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GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools
west side story
November 20, 2008
Despite a rally and walkout, UWS parent council votes to rezone
An adapted Obama poster used at last night's District 3 diversity rally.
An Upper West Side parent council last night put its stamp of approval on a plan to ease overcrowding in public schools there. But opponents of the plan, who have been criticizing it for the past two months as stamping out diversity, kept up their fight until the very end.
The council’s resolution means that two schools, the Anderson School and the Center School, will relocate to other buildings in the neighborhood next fall. In 2010, people living in three small sections of the neighborhood will be reassigned to different elementary schools. All that remains now is for the Department of Education to execute the changes.
Opponents of the resolution included both Center School parents who don’t want their school to move and advocates of diversity, who think the resolution will make schools in the area more segregated. Some of those parents rallied before the meeting yesterday.
(View a video from last night’s rally, during which speakers condemn Schools Chancellor Joel Klein and swear to keep fighting for diversity. Yes, “Sex and the City” actress Cynthia Nixon appears, but unlike in last week’s video, she has a non-speaking role.)
Before the council approved the resolution in a 7-1 vote, dozens of parents, neighborhood residents, and elected officials delivered one-minute speeches expressing their support or opposition. The speeches lasted more than an hour.
Parents from the Center School said that relocating will interfere with the school’s success and decrease diversity in the PS 199 building where it is currently located. Center School supporters walked out partway through the meeting in protest.
Parents from PS 199, the school where the Center School is currently located, spoke out about their children’s need for art, music, and computer rooms, which the school is currently too crowded to have. Other parents who are zoned for PS 199 but whose children haven’t yet enrolled spoke in support of moving the Center School to ensure that there will be enough room for their children at PS 199.
State Sen. Tom Duane, who has supported the Center School, lamented the toll the conflict has taken on the neighborhood.
And Gary Goldstein, a former principal of PS 199, said he was “dismayed” by the situation. “There are no winners here,” he said, adding that if he were the Center School’s principal, “I, too, would feel so crushed.”
Also speaking were residents from buildings on Riverside Drive that lie inside one of the sections of the district that will be rezoned in the 2010-2011 school year. Several people from those buildings, including at least one man who said he has yet to begin a family, said they are not happy they are being reassigned from PS 199 to the lower-performing PS 191. They complained that they learned of the change only one week ago.
Jennifer Freeman, the council member who led the rezoning process, told the residents she agreed that they hadn’t been informed enough in advance of the council’s vote and encouraged them to appeal the rezoning. But she said the council would still vote on the resolution because it could not selectively approve the resolution’s contents.
“I know you haven’t known us for very long, but you have to trust us that that’s the correct process,” Freeman said during the meeting.
The lone dissenting vote came from a council member, Terry Gray, who said that if the council wasn’t satisfied with the Riverside Drive component of the rezoning, it shouldn’t vote to make it happen, even if that meant voting down the rest of the resolution as well. “We own zoning,” Gray said twice. He was referring to the fact that rezoning changes are among the only changes that can be made only by district parent councils, and not by the Department of Education.
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November 20th, 2008 5:19 pm
I’m happy to see that a video of 60 or so protesters receives a prominent spot on your site. Perhaps a passing mention of the two thousand or so signatures generated by people living in the zone supporting the CEC resolution might be appropriate?
Perhaps a posting of the divisive flyers handed out by CS supporters could also make it to your site?
Perhaps posting a video of the vitrolic and personalized speeches made by CS parents against other community parents within the CEC meeting — by a guest star of your video who doesn’t happen to be a national celebrity — would also be valid?
Just sayin’.
If you’re trying to report on an issue, then report on it. Don’t just try to flame controversy for the sake of increased viewership of your site.
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November 20th, 2008 10:53 pm
Please present both sides of the issue when you write an article. Next year, ps 199 will have room for 2 kindergartens. They anticipate needing 7 rooms for new kindergarteners. So, it’s not just about music and art, it’s about having classrooms for children. Furthermore, this issue isn’t about race. You might want to include that Cynthia Nixon tried to get her child into 199 and was rejected. It was diverse enough for her then. Get your facts please and then report.
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November 21st, 2008 10:57 am
More on “diversity, huh”. You guys should read the Center School’s PTA letters in chronological order. This issue never once came up until they realized they had to move and they had no legitimate argument as to why they should stay in PS199.
As well, some Center School speakers in their public commentary at the CEC meeting said that diversity was at the core of the Center School mission. Fact: diversity is not mentioned once in their mission statement nor is it alluded to.
Here is the Center School mission statement from their portal on the nyc schools website:
“Learning is likely to be more effective if it grows out of what interests the learner.” This sign hangs in a prominent position in a jumbled office that bustles with activity and serves as the heart of the school. All indicators point to the main philosophy of the school — that we want all students to feel that they are in control of their education. The Center School starts with the needs of children and is constantly focused on the means to meet these needs. We provide a rich academic life with good literature to read, opportunity to think and express your thoughts, and a myriad of ways to express yourself through art, drama, and writing. Recognizing the special needs of the adolescent and their struggle with puberty and emotions, the staff tries to help them develop a sense of their own value system.
Enough of this red herring nonsense. And please stop starfucking Cynthia Nixon.
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November 21st, 2008 11:25 am
I am outraged about this one-sided reporting. Regardless of where I stand on the issue, your viewers should have the option of being presented with all of the (correct) facts, so that they may be able to decide themselves. The real issue has to do with neighborhood young children (k-5) able to walk hand-in-hand with their parents to their local school. The issue has nothing to do with diversity, and the elite of the Center School are only using this divisive and unsubstantiated issue to divert the attention away from the true facts and solution. The truth is that due to overcrowding, moving the Center School is the best solution for the vast majority because it allows all of our children to have an acceptable education.
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November 21st, 2008 12:41 pm
Are you interviewing people other than Cynthia Nixon and Center School folk? Where are their voices. Are you a reporter or are you doing a story for Cynthia’s publicist? This is some of the poorest reporting I have seen in a long time. Please give relevant background, like, when Center Scool was placed in 199’s building, the building was underutilized. And alos please note that it isn’t about walking down the street to go to your neighborhood school. If you do some actual research, you’ll find that between 191 and 199, even if we tried to send overfolw there, there are only about 7 extra k spots and we need to find space for about 100 new children. Get it together please and learn to write a more well rounded article, unless you, too, are applying to Center School next year.
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November 21st, 2008 5:02 pm
Sadly, blogging and balanced journalism seem to be mutually exclusive here.
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November 22nd, 2008 1:14 am
What kind of ridiculous unbalanced reporting is this? Ms. Cramer, are you even interested in the position of some 2000 concerned parents and residents who struggled to buy or rent apartments in PS 199’s zone, only to find out their children might not be able to go to the local public school? Why is this article about “diversity” when everyone in this community (other than sour grapes Center School parents) realize that diversity is wholly irrelevant and is merely a diversionary tactic to prevent an otherwise entirely logical and appropriate decision to make room in the neighborhood elementary school for neighborhood elementary school kids. Ms. Cramer, have you seen these Center School parents? Did you go to the so called “rally”? It was a bunch of rich white people and one celebrity ranting about diversity to try to block a move that would allow 5 year olds to go to school in their neighborhood. How’s that for an attention grabbing headline? Maybe next time, huh?
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November 22nd, 2008 1:26 pm
The curriculum at 191 is identical to that of 199, except that it, unlike 199, has a G&T program, which one could argue makes it academically superior to 199. PS 191 is only 9 blocks south of 199. Neighborhood parents can walk hand in hand to 191 just as well as they can to 199. The reason all of these supposedly “liberal” white upper west siders are in an uproar is that they don’t want their children to go to school with black kids. PS 199 will be essentially an all-white school next year. The kids there will have no concept of diversity, and as a result will have a tough time once they get to public middle school in this multicultural city. It is racism, pure and simple. If only the Center School parents would take this to court and we have a judge courageous enought to order the desegragation of District 3’s schools, we would have justice. Half of the white kids from 199 should be bussed, or walked, to 191, and half of the black kids at 191 should be bussed or walked to 199. That is diversity - - that is justice!
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November 22nd, 2008 5:33 pm
I agree the schools should be diverse. If it is left the way it is, it is only teaching a younger generation that it is okay to build specialized groups which some may call elitism. This in the long run causes discrimination.
