Backing her kid’s school, actress Cynthia Nixon joins UWS war

west side story

November 14, 2008

Backing her kid’s school, actress Cynthia Nixon joins UWS war

by Philissa Cramer, at 3:58 pm

A resolution to move an Upper West Side middle school passed on Wednesday night, but not before Cynthia Nixon — “Sex and the City” actress, Alliance for Quality Education spokeswoman, and parent at the school — was shouted down briefly during a heated public comment session.

Nixon was stepping into a fight that has been raging on the Upper West Side for months. The fight began as a discussion about how to deal with overcrowding at public schools but has spiraled into a raging debate about class and race and privilege in Upper Manhattan. Confrontations have gotten incredibly emotional — and personal: On this site, a commenter posing as Cynthia Nixon’s fictional son, Brady, from “Sex and the City” accused his “mom” of hypocrisy. And parents at Nixon’s school, called the Center School, have charged another school’s parents with racism and class prejudice, citing postings from last January on the Urban Baby Web site that called Center School students “thugs.”

At issue is a plan that would move the Center School from its current home inside a larger elementary school on West 70th Street, PS 199. Supporters of the plan tout it as an easy way to relieve crowding at the elementary school, which is growing so quickly that parents fear it will not have room to hold their younger children. Opponents, including Nixon, argue that moving the Center School exacerbates segregation by race and class. (PS 199, a zoned school, is two-thirds white, while the Center School, which draws its students from throughout the district, is half white and has a higher proportion of black and Hispanic students.)

If the plan becomes official, which it almost certainly will after Wednesday’s vote, the Center School will move to another school building several blocks away.

Nixon and other Center School parents have vehemently opposed the plan for months, making fliers and using the school’s Web site to organize protests. They also delivered passionate testimony at the meeting Wednesday, choosing Nixon and another mother to represent their cause. In her short remarks, which I captured in the video above, Nixon argued that there is a stark difference between the demographic of the Center School and the “increasingly white and increasingly affluent” elementary school it shares space with. Moving the Center School away, she said, would lead to a “de facto segregated building on 70th Street.”

The Upper West Side school war began in September, when the city Department of Education suggested two plans for how the Upper West Side could relieve crowding.

One would have moved 30 percent of students to new schools. But the local parent council that has final authority over zoning matters last week indicated that it would back a much tamer plan. That one would move only a handful of students, keep siblings in the same school, and, most controversially, relocate two schools. One of those schools, Anderson, a gifted school that pulls students from across the city, agreed to a move. The other, the Center School, where Cynthia Nixon is a parent, has spent weeks fighting tooth and nail against the plan.

The people booing Nixon were led by a growing group of parents who are zoned for PS 199 but fear that increasing crowding could make the school too packed to have room for their children. If the Center School moves out of their building, that will shore up space for their children at PS 199. These parents, who have maintained a Web site that some say contains misinformation, turned out in large numbers to the meeting on Wednesday. (Below the jump, view a video of their spokesman, Eric Shuffler, speaking out at the meeting; he, too, was booed.)

But Nixon’s contingent was by far the largest. It included not only by Center School parents but also parents from at least four neighborhood schools, who echoed Nixon’s argument about diversity. The group walked out in protest as the council prepared to vote. A number of PS 199 parents who said they supported the Center School joined them.

Also walking out — at times to shouts of “Yes, we can” — were parents from the Computer School, a middle school whose building will be Anderson’s new home, and PS 75, a diverse elementary school whose zone was trimmed in the resolution.

Council members said they had no authority to involve issues of diversity in the rezoning process. “The [Community Education Council] does value diversity. We’ve talked about it,” CEC 3 member Jennifer Freeman told me after the meeting. “We were working with the tools available to us so the main topic in this conversation had to be overcrowding. We would welcome the opportunity to talk about diversity more.”

During the meeting, one council member explained that she wanted to deal with issues of race and class segregation in the district but that now was not the right time to do so.

“If not now, when?” audience members shouted at her.

