Housing and Homelessness

KIDS LOSE OUT IN BROOKLYN SCHOOL OF HARD LOCKS

|

When the Board of Education closes Brooklyn’s Sarah J. Hale high school in a few weeks, the student body will be dispersed–and some wonder where they’ll land.

In its ongoing drive to shut down schools that don’t make the grade, the Board of Education has flunked one school that parents and students say should have been given a chance. When Sarah J. Hale high school in Boerum Hill closes its doors at the end of this month, it will be closed for good. Last year, a team of independent education experts recommended that the school be “phased out,” citing low student academic performance and poor attendance.

Justice

RUDY MISFIRES ON GUNS

|

Mayor Giuliani castigated federal agencies for coming into Elian Gonzales’ home with guns drawn. He should have checked in his own backyard first.

The mayor pointed to his own police department as a paragon of how children should be removed from potentially dangerous situations. “New York City safely removes 12,000 children each year without a single gun drawn,” he pronounced.

Au contraire, say parents whose children have been taken from their homes and put in foster care. “He’s flat-out lying–there’s no other word for it,” said Mike Arsham, executive director of the Child Welfare Organizing Project.