SUNY Trustee Resigns Over Objections to Charter Schools
A State University of New York trustee who oversaw the creation of new charter schools has resigned, citing concerns that the institute has a political agenda to increase the number of charters, rather than a mission to develop experimental schools.
Pedro Noguera, a professor of education at New York University, submitted his letter of resignation last Friday, he said, a few days after the committee voted to allow a charter school, Cobble Hill Success Academy, to open in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, an affluent neighborhood where it would share a building with two public schools.
“That was kind of the last straw for me,” Dr. Noguera said.
Recently, he had become troubled both by the types of charter schools SUNY was approving, as well as the
On Keeping Church and Schools Separate
Last month, the United States Supreme Court refused to intervene in a 16-year legal battle against New York City’s prohibition on the use of schools for religious worship services.
Some 160 religious congregations, almost all Christian denominations, now have until Feb. 12 to stop using schools as houses of worship. They won’t go quietly and have enlisted the help of state and city lawmakers.
On Thursday, the City Council‘s education committee has scheduled a hearing on a resolution to allow religious groups access to schools.
The Department of Education is right to erect a wall between religious worship and our schools. Policymakers