Hundreds of families citywide have been wrongfully denied access to the New York City Public Pre-K System due to a computer error. The Department of Education stipulated that priority for placement be given (in order) to siblings of in-zone children, siblings of out-of-zone children, in-zone and finally out-of-zone children.
This was not done. There are numerous families left without anywhere to educate their child. At PS10 in Brooklyn 20 families with sibling priorities were denied seats out of the 72 spots. Meanwhile, the spots that were meant for these children have been erroneously given to others who were either without siblings, out-of-zone or even out of the district. It is far too late in the year to apply to the already full and expensive private schools. Many families cannot afford to pay for private schools. The Department of Education has failed to make a public statement regarding their enormous error. They have also used public funds to outsource to a private company in Pennsylvania the entire application process.
Borough President Marty Markowitz, Councilmembers Bill DeBlasio, Letitia James and David Weprin as well as Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum have all called for a stop to the pre-k registrations until the problems are solved. They have been ignored. The families and their children have been ignored.
It is essential that children with siblings already attending public schools be allowed to join their brothers and sisters. It is unacceptable that so many children will be left behind because of a computer error that is neither being fixed nor addressed.
The Department of Education must be held accountable for their mistake and they must do everything they can to ensure the rightful placement of Pre-K students as was stipulated by their own admissions policies. We demand the Department of Education do what is right, honorable and in effect - follow its own rules.
The phone lines at the Department of Education stay silent despite our calls. We are documenting every single story of these sibling denials to push for accountability.
June 10, 2008
The momentum is undeniable. This is proof that the city cannot ignore us any longer.
Reached 100 supporters
June 10, 2008
6 Comments
J
Jessica Kumar
18 years ago
Featured
I dont have thousands for private school. fix it now.
D
David Reed
18 years ago
Featured
My daughter is crying every morning because she has to go to a different school than her brother. do better NYC.
L
Lisa Werner
18 years ago
Featured
Ridiculous that they spent money on a PA company just to screw up our kids schooling. total waste of my tax dollars!
S
Sarah Ingram
18 years ago
Featured
My son was denied a spot while kids from outside the district got in. absolute mess.
R
Robert Wong
18 years ago
Featured
Just another example of the DOE not knowing what they are doing. leave the siblings together obviously.
M
Mike Snyder
18 years ago
Featured
This is ridiculous. How can you separate siblings like this? fix the glitch already.
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The department finally corrected the placements. We secured the seats for our families. Thank you for staying loud.
Hundreds of families citywide have been wrongfully denied access to the New York City Public Pre-K System due to a computer error. The Department of Education stipulated that priority for placement be given (in order) to siblings of in-zone children, siblings of out-of-zone children, in-zone and finally out-of-zone children.
This was not done. There are numerous families left without anywhere to educate their child. At PS10 in Brooklyn 20 families with sibling priorities were denied seats out of the 72 spots. Meanwhile, the spots that were meant for these children have been erroneously given to others who were either without siblings, out-of-zone or even out of the district. It is far too late in the year to apply to the already full and expensive private schools. Many families cannot afford to pay for private schools. The Department of Education has failed to make a public statement regarding their enormous error. They have also used public funds to outsource to a private company in Pennsylvania the entire application process.
Borough President Marty Markowitz, Councilmembers Bill DeBlasio, Letitia James and David Weprin as well as Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum have all called for a stop to the pre-k registrations until the problems are solved. They have been ignored. The families and their children have been ignored.
It is essential that children with siblings already attending public schools be allowed to join their brothers and sisters. It is unacceptable that so many children will be left behind because of a computer error that is neither being fixed nor addressed.
The Department of Education must be held accountable for their mistake and they must do everything they can to ensure the rightful placement of Pre-K students as was stipulated by their own admissions policies. We demand the Department of Education do what is right, honorable and in effect - follow its own rules.
The phone lines at the Department of Education stay silent despite our calls. We are documenting every single story of these sibling denials to push for accountability.
June 10, 2008
The momentum is undeniable. This is proof that the city cannot ignore us any longer.
Reached 100 supporters
June 10, 2008
6 Comments
J
Jessica Kumar
18 years ago
Featured
I dont have thousands for private school. fix it now.
D
David Reed
18 years ago
Featured
My daughter is crying every morning because she has to go to a different school than her brother. do better NYC.
L
Lisa Werner
18 years ago
Featured
Ridiculous that they spent money on a PA company just to screw up our kids schooling. total waste of my tax dollars!
S
Sarah Ingram
18 years ago
Featured
My son was denied a spot while kids from outside the district got in. absolute mess.
R
Robert Wong
18 years ago
Featured
Just another example of the DOE not knowing what they are doing. leave the siblings together obviously.
M
Mike Snyder
18 years ago
Featured
This is ridiculous. How can you separate siblings like this? fix the glitch already.
I dont have thousands for private school. fix it now.