needs of our children; when a top-down approach of mayoral control has replaced partnerships among schools, communities, students, and educators; when there is increased Islamophobia, racism, and xenophobia; we need schools like KGIA that respect, reflect, and serve all our children and communities.”

Adem Carroll of Communities in Support of KGIA stated: “Despite their closing the middle school down, those of us who were part of this movement pledge to continue this struggle on many different fronts.  Those of us who were part of Communities in Support of KGIA have continued to work together to challenge Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism and for equity and justice in our public schools.”

“DOE REJECTS EEOC FINDING OF DISCRIMINATION, REFUSES NEGOTIATION WITH ALMONTASER” : Press Release

EEOC Refers Case to Department of Justice to Consider Action Against City

March 24, 2010

The Department of Education (DOE) has notified the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that it is unwilling to engage in a process of conciliation concerning the EEOC’s finding that the DOE discriminated against Debbie Almontaser when it forced her to resign as acting principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy. The DOE’s position was conveyed to Ms. Almontaser and her lawyers in a letter received yesterday.

The EEOC’s ruling on March 9, 2010 had given the DOE until March 24 to indicate whether it would work with Ms. Almontaser’s lawyers and the EEOC to reach a “just resolution” of her claim. Within hours of receiving the EEOC’s ruling, the DOE responded that it had “in no way discriminated against Ms. Almontaser and she will not be reinstated.”

Commenting on the DOE’s unwillingness to engage in conciliation, Cynthia Rollings, one of Ms. Almontaser’s lawyers, said: “Given the DOE’s dismissive response to the EEOC ruling, we were not surprised to learn that the DOE now says it is unwilling to engage in conciliation. The response is clearly prompted by considerations having nothing to do with the substance of the EEOC Determination.” Co-counsel Alan Levine concurred: “The EEOC’s finding of discrimination is thorough and persuasive. The DOE’s cavalier dismissal of that finding is stark evidence that the merits of the ruling played no part in its refusal to engage in conciliation discussions.”

Ms. Almontaser’s lawyers announced that they intend to bring a lawsuit based on Ms. Almontaser’s discrimination claim. In addition, as a result of the DOE’s refusal to conciliate, the EEOC has referred the case to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to consider whether it, too, will bring a court action against the DOE.

”Although all of us familiar with these events knew that the DOE had discriminated against Debbie Almontaser, this is the first time that a finding of discrimination has been made by an impartial agency. We have all witnessed the DOE’s arrogance on many occasions, but this is particularly appalling,“ stated Ujju Aggarwal of the Center for Immigrant Families.

“This case is of great importance to the Arab and Muslim communities, and we will urge our political representatives to contact the DOJ in an effort to get the DOJ to sue, “ said Dalia Mahmoud of the Muslim Public Affairs Council-NYC (MPAC-NYC).

“DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION REFUSES TO ADDRESS ISSUES OF DISCRIMINATION IN CASE OF DEBBIE ALMONTASER” : Press Release

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

What is the Department of Education (DOE) up to? Its recent behavior in the case of Debbie Almontaser “is suspicious, to say the least,” stated her lawyers, Alan Levine and Cynthia Rollings. According to Levine, “Only days earlier, the DOE was charged by a federal agency with having discriminated against an Arab-American principal, and then they install an Arab-American as the school’s principal. The timing seems a bit more than coincidental.”

What actually happened? This past Thursday, March 11th, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a Determination that “the evidence obtained during the investigation establishes that Respondent Department of Education discriminated against [Ms. Almontaser] on account of her race, religion, and national origin by constructively discharging her from her temporary position as acting principal and disqualifying her as candidate for the permanent position.” Further, the Determination stated that the “DOE succumbed to the very bias that creation of the school was intended to dispel and a small segment of the public succeeded in imposing its prejudices on DOE as an employer.”

Despite these findings of discrimination on the part of the DOE by an impartial federal agency, the DOE’s lawyers responded dismissively by saying that the DOE “in no way discriminated against Ms. Almontaser and she will not be reinstated.”

Five days later, the principal of KGIA gave the school’s families one day’s notice that she was leaving the school and that a new principal, Beshir Abdellatif (who would be leaving the school where he was principal), would be coming the next day. This means that two principals abruptly left their schools in the middle of the year, and that parents at both schools had almost no advance knowledge of the changes.

