City names 14 more schools to close

Following a release yesterday of a list of 11 schools to be phased out and a charter school recommended for renewal, the Department of Education today named 14 struggling schools that it wants to shutter at the end of this year, bringing the total number of proposed school closings to 26, NY1 reported. The list includes P.S. 114 Ryder Elementary; P.S. 332 Charles H. Houston; Frederick Douglass Academy III; and I.S. 195 Roberto Clemente. At the elementary and middle schools slated to close, an average of only 19 percent of students are proficient on state English tests, less than half the citywide average of 42 percent. Only 22 percent are proficient at math, compared to the citywide average of 53 percent. The high schools have a graduation rate of 49 percent, compared the city average of 63 percent. However, the schools also serve a high number of at-risk or needy students. The public hearings will begin in January for all 26 schools. Last year, the Panel for Educational Policy voted to close the 19 schools proposed by the DOE, but the teachers union successfully sued to keep them open. Fifteen of those 19 schools are once again on the closure list this year. [NY1]