Just had a chance to read the Ravitch op-ed. How truly bizarre. Sure New York City charters are great, but charters in other parts of the country are average, so that means charter schools continue to be bad. In other words, let’s practice guilt by association. I hope Professor Ravitch sticks to being an “education historian” because I don’t think she has any skill as a policy analyst.
Michael M.
QP,
First, Ravitch did NOT say “NYC charters are great” as much as she cites the conclusion of the HOXBY study.
Next, the Murphy article — appearing on the NYS CHARTER School Association website (so you know IT’S not biased) — opens with an extended ad hominem attack on Ravitch, a tactic you echo above, and includes the following MIS-STATEMENT: “…charter schools in New York City are outscoring district schools.”
Even per Hoxby, that’s NOT the purpose or basis of her study. She studied those students who either got lotteried-in or not. Those who did NOT get lotteried-in did NOT attend TYPICAL district schools, as Murphy should know and note; they attended those select schools the charters were located to compete with, and the comparison is NOT even to the full student body AT those schools.
And if it’s going to be “Professor” Hoxby, let’s make it “Doctor” — not “Ms.” — Ravitch.
QueensParent
Nice try MM. “Professor Ravitch” says “the results are IMPRESSIVE.” What more do you need? But then of course she continues with the smear that because all charter schools don’t have impressive results, then it means charter schools as a whole are a failure. Of course she doesn’t say the same of regular public schools, i.e. that since all regular public schools are not outstanding, that doesn’t mean regular public schools are failures. Totally false logic at practice, probably because the writer is a “historian” of education, not a researcher.
Michael M.
QP,
Didn’t CNN cancel “Crossfire?”
Tamika Felix
Hello my name is Tamika Felix and I am the Title 1 representative and a learning leader volunteer at PS 188. I attended the meeting yesterday regarding Girls Prep contract renewal and would like to comment on the events that took place.
As a parent of not only a 4th grader but a male in PS 188 I would like to say that I am against the renewal of Girls Preps contract. I say this because I feel that 188 graciously opened its doors to Girls Prep and have tried to co-exist with them but they make it hard for us to live in harmony. An example of this would be in the morning when we are trying to enter the school Girls Prep parents are crowding the area. Another example would be that they utilize all of the bulletin boards (which 188 took the time to put up) and destroy the ones that belong to PS 188 and MS 94.
Throughout the meeting all of Girls Prep speakers only focused on the fact that they choose to travel to the Lower East Side so that their girls can have a “proper” education but that was not the purpose of the meeting. They went on to say that Girls Prep promotes community or a family environment but that does not extend to the students, faculty, and parents of both PS 188 and MS 94. In addition, I feel that the students at Girls Prep tend to be very disrespectful and act like they have some sense of “entitlement”. A perfect example is during their lunchtime both during and in afterschool hours. The girls proceed to throw their lunch all over the floor having no regard for the fact that students of 188 and 94 have lunchtime also and that no one is here to provide a maid or cleanup service for them. When members of the PSA try to work with the girls with something as simple as tying their sneakers to prevent an accident the girls may give a dirty look and the teachers act offended like we’ve done something wrong. I am not blaming the children because they only do what they see but that just proves my point about them isolating themselves or feeling that they are better than the people in 188 and 94.
My son may not be a special needs child but I feel secure and at ease knowing that if he did need special services 188 provides what he needs. As a matter of fact when it was clear that my son needed extra help the school made it their business to have him enrolled in the GO Project resulting in his academics and confidence level to rise. PS 188 and MS 94s faculty take an active interest in their students so there is no need for constant home visits like Girls Prep parents presume to have with their students. I don’t feel there is a need for staff to make house visits if they are doing their job while my son is in their care. Our way of ensuring this is by keeping a close eye and an open ear with our students while they are in our care and relaying any problems that may arise to faculty and our parents.
My son, along with the majority of the children enrolled in PS 188 and MS 94 have been here since Pre-K and look forward to moving on to middle school at 188 and I feel that it is unfair to them that Girls Prep is trying to take over the whole school. Our classes are already overcrowded due to the accommodations we provided to Girls Prep. If I recall correctly at least 2 schools (JHS 56 being one) offered Girls Prep space at the CEC meeting which was held on September 30th of this year and they still don’t seem to be satisfied. I also feel it is wrong because the boys in our school need a place to learn as well. Where will our boys end up if you allow Girls Prep to take over? Our children have a sense of security, belonging, and community and that should not be taken away from them.
Yvonne Walker
Hello my name is Yvonne and I am a parent of a 4th grader and I am also on the PSA board of PS/MS 188. In addition I am a Learning Leader volunteer at PS/MS 188 and am a firsthand witness to the nonsense that is being pulled by Girls Prep and the effect it is having not only on the parents and staff but our children. I don’t have a problem with Girls Prep. When they first came to PSMS 188 Girls Prep said that they would not ask for any more space then they initially asked for but now I am seeing that they are reneging on our first agreement with them. This leads me to believe that they are not very forthcoming and are very deceitful with their words and actions. Space is a big problem in our school. We have overcrowded classes and fewer teachers due to budget cuts. As it is one of our 4th grade classes is integrated with a 5th grade class. Both 4th grades have 30 children in them each because we have so little room due to our generosity to Girls Prep. I am also a parent with a special needs child and thanks to the staff at PS/MS 188 she has never done better. My other children whom have also graduated from PS/MS 188 have moved on to good High Schools and have excelled. It would be a shame if our kids lose their school because Girls Prep is being greedy.
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