That council member, Danielle Moss Lee, ultimately abstained from voting. She was the only council member present who did not vote in favor of the resolution.

meredith fogel

It is disgraceful that any parent, principal, or celebrity could take the position that an unzoned middle school’s theoretical attachment to bricks and mortar trumps the needs of zoned elementary school children (some as young as 5) to go to their neighborhood school. Cynthia Nixon should stick to her day job, and the Center School should stop raising red-herrings in an effort to avoid the only logical and appropriate conclusion to an unfortunate overcrowding situation.
ps199 Parent

Ummmmmm……..let me see,affluent and white……and segregated like Cynthia Nixon HERSELF??!!!!!!!!!!!She wasn’t complaining when HER kids were going to 199,it wasn’t too “white”then…..(even tho’ as someone who has lived in the immediate neighborhood for over 1/2 my life…… 20+ yrs,my dh for even more the PS 199 demographic has not appreciably changed in the yrs since her kids went there………..but we HAVE LOST a computer room,music room,teachers lounge etc.)If she’s so worried about it being too “white and “rich”,she could afford to pay for private school for HER kids and perhaps let someone ,perhaps “white”,perhaps not,but someone who can’t afford her options take her children’s place,AND since the Center school is so concerned w/their class size ,PERHAPS SHE COULD EXPLAIN WHY IT’S OKAY FOR THE ps.199 5thGRADE TO HAVE 34 KIDS IN A CLASS ,BUT CENTER SCHOOL TO ONLY HAVE 23?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!DOES THIS HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH RACE??????????While center school parents were handing out leaflets about how overcrowded the school WOULD be if Center was forced to leave,I politely asked this and other questions,I was completely ignored.also,apparently Eleanor Swartz has promised a good portion of the fourth grade places w/Center if they take the Center School Side………..a great many more places than they even have,even if they took their ENTIRE fifth grade next yr from 199.
Look,I understand,no one likes change……..AND ………if it wasn’t an issue of overcrowding……………..AND if they didn’t have a place waiting for them 5 blocks away.I don’t find it unreasonable that middle schoolers are made to go an extra few blocks,most of our kids will and do,and even travel much further during middles chool……..I find it much more unreasonable that half of the current population now zoned for 199 -some like myself less than 2 blocks away ….would have to shlep our elementary school students to 161,over 10 blocks away.Undoubtedly,we would be told we were too “close” for bus service,(just like my son at another grade school far downtown is too “far” -yet.ironically,kids at private schools such as Spence are on buses paid for by tax dollars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Urgh!)

Granted,as well,if a good deal of school gerrymandering hadn’t of gone on,such as promising a great deal of the new high rise co-ops &condos that have gone up in the past few years along Amsterdam,and also I believe,the Trump bldgs,that they would be zoned for PS 199, instead of ANOTHER school(seen as less desirous and less conducive to good real estate prices) that they were properly zoned for,perhaps this WOULDN’T have been a problem at all.

there are also other issues,and ?I could go on,but not all of us are rich,or able to afford private schools.we were the people who suddenly made the neighborhood a “great”place to live,who stayed when NO ONE wanted we should leave ,b/c we don’t fit some rich,yuppies and self absorbed ,has-been wanna-be politically correct actress ‘ idea of what makes suitable neighborhood school demographics.

You know I went to school w/”Cynthia Nixon,and she seemed like a self -imprtant full-of herself snot then.Looks like some things don’,t change much (it was Hunter,if you want to know…….and what she couldn’t use “pull” to get her kids in there when just their own native brains weren’.t enough,because believe me,gifted or not,?center knew exactly who SHE was when they invited her kids to go).

Thank you for hearing me,
A PS 199 parent
PS199 parent

It is disgraceful that any parent, principal or lobbyist could take a position that preschoolers who are sent 20-30 blocks away for their precious private preschools can’t go ten blocks away to a new elementary school at PS9. With their savings from preschool they could even take a cab. Their near hysterical whining about being within walking distance is dishonest a “red herring”. Which one of these Trump/Extel princes or princesses wouldn’t send their kids to Dalton if they could get in? Would they say no because it wasn’t within walking distance? Yeah right.

