Charter schools remain a hot-button topic
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Yesterday, the City Council members called on state legislators to establish a process by which charter schools are sited in public school buildings. Charter schools, which receive public money but are not managed by the Department of Education, are not entitled to space rent-free in DOE buildings, but Chancellor Klein’s administration has tried to accommodate charters in public school buildings whenever possible. This spring, when the DOE announced that it was closing PS 194 in Harlem and replacing it with a charter, the controversy erupted, a lawsuit was filed, parents screamed at each other in a hearing, the DOE eventually backtracked, and then newspapers blamed the teachers’ union for “condemning” students to failing schools.
At City Hall yesterday, council members questioned many of the players involved (teachers union representatives, parent groups, charter school leaders, Department of Education officials), and introduced a resolution urging state legislators to give communities more of a voice in charter school sitings. DOE officials who testified did not think the resolution was necessary.
Eva Moskowitz, the founder and leader of the charter school network Harlem Success, testified before the committee, which she used to chair when she was a city council member. It was her fourth charter school that had been slated to replace P.S. 194, and her former colleagues on City Council held her responsible for any role she may have played in the ensuing controversy. See a video from the Moskowitz testimony on GothamSchools.
Meanwhile, many of the city charters have been holding their lotteries this week. The number of applicants to charters more than doubled this year to 39,200 from last year’s 18,672. Democracy Prep Charter School, which is also in Harlem, held its lottery last night to pick 100 students out of 1,500 who applied (making the odds “harder than Harvard’s” according to the school). Tonight, at least 27 more charters will hold their lotteries and thousands of families will show up to see if their child’s name is called.
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I keep saying this at every meeting I attend, whether it be the PEP or City council meeting or testifying before the State Senate - If people had local public schools of excellent standard a few would surely chose a specific kind of charter school, but the vast majority would be more than satisfied to attend the local P.S. People want excellence and if they fear their local schools are unworkable, of course they’ll do what ever they can to put their children in a better (Charter) School. But if their local public school was like the top five of so best public schools in new york, I know the vast majority would chose them.
I do wish the DoE would stop trying to put Charter schools down our throats and simply improve the facilities and infrastructer we already have.
Comment by Liat Silberman — April 7, 2009 @ 8:17 pm
I believe that to support Charter schools is to support the privatization of public schools. They are now becoming a franchise. Look at how many charter schools bear the same name. Success Academy one of them. Their CEOs get paid a big fat salary out of our school taxes. Lets stop the proliferation of Charter schools who are accountable to no one.
Comment by martha — April 8, 2009 @ 10:31 am
I am an experienced youth development professional who is seeking a kindergarten placement for my 4 1/2 year old son. I just completed the excruciating process of finding a suitable school in Harlem among the poor choices available. Our zoned school is across the street from our home and is rated as the lowest performing school in district 5. I’ve worked closely with the schools in Harlem serving Pre-K through high school. I’m acutely aware of the disparity between the quality of education in our community and other communities around the city. My wife and I have applied to 9 charter schools and hope to get lucky in at least one of the upcoming lotteries. The lack of support and mis-information given to parents by public school staff is legendary. I empathize with parents who are not skilled at getting the information needed to make the best choices for their children’s education. The DOE bureaucracy presents parents from communities of color with seemingly insurmountable obstacles to access to a good education for their children. Educational abuse is alive and well and living in communities like ours across the city.
Comment by Charles Taylor — April 8, 2009 @ 11:13 am
As a teacher at a threatened school in D3 recently told the CEC, ‘if it’s better (the charter sch ol) and the city feels that they know what works (i.e. all the programs, extras, etc at charter schools), why doesn’t the DOE step up and give that to ALL the kids in the school system?’
The DOE has neglected to tend its own overcrowded garden for years and now they want to farm it out to someone else.
Comment by anni — April 8, 2009 @ 3:06 pm
One of my kids goes to a charter school(housed in a roudy public school) and the other goes to a public school. I think both have positives and negatives. The DOE does not really provide the proper tool to make charters work well in public schools. When they put a new school within an exisitng one they have to realize that the building now has to have space for at least two of everything. i.e. two science rooms, two support staff rooms, two art rooms etc. Most Public schools don’t want to share those things, and I can’t blame them. The interior DOE planners have to see beyond their imaginary dreams and look at reality. The charter school my child is in has 285 students. The public school it shares has only 210 students yet they take up 2/3 of the building while the charter has to beg for extra space. Even though they have some self-contained special ed classes, they are still very under enrolled and the DOE will do nothing about it after 4 years. i think they are taking favors.
Protesters need to realize charters are not stealing funds from public schools since charters only get half the amount per student and must fund-raise the rest. Most are inside DOE buildings anyway and have to deal with the same broken down stuff the PS schools do. Sometimes it comes down to the teaching styles. At the public school that shares the building with the charter, the teachers tend to use very strong verbal tones and can be heard yelling all through the halls at little pre-k kids. Who wants that. Charters just offer choices.
Comment by sandera — April 8, 2009 @ 10:01 pm
I too am navigating the charter school process for Fall 2009. Why? Because NO ONE in DOE has stepped up to offer the same quality education in our zoned public school. I do not understand the resentment by public school parents that are against having a charter school in “their” building. This anger and resentment and protesting and nonsense should be toward DOE for NOT stepping up to the plate. Don’t they want the children of our future to succeed? What about their own children? Are they happy with their school’s performance rating? Fight so that your child’s school, no matter where they attend, has a competitive academic curriculum. I have had enough of the kindergarten application process. It shouldn’t be this way….
Comment by AriannaFan — April 9, 2009 @ 10:26 am
It is not fair to be angry and resentful at charter schools because they are doing what is right providing structure and academic achievement. The DOE should model the public schools after charter schools. They should stop wasting million of dollars bringing in outside companies to do Quality Reviews/surveys and such when the answer to better schools are right in there backyards. Look at what the successful charter schools are doing and model them and give every child in the city a good education.
Comment by Iris — April 9, 2009 @ 3:13 pm