Legal Services NYC-Bronx Fights for Students at P.S. 11

Children attending a Bronx elementary school are not receiving the special services
to which they are entitled, including Special Education, English as a Second Language, and Academic Intervention Services, according to parents, teachers, and community activists. A coalition that includes Legal Services NYC-Bronx, a program of Legal Services NYC,  is demanding action.

An article from the August 8th issue of El Diario-La Prensa is translated below. Read the article in Spanish at La Diario-La Prensa's website. 

Coalition Reproaches School Principal

Carmen Alarcón/EDLP    2008-08-08    El Diario NY 

Children attending P.S. 11 Elementary School, at 1257
Ogden Avenue in the Bronx, are not receiving the special services
to which they have a right because of inadequate management of funds and
inability to lead the institution by Principal Elizabeth Hachar, according to
complaints made by a coalition of teachers, parents and Highbridge community
activists. 

“In a school where 66% of the students are Hispanic, the
special programs are of extreme importance for the development of the students,”
said a teacher who is part of the coalition, who asked to remain anonymous due
to fears of reprisal by the principal. On May 2 of this year, the coalition
sent an official complaint to the office of District 9 School Superintendent
Dolores Desposito in which they describe irregularities that the teachers have
observed during the two years that Principal Hachar has held the post. However,
to date the coalition has not received a response regarding an investigation,
and Principal Hachar continues on in her position.

Among complaints made by the teachers is that students are
not receiving services such as Special Education, English as a Second Language
(ESL), and Academic Intervention Services. According to Nelson Mar, an
attorney at Legal Services NYC-Bronx who specializes in education, both No Child
Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) are being violated
at P.S. 11.

“Our main objective is to remove the principal and restore
Charles Woods as Parent Coordinator,” said Mar.

Margie Feinberg, spokeswoman
for the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) at the Department of Education
would not give a statement except to say that the allegations are being
investigated. Principal Hachar sis not respond to a phone call from El Diario-La Prensa.

“We want to know what Principal Hachar is doing with the
school’s funds,” said Charles Woods, former Parent Coordinator for the school,
who says that the handling of the funds is among the coalition’s unanswered
questions. Hachar came to the school two years ago as part of the Leadership Academy created by the Bloomberg
administration, in which school principals are trained according to an
enterprise model, according to Woods.

“The model of handling the schools like a business, giving
principals the authority to handle funding at their discretion is not healthy,”
said a P.S. 11 teacher. “What surprises me most is that they have not suspended
anyone yet,” said George
Creek, an activist
involved in the complaint.

According to the investigator for OSI, Michael Harris, the
people who are under investigation will stay in their positions until the
allegations are verified. “People are innocent until proven guilty,” Harris
explained.

For Griselle Ortiz, mother of a second-grader at P.S. 11, obtaining
special services for her son has been frustrating. “I have been going to speak
with Principal Hachar about my son’s situation, but she has not helped me,”
said Ortiz. Ortiz’s son has hyperactivity problems and the mother complains
that the school has not evaluated him so that he can receive the services he
needs next year.

“My heart is with the Highbridge community, to see that
these children are not receiving the services they need because the principal
has not been able to manage the institution in an acceptable way is not right,”
concluded on of the P.S. 11 teachers who are fighting to remove Principal
Hachar from her position.