New York City schools chancellor Harold Levy has ordered a review of teacher "professional development" workshops, after controversy flared over classes in yoga, bird-watching and tai-chi.
Levy directed school district superintendents to ensure that the workshops are academically oriented.
Staff development workshops are offered to teachers four times a year, and students are given the days off from school. A reporter from the Newsday newspaper learned that teachers from four Queens high schools were scheduled last week for stress reducing workshops, including a lesson in aromatherapy and a birdwatching excursion around the borough's Jamaica Bay.
John W. Lee, superintendent of Queens high schools, defended the programmes, saying they could be used to "promote teaching of standards". But he cancelled the workshops after Levy telephoned.
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