Save Shuang Wen School

At the 12/13 court hearing, Judge Holwell granted our motion to allow Ling Ling Chou to join parents and students in the lawsuit against the DoE. This is significant because the judge (and possibly jury) will now be able to hear and consider all the evidence of DoE’s actions that affected not only the parents but also Ms. Chou.

The next court hearing, where Judge Holwell will rule on our motion to amend the complaint, will be held sometime early next year.

Recent news regarding Shuang Wen:
World Journal 12/14

Sinovision report 12/13

Excerpt: “Parents and administrators of the Lower East Side’s Shuang Wen School (P.S. 184) have been cleard of allegations of theft by the city, according to a report issued last week by the Department of Education’s Office of the Special Commissioner of Investigation.”

Read the full article in the Villager on the SCI report on Shuang Wen here.

* * * * * * * * * * * WINTER FESTIVAL* 繽紛冬日園遊會 * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** *
Winter Festival is a private event organized by an independent group of parents. Come and join the celebration of the Winter Holidays with games, songs, food and friends. The theme this year is “Raising Spirits and Raising Funds”. There’s already much excitement about this event, so be sure to pick up your tickets (Free for adults, $10 donation for children).

Date: Friday, December 9th, 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Location: Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, 62 Mott Street, Chinatown
繽紛冬日園遊會 是一個由家長獨立組織舉辦的一個私人募款活動。請和我們一起慶祝冬季假期，來參加繽紛冬日園遊會，享受玩遊戲，唱歌，美食和歡笑。今年的主題是“提高士氣和籌募資金” (成人免費，兒童$10元)。
日期： 12月9日，星期五，下午5:30 — 下午8:30 ＊＊ 地點：華埠中華公所， 勿街六十二號。

Many Shuang Wen parents and supporters showed up for the yesteday’s hearing along with reporters from different news medias.

許雙文多家長、支持者和媒體記者都一起出席今日的法庭 。 more »

Dear SWS supporters 親愛的SWS的支持者！

COURT DATE: Our next court date will be Tuesday, December 6th at 4:30PM. We need you to be there! There have been many developments in the legal case against the DOE. At the last court hearing, when several hundred parents and supporters arrived at the court house, we made a powerful statement of unity and resolve. Your presence is important, so please make time to attend. We will bring red SWS T-shirt , but just in case,there are not enough red T-shirts, please bring or wear a red shirt to the court.

開庭日期：我們下次開庭日期，將在12月6日（星期二）下午4時 30 分。

我們需要您在現場支持！將會有對抗教育局訴訟的最新發展！上次的法庭聽證會後，數百名家長和支持者在法庭前，強力的展現了我們團結一致的聲明和要求解決的訴求。您的現場支持是很重要的，所以請撥出您的時間參加。我們將會提供紅色SWS 的T恤，但為了以防萬一沒有足夠的紅色 T恤，請自行攜帶或穿紅色上衣到法院。 more »

Hot on the heels of SCI report exonerating Shuang Wen of the numerous financial allegations made against the school, a number of articles written:

Gotham Schools – “Factions and Improprieties but no theft at Shuang Wen”

Chinese Press:
World Journal
Sina Newspaper
Sinovision Video Segment on SCI Report

DNA Info reports on SCI investigation findings. Full article here.

The Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI) For the NYC School District has been investigating financial allegations brought against Shuang Wen. After 18 months of investigations, the SCI has released a report of findings and has cleared Shuang Wen of all financial investigations it investigated.

See full report here.

CBS News Cindy Hsu interviewed some SWS parents regarding the DoE investigation and the lawsuit that SWS parents have filed against the DoE.

At the beginning of this year, the DoE sent home a general “Media” consent form, though the specific language includes consent to be “interviewed” by DoE staff. The form does not include an “Opt out” option. Given the secretive interrogations of SW students conducted by DoE Office of Special Investigations (OSI) last year, without knowledge or consent of parents, it is recommended not to provide the DoE general consent with this form, given the DoE’s propensity to abuse its powers. Interim Acting Principal Iris Chiu’s insistence on parents complying with this consent (there have been reports of threats of students not being able to participate in class pictures if the consent forms are not provided), only makes the process more suspect. Instead, if you wish to provide your classroom teacher(s) with permission to take photographs for classroom projects, you may want to consider using the below form, which you can provide your teacher(s) directly. more »

The DoE’s latest ranking of all elementary and middle schools ranks Shuang Wen as the top scoring elementary and middle school in Manhattan, and in the top ten of all public schools citywide.

