NYC Public School Parents: Why Families Need a Progressive Middle School in District 4

NYC Public School Parents: Why Families Need a Progressive Middle School in District 4:

Why Families Need a Progressive Middle School in District 4

by Leonie Haimson

The following is by Raven Snook, a parent in District 4.  WhileDOE often claims to be responding to "parent choice" they are really responding to the choice of privatizers, in their effort to expand charters as quickly as possible, and give them space inside public school buildings, even when they already have leased alternatives, as in the example below.
My 7-year-old attends Central Park East II, one of two progressive elementary schools in East Harlem founded by famed educator Deborah Meier almost 40 years ago. Both CPEI and II have been trying to expand to a combined middle school for the past four years, and in 2012 the Department of Education told us the only thing standing in our way was lack of space in District 4. Cut to today: The DOE is giving away available space in the Jackie Robinson Educational Complex -- the same