New Haven Independent

Posted by: politico | September 17, 2008 12:38 PM

Well folks, there go another 30 to 40 city jobs to pay for this. Johnny Boy must have known this yesterday when he announced the layoffs.

Posted by: robn | September 17, 2008 1:14 PM

Real questions...

Is the revenue fron the retail portions of the project being booked towards paying down the cost of the school?

Do surrounding towns pay a true cost per student or is there some mark-up added by the city? If the latter, is this being booked towards the cost of the school?

Posted by: anon | September 17, 2008 1:39 PM

"Another was at Audubon and State, rejected for being too far away from the Yale drama, art gallery, and other schools whose professionals will be a big part of the school's rich curriculum."

Wrong. Audubon & State was rejected because it would have taken away AT&T's parking lot. AT&T holds the city's land in a stranglehold, killing chances for downtown revitalization. Fill in that massive, ugly parking lot with housing and retail and downtown property values would explode, more than replacing the jobs supposedly lost if AT&T got pissed off about losing their parking lot.

Posted by: Alphonse Credenza | September 17, 2008 2:39 PM

Young men and women are at a disadvantage when they attend a high school focused on the arts.

Stable employment in the arts -- except in arts education, perhaps -- is terribly tough to find.

We do youth no practical benefit by pointing them in this direction.

The focus must be on academic performance -- math, science, reading comprehension, writing ability.

This is money badly spent.

Similarly, the focus on sports at the high school level is mistaken. Challenge the children to achieve academic ability. What benefit to them a touchdown, except to remember fondly, unemployed at age 55?

Posted by: anon | September 17, 2008 2:53 PM

http://www.courant.com/community/news/hfd/hc-ctbudget0917.artsep17,0,934998.story

Given the impending elimination of all state aid to our cities, which will cause the total collapse of Hartford and 30-40 other cities in our state unless there is a major property tax reform put in place, anyone care to explain why we are spending $2 billion on expanding the Q bridge?

Posted by: enuff | September 17, 2008 3:53 PM

Oh get of it Anon, "the total collapse" of Hartford. I am really irritated by the endless litany of statistics and doomsday prophecies you provide with neither fact checking nor common sense checking.

If you had a case, you'd make it, with a real name & real figures.

Posted by: Gary Doyens | September 17, 2008 4:43 PM

Susan Weisselberg looks positively giddy. What's another million? She just sent a request a month or so ago to the BOA for approval to borrow another $48 million in rejected expensives from a number of already built schools - this will be added to the list, I'm sure. The city is broke. It can't even pay for its annual street repairs without borrowing the money. I seriously doubt the state will pay the whole tab except $3 million. When all the dust settles, and hopefully Weisselberg is using the right formula this time on student enrollment, I would not be surprised to see this school pop up again with another need for a cash infusion.

Posted by: anon | September 17, 2008 5:36 PM

Enuff, did you read the article? Also, there are dozens of anonymous posters here so until the forum rules change, let's focus on the message, not your silly ideas of who is the messenger.

Posted by: toby | September 17, 2008 7:02 PM

check out some of the new schools...ross/woodward needs books....betsy ross being revamped now...and all the new ones in new haven....people are losing there jobs this week and susie weisselberg is asking for another $1million ...do they see whats happening in our country with wall st.and all....people losing homes...jobs...small companies closings....maybe at another time...not right now..enough already..

Posted by: Phoenix | September 17, 2008 7:45 PM

Dear Alphonse, here is some information that you might find interesting:

Research examining the impact of arts education on workforce preparation has confirmed that programs incorporating the arts can be educational, developmentally rich, and cost-effective ways of providing students with the skills needed for productive participation in today's economy. Arts education has been shown to help students develop basic, higher-order thinking, and affective skills needed for workplace success. Studies have shown that young people who study the arts show heightened academic standing, a strong capacity for self-assessment, and a secure sense of their own ability to plan and work for a positive future. Studies of arts-based education programs for general, at-risk, and incarcerated youth populations in 10 states have documented their effectiveness and illustrated how schools can make strategic use of states' cultural resources. Governors seeking to take advantage of the arts as a workforce development strategy can take the following policy actions: (1) include arts education as an element of comprehensive education reform legislation; (2) encourage artists to participate in community development programs; (3) leverage the private sector's willingness to contribute to the arts by providing seed funding and starter grants to innovative arts-based education programs; and (4) facilitate collaboration between arts educators and juvenile detention centers to promote programs for detained youth. (Contains 27 endnotes.) (MN)--- for more info go to the following website: For full text: http://www.nga.org/cda/files/050102ARTSED.pdf.