Michelle Fine, noted educator and expert on dropouts, educational inequity, and the small schools movement, said: “Does the DOE really believe the public will be appeased by the appointment of a new principal— introduced late in the school year, with no community input, provoking leadership disruptions in two schools and a media diversion? The DOE shouts transparency and accountability and ‘we know what’s good for the children’ as they refuse to consult with educators, youth or parent groups and ignore the EEOC! To whom is the DOE accountable?”

If the principal is leaving KGIA, then, in light of the EEOC determination, fairness demands that Debbie Almontaser be placed back into the position she held of interim acting principal until the C-30 application process can take place. She was, after all, the person that the DOE and community agreed was most qualified to lead the school in the first place.

According to Linda Sarsour of the Arab American Association of New York, “If the DOE was operating in good faith and not trying to deflect the impact of the EEOC determination, they would certainly not have removed a principal and installed a new one with one day’s notice. The DOE must not be allowed to ignore the very serious findings of discrimination of the EEOC Determination.”

MPAC-NYC APPLAUDS EEOC FINDING OF DISCRIMINATION AGAINST FOUNDING PRINCIPAL OF KHALIL GIBRAN ACADEMY : Press Release

3/15/10

The MPAC-NYC community today welcomed a recent ruling by the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) which found that the New York City Department of Education  discriminated against Debbie Almontaser, the founding principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy in 2007. Almontasser was forced by resign her post following a highly politicized and baseless attack by Islamophobes, led by Daniel Pipes.

SEE: Federal Panel Finds Bias in Ouster of Principal (New York Times)

In a letter issued last week, the EEOC stated that the NYC Department of Education (DOE) had discriminated against Almontaser, a Muslim of Yemeni descent, “on account of her race, religion, and national origin.”

The commission went on to state that the NYC DOE “succumbed to the very bias that the creation of the school was intended to dispel and that a small segment of the public succeeded in imposing its prejudices on DOE as an employer.”

Commenting on the Commission’s finding, Alan Levine, an attorney for Almontaser, said:

“Debbie Almontaser was victimized twice. First, when she was subjected to an ugly smear campaign orchestrated by anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigots, and second, when the DOE capitulated to their bigotry. But the bigots didn’t have the power to take her job away. The DOE did. To its everlasting shame, the DOE did the bigots’ work.  Now, the EEOC has reminded us that it is the responsibility of government to stand up to the forces of discrimination, not to give into them.”

MPAC urges the New York City Department of Education, per the EEOC recommendation, to reinstate Ms. Almontaser in her position as principal of the school and to consider her demands of back pay and legal fees.

Founded in 1988, MPAC is an American institution which informs and shapes public opinion and policy by serving as a trusted resource to decision makers in government, media and policy institutions. MPAC is also committed to developing leaders with the purpose of enhancing the political and civic participation of Muslim Americans.

[CONTACT: Edina Lekovic, 213-383-3443, communications@mpac.org]

EEOC DETERMINES THAT DOE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST FORMER KGIA PRINCIPAL

New York, New York March 12, 2010

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued a Determination in which it finds that the Department of Education forced Debbie Almontaser, the former interim acting principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA), to resign in order to appease her anti-Arab and anti-Muslim critics. The Commission ruled that, in demanding Ms. Almontaser’s resignation, the “DOE succumbed to the very bias that the creation of the school was intended to dispel, and a small segment of the public succeeded in imposing its prejudices on the DOE as an employer.”

“This is a stunning and important vindication of what Debbie and her supporters have been claiming all along—that the Department of Education succumbed to anti-Muslim and anti-Arab prejudice, committing a terrible injustice and sending a dangerous message about the ability of voices of bigotry and hatred to determine which public schools get to exist and who should lead them,” said educator and writer Paula Hajar.

The Commission also held that Ms. Almontaser was the victim of discrimination when she subsequently applied for the position of permanent principal. It was “clear,” the commission held, that, when she applied, she was not evaluated on the basis of her credentials, noting that the DOE had announced before Almontaser’s application was ever seen “that she would not be considered” for the position.

“I am delighted by the EEOC’s Determination, a step on the road to justice for Debbie Almontaser. It is high time for the DOE to admit that it has done her a terrible wrong. Her good name and reputation deserve to be redeemed,” said Rabbi Ellen Lippmann of Congregation Kolot Chayeinu, one of the signatories of the letter from Jewish leaders in support of Almontaser that was sent to the Mayor and Chancellor last year.

