Parents say a charter school in East New York, Brooklyn is one of the area's few options for a good education, but the Department of Education may shut it down due to policy violations. NY1's Education reporter Lindsey Christ filed the following report.
All the students at East New York Preparatory Charter School passed the state math test last year and 86 percent passed the reading test. Yet the Department of Education says the school may have to close down. They say administrators at East New York have committed the worst violations of charter school policy they have ever seen. The situation was so bad that every single teacher either quit or was fired between June and September 2009.But at a hearing this week, parents said they are desperate for good schools and begged for East New York Prep to stay open.
"My child is not finished with school until she finishes college. How many schools do that?" said a parent at the hearing.
The test scores at East New York were high, but DOE officials say the school expelled almost 50 low-performing students before they could take them.
DOE officials says many of the problems can be traced to the school's leader, Sheila Joseph, seen right, and the school's board of trustees. Charter school policy does not permit the DOE to fire the principal or replace the board."The DOE is telling the truth, their hands are tied. They do need to close down the school," said Mona Davids of the New York Charter Parents Association.
"The chancellor has been clear that if a charter school or a regular district school is not performing, then he is going to hold them accountable and they're going to close down. And the same goes for East New York Prep," said DOE official Michael Duffy.