PEP votes on more charter co-locations
UPDATE June 28: As expected, all the co-location proposals were ratified by PEP last night, as was the move of Khalil Gibran school to a new location, as a high school. See coverage on GothamSchools, including video of a confrontation between Hazel Dukes of the NAACP and charter school proponents.
The Panel of Educational Policy (PEP) will vote tonight on some 20 proposals for charter schools to share buildings with neighborhood schools even while a lawsuit filed by the Teachers' Union (UFT) and the NAACP to stop 16 charter schools from opening, moving, or expanding, is still unresolved.
This morning, some 250 charter school parents and proponents picketed outside of the UFT headquarters, GothamSchools reports, and tonight's PEP meeting in Brooklyn promises to be equally charged. One of the proposals to be voted on is the highly contested opening of the Upper West Success Academy in the Brandeis High School building on the Upper West Side. Free buses, organized by District 3 parents, will leave from 86th and Broadway and 215 West 114th Street at 4 p.m. to take parents to the meeting at Prospect Heights High School in Brooklyn.
In addition to the charter school votes, there are also proposals for other school moves and co-locations. Khalil Gibran, which opened amid great controversy as a dual language (Arabic) middle school in 2007 now proposes to close its middle school and become a high school. PEP will vote tonight on its bid to phase out the middle school and move into the tiny building currently occupied by Metropolitan Corporate Academy, which is being closed for poor performance. In its short history, Khalil Gibran, has suffered from low enrollment and low achievement levels, has moved twice and has had four principals.
For a full rundown on tonight's votes, which follow months of public hearings and changes to proposals, see the DOE's website.
Not going to the meeting? GothamSchools.org will be live-blogging the event.
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