Commenting on the Commission’s finding, Alan Levine, one of Ms. Almontaser’s lawyers, said: “Debbie Almontaser was victimized twice, first, when she was subjected to an ugly smear campaign orchestrated by anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bigots, and second, when the DOE capitulated to their bigotry. But the bigots didn’t have the power to take her job away. The DOE did. To its everlasting shame, the DOE did the bigots’ work. Now the EEOC has reminded us that it is the responsibility of government to stand up to the forces of discrimination, not to give into them.”

In a letter accompanying its Determination, the EEOC has asked the DOE to consider Almontaser’s demand for reinstatement and an award of damages.

Letter to Sent to Mayor Bloomberg

September 17, 2009

The following letter was sent to Mayor Bloomberg by organizations from the Arab community and other diverse communities across NYC.

Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

We the undersigned write to request a meeting with you and the Department of Education (DOE) to discuss concerns about the current conditions of the Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA), New York’s first Arabic dual language school.

For two years now, diverse communities across the city have called on you to provide KGIA with the leadership it needs to succeed. Not only has the administration neglected to support KGIA with adequate leadership to enable it to flourish, but, even as a new school year begins, it has left our communities with a number of very serious questions:

Why did the DOE not actively seek the assistance of the Arab community organizations in Brooklyn to find a more appropriate site for the school?

In 2008, with no input from parents, the school was moved from a location with a largely Arabic speaking community to a location with few or no Arabic speaking families and no access by subway.

What steps will the school leadership take both to fill all of KGIA’s seats and to fill the proposed requirement of 50% Arabic speaking students?

In the 2008-09 school year, the majority of the school’s 120 seats remained empty, with only 52 students enrolled (KGIA website).

Students and parents report that, in both its first- and second-year of operation, no more than 10% of the students enrolled in the school were Arabic-speaking students.  Many of Brooklyn’s Arab community organizations say that school leaders have made no efforts to recruit students through their groups.

What changes will the DOE make so that KGIA can function as an Arabic dual language program?

New Visions’ best practices for dual language learning recommends 50% non-English instruction at a “high frequency” and cites the need for teachers to be proficient in both languages.[1] KGIA started out with Arabic language classes taught only three times per week for one hour each.  All instruction in history, math, science, and other content area classes was in English.  According to the KGIA’s 2008-09 School Survey, 15% of the students surveyed stated that they were not offered Arabic language instruction at all. [2] Parents and students have also reported that Arabic language instruction was provided by a substitute teacher who was not permanently certified to teach and not permanently certified to teach Arabic.

Without both 50% of the students having Arabic as their first language and teachers who are proficient in both languages, a school cannot implement a dual language program.

How do the school leaders plan to incorporate the teaching of Arabic culture into the curriculum as was originally planned?

Parents and students report no Arabic cultural instruction.

How have the school leaders begun to address serious problems related to its staff/faculty-turnover rate?

In the 2007-2008 school year, all but two of the school’s faculty and staff were terminated, forced to resign, or resigned of their own will; two of these have filed lawsuits against the DOE; the NYCLU is representing one of these former staff members. The past school year had additional turnover. A qualified principal would develop a strong faculty and staff.

Mr. Mayor, we, communities across NYC, call on you to demonstrate the DOE’s commitment to KGIA by reopening the application process for principal in order to provide it with the leadership it needs to develop into a thriving school that, as intended, is a fully enrolled Arabic language dual language program that will add a grade each year until it serves grades 6-12. It is important that the original vision for the school be given a chance—and that this important project is shared more effectively with Arab community leaders and families.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely yours,

Arab American Association of NY
Arab Muslim American Federation
Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media
Black New Yorkers for Educational Excellence
Brooklyn for Peace
Center for Immigrant Families
Council on American-Islamic Relations-NY
Domestic Workers United
Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition
Independent Parents Organizations
It is Time
Jews for Racial and Economic Justice
La Union
Muslim Consultative Network
New York Collective of Radical Educators
Time Out

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[1] New Visions, Center for School Success Best Practices Series, Dual Language Instruction http://www.newvisions.org/dls/DualLang.pdf

[2] NYC Department of Education. NYC School Survey 2008-2009 Report, Khalil Gibran International Academy

Intifada NYC screening: Sat, November 14, 8:30 pm

http://www.amnh.org/programs/mead/2009/films/intifada-nyc

Director: David Teague

Year/Length: 2009 / 47 min

Country: U.S.