PS. all middle schools are unzoned for catchment. They are also all in elementary schools. This ridiculous argument would mean that anytime a elementary school got overcrowded they could move out a middle school.
PS199 parent

How did the head of the 199 PTA Valerie Watnick get into the school if the school is sooo overcrowded and she doesn’t live in the catchment? Guess she made a nice donation to that $450,000 that the PTA raised. Money talks. Hypocrites… walk.
199 has only 24 kids in their third grade classes. That’s how many in mine. And Nixon’s kids did not go to 199. They went to the school with the trailers uptown. Maybe we should get some trailers too.
Let’s at least get our facts straight or else we sound like idiots.
Beth Marcus

Am I ever glad this is our last year at PS 199. The Center School people ( who worked the system to get their PS 199 kids into Center School for most of their time at PS 199) have always been self-centered and duplicitious. Having the “carrot” of a coveted and very rare spot at Center School has been a corrupting influence as long as we have been at PS 199. And now we find they are sore losers as well.
A plea from a Trump/Extell Prince

My lieges, I beseech thee: my carriage wheels rust; my armor is no longer shiny and new; my plate is full of broccoli. I am 4 years old and very much want to attend the public school down the block. Alas, for this wont of an education I am branded an insufferable elitist dandy, a fop, aye, even a racist. I’m told t’is best to be shipped off to some far away land, so that the Knights of the Center Table may remain. I apologize profusely for living by the river – perhaps I shall go drown myself in it to alleviate the suffering of others.
Uncle Matt

O come on. Cynthia Nixon epitomizes the Center School parent– rich, connected, powerful and indebted to Elaine Schwartz. Fact is her young boy is now at PS87. Why? Cause she rented an apartment above C’Esca at market price (a pittance to Ms. Nixon I should add) specifically he goes there. She has been quoted in the press as saying so. Not unlike the PS199 parents who moved to their neighborhoods to send their kids to PS199. Isn’t it amazing how Cythia enjoys the basic right of sending her child to his catcment school but speaks out against children of the PS199 catchment having that right. The only difference is that many PS199 parents have chosen to live house poor whereas Cynthia Nixon is flush with cash.
Should I name the many other affluent and connected parents at Center School I know of who talk out both sides of their mouths as they milk the public school system? Why aren’t these white and rich Center School parents in private schools? They are depriving truly needy and deserving kids a space in public middle schools and dividing a community cause their autocratic and geriatric director tells them to.
Red Herring?

Perhaps the Center School parents are the true racists here for wanting to stay in a “predominantly white, affluent” neighborhood? Isn’t that how they refer to it? Yet they seem to be particularly reluctant to move.
Uncle Matt

Of course Center School Parents are the racists. And shameless eletists. Elaine Schwartz literally hand picks everyone at that school based on the families, not the kids. From the hollywood agent who will give more business to her daughter Julie (a casting director) to her Grandson’s friends, to the PS199 parents promised a spot in exchange for speaking out against relocation of the center school. How a public school could be allowed to function in such an exclusive and aristocratic fashion is an outrage. Schwartz is using MY tax dollars to build HER empire.
http://AndyWolf.net Andy Wolf

It is amazing how these parochial issues generate so much controversy. But learn from history, my friends.

During the 1950s and 1960s tremendous effort was made in NYC and most other big cities to desegregate — didn’t work. Arguably it was the root cause of the segregation we see today. Remember, even though NYC is nearly half white, the public schools are 85% minority. And by the standards of most big cities, that is a very high percentage of whites remaining in public school.

If you want to build better schools, the answer lies in the symbiotic relationship between neighborhood and school. Parents of all races want, even demand neighborhood schools. Take it away and the neighborhood will suffer and the school will follow.

If Cynthia Nixon wants to send her kids to a diverse school, then she should move to a diverse neighborhood. No child should be turned away from their neighborhood school so that some elitist can insure that their kids are in the right “mix” to assuage their liberal guilt.

Social engineering doesn’t work. In 1967 Jonathan Kozol gained his reputation by writing of the school he taught in in Boston as being “segregated.” Just how segregated was it really? 60 percent black, 40 percent white, figures that Kozol doesn’t mention.

