Bloomberg Centralizes Control of Screening of Principal Candidates For City Schools

Teacher outcry against the Bloomberg administration not holding Principals accountable for their actions is starting to show results, as the following article describes:

January 30, 2008
City Centralizes Hiring Process for Principals
By ELISSA GOOTMAN, NY TIMES

The Bloomberg administration is overhauling the way that principals at New York City’s 1,500 public schools are evaluated and selected, taking centralized control of the initial screening of candidates and trying to shake up a system where, officials say, a vast majority of principals routinely get satisfactory evaluations.

The changes come as the administration has given its principals unprecedented power over decisions like how they spend their budgets, train their teachers and educate their students. Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein has called principals a linchpin of his effort to improve schools, and department officials say this makes it imperative to select strong leaders and judge them rigorously.

With 160 job openings for principals expected this fall, the Education Department will move away from a largely decentralized principal selection process, which officials said too often left strong candidates unaware of job openings. Those openings, they said, were often filled by assistant principals from the same or neighboring schools.

Starting this year, education officials said, the administration will create a centralized pool of candidates for principals who will be judged on their leadership abilities through résumés, essays and in-person evaluations of how they examine school data and evaluate teachers’ lesson plans.

Principals will still be selected by district superintendents in a process that also requires input from parents, teachers and other supervisors. But the candidates must come from the central, prescreened pool. The city hopes to have 200 candidates ready this spring.

Noting that the city’s efforts to overhaul schools “place a very huge bet on principals being talented, capable and skilled,” Amy McIntosh, the Education Department official who is spearheading the effort, said, “We have to have a principal selection process that is on the one hand systematic and rigorous and data driven, and on the other hand open and transparent so that all the talented people in the system feel like they can come out and apply.”

Once principals are in place, they will also face a more rigorous rating system and will be judged according to specific criteria, including students’ test scores. A rating scale of zero to four will replace the current satisfactory-unsatisfactory evaluation in which the criteria were vague, officials said, and the vast majority of principals were rated as satisfactory, year after year.

The twice-yearly rating will be one factor in determining whether a principal is kept on the job. The scores will also be passed along if a principal wants to move to another school.

Ernest A. Logan, president of the union that represents the city’s principals and assistant principals, said he supported the new rating system. He added, however, that he did not find the current principal placement process to be flawed, and questioned the value of the prescreening process that will determine who is eligible to apply for openings.

“I see this as another attempt to identify successful school leaders, and I don’t know if this is it,” Mr. Logan said.

He said he thought the administration was misguided in its quest for a fool-proof formula for selecting principals. “I think these folks really like to have a matrix,” he said. “They like something that can be objective, analytical, put your finger on and say you do boom, boom, boom, this happens. And education doesn’t quite work that way.”

The process of identifying promising candidates for principal is one of Chancellor Klein’s key challenges. Last year, the administration redesigned the schools hierarchy to give principals far more control over how they run their schools, freeing them from the intense scrutiny of superintendents. The city has also raised principals’ salaries and is offering bonuses to experienced principals who agree to work in low-performing schools, as well as those whose schools show substantial improvement in standardized test scores.

At the same time, the chancellor has also increased the pressure that principals face. Last fall, he issued A through F letter grades for each school and warned that principals of schools with low marks could be removed for low performance. That has made their job more of a hot seat.

The New York City Leadership Academy, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s principal training program, has had mixed results, turning out some good principals, but others have struggled.

Education officials say that currently, about 90 percent of the job openings for principals are hastily filled with “interim acting principals,” who tend to be assistant principals in the schools with openings or other schools with which the superintendent is familiar. While city regulations require a formal selection process as well as a public posting of job openings, that process was often moot. Few additional candidates besides the interim acting principals applied, officials said, and the acting principals were almost always hired.

“In the old days, the best way to become a principal was to be sitting in the right place when your principal retired or when your superintendent desperately needed a principal in the next three days,” Ms. McIntosh said.