Rather than persecuting the SW community and subjecting it to endless, open-ended secretive investigations that have gone unfounded for several years, the DoE should instead be studying the school for lessons learned on how to create and maintain a top-performing public school with a track record of academic excellence.

Shuang Wen’s report card
Link to report summary listing of all schools graded
DNA Info article

The petition to Mayor Bloomberg has successfully gathered over 1200 signatures. Thanks everyone for your support of Shuang Wen – the petition was sent to Mayor Bloomberg on August 24th. Let’s keep the pressure on the DoE and the mayor to let them know that we will not be going away and that we want answers, and an end to the harrassment!

SWS Student Alex Ng addressed Chancellor Walcott at the 8/17 DoE PEP meeting. Alex made the point that none of the allegations being investigated have resulted in any proof of wrongdoing, despite being ongoing for as long as 3 years, and that the DoE’s actions against Principal Ling Ling Chou are “unconstitutional”.

Over the past several weeks, Shuang Wen parents have voiced their displeasure at the treatment of the Shuang Wen community and staff by the DoE, writing many letters, attending court hearings and even addressing DoE Chancellor Dennis Walcott directly at a DoE meeting last month. Chancellor Walcott has refused to acknowledge any of our concerns, questions and frustrations. We need to let the DoE know that we are not backing down, we will not stop, and we want answers! Please come and let Chancellor Walcott know directly how you feel about the DoE’s actions against the school at the August Panel for Educational Policy meeting.

Where: Murry Bergtraum HS for Business Careers
411 Pearl St.
When: Wednesday, Aug 17th, 6 PM (public signup begins at 5:30 PM so please arrive in that timeframe in order to sign up to speak) – WEAR YOUR RED SHIRTS!

In Walcott’s written response, as well as his response at the last DoE meeting, Walcott has repeatedly refused to answer any of our questions, and has coldly disregarded our concerns. Let the Chancellor know that his prior non-answers are not acceptable. There is a public comment period during the meeting where those that sign-up will have 2 minutes to address Chancellor Walcott directly. You must sign-up to speak during public comment, and sign-up is between 5:30 PM-6:30 PM. Please come prepared to let Walcott that he must answer for what has been done to our school. Some points below: more »

We are sending a petition letter to Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Walcott in reaction to the DoE Office of Special Investigations (OSI) breaking our file cabinets on July 29th and other unfair events. We demand reinstatement of Ling Ling Chou!

We need your signatures. Please come to sign your name on the petition list in front of our school when you pick up and drop of your kid.

—

To: Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Chancellor Dennis Walcott

Re: Petition from P.S. 184M Shuang Wen School Parents, Teachers and Supporters

We, the supporters and members of the community at P.S. 184M, continue to be outraged by the DOE’s hostile and destructive treatment of this school. On July 29, 2011, DOE INVESTIGATORS DESTROYED A MULTI-DRAWER FILE CABINET FUNDED BY TAXPAYERS in the school’s administrative office. Their explanation was that they needed access to files in the cabinet for one of their multitude of investigations, some of which have been pending for MORE THAN TWO YEARS. Had they been willing to wait for one hour, the keys to the cabinet could have been obtained and this shocking example of GOVERNMENT WASTE could have been averted. Even more outrageous, the investigators eventually located the files they were seeking in another container that was unlocked.

This impromptu visit and act of vandalism occurred within 24 hours of a court appearance in a federal lawsuit parents have brought against the DOE to address precisely this kind of behavior.

Over the past two years at least, DOE officials have repeatedly violated the rights of parents and children at Shuang Wen to education in a safe, supportive learning environment, free from discrimination and bigotry. DOE has repeatedly interfered with the functioning of this highly successful school — a 2008 winner of the US DOE’s Blue Ribbon Award — in complete disregard of the wishes of the families whose children attend the school. DOE has supported four bullying parents and, with their assistance, built a record of false allegations against the school and its community. Shuang Wen families, teachers and administrators have endured, among other things: more »

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION RETALIATES AGAINST CHILDREN & FAMILIES MORNING AFTER JUDGE’S RULING
2-3 Men from DOE’s Office of Special Investigations Break Locks Guarding Confidential Student Information at PS 184M
在法官的裁決後的隔天早晨，教育部對雙文學生及家庭進行報復。
兩三名由從教育部特別調查辦公室的來男子，闖入雙文辦公室並破壞由學校看管、保密的學生資料文件櫃的鎖。

On the morning of Friday, July 29, a team of two or three men led by Jamel Boyer, a defendant in the parents’ federal lawsuit against the DOE, appeared at PS 184M without an appointment and demanded keys to locked files containing confidential information on students. When keys could not be located because of the the absence of notice of their surprise visit, the three men from the DOE’s Office of Special Investigations (OSI) aggressively broke the locks on the file cabinets and helped themselves. In blatant disregard for the security of student information, Boyer and OSI left the broken file cabinets with only duct tape to keep the drawers from sliding open. (Pictures available.)
在7月29日的上午，一隊以賈邁爾博耶（Jamel Boyer）為首的兩三個人，被列在家長告教育部的聯邦訴訟的被告之一，在沒有預約的情況下出現在PS184M，強勢要求拿裝有學生資料的機密文件櫃的鑰匙。因為在從未被通知且賈邁爾博耶突然造訪，雙文辦公室人員無法立即找到文件櫃鑰匙，三位從美國教育部特別調查辦公室（OSI）來的人，決定自行使用暴力撬壞毀損文件櫃的鎖。博耶和OSI 公然藐視學生資訊的機密性及安全性，破碎文件櫃，並且在離開後只用膠帶貼住文件櫃的抽屜以防滑動打開。（有圖片為證） more »

SWS Parent Vincent Wong provides an account of what happened in court immediately following the 7/28 court hearing.

Key Points:
- Judge Holwell asked the DoE to show him what right does the DoE have regarding the DoE’s interrogation of children without parental consent. He ordered the DoE to provide parents 2 weeks advanced notice before any interrogation of children, with parents having the right to refuse this interrogation.
- The judge asked the DoE to set up a meeting to provide the Shuang Wen community with copies of all the files that were obtained in the investigation, including the raid of the PA files that occurred last year. The DoE has refused to disclose what files it had taken in its ongoing investigations.
- The judge acknowledged that all of the DoE’s investigations have caused a lot of problems for Shuang Wen School, and the DoE must finish the investigations so the school can move forwards.

Video:

Round-up of 7/28 Court Hearing news coverage in the Chinese press:

Sinovision Video:
Sinovision Video report

World Journal article
Singtao Article
Epoch Times Article 1
Epoch Times article 2

English translation of Epoch Times article: more »

New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wrote a letter to Chancellor Walcott in support of Shuang Wen. Click here for the letter.

Dear Parents and supportive friends:
親愛的家長和支持雙文的朋友：

This is a friendly reminder, Thursday, July 28th is the adjourned court time of Shuang Wen parents suite DoE. We will have Shuang Wen School’s red T-shirt for parents to wear at the court, but just in case, there is not enough red T-shirt, please bring or wear red top to the court.
這是一個友善的提醒， 週四 7月28日是雙文家長提訴教育局的聯邦訴訟開庭日 。我們需要您的支持到場旁聽。我們將有雙文學校的紅色 T卹給家長在法庭上穿，但為了預防沒有足夠的紅色 T卹，請攜帶或穿著紅色上衣到法院旁聽。

Date 日期: Thursday, July 28th 週四，7月28日
Address 地址: 500 Pearl Street.
Judge 法官: Judge Holwell
Court Room 法院室: 17B
Time 時間: 2:30 PM 下午.

Please everyone to get there by 2pm because we need to go through security. 因為需要經過安全檢查，請大家下午2點提前到達。

THIS JULY 28TH COURT DATE IS VERY IMPORTANT more »