District 3: Controversial resolution passes
Last night, the Community Education Council for District 3 passed a controversial resolution which rezones three large apartment buildings on the Upper West Side from the popular PS 199 to lower-performing PS 191. Residents of these buildings, including one man who has yet to father his first child, spoke out during the public comment portion of the meeting, saying that they had invested in the neighborhood, assuming their children would attend PS 199.
The resolution also recommended that the DOE move the Center School out of the overcrowded PS 199 building. Center School parents, students and administrators staged a protest rally before the meeting and walked out before the vote. A large corps of police officers stood by throughout the evening.
The debate has gotten ugly during the past two weeks, and Center School parents vowed that it wasn't over last night since the Department of Education makes the final decision on whether or not to move a school. There have been allegations of racism, since Center School has a more diverse student-body than PS 199, but Insideschools blogger and CEC3 member Jennifer Freeman wrote that such accusations are unfounded.
"I am really, really angry," a seventh grade student from Center School said, as she handed out fliers at the door to the meeting. "Nobody at my school wants to move. I want to spend my last year in middle school in the building I started in."
The student's mother, actress Cynthia Nixon has been involved in the protests and remains a vocal defender of the Center School.
Parents from theComputer School who also spoke at the meeting, expressed concern that the resolution to move citywide gifted and talented school Anderson into their building might lead to future overcrowding.
"Are we going to be in the same situation as Center School in a few years?" one parent asked. Officials from the Department of Education told her not to worry; they believe that all of the moves on the table are long-term solutions.
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