Kozol advocated for forced busing for Boston, a remedy embraced by the courts there and elsewhere. Soon his school fulfilled his fantasy image — it really WAS segregated. In fact, soon there was NO school in Boston that was 40 percent white. Tens of thousands of white students left the public school system. Are the children of Boston better off for Kozol’s social engineering? I don’t think so.
Mike M

If one were to look at the numbers, it would make sense to actually redraw the zone line between PS 199 and PS 191. The southern part of 199′s district should be changed to go to PS 191. PS 199 is overcrowded and PS 191 still has openings for its Kindergarten registry. I know this will also upset people because they don’t want their kids going to school with the kids from the projects. Isn’t that racism right there? Inevitably, it does come down to PS 199 parents being racist, doesn’t it?
Red Herring

Hi. Guess who’s back? Me – the red herring! I decided to swim back into a somewhat logical argument and muddy the waters.

No, racism has nothing to do with it.

Turns out that 191 is a C school, and 199 is an A school (one of the best in the city, in fact). Guess that parents who want their kids to get a good education are racists.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense – to a fish, perhaps.
Another Herring

Hmmm, racism again, huh? Easy to throw that word around, Mike M., to scare people and distract them from the real issues. I guess wanting to go to one of the best schools in the city isn’t a good enough reason. I guess buying a piece of property in an area 10 years ago to be ready to send your children to the great school just doesn’t cut it. No, that’s just a guise. The real issue is that we — a family of mixed heritage — are really racist deep down inside. Yup. We don’t want our Hispanic/Middle Eastern child to mix with any other folks. Nope. But PLEASE don’t let people know that. We had gotten so far actually convincing the DOE that we really just wanted a good school for our 4 year old. Don’t out us. Shhhh…..
http://gothamschools.org PS 199 parent

Is it elitist or racist if you live in the cachment and want your children to have the education and space in a school for which your high property taxes are paying? The bottom line is that the kids who live in the PS199 cachment need more space in their school, and the space is there but is being used by the Center School. It worked for the Center school to be there for a long time when there was enough space at 199 for all the families. PS 199 is outgrowing its own space, and the time has come for Center to move. There is space at PS 9 for Center School, but perhaps the Center School parents don’t want their children to be that close to the Brandeis High School (a mostly minority school). Oh wait…I am wrong, Center wants diversity. But only the diverse mix that they choose? Yes, the kids (and families) who go to Center are hand picked by Elaine and family. If you looked at the number of PS 199 kids who were admitted to Center the same year that her grandchildren came into Center, you would see quite an increase those two years. And if it helps her family, then they are in! And somewhere a Center parent or administrator commented that if they had to move from 199 that they wouldn’t admit as many, or perhaps any, 199 kids. It doesn’t surprise me that they would allow this to affect the kids. If Center moves, then the only 199 families who have a chance of getting into Center will be those who supported Center not moving. So show your allegience now if you want any kind of future at Center. Maybe Elaine Schwartz dosen’t want to give up her parking spot in the driveway of PS199. Offer her a parking spot at PS 9 and that will seal the deal.
Julia

I’m not knowledgeable about this issue, but I do know that the Center school operates in a very closed manner. I well remember my futile efforts to get information about the Center school and its application process. We had moved to New York when my daughter was in the third grade. She was in PS 87 and when I heard about the Center School, I thought I’d like to know more about whether this might be a good option for her. I naively called the school. No luck, they wouldn’t even answer the phone. I kept trying and finally someone did answer. I asked about the application process and she said she had no time to reply. I said, “But I don’t want to keep you on the phone. I want only a two-minute response. What do we do to submit an application? And do you have a brochure describing the school?” The woman replied with great irritation that SHE HAD NO TIME, SHE WAS VERY BUSY. I said, “But aren’t you a public school? Don’t you have application procedures?” She would not respond. I still remember the sense of futility, of powerlessness, dealing with this arrogant person who would not even explain how one might go about learning about the school–maybe even visiting it?–and applying. I realized that this school served the connected. The rest of us could forget it.
Robert

ps199 Parent
said: You know I went to school w/”Cynthia Nixon,and she seemed like a self -imprtant full-of herself snot then.Looks like some things don’,t change much (it was Hunter,if you want to know…….and what she couldn’t use “pull” to get her kids in there when just their own native brains weren’.t enough,because believe me,gifted or not,?center knew exactly who SHE was when they invited her kids to go).