Co-presenter: London International Documentary Film Festival

New York Festival Premiere

Filmmaker in person

Khalil Gibran International Academy, the first Arabic-language public school in the U.S., opened in Brooklyn in 2007. Almost immediately, “Stop the Madrassa” formed out of fear that the school would teach radical Islam or even produce terrorists. As critics and the mainstream media stoked the flames in post-9/11 America, the controversy forced the school’s Arab-American Muslim principal from her job. Weaving together interviews and cinema verité footage, the film is supplemented by graphic-novel style illustrations of closed-door proceedings. Built on the principal’s struggle to get her job back, Intifada NYC clarifies the ensuing public debate about tolerance and freedom of speech.

Press Release: Sept. 2

ON FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, A REDUCED KHALIL GIBRAN FACES CHALLENGES:

Lack of Commitment by DOE, Complete Turnover of Founding Teachers and Questions of Leadership

NEW YORK — This week, New York City’s first dual language Arabic school, Khalil Gibran International Academy (KGIA), opens without its full Arabic language instruction, effective leadership, or any of its five original teachers or its social worker.

The Department of Education’s  (DOE’s ) process of abandoning KGIA’s original mission
began last year when the Mayor, along with the Department of Education and New Visions for
Public Schools, a partner agency that develops small new schools, forced the founding
principal to resign from her position because of a racist anti-Arab smear campaign organized by right-wing interest groups.

Recently, the Department of Education reneged on its original commitment to continuing KGIA as a 6th – 12th grade program and has not made a commitment beyond grades 6 through 8.  This change dramatically weakens the mission of the academy and makes it impossible for it to be a successful dual language program. The school’s plan had been structured around a rigorous 6th through 12th grade academic program encompassing cross cultural understanding and strong Arabic language skills.

The number of required hours of Arabic instruction has also been reduced significantly. The Department of Education recently cut the school’s Arabic language program from five to three days per week, removing a fundamental branch of the school’s curriculum. The language immersion program had originally been designed to provide daily Arabic instruction in order to equip students with fluency in a second language.

Although the school had been formerly situated near the Atlantic/Pacific train stop in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, this Tuesday it will open at 50 Navy Street at the edge of Fort Greene, far from the borough’s Arab-American community and subway stations. The city decided to move the school without parent
consultation or involvement. Not until after the school year ended were KGIA parents finally able to
voice this and other concerns in a meeting with the DOE and New Visions, though their concerns were dismissed.

In a public letter sent by KGIA parents to the Mayor and Schools Chancellor, parents said the newly appointed principal to KGIA was not exhibiting leadership or commitment to the school’s mission and was excluding parents from the decision making process: “Under the current leadership, we have little faith that this will ever be the school we want for our children. We are calling on the Department of Education to provide our school with better resources and leadership to educate our children. We want the school we were promised—the one envisioned and created by founding principal Debbie Almontaser. Our children deserve no less than that,” the letter said.

Since May, all five of the school’s teachers and its social worker have left or been pushed out. The DOE has failed in providing support to the school, its staff or parents, creating an unstable learning environment for students.

Parents Withdraw Children

An inaccessible location for KGIA students paired with neglected parent concerns and little commitment to the school’s original vision and mission has led to many parents withdrawing their children from the program. In a statement made during the school year, Muhammed Shahadat, whose child went to KGIA this past year, said: ”One of the reasons I had sent my child to KGIA was because I wanted her to go to a school where parents had a voice. Before the school opened, we were told that parents would be welcome to visit their children’s classrooms.”  However, parents were not allowed into classrooms, and at least one parent who spoke out about issues within the school was prohibited by security from entering the facility.

KGIA opened last September with its founding principal Debbie Almontaser pushed out of the picture. The DOE forced Ms. Almontaser to resign after a series of religious and ethnically-charged attacks by right wing fringe groups and the New York Post. The school has since undergone two replacement principals, neither of whom are closely involved with the communities they are serving.

Following Ms. Almontaser’s forced resignation, the school underwent a principal selection process that excluded Almontaser and two other qualified Arab-American candidates from interviewing for the position.

What has happened at KGIA is a clear example of the impact that Mayoral control of NYC schools has had in marginalizing parents, educators and community members from decision-making that affects their children.