AP Reports on a 400% Increase in Teacher Predators in America's Classrooms

Teachers are in danger around America, as many of us know. Missouri state Rep. Jane Cunningham (picture) is actively seeking penalties for any teacher misconduct (see article below). Associated Press reported on the 400% increase in teacher predators and this report was picked up by almost every newspaper in America. Everyone in America is demanding that these so-called 'criminals' be removed from the classrooms of our innocent children as soon as possible.

The trouble with this misinformation is that throughout America, good teachers - people dedicated to children and willing to speak out against wrong-doing they see in their schools - are being thrown out of their jobs unfairly after false allegations are "substantiated" by anonymous witnesses and unfair investigations that never ask the teacher accused: "who did what to whom?". None of the articles on teacher abusers mentions the "guilty before you are innocent" syndrome that is driving this new wave of teacher-as-predator stories.

This fable must be retold. Bloggers, activists, reporters, where are you?

Below are articles that tell of the latest national anti-teacher propaganda:

NY targets teacher sex enforcement, awareness
By MICHAEL GORMLEY, Associated Press Writer, January 27, 2008

ALBANY, N.Y.

Top Democrats, Republicans and policy makers are making a priority this legislative session of reducing the rise in cases of teachers having sex with students.

Senate Education Committee Chairman Stephen Saland, who gave teeth to enforcement of teacher-sex cases in a 2001 law, is supporting several measures for greater enforcement, swifter sanctions, and better training pushed by the state Board of Regents. He is also seeking $800,000 in the state budget to hire more investigators to clear a backlog of cases, just one of the board's priorities.

In some cases, it can take a year or more to revoke the license of a convicted teacher, with several state hearings conducted in prisons.

Nationwide, at least 16 states are now considering tougher laws to punish teacher sexual misconduct and stronger oversight to keep abusers out of classrooms following an Associated Press series on the topic run nationwide in October. The AP searched records in every state and found 2,570 educators whose teaching credentials were revoked, denied, surrendered or sanctioned from 2001 through 2005 following allegations of sexual misconduct. Experts who track sexual abuse say those cases are representative of a much deeper problem among the 3 million public school teachers nationwide.

"It is critically important that school employees are investigated when these cases arrive in as timely and expeditiously (a manner) as possible," said Saland, a Poughkeepsie Republican. "The AP story was the catalyst for the inquiry."

In eight states, leaders pushing changes said the AP investigation had inspired their proposals.

In New York, the number of "moral conduct" accusations against teachers, administrators and aides has doubled in five years. In all, 485 misconduct cases were reported over five years, most of them involving sexual misconduct.

"There's definitely going to be movement on the legislative side," said Manny Rivera, deputy secretary for education to Democratic Gov. Eliot Spitzer. "We know the Board of Regents wants to advance a statute which calls for the automatic suspension of educators convicted of sex crimes. We're supportive of that and we'll work with them."

Rivera also said the administration is exploring changes in the broader disciplinary process for educators.

"I think there are more things we can do strengthen this issue down the road," he said.

The state Board of Regents elevated the issue to among its top priorities of the state legislative session this year. The board presses its case by noting there was a 400 percent increase in complaints against teachers from 2001 to 2007, with 75 percent of actions against certified teachers involving sex.

In one bill, the Regents seek a faster way to suspend then revoke licenses of a teacher or administrator convicted of a sex offense.

The board also seeks funding to increase staffing. Currently, there are eight investigators, attorneys and support staff to investigate a caseload that now includes a backlog of 800 allegations. Staffing would also allow for ethics courses on student contact to be written then required in teachers' colleges.

In all, the Board of Regents seeks $1.45 million more to fund better enforcement, prevention and training of school employees and prospective teachers.

"The Board of Regents initiatives are centered on information, education and prevention," said Johanna Duncan Poitier, senior deputy education commissioner.

"Through ongoing education and collaboration with schools as well as prompt enforcement where necessary, the Regents initiatives will support safe and healthy school environments for all students across New York state," she said.

