Why SUNY should not allow Success Charters to expand.
On Wed., October 8, 2014, the SUNY charter committee is due to vote on authorizing a gazillion new Success charters for nearly every area of the city -- though without telling us exactly where they will go, and how much space they will take from our public school students. Where: 116 E. 55 St., Boardroom; Time: 9:30 AM.
Eva Moskowitz is determined to occupy as much real estate as possible as quickly as possible at city expense, and is preparing with a massive rally this Thursday where she will gather the troops, closing her schools for the occasion, and ordering every parent, teacher and student at her command to show up.
In addition, her hedge fund supporters have given $1.75 million in the past week alone to GOP State Senators, determined to fix the election in her favor. .Of that, $350,000, came from Paul Tudor Jones II, of the Robin Hood Foundation and Tudor Investment Corp., a hedge fund in Connecticut. Here is a picture of him with his wife at his 60th birthday, where John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater and Jon Bon Jovi sang.
Not to mention millions more they have given to the best friend of the charter schools, Governor Cuomo. Truly, the charter movement is not an educational movement, but a political one, in the worst sense of the word -- and their billionaire backers are intent on using their outsized wealth and power to get their way, whether it is in the best interests of NYC children or not. Check out the column by Prof. Dan Katz on their collective hypocrisy.
On Monday night there were hearings at the District 2 offices on 7th Ave, where many eloquent teachers, parents, community leaders, and Assemblymember Deborah Glick spoke in opposition to this land grab, and several parents from Upper West Success spoke plaintively in support. The Community Education Council in Districts 2 and 3 are also opposed, as is the Community Board in District 2. Interestingly, not a single parent who said they wanted to enroll their own children in any of these schools showed up, and the representatives from her charter network refused to speak, though as usual, they had hired a cameraman to take videos. I told him the videographer that he must have filmed hundreds of hours of hearings of parents protesting Success charter schools, and he just shrugged. She has the cash to burn so why not?
Norm Scott has posted some videos here of the MORE contingent, and DNA info covered the hearingshere. I spoke briefly, and today I sent my comments to two out of the three members of the SUNY charter committee (the only two I could find emails for.)
Eva Moskowitz is determined to occupy as much real estate as possible as quickly as possible at city expense, and is preparing with a massive rally this Thursday where she will gather the troops, closing her schools for the occasion, and ordering every parent, teacher and student at her command to show up.
In addition, her hedge fund supporters have given $1.75 million in the past week alone to GOP State Senators, determined to fix the election in her favor. .Of that, $350,000, came from Paul Tudor Jones II, of the Robin Hood Foundation and Tudor Investment Corp., a hedge fund in Connecticut. Here is a picture of him with his wife at his 60th birthday, where John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater and Jon Bon Jovi sang.Not to mention millions more they have given to the best friend of the charter schools, Governor Cuomo. Truly, the charter movement is not an educational movement, but a political one, in the worst sense of the word -- and their billionaire backers are intent on using their outsized wealth and power to get their way, whether it is in the best interests of NYC children or not. Check out the column by Prof. Dan Katz on their collective hypocrisy.
On Monday night there were hearings at the District 2 offices on 7th Ave, where many eloquent teachers, parents, community leaders, and Assemblymember Deborah Glick spoke in opposition to this land grab, and several parents from Upper West Success spoke plaintively in support. The Community Education Council in Districts 2 and 3 are also opposed, as is the Community Board in District 2. Interestingly, not a single parent who said they wanted to enroll their own children in any of these schools showed up, and the representatives from her charter network refused to speak, though as usual, they had hired a cameraman to take videos. I told him the videographer that he must have filmed hundreds of hours of hearings of parents protesting Success charter schools, and he just shrugged. She has the cash to burn so why not?
Norm Scott has posted some videos here of the MORE contingent, and DNA info covered the hearingshere. I spoke briefly, and today I sent my comments to two out of the three members of the SUNY charter committee (the only two I could find emails for.)
To: jbelluck@belluckfox.com, jmurad@hancocklaw.com, charters@suny.edu
Dear Mr. Belluck and Mr. Murad:
I urge you not to allow Success charters to expand, on the grounds that they do not enroll their fair share of high needs students, receive more per student funding in public funds than public schools, and drain our public schools of the resources and space necessary for a sound basic education.
I will briefly explain these points, but for back-up material or citations for any of these points, you can refer to the attached document, called the Six Myths of Charter school, also posted here: http://www.classsizematters.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/testimony-charters-5-6-14-final1.pdf
1. Charter schools are NOT public schools. Charter schools are publicly funded but governed by private corporate boards, and do NOT have to follow the same laws or rules that public schools do. They are able to cap their enrollment and class sizes at any levels they like, they enact extreme disciplinary policies, and often exhibit high suspension rates. In NYC, they can and do expel students –forbidden by NYC public schools for any student under 17.
2. Charter schools DO NOT educate the same exact kind of students as public schools. Charters have fewer special needs students, English language learners, students in poverty. This is especially true of Success Charters. According to the 2010 Amendments to the Charter Schools Act , when charter authorizers renew or allow charter schools to expand, these schools are obligated to show they are meeting or exceeding enrollment and retention targets of students with disabilities, English language learners and free and/or reduced price lunch, yet despite this, Success charters has been allowed to rapidly expand without showing this.
3. NYC charters receive MORE in per student public funding than district schools. As the NYC Independent Budget Office has pointed out, the two thirds of NYC charters that are co-located receive MORE per pupil public funding than public schools when their free space and services is taken into account. The large disparity in public support will grow even greater with the boost in charter funding in the new state budget, and the guarantee of free space for all new and expanding NYC charters moving forward, .
4. Charter schools DO NOT get higher test scores because of some secret formula.
The test scores of charter chains like Success is likely not due to superior teaching or curriculum, but to increased funding, and their much higher suspension and attrition rates. Of course, the more a school pushes out struggling students, the higher their test scores will likely be. According to NYC Public School Parents: Why SUNY should not allow Success Charters to expand.:
