Good Riddance to Lafayette

Well, it took almost 40 years for the NYC Board of Education to decide to get rid of the blight of Lafayette. I attended this school over 40 years ago and while it wasn't obvious to me at the time that this was a waste of space and time, I certainly did realize it in retrospect. Especially after I had the good fortune to put myself through the 12th grade in another school. Even though I was on my own, supporting myself at the age of 18, it was a real revelation to attend a school where they had counsellors who counselled and teachers who taught and actually gave a damn. Up to that point, I thought an atmosphere like that was what people made fun of by comparing it to "Leave It To Beaver."

Today they call Lafayette "low performing", a nice euphemism for apathy: Teachers and students who don't want to be there. Back in another era, the students really had no choice, but I suppose the teachers had a good thing, so why would they upset the two month long vacation and job security by actually trying to give a damn about why they should be there in the first place?

To underscore the drastic situation at Lafayette, it looks like they're going to level the building and blot out the name. They plan on replacing the prison-like structure with 5 smaller schools. It's probably a step in the right direction, but just having 5 mini Lafayetts on the site won't solve the problem. It has to start from the top down. Teachers and principals who actually want to teach and make a difference in students' lives, not just be there and occupy space while waiting for the nice pension checks to come in.

I plan on being at the demolition with my camera watching Lafayette turn into trash, nothing but trash. Maybe I'll save a few bricks to put on Ebay to sell to the 6 people who have fond memories of the dump.

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com

Lafayette celeb grads sad but students glad BY TANYANIKA SAMUELS and CARRIE MELAGO DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS Wednesday, December 13th, 2006 Famous alums of Brooklyn's Lafayette High School reacted with sadness yesterday to news of the school's imminent demise - but current students said it's about time. "It's a real shame," said Steven Schirripa, a 1975 grad who plays Bobby Bacala on "The Sopranos." "It was a really good school. I don't know what went wrong." Education officials announced Monday that Lafayette - the alma mater of such luminaries as broadcast legend Larry King and baseball great Sandy Koufax - will be phased out along with four other failing schools. While actor and 1956 graduate Paul Sorvino remembered Lafayette yesterday as a place with a "wonderful spirit," today's students complained of chaos in the hallways and classrooms. "I feel like I'm in prison sometimes. Kids set papers on the bulletin boards on fire and in the trash in the bathrooms," said sophomore Malaysia Goddard, 15. "It's crazy here sometimes." HBO boxing commentator Larry Merchant, 75, a 1948 Lafayette graduate, reminisced about the thrill of playing home football games at Ebbets Field and listening to crooner Vic Damone, another grad, sing at the senior prom. "It had a pretty good run," Merchant said. "Things evolve and change, and I hope the change suits the needs of the current system." Schirripa reminisced about his junior varsity basketball coach teaching his driver's education class, while Sorvino fondly remembered his leading roles in "The Monkey's Paw" and "Stage Door." "Lafayette exists in my mind now as a metaphor, a paradigm of creative experience and personal fulfillment," Sorvino said, "and now these kids don't have that." Today's students described a poisonous environment at the school, whose controversial principal, Jolanta Rohloff, has been under scrutiny for paying teachers overtime to clean classrooms and improperly lowering the grades of students who score below 65 on Regents exams. Regine Medard, a 16-year-old junior, complained of graffiti on desks, and ratty books, including a global history text that doesn't cover all of the time periods needed to pass the Regents. "They need to phase it out. It would be better for the students," she said. "I think more of them would go to classes and there'll be less problems, less conflicts." But other students were dubious of the reorganization, which could put three smaller schools on Lafayette's site. "It's stupid 'cause Lafayette's been here forever," said senior Michael Osyesanya, 18.