62.0°,
Fog/Mist Airing the charter school arguments
State Board of Regents to make decision in November
Representatives of the New American Leadership Academy Charter School and Lawrence School District residents and employees presented their arguments for and against a proposed charter school at a 2½-hour public hearing on Monday.
New American Leadership Academy officials, who submitted an application to establish a charter school in the district to the New York State Education Department in August, pointed to the educational model they will use and the low performance of Lawrence students on the state exams as the main reasons such a school is needed. The state Board of Regents is expected to consider the proposal at its November meeting.
Alan Cohen, who is expected to be the headmaster of the charter school, spoke about New American Leadership’s educational methods, which include teaching teams — a master teacher and four other teachers in a class of 60, creating a teacher-student ratio of 12:1 — looping, in which a teacher follows the same students throughout his or her time in the school; an annual five-week summer training program for teachers; and daily 90-minute master teacher-teacher meetings. “Exactly what the most elite private schools are using,” Cohen said.
Community members, teachers and administrators argued that, overall, the district is doing a great deal to improve its academics and create a caring environment where progress is being made. “In this year’s third grade ELA we outperformed Westbury and even school districts considered better than us, such as Oceanside,” said Deputy Superintendent Ann Pedersen. “Fourth grade ELA showed improvement as well.” This year, 39 percent of fourth-graders met the state proficiency standard in ELA, compared with 30.7 in 2013.
The New American Leadership Academy Charter School expects to begin operating next September, with 60 students each in kindergarten and first grade. The school plans to add one grade per year, and grow to 360 students, from kindergarten through fifth grade, by 2019-20. A location for the school has yet to be determined.
