New Charter Schools Thrive in Harlem, but Some Parents Are Feeling Left Out - NYTimes.com:
School Choice Is No Cure-All, Harlem Finds
By KYLE SPENCER
Published: September 2, 2012
When it came time to pick a Harlem middle school for her daughter, Eula Guest did her research. She inquired with friends, principals and PTA presidents, and talked to students inside art studios and auditoriums. “I got down to the nitty-gritty,” she said. “I asked about everything.” Eventually, she chose Frederick Douglass Academy II, a middle and high school with a robotics class, a college-readiness program and lots of tutoring for students in need of extra support. The latest grade reported in the city’s guidebook said the middle school had earned an “A.”
It did not say that more recently, it had earned a “C,” and the year that Ms. Guest’s daughter, Shassee, applied for