PS the title of the study is: The Impact of Arts Education on Workforce Preparation, published by ERIC, ERIC - the Education Resources Information Center - is an online digital library of education research and information. ERIC is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education. ERIC provides ready access to education literature to support the use of educational research and information to improve practice in learning, teaching, educational decision-making, and research.

Posted by: nfjanette | September 18, 2008 1:10 AM

It turns out the school system needs another $1 million for the construction of the arts high's new home on College Street.

A shocking new development in the history of school projects in New Haven, no doubt. Look into how many of these projects have their "contingency" budgets used up on a regular basis.

Posted by: Enuff | September 18, 2008 1:18 AM

Anon,
I don't care who sits behind the name.

It's just like Family Circus. I have no idea who you are, just that people using the name Anon routinely throw out facts/figures/statistics. With nothing to back them up, with no identity to be held accountable if they are lies, do you actually think anyone will believe you?

Posted by: Get Real | September 18, 2008 8:37 AM

What would you be doing if you had just blown $1,000,000 of your money? You'd be upset and look sad, I think?

What does this lady do? She prances about looking very happy. Because its not her money, its your money.

Now in any normal situation in business anyone doing this would be fired. This is what must happen if the Board of Education and the DeStefano Administration is to have any credibility with anyone.

I am sure it is a magnificent school and will be a credit to the city and its future students. Lets hope they do learn some math as well as the arts. In the real world they are being educated to enter they will need to balance their own budgets. If not they will be in real trouble.

Posted by: The Funky Chicken | September 18, 2008 10:19 AM

Hi Get Real:

In all fairness that is a file photo that was taken a while ago of Susan W.

TFC

Posted by: Get Real | September 18, 2008 11:11 AM

The Funky Chicken

I don't think so. If you look at the end of the story she is outside the completed building wearing the same clothes with the construction manager. They both look unhappy as they've been confronted by the problems by Reporter Appel.

Reality has sunk in. Another story has just appeared on this blog. The city cannot sell its bonds.

I wonder why.

Posted by: The Funky Chicken | September 18, 2008 12:01 PM

Hi Get Real:

You are correct

TFC

Posted by: Alphonse Credenza | September 18, 2008 12:24 PM

PHOENIX

I have no doubt that arts enrich a life -- they are essential.

Now -- how many out of work actors, musicians, artists, graphic designers, writers, poets do you know? I know very many. I know far, far fewer who make a stable living from this work.

AFTRA surveyed the landscape a few years ago. I believe 85% of all its membership earned less than $7,500 annually from union and non-union jobs.

It's a shame -- terrible -- but you can earn more working at KFC.

Posted by: Phoenix | September 18, 2008 3:31 PM

Alphonse...

There is a big difference between Arts-in-Education programs (ie. Arts-based High Schools sucj as COOP) and seeking a career as an actor, musician, writers, poet. There is also a difference between the kinds of opportunities that are open to Graphic Designers and actors, etc...it is also narrow-minded to lump them all together.

Posted by: teachergal | September 18, 2008 5:43 PM

Re, Susan Weiselberg, whatever she's on I'd like some. Postively giddy is a great descriptiom. I just got home from one of those beautiful, renovated buildings.....my classroom was trashed, I was disrespected verbally throughout my 5 periods, and called a racist. OK, so i dedicated 29 years of my life, educated myself, worked hard and now I feel like a prison matron. Don't get me wrong there are a few great kids, most of them are followers so the innapropriate leaders string them along. The books I have worked long and hard to collect over my years teaching are being thrown across the room, and heaven forbid I should raise my voice or single any one child out....at that point i am risking serious confrontation. The N.... and the F word are used frequently and w/o remorse....who am I to think that is inappropriate. At the end of the day I went to get my bag from my "locked" closet and I found my lock broke, i was told my room wouldn't be cleaned because we were shorthanded and it probably wouldn't change, and the holy hellion from my last school showed up today w/ a big smile on her face. It took her all of 1/2 a day to warm up and join her friends disruption.

Yes, I had a bad day. But this is all true. None of this is fabricated. My only regret is that I was unable to focus on the kids who really do come to learn.