Since Ms. Almontaser was ousted, a coalition of Brooklyn and Manhattan-based organizations formed in response to the DOE’s biased policies. “The DOE and its partners at New Visions may have expected that people would be outraged for a short time and that everything would go back to normal. But with this kind of injustice, it’s essential to continue demanding accountability,” said Adem Carroll, a member of the Muslim Consultative Network, one of the sponsoring groups of the Coalition in Support of KGIA. Hundreds of signatures have been gathered on several petitions defending the school and the former Principal (see www.kgia.wordpress.com).

Along with Mr. Carroll’s organization, members of the coalition include Brooklyn for Peace, Center for Immigrant Families, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition and Arab Women Active in the Arts and Media, along with many parents, teachers and community members.

—— -          ———             ———
“For those of us working in the field of education, the treatment of Debbie Almontaser represents a threat not only to our rights as educators and citizens in a democratic society; it is also an attack on the small-schools movement and on the push for diversity and equity within our system of public education. Will bigotry be allowed to decide which public schools can exist and who can lead them?”

(Letter to Mayor and Chancellor signed by leading educators across the country, including Lisa Delpit, Michelle Fine, Maxine Greene, Paula Hajar, Susan Klonsky, Mike Klonsky, Carol Lee, Deborah Meier, Pedro Noguera and many others.)

# # #

LETTER TO MAYOR REQUESTING MEETING FROM COMMUNITY LEADERS, KGIA PARENTS, AND CONCERNED INDIVIDUALS

May 6, 2008

The group of community leaders and concerned individuals below wrote and asked to meet with the Mayor, but he (his office) turned them down. Rabbi Matalon wrote on behalf of the group twice more but they still said no. They said it was because of the lawsuit; however, the Mayor regularly talks about things he’s being sued about.

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

As members of the religious, higher education, and K–12 communities of New York City, we request a meeting with you to discuss the current status of Debbie Almontaser, the founding principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy, and the growing threat to democratic education imposed by a small group who make the hateful and unfounded claim that “radical Islam” is being promoted in the school system

There is a general consensus among fair-minded New Yorkers, confirmed by this past week’s article in the New York Times, that Ms. Almontaser was the victim of a campaign of religious and ethnic bigotry that threatens the integrity, diversity, and democracy of public education K – 12. The impact has gone well beyond the wrong that was done to Ms. Almontaser. New York City’s public education system is recognized nationally and internationally for our commitments to pluralism, the small schools movement, and our rich history of dual language programs.

The episode has sent a chill through the small school movement and dual language programs, both of which, as you know, are such a vital part of our City’s public school system, and has dangerously circumscribed the range of acceptable discussion, debate and even hirings in our colleges and universities. In the City at large, the attacks on Ms. Almontaser and KGIA have re-ignited the forces of hate and intolerance, censorship and intimidation that have afflicted not only the Arab and Muslim communities since 9/11, but the Jewish communities, the world of higher education, and public K – 12 educators.

We would like to meet with you to enlist your help not only in rectifying the grave injustice done to Ms. Almontaser, but to also address these other critical issues affecting all New Yorkers.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Imam Shamsi Ali, Islamic Cultural Center of New York

Professor Louis Cristillo, Teachers College, Columbia University

Professor Michelle Fine, The Graduate Center–City University of New York

Professor Ofelia Garcia, Teachers College, Columbia University

Dr. Paula Hajar, educator

Deborah Howard, consultant and member, KGIA Design Team

Rabbi Rolando Matalon, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun

Professor Deborah Meier, Steinhardt School of Education, New York University

Pomposa Pena, PTA president, Khalil Gibran International Academy

Muhammed Shahadat, parent, Khalil Gibran International Academy

Rabbi Burton L. Visotzky, Jewish Theological Seminary

*affiliations for identification purposes

Please respond to:

Rabbi Rolando Matalon

212-787-7600 ext 234

RMatalon@bj.org

LETTER FROM KGIA PARENTS TO COMMUNITY AND TO CHANCELLOR AND MAYOR

6/19/08

For those concerned, as we are, with the future of the Khalil Gibran International Academy….

THESE ARE THE LEAFLETS WE (KGIA PARENTS) WERE GOING TO HAND OUT IN FRONT OF THE KGIA FUND-RAISER BEFORE IT GOT CANCELED AT THE LAST MINUTE:

We are writing you now because you are participating in a one-year anniversary celebration for KGIA. We wish we could be celebrating with you but the letter below, which has already been signed by many KGIA parents and which we will be sending to the Chancellor and Mayor, will explain why we cannot. We believe it is important for you to know what is really happening at KGIA and why it is a cause for great concern, rather than celebration. We hope that, after reading his letter, you will come to the school and learn for yourself what is really happening inside our school. We believe that, if you do that, you will understand why it is inappropriate and insulting to those of us who have had to endure the realities of this past year at KGIA to have such a celebration right now.