Thank you for hearing me,
A PS 199 parent

I have to say, your personal attacks against your opponent make me think she probalby has the better point of view. It always happens that those with the crappy arguments tend to attack the personal lives of those they disagree with. Thanks for showwing everyone what little values and morals you hold. You make Ms. Nixon’s points for her. But to be honest, If I were her, I’d want my children as far away from people like you as I could get.
PS199 parent

“Elaine Schwartz created a private-school quality public school in an era where you could not pay most families to stay in NYC.”
Uncle Matt

Everything else sounds like sour grapes.
Uncle Matt

I am so sorry you find the truth to be painful “PS199 Parent”. No sour grapes here. Just cold hard facts. Or do all those parents I named not have their over priveleged kids at the Center Schoo.
You center school folk have set the worst example for your kids and the community. You have tought your kids to win at all costs and put winning first, above ethics and the greater good. Too bad you could’t teach your kids gratitude. After all, you have been sharing space in PS199 for all these years, and the past several at the detriment of PS199. You crossed the line between guest and squatter long ago. We should quit squandering city tax dollars on your cult and put in an honest director.
BB

You 199 parents should be ashamed of yourselves. You are worse than the worst political campaign. You are spouting lies for your own gains. You are naming names like a witch hunt. And the fact that you are naming children and putting them at risk is reason enough that all you are asking for should be denied.
SHAME ON YOU!
robin r

Goodness, gracious the 199 parent who said you needed to get your facts right, lest you look like idiots….too late. The person who left the rant on Nov. 14, at 8:13 p.m.–wow. You know, I spend 1 and 1/2 hours, twice daily, taking my children to their prospective schools. What’s best for them is not always the most convenient for me. And I work. As a teacher. When you said you had to schlep 10 blocks, I sincerely laughed out loud. Then I remembered my own Wyoming childhood. One public school. Children who lived in Moose had to get on the bus at 6 in the morning to make it to Jackson by 7. There were some kids who snowmobiled in and out of their ranches, just to meet the bus. 10 blocks. Personal attacks on others, well-known or not. Thank God I don’t live anywhere near you. My children are busy learning what is really important. Living, no matter what the challenges. What are you representing today?
jim white

So, now Ms. Nixon has another issue….looks like an agenda developing for a possible run for some office…school board?, city council?, state senate? In these matters..the kids best interest come first!
Fiorastar

Just thought you might all want to know that Huffington Post has picked up this story, so your very personal attacks have now gone very public–nationwide (actually worldwide). It may or may not matter to each person posting that there are names being named and people being publicly attacked, but at least try to consider that, regardless of what you personally think about, or envy as the case may be, the adults involved, there are children who go to both these schools and your modeling of “adult” ways to problem solve within a community is showing them how it’s done. Hopefully, they will learn from your mistakes rather than imitating you.
maryann

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and perspective – but I have to agree, naming names and slandering children and families is just appalling. If you can’t stick to the issues, then maybe you don’t really have an argument. It says a whole lot more about you than the person you are slandering. Each side of this issue has very valid points; and the people speaking out have an absolute right to. Shame on the DOE for letting things get to this heated point. No one here wins except for the developers. PS 199 was a great school – and we’ve lost that. Center School was been a haven for city middle-schoolers that were lucky enough to get in to the 45 slots available each year (that explains all the sour grapes, really). Each will have to change – thanks to greedy developers, who advertised to families to move into their 199-catchment apartments, when in reality, their buildings were never even on a zoning map.
There’s more high rises to come…and the CEC/DOE is ensuring they go to our A school.
Confused on the Upper West Side

Can someone explain to me, in very simple terms, why the Center School is so opposed to moving out of the building. What do they care about PS 199? There is no interaction between the schools. And don’t say diversity because clearly that’s not the issue (why would CS care what diversity they add to PS 199 anyway?). Is this really just a matter of inconvenience? Because the hatred and diviseness stemming from this situation has gone to an extreme.
Bob Franklin

I am so glad I don’t have anything to do with this because all the parents on both sides sound like idiots. Why do the inane ones always multiply?
Deanna in NC

I don’t know the details of this argument, but I do know a bunch of squawking, out of line hens and roosters when I see them. Settle down, work this out like adults (and no, “they did it first” is not a decent excuse for anyone, not even a five year old), and stop setting such a bad example for the kiddies.