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November 23rd, 2008 12:06 am
you BUTCHERED Gary Goldstein’s words. Shame on the author! Goldstein, who worked at PS199 for 35 years, who was Vice Principal and then Principal, who built the school, who was there when the center School came in. He said that moving the Center School is like a transplant - taking a whole organization and moving it. While if Center School doesn’t move, the result for the community, for PS199 will be like an amputation of a limb. And therefore, after carefully listening to everybody involved, Gary Goldstein strongly supports the relocation of the Center School.
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November 23rd, 2008 11:57 am
I was at the meeting and D is 100% on the mark. I would like to add that Gary Golstein mentioned that he was very disturbed by the allegations that were being made against the 199 community. He knows the school. He knows the community. And he mentioned that the issue was about space. He is in complete support of moving the Center School. Please get your reporting more accurate. Did Cynthia Nixon invite you to the rally too?
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November 23rd, 2008 7:29 pm
Cynthia Nixon is right - - this is overt racisim. Some PS199 parents (’liberal” white Obama supporters all of them) have referred to Center School students as thugs, and they are apopletic at the prospect of sending their kids to PS 191, which is 90% black. PS 191 is only 9 blocks south, and uses the same curriculum as PS 199. Moving Center School creates an elementary school that is 100% white. This is a fine example of liberal hypocrisy - - preaching diversity but not for MY white kids! Disgusting.
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November 23rd, 2008 8:09 pm
Sorry, I think you’ve got it all wrong. First of all, thug is not a racist term. Sure, it’s not a nice term, but it isn’t racist. Second, I have been at 199 for many, many years, and I have never heard a parent talk sbout the Center School children as thugs. In fact, the two schools have nothing top do with eachother and spend no time together. So, diversity among one school adds nothing to the other. I think you heard this from Urban Baby, which would be a sad source of “newsworthy” information. Third, there are only about 7 spots for incoming K parents at 191. So bottom line, you have no idea what you are talking about. Oh, and I am a 199 parent, who is “liberal” and voted for Obama and I value diversity. Don’t you dare call me a racist!
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November 24th, 2008 9:13 am
PS 199 66% WHITE 8% BLACK 14% HISPANIC 12% ASIAN
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November 24th, 2008 9:49 am
Do you really think it’s possible for kids to grow up in NYC not to have a concept of diversity just because their elementary school has fewer minorities than 191? We live in the Trump Bldg, and I could tell you that *EVERY* family we know there is mixed — racial, cultural, religious, etc. I guess that’s not diverse enough?
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November 24th, 2008 9:52 am
To 55westend: I think it’s sad that you’re labeling all PS 199 families as racist based on an anonymous “thugs” comment posted on Urbanbaby.com months ago. How do we even know the person who said it was really a 199 parent and not — gasp — a Center School parent anonymously stirring up trouble? If you want an honest debate, stick with statements made publicly and with attribution.
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November 24th, 2008 10:02 am
NO! Facts don’t matter!
* It doesn’t matter that the principal of the CS wrote an inflammatory letter to the DOE when the proposal first came out - accusing rich white folks (’The Man?’) of wanting to kick the CS folks out, when most of the community didn’t even know the CS existed;
* It doesn’t matter that the CS is majority white, just like PS 199;
* It doesn’t matter that Cynthia, a close personal friend of mine, is richer than anyone else over at little ole PS 199;
* It doesn’t matter that the entire CS school will move as a unit into a new building and that no student’s education will be affected;
* It doesn’t matter that kids zoned for an A grade school will be forced to go to a C grade school;
* It doesn’t matter that there are no art classrooms, or libraries, or any space for anything for PS 199 kids;
* It doesn’t matter that there is absolutely *no* interaction between CS and PS 199 kids;
* It doesn’t matter that the temporary needs of under 200 students (and their parents) affects tens (hundreds?) of thousands of people who actually live in the zone;
None of this matters, ya hear? They are racists, pure and simple. Focus on that gang, don’t let reason prevail!
And vote for me in 2012!
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November 24th, 2008 10:05 am
Wow, Sarah, when did you get so smart?
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November 24th, 2008 10:11 am
Yep - I’m really smart. That’s what going to five colleges does for you.
I’m so smart, that I figure that even though this approach didn’t work for me in the election with that nice little ole man, it almost did. So I figure we could try that approach again. So, yeah, keep calling them racists, and don’t take any interviews with Katie, ya hear!
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