I am a pretty strong individual and I have taught for many years. I have talents and education. I am in it for the kids but I have never seen it so bad. Broken computers, lack of respect for materials and environment, and lack of respect for authority. I have never felt so disrespected.

ps....i'm not editing this so if you find a spelling error it's not that i can't spell it's that im exhausted and frustrated!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: norton street | September 18, 2008 6:22 PM

i grew up with sue w's son (went to school with him for 12 years) and she is a great lady who really cares about the kids of this city, i would hope that most people would rather give a helping hand in the education of children than groan about whos pockets hurt. and as someone who did 4 years at ECA i can vouch for arts education, without it i never would have gotten into a 5 year master's in architecture program because creativity was not taught in math class nor can it be properly developed on your own.

Posted by: Ned | September 19, 2008 7:49 AM

"First, God created idiots. That was just for practice. Then He created school boards."
Mark Twain

Posted by: Chris Gray | September 20, 2008 1:48 AM

Let's face reality.

Last week or the week before, I was imagining an Obama Administration funding new police positions. Whether he wins or loses, that fantasy evaporated this week. We are about to go into a recession that will rival anything anyone younger than my 92-year old mother has ever seen, if we are even that lucky.

I have nothing against arts education and am, really, wildly in favor of it. The arts I studied in Amity High School, not just in Mr. Rabinowitz's (husband of one of the founders of Creative Arts Workshop) art class but also the plays we read in English (which allowed me to ace the comprehensive history exam despite missing ancient history by switching from North Haven's schools to Amity) and the set building I did and the acting I studied in drama club all enriched my education enormously without earning me more than $500 over my lifetime. It inflamed my curiosity, spurred my need to understand math (for everything from measuring furring strips to staying within a budget) and, even, chemistry and physics (knowledge of which comes in handy in designing plastic armor or in processing or realizing blueprints).

What's more, why do all these other arts organizations see themselves utilizing a space being built for our kids? If you want them to use it, you can't make it part-time. They have own it. (Though, admittedly, Teachergal's experiences suggest it might well be misused.)

The problem is that I do not see that million materializing. Even without the city providing it, I see many more layoffs in our near future.

Posted by: Chris Gray | September 20, 2008 3:38 PM

Oh, and one more anecdote about the kids owning the space.

At the rear of the stage at the Amity High I attended, when all the curtains were pulled back, a huge bit of grafitti with at least 18-inch tall letters graced the concrete wall and, though I never met him, the name "Billy Knight" was painstakingly painted. He was a legendary dramatic force who had already gone off to whatever other preparation he had for his career.

In the last few weeks I have not tired of pointing him out to Mom as we first saw him on a recent episode of "Monk", then in "Die Hard With A Vengence" (I believe it was) and, finally, in "Ghostbusters". He's now known as William Atherton and, while not a matinee idol, he has made a very successful career for himself as a character actor whose characters you love to watch get humiliated, arrested or punched in the mouth.

Not so different from my own non-theatrical career, except most people have to be satisfied with hearing about it from witnesses or from the horse's own...

Which reminds me, does anyone have any idea why, when reporting on today's event about the new memorial being dedicated to the Civil War's 29th Colored Regiment, WTNH last evening insisted on referring to them by that racist appellation? When I first learned of the Regiment in the late '80s, I saw a display in the old NH Savings Bank lobby with a photo of the survivors arrayed on the steps of the old Colony Statehouse on the Green under a banner with the name of which they were proud, "The New Haven Grays".

Posted by: teachergal | September 21, 2008 10:17 AM

My new school has a beautiful art room vs. the "brand new" school i came from last year which is the size of a big closet. It has beautiful light, furniture, and is spacious to allow for creative expression. When i picked my students up on Friday from Art class they were totally engaged in an activity of "Grafitti Art" where they were making a poster of their name to be displayed in the halls. The ARTS are totally important in education. For some students it is the only place where they can experience success and develop positive self-esteem.

These were the same students who hate reading and never pick up a book. Why do they hate reading? because it is difficult and they have not experience success. We give them text books that are too hard and expect them to read and comprehend them. The new young teachers that are teaching many of the middle school students are not yet experienced with modifications so students fall even further behind.

My goal for this week is to continue to work on building positive relationships with my students so as to help them turn around their negative feelings about reading, school, and teachers (the enemy). If we do not build relationships with our students they will continue to battle us and no one will win especially our students.

Posted by: Chris Gray | September 22, 2008 1:28 AM

I have to say, WTNH sucker punched me on this and I bought it.

I did not remember, from my hour-long exposure to a display in the New Haven Savings Bank lobby in the late '80s, that the 29th Colored Regiment was constituted by both African-Americans and Native Americans, which Channel 8 waited to the day of the dedication of the new memorial to explain.

It turns the racism of the era on its head to emphasize the military title, now, and I had to write to apologize for my premature judgment of them.

I doubt I've learned my lesson, though.