In other words, act like adults.
199 parent

NY1 has a more accurate version of the issue at hand. It is NOT about race. It is NOT about segregation. It is about space and numbers. Plain and simple. To make it into an issue about race is a diversion tactic. They simply just don’t want to move.
Horace B

move to a gated community if that’s what you seek
upperwestsider

If I recall, didn’t Cynthia Nixon try to get her child into this “whit and affluent” school? It was good enough for her until she was REJECTED! sour grapes?
199

Oh and you might want to add that the reason the Center School contingent was so big was because they brought their kids- which include relatives of their principal and their friends.
PS 199 Parent

I attended this meeting and was shocked to see Cynthia Nixon use a class warfare argument to support the Center school’s refusal to move to another location on the upper westside. What is the big deal for the school to move? On New York One Cynthia claimed that moving the school would be disruptive to her child’s eight grade school year. The principal of the Center School states that the harm would be that graduated students would not be able to find their old school. That one was my personal favorite..oh the danger of teenagers looking for their old middle school wandering the upper westside in search of the Center School. The Center School is being offered more space and I think thats the real reason that the School doesnt want to move…. more space means no capping for the Center School which translates to having to admit more children and then they too may be forced to have 34 kids in a class just as the students of PS 199′s current fifth grade. The Center School has 23 kids per class. You do the math…34 kids versus 23 kids kids per class. Which school has the greater need? Why is it more complicated than that. …..because a celebrity says so and that makes for a good story.
Former Center School Parent

I cannot believe the vitriolic attacks against The Center School and Elaine Schwartz. This is just sad. I’m not sure where some of you have gotten your “facts” but as far as admissions are concerned -applications for the CS (when my child applied in 2001) where given out at the elementary schools. We had to ask the principal at the elementary school for an application – and she didn’t want to give it to us because they don’t want to lose 5th graders. We knew no one at Center School; we had no connections; Parents were not interviewed. The kids spent a morning attending a class with a “buddy” who was a current student. The school takes kids at grade level, above grade level, and below grade level. And then they teach them. This school has been in the same building for 26 years. They should not have to go through the upheaval and stress of moving up to the west 80s. It’s sad that NYC has allowed developers to come in and build large residential buildings without making any accomodations for the influx of children. Consequently, they are pitting parent against parent. The fact is parents, students, teachers, and even principals are the low men on the totem pole. Developers and Bloomberg/Klein have the power. There are not enough schools for the influx of children into District 3 because of overdevelopment. The elementary school seat shortage will in a few years be a middle school seat shortage. What school will you force out then? Oh, and one more thing – the characterizations of Elaine Schwartz are FALSE. In all our years at the school I never once saw Ms. Schwartz behave in any way that was unethical. She always put the kids first. I am proud that my child was a Center School student. And you people who are saying such hateful things should be ashamed of yourselves. You started trying to push the school out last year – not two weeks ago. And considering how much money the PS 199 PTA raises (which is way more money than we could ever have hoped to raise at CS) one would have to conclude that the true moneyed crowd goes to PS 199. Sure we’ve had a few celebrities over the years at CS but there are way more parents like my spouse and myself – an office manager and an adjunct professor at a community college. Not heavy hitters nor politically connected. Just grateful that our child had the opportunity to attend the school that 1. saved them from 5th grade in an awful elementary school and 2. gave them the skills needed to succeed in a specialized high school. Maybe that’s why alumni and former parents were at the meeting and are speaking up now. This school is a really special place and it is unfair that they be forced to move after 25 years. Shame on you all.
PS199 parent

We have 24 kids in our third grade class at 199 a very reasonable number. Can someone in simple terms explain to me why we want 200 more elementary school children using our facilities? We only get library for 15 minutes per week now as it is? What will happen with 200 more kids? Why when every school in the city wants to be Smaller we want to be BIGGER? This is the problem – if no one can explain this then maybe we have to ask ourselves what the real reason we want them out is?
PS199 parent

PS 199 PTA raised $450,000. in one year for 600 kids. That says it all.
Uncle Matt

