Statement on Former Chancellor Joel Klein’s Actions to Privatize Education
by admin
Mona Davids, NYC Parents Union, (917) 340-8987
New York City Parents Union Statement Regarding Former Schools Chancellor Joel Klein’s Collusion with the Charter Lobby to Privatize Education
This past Friday, May 11, the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) finally released emails originally requested in May 2010 as a Freedom of Information request by the United Federation of Teachers(UFT). The emails clearly show how former NYCDOE Chancellor Joel Klein advised and conspired with supporters of charter schools and their lobbyists, including Joe Williams from Democrats for Education Reform and James Merriman from the New York City Charter School Center, to essentially privatize public education by increasing the number of charter schools allowed by law.
Joel Klein and his subordinates, former Deputy Chancellor John White and former Executive Director of the NYCDOE Charter School Office, Michael Duffy, coordinated with Williams and Merriman to raise funds for media campaigns, to lobby legislators, and to collaborate on opinion pieces in the media. These activities, designed to benefit private corporations by increasing the number of charter schools they could operate and their autonomy, used government resources while, simultaneously, Chancellor Klein was mismanaging the public schools he was appointed to improve.
The New York City Parents Union (NYCPU) is outraged by these clear conflicts of interest as well as inappropriate behavior on the part of Joel Klein and his subordinates. We cannot condone the manipulation of public dollars and public opinion that took place during the Klein administration and, for all we know, may still be taking place. It is not the place of a Chancellor to advise corporations “to mobilize” for their own enrichment through public education dollars. It is corrupt, it is wrong and it must be investigated.
The NYCPU demands an investigation of the actions pertaining to charter schools on the part of Joel Klein and his subordinates, and we demand a public pledge from Chancellor Dennis Walcott that no similar conspiracies and activities have been or are being promulgated by the NYCDOE during Walcott’s tenure. We demand that this investigation be led by the Attorney General of the State of New York, Hon. Eric Schneiderman, and supported by the Special Commissioner of Investigation of the City of New York.
Finally, we demand that Chancellor Walcott and Recy Dunn, Executive Director of the NYCDOE Charter School Office, both resign from the Board of Directors of the New York City Charter School Center in order to avoid further conflicts and the appearance of impropriety.
The NYCPU is demanding these actions because we agree with PS 208M PTA President Symone Manning, who stated that “It is deplorable how former Chancellor Joel Klein worked behind the scenes to undermine the schools he was in charge of improving. As a result of his actions, our school – PS 208 – will be overcrowded this coming September, and services for special needs students and English Language Learners are in jeopardy.”
NYCPU also concurs with PS188M Parent Cynthia Bonano’s conclusions about Joel Klein’s behavior. “In 2010, pushing to site a charter middle school in M188, former Chancellor Klein boldly and desperately invoked ‘emergency Chancellor powers’ to circumvent the New York State Commissioner of Education’s decision not to approve the co-location of a charter school — a co-location that hurt students with disabilities. This was an outrageous abuse of power on behalf of a special interest.” The time for an investigation and corrective action is now.
