feature stories

The 'Children First' Game

by Gary Barad

Apr 12, 2007 6:36 PM

EDITOR’S NOTE: If you have any doubt that parents are as aware as educators of what the denizens of Tweed are doing to the school system, you have only to check out their blog at http://nycpublicschoolparents.blog
spot.com.

Among the more caustic criticisms have been a series of posts by Gary Babad using spoofs of the game Monopoly to throw darts at the chancellor. Babad is a parent of an 11th-grader and a 7th-grader in the city’s schools. He is a licensed clinical social worker who also has teaching certification. He told us that “since the DOE seems to be into co-opting parents these days (see the new “Family Engagement Officer”), my goal is to be offered a $150,000-a-year job writing DOE press releases. But I’m afraid the stuff they put out is better satire than mine.”

Here is Babad’s most recent post about his new game.

There’s a new game in town! It’s called “Children First: A Game of Irony” and it’s based on the New York City public school system. The game has been shrouded in more secrecy than a DOE planning meeting, but its creator, Gary Babad, has given us cards and a board from a prototype of his game. The game comes with a warning that the entire game is subject to reorganization and may become obsolete shortly after you buy it. However, owners of the computer version can download updates for what is termed a “nominal cost overrun.”

Following are a few examples of cards and board spaces from the game (players must amass “test points” to win):


• The school you are principal of scores in the bottom 10 percent of your district. Lose 100 test points and your job.
• The school you are principal of scores in the top 10 percent of the district. Gain 100 test points but lose your job on the next turn for failure to meet higher expectations.
• You must choose a “Learning Support Organization.” Whichever one you choose, lose 250 test points.
• Go to Rubber Room. Go directly to Rubber Room. If you pass Go collect $200 but lose an indefinite number of turns.
• Your 5-year-old is given a MetroCard instead of a school bus. Lose one turn while Child Protective Services investigates you for endangering your child.
• Your school bus route is cancelled: You cannot get to school, lose 100 test points.
• You score “below standards” on your standardized tests. Lose 100 test points and a turn while you repeat the grade. Teacher and principal lose 200 points each for “leaving you behind.”
• Cell phone confiscated. You cannot contact your parents when your train breaks down. Lose two turns while you wander the streets trying to find your way home.
• Your class has 40 students. Teacher confuses you with the student in the next seat. Lose 50 test points.
• ARIS computer is down. Each player loses a turn.
• Get Out of Jail Free: If you are a Tweed administrator, you also receive 500 bonus points and a job offer at a high-priced consulting firm with a lucrative DOE no-bid contract.
• Take a ride on the Reading First Railroad. Lose a turn; the train already left.
• Free Parking: Pay $250 fine for failure to dig your car out of the ice by the school. You didn’t think parking would really be free, did you?
• Just Visiting: The mayor skips this space. He doesn’t do visits; he’s in Florida.
• dvance token to the nearest “failing school.” If unowned, you can buy it from the DOE and turn it into a charter school.
  

A version of the game will also be available based on the St. Louis school district. The St. Louis version is similar to the New York game but if you land on the space labeled “Alvarez and Marsal,” you go bankrupt and have to start all over again.

“Children First” Game Rule Clarification:

According to the rules, if someone lands on one of your schools they pay you but you must then kick back 10 percent to the support organization you have chosen. If you have not chosen a support organization, you collect nothing and also lose 10 percent of your budget due to your “ineffective leadership.”

However, remember the chancellor can change the rules of the game at any time. The only check on his power to do this is that he must first consult with the “real stakeholders”: Edison Schools, New Visions and Alvarez and Marsal.