City Halts Six School Changes Inherited from Bloomberg
Thursday, February 27, 2014 - 04:50 PM
Chancellor Carmen Farina after meeting with charter school leaders (Beth Fertig/WNYC)The new leadership at the Department of Education on Thursday halted six schools from opening this fall, including three Success Academy charter schools and three district schools, but gave the green light to dozens of other new schools or expansions approved in the waning months of the Bloomberg administration.
The highly anticipated decision was fraught, with winners and losers in any possible outcome. Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina said she and her staff developed guidelines they used to eliminate schools they thought were not well-conceived. They also took note of the families involved.
"As enrollment deadlines approach, we considered the thousands of families that could be affected," she said in a written statement. "We were deliberate in our decisions and, under the circumstances we inherited, believe this is the best approach.”
Farina went on to criticize the previous administration for leaving her with the task of reviewing these proposals under "inflexible deadlines" and promised that under her