In addition to the reasons explained in the letter below, there are a few additional things that have happened that you may not be aware of:

In a closed meeting last month, Department of Education officials decided to make KGIA a 6-8th grade school rather than 6-12th. That is a very significant and detrimental change for a dual language school, which cannot achieve its goals within 3 years. KGIA administration did not discuss this with parents or inform them of the decision.

For the past several months, a substitute teacher has been teaching our children literacy out of license.

Our highly-regarded science teacher, who has been the most outspoken about the problems at the school, was removed from KGIA. KGIA administration has refused to give parents any information about his status as a KGIA teacher and claims falsely that he continues to grade students’ work.

Our children with special needs have been neglected this year.

Though the school’s original teachers are excellent and highly-skilled, the administration has not created an environment at the school that is conducive to teaching and learning. There are an unusually high number of discipline problems on a regular basis because the Department of Education has not provided the school with the leadership and resources it needs to succeed.

Please do not hesitate to contact us (347-445-0733) if you would like additional information. We send this to you with very heavy hearts.

Sincerely,

Pamposa Pena, PTA President Muhammed Fakir Shahada, KGIA Parent Susan O’Grady KGIA Parent

THIS IS THE LETTER (SIGNED BY 16 PARENTS AND FAMILY MEMBERS) THAT WE SENT TO THE MAYOR AND CHANCELLOR:

Dear Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein:

We are parents and family members at the Khalil Gibran International Academy in Brooklyn. We came to KGIA because we hoped for an excellent education for our children. We also wanted our children to attend a school that taught Arabic language and culture.

We are pleased that the New York Times has brought to the public’s attention what has happened to our school and its founding principal.

We would like to correct two points from the article:

1. The current principal is quoted as saying that the media attention has led to a “chaotic experience” for students. She is quoted as saying that “adults have created this, and children are the ones who have had to endure.” This is a false statement. The problems we have experienced are completely a result of what has been going on inside the school, the lack of resources and leadership, and the lack of support from the Department of Education.

2. The article says that, in recent weeks, conditions have improved. What the reporter may have been told is that we now have 3 classes, rather than 2, which is an improvement. As the rest of this letter will show, most things are not improving at the school.

In fact, we are very disappointed with how things have turned out at the school, and many of us are already pulling our children out of the school or are thinking of not returning next year. We hope it won’t come to that. One of the reasons we are thinking about leaving is that our school is moving to a neighborhood that is not easy to travel to and not near an Arab community, which is important for an Arabic language Dual Language program.

But, more than that, we are disturbed by the fact that the school has not had many of the resources it has needed since the beginning of the school year. Our children with special needs have not had proper instruction. Our social worker, whom students loved, was let go, though she has now been replaced with a guidance counselor. Students learning English as a Second Language went for seven months without proper language instruction. The walls that divide classrooms do not nearly reach the ceiling, creating a noisy environment that is difficult for teachers and students. Additionally, there have been numerous discipline problems, which continue to go unaddressed.

Most significantly, we worry about the school losing its identity as an Arabic dual langue program. In addition to the plan to move the school far from an Arab community, our Arabic language instruction has decreased to a little over two hours a week. We have seen little appreciation of Arabic language or culture within the school. There has not been a single cultural event where parents were invited to participate, and there are very few opportunities for our children to receive instruction about the culture.

As parents of KGIA students we believed we would be sending our children to a school that welcomed parent participation in the school community. We want and deserve a voice in our children’s education. However, the current leadership does not welcome us into the school or our children’s classrooms. Although we were told we would be included in discussions about whether and where the school should move before a decision was made, that did not happen. We ended up learning about the decision to move after the fact. Further, our children made and were circulating a petition to bring back the social worker that was fired. The principal took the petition from the children and ripped it up, showing no respect for their attempt to express their views and leadership on an issue that was important to them.

We believe the current leadership is not exhibiting a commitment to the mission of the school nor any ability to run the school effectively on a day-to-day basis. Under the current leadership, we have little faith that this will ever be the school we want for our children.

We are calling on the Department of Education to provide our school with better resources and leadership to educate our children. We want the school we were promised—the one envisioned and created by founding principal Debbie Almontaser. Our children deserve no less than that.