The Education Department continues to handle a huge increase in requests for public records that officials attributed to the AP's guide on how parents can get documents related to their schools and teachers.

Sen. William Larkin of Orange County, a veteran Republican in the GOP-led chamber, is also sponsoring a bill that would require the immediate suspension of pay of a tenured teacher convicted of a child pornography charge. The law already requires this for drug convictions.

Assembly Education Committee Chairwoman Catherine Nolan, a Queens Democrat, said she also seeks action in the Democrat-led chamber. That improves the chances of the bills becoming law in 2008.

Report: Teacher-Student Sex Going Through Roof
Number Of Accusations Has Doubled In Last 5 YearsALBANY (AP)
wcbstv.com

The people who set New York's education policy promised Friday to act swiftly to protect children after a state report chronicled a "tremendous growth" in the number of cases of teachers having sex with students.

The study found the number of accusations against teachers doubled in five years, to nearly one case for every day and a half of the school year, according to the statistics first reported a week ago by The Associated Press. In 2005, 134 cases were reported, compared to 70 in 2001, new figures released Friday show.

Almost three in four of the "moral conduct" cases involved sex between a teacher and student, according to the document and case records obtained under the state Freedom of Information Law.

But those on the inside of one case that rocked a small town -- the parent who accused a popular teacher and the teacher whose license was eventually revoked -- say more is needed.

Mary Green of Greenwich, a mother living in a small Washington County town about 30 miles north of Albany, first got a "gut feeling" about one of the teachers in November, 2002. Douglas Bischoff, a popular music teacher, was trying to convince the mother not to chaperone an overnight concert trip to Manhattan.

"I asked who was going to chaperone," said Green, the mother of two daughters who weren't abused. "He said, `I am ... parents don't go to these.'

"I said, `No you're not.'

"He got very angry," Green said, then he added: "`What are you going to do when she goes to college?' I should have asked him."

The following fall, while dropping one daughter off at college in another state, she said she saw Bischoff jogging near the dorm.

Bischoff denies he was there to see or watch Green's daughter and he denies having sex with any student. He was near the college that day, but said he was in the city visiting with his daughter.

That day led to Mary Green's crusade to force action against Bischoff. A state investigation began and accused him of having sex regularly with a student beginning in 1987 when the girl, who testified, was in 11th grade. The locations included his van, his rural home, on a blanket in a secluded area, and hugging and kissing in school. A second girl testified she had sex with Bischoff in 1997, when she was 11th grade.

Bischoff's license, after 28 years in teaching in Yonkers, Cambridge and Greenwich, was revoked in 2005. He now operates a youth music chorale that performs in the Greenwich and Cambridge area where he taught and has sung in Carnegie Hall in Manhattan.

Green said the system needs to move faster -- to act on rumors and "gut feelings" quicker and to get abusive teachers out of classrooms faster.

The state School Boards Association agrees. In a report on all discipline against teachers -- from sex with students to incompetence -- the association found a case takes an average of 520 days to resolve from the date the charge is made. That's a record high, despite laws that were supposed to make the process faster and cheaper.

Bischoff said the problem isn't with the time, but the system itself.

"The problem is the goal is to yank licenses, not get to the truth," he said. The system, he said, uses hired lawyers whose job is to take licenses away, even when -- as in his case -- there was no criminal allegation, Bischoff said.

He said the allegations against him were baseless. He said Green and others had a grudge against him for personal reasons, and his continued success in the small town performing in churches and public facilities shows most parents want him to teach their children. He said a local prosecutor also supported him in the hearing.

"There was no evidence I did anything," he said. "My lawyer convinced me not to testify, which turned out to be a big mistake."

The state Senate will now return to the issue.

"I was encouraged there was increased reporting,"' said Senate Education Committee Chairman Stephen Saland, a Poughkeepsie Republican. "On the other hand, I was concerned if the original law's training requirements were being complied with.

