Feb 20, 2007 1:59 pm US/Eastern
New Schools To Receive $1 Million To Pay Teachers
(CBS)
Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today announced that 20 new schools opening in September will receive more than a million dollars from the Department of Education to help pay for certified teachers of English as a Second Language (ESL) or special education. The money will be dispensed in ten grants going to schools enrolling at least 18 English language learners (ELLs) and ten grants going to schools enrolling at least 18 students who require special education services. The grants will allow new schools, which open with a staff of only four or five teachers, to hire a full-time teacher certified in either ELL or special education instruction.
"New schools have been highly successful in serving English language learners and students who need special education services, and I am gratified to offer this support to 20 schools committed to educating significant numbers of these students from day one," said Chancellor Klein. "The grants will help us build on the outstanding work of our new schools over the past four years."
The ten new schools receiving grants for special education will enroll at least eight students requiring special education teacher support services—like resource room instruction—and at least ten students who are best served in a dedicated special education class or a collaborative team teaching setting (in which two teachers, one of whom is certified in special education, teach special education and general education students in the same classroom). The grant, which schools receive for their first two years, will help fund a special education lead teacher position as well the costs of monthly professional development sessions for school faculty, some of which will focus on how to collect and use performance data to identify areas in which students need additional help. All schools receiving grants are also required to have a second certified special education teacher on staff.
The remaining ten grants will support the salary of a certified ESL teacher in schools that enroll at least 18 ELL students in their first year. School faculty must attend monthly professional development in language acquisition and ESL instruction. Some sessions will train faculty to use ELL student performance data to effectively identify strengths and weaknesses in instruction. Schools receiving grants, which are for one year, will adhere to a schedule that allows time for ESL and general education teachers to collaborate and share best practices.
Forty schools opening in September were eligible for the grants, up to $45,000 yearly, depending on the specific needs and number of students. The following schools received grants:
Special Education Grants- Brooklyn Generation School
- Victory Collegiate High School
- Brooklyn Theater Arts High School
- Expeditionary Learning School for Community Leaders
- Lyons Community School
- Arts and Media Preparatory Academy
- Middle School of Marketing and Legal Studies
- School of Diplomacy
- Urban Institute of Mathematics
- Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation
Language Learner Grants- Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning School
- It Takes a Village Academy
- Multicultural High School
- Academy for Language and Technology
- Antonio Pantoja Preparatory Academy: A College Board School
- Bronx Mathematics Preparatory Academy
- East Flatbush Community Research School
- Khalil Gibran International Academy
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