Once again, no sour grapes here. As a parent I think it would be as irresponsible to send my chidren to the Center School as it would have been to send them to the Branch Dividians or Jonestown. As for naming names, can someone from the Center School PLEASE explain to me why Alan Madison hides the fact that he is Elaine’s son in law and that his kids attend the school? And for that matter PRETTY PLEASE explain to me how it is appropriate that his kids and their friends get to go to the school???
Lemme guess– cause their PTA loses credibility when it is “in the fmaily” and it is entirely inapprporiate for Elaine to fill slots with her grandkids and their friends. Notice no Center School parent has defendedd these practices. They have just said “Oh how could you name students shame on you.” They are on facebook for goodness sake. Public knowledge. And how could the Center School accost and verbally assault PS199 parents outside the school and on the playground. This happens all the time now.

Again, no sour grapes by me. My kids are toddlers. And I assure you Center School is on my embargo list and it should be for any other parent who eschews brainwashing. How could I be jealous? I feel sorry for you.
PS 199 Parent

Uncle Matt you are funny and dead on.
Former Center School Parent

Seriously – “Branch Davidians or Jonestown?” That is just absurd and shows just how little you actually know about The Center School. What a sad, sad man you are.
PS199 parent

Liar liar pants on fire Uncle Matt. Your kid is not a toddler. And it is just sour grapes.
Center School Alum

I just have to say that I am disgusted at all these personal attacks against Ms. Schwartz. When I was at Center she was like a another grandmother to me and every single student around me. She knew everyone, was concerned for everyone’s well being, and wanted everyone to succeed in their life, even after Center. When I first applied to Center, I had never heard of the Center School before, neither did my parents. On top of that, neither my parents nor I had ever heard of Elaine Schwartz. During my four years receiving a top-notch education she never tried to indoctrinate us with secret plans and she definitely DID NOT have a goal to create some kind of evil regime. To compare her to the likes of Jim Jones is sickening and false. On the contrary, Ms. Schwartz, is probably one of the most loving and caring person I have ever met, she cared for me and my peers with all her heart and always wanted the best for us.
Jason Q – in the hinterlands of Nebraska

From the perspective of a guy who has a kindergartener and 3rd-grader in school out here in the great unknown (AKA anything west of Yonkers), I must say this strikes me as exceedingly bizarre. Am I reading this right – public schools that pick and choose their students? Srsly? And here I thought that the way it was depicted in shows like “Law & Order” couldn’t possibly be the way it really was. More fool me.
PS 199 Parent

I have a great idea. If such a fair system for one person to hand pick the students who get to attend a PUBLIC SCHOOL lets have the DOE way in and explain it to us. Center School open up your admission practices for review by the DOE. Sibling, friends, grandchildren??? With public funds I dont think so.
Horace B

ps199 parent:

the only thing worse than your inaccuracies are your manners. being truthful is a skill some of us take for granted. however, it is easy to master. but we sometimes forget that there are “challenged” persons in this world who find this to be difficult. slamming ms schwartz with dishonesty is kind of sleazy. sort of like parking in a handicap space. i wish you the best of luck with the anger, and double talk that seem to be placing such a demand on you.
Mandy

It amazes me to see so many people calling Cynthia Nixon a hypocrite for doing what she thinks is right. At least she is taking the time to stand up for something that matters, regardless of whether or not you agree with her stance. High profile people can’t win- if they send their children to private school they are elitist. If they send them to public schools they are “depriving another child” of that space in the school. People are seething with jealousy at her success and can’t even see the plain truth of her words. How sad.
UWSMom

Well, I see the chickens have come home to roost. 7 years ago when my family moved back into the city one of the schools we applied to was this one. At the time I was surprised at the intensity of the parents going to the open house and filling out the applications. It’s like they felt it was first come first served. Mostly I was down right offended by the application. A huge portion of the application focused on the parents. What their occupation was and what the could bring to the school (really!). I was appalled. This is a PUBLIC SCHOOL. What does it matter what the parent does??? If a single mom or a *gasp* welfare mom came an applied because she had the wherewithal to find information on schools and wanted a sound education for her child she would be rejected??? Because she doesn’t have time or a skill she can pimp out to the school? Look outside yourselves and think about it.
disgusted

PS 199 is a good school, The Center School is a good school. Can we start by agreeing on that? Does everyone want their child in the school that works best for them? Yes, I think we can agree on that. Does everyone want every school to work for all of our children? I hope so. I’m glad that 199 has managed to keep class sizes small (below cap numbers for public schools in NY). I’m glad that the parents are involved and can provide extras for some of the students there.