"There is still a degree of this gross misconduct ... escaping under the radar screen," he said. "The law was created to try to provide the tools to do battle with these horrible monsters that prey on our children."

He is working with prosecutors and reviewing whether schools are conducting the required training to prompt reports of evidence, rumors and suspicions.

On Friday, the state updated its data on cases of "moral conduct," and reminded school districts that the law requires training for all personnel who deal with students.

"We cannot permit unfit educators in our schools," said state Education Commissioner Richard Mills. "We must all be vigilant to identify and remove those who pose a risk to our children."

Lawmakers Crack Down on Abusive Teachers
By ROBERT TANNER, Associated Press, January 27, 2008

Heeding a steady drumbeat of sexual misconduct cases involving teachers, at least 15 states are now considering stronger oversight and tougher punishment for educators who take advantage of their students.

Lawmakers say they are concerned about an increasingly well-documented phenomenon: While the vast majority of America's teachers are committed professionals, there also is a persistent problem with sexual misconduct in U.S. schools. When abuse happens, administrators too often fail to let others know about it, and too many legal loopholes let offenders stay in the classroom.

Advocates include governors, education superintendents and legislative leaders.

"We've got to be on a bully pulpit with our school districts," said Missouri state Rep. Jane Cunningham. The Republican's legislation would eliminate statutes of limitation for sexual misconduct, allowing victims to come forward and bring charges against abusers no matter how many years had passed since the crime.

The ideas emerging in state capitals come at a time when U.S. media have been reporting steadily on individual cases, along with more in-depth examinations of the problem.

A nationwide Associated Press investigation published in October found 2,570 educators whose teaching credentials were revoked, denied, surrendered or sanctioned from 2001 through 2005 following allegations of sexual misconduct. Experts who track sexual abuse say those cases are representative of a much deeper problem because of underreporting.

There are roughly 3 million public school teachers nationwide.

In eight states, leaders pushing changes said the AP investigation had inspired their proposals. Others said they had grown concerned from individual cases of abuse in their states, or other news reports that looked at the problem locally or in their state.

In New York, Gov. Eliot Spitzer supports automatic suspension of teachers convicted of sex crimes, which now requires lengthy hearings. In Maine, Gov. John Baldacci hopes to share the names of abusive teachers with other states, which a 1913 confidentiality law there prohibits. In Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist endorsed federal legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam, a Florida Republican, to create a national databank of abusive teachers, a hot line for complaints and federal funds for state investigators.

Some states are looking to increase penalties, expand background checks or broaden their ability to police charter schools for abuse, like Indiana, Massachusetts and Utah. Kentucky and South Carolina are considering making it illegal for teachers to have sex with older students.

Several states are tackling a major problem — the loopholes that allow problem teachers to move from one school district to another, or from one state to another. The AP investigation found that what education officials commonly call "passing the trash" happens when districts allow a teacher to quietly leave a school, or fail to report problems to state authorities, or fail to check with state authorities before hiring a teacher, among other glitches.

In eight states, legislators are pursuing changes to close those gaps, including California, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Virginia, Washington state and West Virginia.

"Despite acts of misconduct that were threatening and dangerous in schools, there is a track record of people going on to another school district and finding employment," said Missouri state Senate President Pro Tem Michael Gibbons. "The new school district may get the truth, but they don't get the whole truth about this person's background. They may find out the dates of service, they may find out this person was dismissed, but there really is no other information forthcoming."

His legislation aims to get school employees and districts to share all information about job-hunting teachers, including whether those educators sexually abused their students, by granting administrators civil immunity from lawsuits.

Other states approach the same problem differently. A Colorado measure being drafted would penalize school districts and state officials that fail to report problem teachers, while a West Virginia proposal would open school officials themselves to punishment. Florida would bar any confidentiality agreement between districts and teachers, and require districts to report every firing to the state.

In California, one proposal would close a loophole that bars the teacher credentialing commission from revealing the reason teachers lose their licenses if they plead no contest to an offense.

