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The city's Department of Education plans to phase out four schools it says are failing their students. These are: Frederick Douglass Academy Charter Middle School in the Bronx; William H. Maxwell Career and Technical Education High School in Brooklyn; the High School of Environmental Sciences in Manhattan; and the Kappa II middle school in East Harlem.

All four schools got C's, D's, and F's on their progress reports over the past three years.

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew says a new state law requires a 45-day period of public comment before a final decision is made. "It's not only the school that is closing but how does this closing affect all of the building where it is in, and the other schools around it because as you know there's a ripple effect every time you do this. You close one school and then it's the schools around it that are affected greatly," Mulgrew says.

The city says public hearings will be held before the Panel for Educational Policy votes on January 26.