But can we not learn a lesson from our recent election? There are valid points and concerns from all sides, and even parents at 199 that don’t want The Center School to be forced out. Can we not come to the table in a positive way to work something out? Yes we can. Can we come together with parents from other schools, and work this hard on cutting class sizes all over the city? Yes we can. Can we not have a discussion without calling out people’s kids and grandkids? Yes, we can. Can we teach our children through example, and respect? Yes we can.

Now if Will.i.am will just do a video, I could get this on youtube.

Finally, just to set the record straight. Elaine Schwartz started The Center School 26 years ago because she saw a need for good middle schools in this city. She didn’t start it for her kids (they were all out of middle school) or her grandchildren (not born yet). She didn’t start it for her friends and neighbors. She reaches out to every community in the city to bring all kinds of kids together. If you have worked with middle school age children, or have tried to find a good middle school for you children, you know how hard it is. Go ahead visit some schools. You will not find a harder working, more dedicated principal or staff.

Our city, state, and country are facing rough economic times. We will have to forge ahead with less than ideal circumstances, and much less funding than needed. Attacking good schools, principals, teachers, and students doesn’t help. Attacking parents who want the best they can give their children doesn’t help.

Can’t New Yorkers do better? Yes we can.
Upset parent about the behavior and lies spread by the Center School

you center school parents must think if you make things up and say them loud enough that they are right.

What a showing you had of storming out the other night of the CEC meeting when it went to a vote–talk about the election process–you are such poor examples for your children no wonder you are concerned about their school education.
THis is not a fight over diversity–and there are many people that are not affluent and are struggling to get by that attend 199–to move the school creates a huge hardship for working people. Your kids can commute to school themselves and most if not all already do. 199 needs space. Our kids deserve to go to their neighborhood school. Stop the insanity–think about something greater than yourselves the community, our young children. And the next time you want to call us affluent people with connections-think twice about showcasing Cynthia Nixon front and center at the meeting with her quecard read.
Uncle Matt

Ok Center School. Keep victimizing yourselves and Ms. Schwartz. I guess her email yesterday about disparaging blogs was code to do that. Write more blogs to that extent and maybe the world will believe you, or at the very least forget all the many facts that have been recited in my posts and those of others who have pointed out the Center schools hyprocrasy.
In the meantime, the issue remains what it is– Elaine Schwartz, just doesn’t want to interrupt her life. So she doesn’t want to move. So she has her minions blinding marching to battle for her even though they stand to gain much better facilities in their new location.
It is PS199 who has been victimized by Center School– kids stuffed in classes approaching 30 students in size while the Center School sits fat and happy on the whole third floor enjoying classes of 12-18. SHAME ON YOU!
et

To all of you posting, greeting from back woods of New Mexico what a joke so good to see the pettiness, small mindness, etc… of NYC’s supposed winners ha ha ha. It is always so enjoyable to see what brings out the best in folk. To an outsider the real questions is, Who would want to raise their children in that human sink hole called NYC!
Superhifan

I live in a suburb of Washington, DC. What’s with the competitiveness of schools in New York? I’ve heard there is a real dog eat dog mentality when it comes so both private and public schools in New York. Why?
PS199 parent

Again – Uncle Matt – we have 24 kids in our third grade class at PS 199. Center School has 1/2 floor. 8 rooms. They as we do teach in the hall. Get your facts straight. At least one!

We at 199 DO NOT want another 200 elementary kids in our playground, cafeteria, hallways!

And start telling the truth about yourself instead of hiding behind a phony name. Underemployed with plenty of time to blog. Child who did not get into Center School – remember the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree. And sick to his stomach from eating SOUR GRAPES!

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November 14, 2008

Backing her kid’s school, actress Cynthia Nixon joins UWS war

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