Under no contest pleas, defendants are punished as if they pleaded guilty, but retain the right to challenge the charges against them in lawsuits and other proceedings. Such deals have meant public records were unclear about why educator licenses were sanctioned in dozens of cases, the AP found.

"You should not be able to plead no contest to a sex offense just so you can continue teaching," said state Sen. Bob Margett. The measure means teachers who plead no contest would immediately lose their license, and the reason for the revocation would be public record.

Some say the latest legislation is just the beginning.

South Carolina has created a new committee of parents, teachers, social workers and prosecutors to study the problem and come back with new ideas.

Though small statistically, the number of abusive teachers is too high, South Carolina Education Superintendent Jim Rex wrote after reading the AP report.

"I am nonetheless outraged by any incident in which an adult entrusted with the care of one of South Carolina's students violates that student. The ramifications for that student, his or her family, and the community as a whole are painful and long lasting," he wrote.

In Utah, the numbers of abuses flat-out shocked state Rep. Carl Wimmer. "These things happen a lot more often than parents would think," he said. "It seems we do have an unacceptable high amount of children who get violated in the classroom. One is too many."

STOP INTRO 650 Which Would Require a Permit to Monitor Air Quality in NYC

Peter Vallone, Jr., Chair of the New York City Council Public Safety Committee, needs to be reprimanded for introducing a bill that will violate the right of individuals to monitor air quality in NYC without going through the police department scrutiny. If this bill, INTRO 650-B, passes, and you try to get a police permit as you will be required to do in order to monitor environmental air quality, you most probably will be prevented by the NYC Police Department, which at the present time is overreaching their mandate and are violating citizen rights.

We suggest that you protest the pursuit of this bill by writing it's supporters and telling them that this bill is unacceptable. You can also use your voice to protest the actions of the following members (supporters of INTRO 650)who are not, in our opinion, protecting the public but are catering to the Mayor's attempts to control all agencies and information in defiance of transparency and open government:

Mr. Peter Vallone, Jr., Chairperson
Public Safety Committee
The New York City Council
250 Broadway 17th Floor
New York, NY 10007
and at his office
Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr.
Leroy Comrie
Lewis A. Fidler
Vincent J. Gentile
Letitia James
Michael C. Nelson
Domenic M. Recchia, Jr.
Kendall Stewart
David I. Weprin, Jr.
Thomas White, Jr.

STOP INTRO 650 NOW!

Intro 650 (Permits for Atmospheric, Biological, Chemical, and Radiological Detectors) is a City Council bill, introduced at the request of the Mayor, that will require police permits for possession and use of environmental air monitoring devices by public health groups, labor unions, environmentalists, community organizations, and university programs.

Intro 650, if enacted, will restrict, and could prevent altogether, independent environmental monitoring. Intro 650 also raises a serious threat to our civil liberties.

An initial hearing on the bill was held January 8. Strong opposition was raised by numerous speakers representing a broad range of groups. (See links below.)

Read the bill: Intro 650 is the bill that was the subject of the January 8 hearing held by the New York City Council, Public Safety Committee. Intro 650-B is a revised version of the bill. It was drafted in response to testimony and comments made during the January 8 hearing.

Testimony given at January 8 hearing

Statement of Richard Falkenrath, Deputy Commissioner, Counterterrorism, New York City Police Department
Joint testimony of NYCOSH and New York City Central Labor Council
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer
Ellie Engler, Assistant to the President and Director, UFT Safety and Health Department, United Federation of Teachers
Jack Caravanos, Associate Professor of Environmental Health and Acting Program Director of Urban Public Health and Track Coordinator, Hunter College
John B. Glass, Jr., Senior Vice President, The Hillman Group; Chair, Environmental Issues, Special Interest Group, New Jersey Local Section, American Industrial Hygiene Association

