#Fed up NYC teacher rips abandonment of live teaching at top school

An irate city teacher said live instruction was all but abandoned at her son’s top high school this past school year in a scathing letter to administrators and Department of Education officials.

Veteran DOE educator Jenny Lombard ripped the “abysmal” quality of teaching at Brooklyn Tech after the closure of city schools due to the coronavirus and demanded reforms before the start of the upcoming school year.

“The failings of Brooklyn Tech to meet its students needs are endemic of a broken system that protects teachers and administrators over students, many of whom are vulnerable,” Lombard wrote to Principal David Newman, Assistant Principal Kelly Nottingham, Brooklyn High School Superintendent Janice Ross, and Brooklyn North Superintendent Karen Watts.

The longtime Manhattan drama teacher said staffers have loaded up kids with assignments and homework without any actual instruction.

“Of my son’s seven teachers, six have conducted exactly ZERO ONLINE SECONDS of synchronous instruction,” she wrote.

While many city educators have provided some form of live teaching, countless parents across the city have howled about detachment from their instructors during the COVID-19 crisis.

The United Federation of Teachers advised members that they are under no obligation to provide live teaching during the pandemic – even if requested by principals.

“My son, and others like him, have been expected to learn complex, high level science courses, advanced languages, and calculus entirely on their own, without any instruction whatsoever” Lombard stated. “If they cannot do this, they face failing grades. Meanwhile, Brooklyn Tech’s teachers, the school, and the public school system in general are held entirely unaccountable for their own failure to meet the educational needs of students.”

A UFT spokesperson pushed back on the notion that most teachers were opting out of live teaching.

“Teachers created a mix of techniques during remote instruction, all aimed at making sure they reached all students,” she said. “A sample of roughly 100 UFT members found 90 percent included multiple live instruction and coaching sessions each week.”

Lombard told The Post that her requests for live teaching from staffers were ignored and that Newman told her he was powerless to compel the practice.

The administrator said that parents were at the mercy of the choices of individual teachers and that she had drawn a losing hand.

Unable to teach himself, Lombard said her son failed classes he was previously performing well in and grew increasingly withdrawn and distraught because of it.

“I have spoken with many parents who share my concerns,” she said. “Our children’s grades have declined dramatically since the New York City Public School System closure. These children are not the exception, but the rule.”

The DOE and UFT have both acknowledged the immense challenge of transitioning to remote learning but have generally cast it as a success given the difficult circumstances.

Live teaching was initially hampered by the DOE’s abrupt ban on the popular Zoom web conferencing app over security concerns and its subsequent reinstatement.

Less tech savvy teachers also said they struggled to administer classes on previously alien platforms while others were concerned about broadcasting online from their homes.

But Lombard said there was little excuse for a complete abandonment of live teaching and ripped her union for enabling what she deemed a professional dereliction.

The UFT counseled teachers to provide synchronous education “to the extent possible” under their personal circumstances, Lombard wrote.

“Try to imagine the outrage when the public is informed that ‘to the extent possible’ has been interpreted by Brooklyn Tech’s administration and staff to mean that absolutely no direct teaching of students is required,” she wrote.

Lombard’s letter argued that the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on schooling was taking a particularly heavy toll on low-income kids.

“In the current sociopolitical climate, please take a moment to reflect on how the public might receive this news, especially in light of the fact that New York City’s testing schools, the gem of the New York City Public School System, is failing its students and especially its minority students at a higher rate than ever before.”

Lombard urged remote learning policy changes before the start of next year and said kids who failed their classes should have their grades tossed due to a lack of adequate teaching.

“This is an essential issue now and it is an essential issue for the fall,” she told The Post Wednesday. “I just don’t understand how schools can justify not teaching live.”

The DOE stressed the extraordinary complication presented by the pandemic and said that Brooklyn Tech dedicated resources to helping families make the transition remote classes.

“Live instruction was encouraged but not mandatory, and every Brooklyn Tech teacher had one hour of live office hours every day for every class, where students could receive group or individual live time,” said DOE spokesperson Danielle Filson.