Statements, Resolutions opposing Intro 650

New York State Public Employees Federation, AFL-CIO, letter to Peter Vallone, Chairperson, Public Safety Committe, New York CIty Council
Joint Boards of the Mount Sinai Center for Occupational Health and Environmental Medicine
New York State Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick statement
New York City Council Member Alan Gerson, District 1
Community Board 1- Manhattan: Resolution in opposition of Intro 650
American Industrial Hygiene Association letter to Mayor Bloomberg
Riverkeeper, New York/New Jersey Baykeeper, Long Island Soundkeeper, Newton Creek Alliance letter to Mayor Bloomberg

News stories about Intro 650

New York Times, City Room.com, 1/8/08
Downtown Express, 1/8/08
Village Voice, 1/15/08
Gotham Gazette, 1/18/08

January 8, 2008, 6:26 pm
A License to Check for W.M.D.’s?
By Sewell Chan, City Room
LINK

Individuals and companies have increasingly expressed interest in buying detectors to warn them in case of a biological, chemical or radiological attack. But now a City Council committee is considering a proposal that would require New Yorkers to get a permit from the Police Department to buy or use such detectors.
The legislation — which was proposed by the Bloomberg administration and would be the first of its kind in the nation — would empower the police commissioner to decide whether to grant a free five-year permit to individuals and companies seeking to “possess or deploy such detectors.” Common smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors would not be covered by the law, the Police Department said. Violations of the law would be considered a misdemeanor.
Why does the administration think such a law is necessary? Richard A. Falkenrath, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner for counterterrorism, told the Council’s Public Safety Committee at a hearing today, “Our mutual goal is to prevent false alarms and unnecessary public concern by making sure that we know where these detectors are located and that they conform to standards of quality and reliability.”
The law would also require anyone using such a detector — regardless of whether they have obtained the required permit — to notify the Police Department if the detector alerted them to a biological, chemical or radiological agent. “In this way, emergency response personnel will be able to assess threats and take appropriate action based on the maximum information available,” Dr. Falkenrath said.
The Police Department would work with officials in the Departments of Fire, Health and Mental Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Dr. Falkenrath said, to “develop the appropriate standards for evaluating the applications, regarding not only the technical specifications for the detectors but also the applicant’s emergency response protocols.”
Not everyone is enamored of the legislation, however.
The Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer, said in a statement that he was “concerned that in its current form this bill is too broad and will unfairly obstruct the independent collection of scientific data.”
Mr. Stringer said that he could not “think of any evidence or events from our recent past involving ‘false alarms’ that would create any urgency for this sweeping legislation,” and that on the contrary, the law “may undermine public freedom and add unnecessary red tape.” In the statement, he asked:
If enacted, would we have the absurd result of making it illegal for patients to test whether their kids are being exposed to second-hand smoke, mold, radon or other common pollutants unless they first get a permit from the city? How about air-quality testing by environmental advocacy groups in East Harlem, prompted by alarming statistics that children in El Barrio have the highest asthma rates in the nation?
Ellie Engler, a safety and health official at the United Federation of Teachers, said that “universally requiring permits for atmospheric, biological, chemical and radiological detectors places an undue burden on personnel conducting routine construction-related activities in New York City.”
And the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health, a labor-backed advocacy group, was even more adamant in his opposition. In a statement, the committee said the bill “is aimed at fixing a problem that does not exist”;
“would make it more difficult for the public, and for government agencies, to obtain environmental sampling data in a timely manner”;
“would make it more difficult for the public to obtain independent environmental sampling data and to assess the accuracy of government statements”;
“would inappropriately and impossibly task N.Y.P.D. with assessing the capabilities of air monitoring instruments and of the individuals, agencies and organizations that utilize them”; and
“would immediately make illegal scores of thousands of safety devices already in place in homes, schools, businesses and public buildings.”
At the hearing, Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr., a Queens Democrat who is chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said the Council has been asked by the Bloomberg administration to “move as expeditiously as possible” on the bill. He and the speaker, Christine C. Quinn, support the bill but want to see the concerns about its broad language addressed.
“The consensus is that the goal of the bill is very reasonable, but we need to tailor a little more specifically so as not to hinder legitimate private uses of these detection devices,” Mr. Vallone said in a phone interview this afternoon. In principle, the Police Department should be able to know who has such devices, he said, but household detectors like smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors should not be included in the legislation.
“The technology in potential weapons and in detection devices is constantly evolving and needs to be examined by experts, not legislators,” Mr. Vallone said.


NY TIMES op-ed, January 30, 2008
January 30, 2008
Op-Ed Contributors
Sensor Deprivation
By STEVEN CHILLRUD, GREG O’MULLAN and WADE McGILLIS

AT the suggestion of the federal Department of Homeland Security, New York City Council members have drafted legislation requiring anyone who has or uses a detector that measures chemical, biological or radioactive agents to get a license from the Police Department.

The purpose of the bill is to reduce unwarranted anxiety and damage from false alarms of terrorist attacks. Proponents say police officers need to know where detectors are and make sure they’re reliable. But the bill, which appears to be the first of its kind in the country and a model for other cities, could stifle the collection of environmental information vital to the public good.

The problem is that the bill as written would cover all “environmental sensors,” and in the extreme interpretation even laboratory analyses, used by students, teachers, researchers, activists, unions and many other groups. Their work has far more to do with ecology, education, public health and worker safety than with terrorism. These sensors allow them to measure things like greenhouse gases in order to document air pollution.

There are many examples of nongovernmental groups collecting important environmental data based on laboratory analyses. Indeed, the original identification of PCB contamination of the Hudson River did not come from the government but from a study by Sports Illustrated magazine that included data on striped bass collected from the river by a private citizen, Robert H. Boyle.

When a steam pipe exploded in Midtown Manhattan last year, scientists were able to quickly allay fears that asbestos was in the air. In the wake of 9/11, private groups using both hand-held particle sensors and samples that were analyzed in laboratories enabled us to better understand the health risks of the disaster. Future environmental and public health research will rely increasingly on sensors that immediately measure contaminant levels.

The hassle of getting a license that the police could deny or delay on any grounds — or simply not have time to process — could hamper or stop the flow of environmental data. It certainly wouldn’t be a wise use of our tax dollars to have them spent on issuing permits for monitors that have nothing to do with identifying terrorist activities.

Reducing false alarms may be a worthy purpose, but pushing through this legislation without clearly defining standards and policies doesn’t make sense. For example, the bill defines a biological agent as any microorganism or product of a microorganism that can cause “death, disease or other biological malfunction in a living organism, deterioration or poisoning of food or water, or deleterious alteration of the environment.” Such biological agents flood into local waters when rain storms make sewers overflow. So, conceivably, a high school class wanting to measure the presence of fecal matter in river water would need a license. These definitions are simply too broad to be useful.

This bill relies upon judicious enforcement to counterbalance the all-encompassing language. Even though we believe that the current city administration would use the law rationally, once such a vaguely worded statute is passed, it opens the door for abuse. If it passes here, Homeland Security will probably use it as a model for other cities.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the nation has looked to New York City on security issues. We must set the example. Restriction of environmental information is rarely in the public’s interest. The ability of scientists and citizens to gather data quickly and efficiently should be fostered, not suppressed.

The City Council should seek more public input and take its time in refining this legislation. It should expand the definition of detectors into different classes and make it clear that the legislation is applicable only to the class of real-time detectors that measure biological, chemical and radiological agents that would pose a danger to the public from terrorist activities or weapons of mass destruction. All other types of detectors should be exempted.

Indeed, one could consider not having any permits at all, even for those designed to detect terrorist attacks. And instead the legislation should focus on reporting procedures that would keep false alarms from snowballing into panic. That, after all, is what proponents say the purpose is.

Steven Chillrud, Greg O’Mullan and Wade McGillis are research scientists at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia.