Comments on: A charter school parent gains prominence as loyal opposition

By: GGW

GGW — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:40:39 +0000

Oy.

By: parent

parent — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 17:23:14 +0000

I think the Charter School debate has been discussed and argued to death it seems as though neither side wants a conversation only a monologue to promote thier own agendas. Sadly, Ms. Davids, this was your chance to really prove that you are honestly for the children (inner city children) of NYC. If transparancy and accountability is what you were truly trying to achieve you should have been shouting the loudest on how parents who arrived at 8AM in the morning for a hearing with Sen. Perkins that was supposed to begin at 9AM were unable to enter because the room was already full; mostly with Charter School opponents and disgruntled parents.

Shame, Shame, Shame. I believe our fight now needs to go to the polls, let our voices be heard there.

By: Michael M.

Michael M. — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 12:36:12 +0000

I recently had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Davids at a start-up meeting for Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio’s PACT (Parent Activist Coordinating Team).

As I recall, her comments were along the lines of that there need to be Chancellor’s Regs for CHARTER schools.

Initially, this struck me as a bit ironic, given that the charter movement holds as a reason d’detre that they want to be free of the chains that bind the system.

But the fact is that there are few parent protections, or common platforms, across multiple charters — as a group — let alone within individual ones.

Looping around, some Chancellor’s Regs exist for the protection and empowerment of PTA’s, SLT’s, and even CEC’s. Why should NYC’s charters deserve any less? How about a city-wide CEC as there are for HS, SpecEd, and soon ELL? Call it a Citywide Council for Charter Schools (CCCS).

I got a dollar sez I can guess who’d want to run such a “CCCS.”

***

P.S. I stand by my first comment on this string. These two comments tie together.

CEC’s are the parents’ voice in determining capital plan allocations within districts. How would prospective charters lobby for DOE Capital Planning money without an entity to so lobby from WITHIN “the system.” There may be a third model yet to be identified, somewhere between totalitarian mayoral control, and free market for-profit charterism — a government-run school system with parent input. Gee, how novel.

By: Sorry Sanchez

Sorry Sanchez — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 10:46:28 +0000

Mona, I believe, still believes in charter schools. The real issue here is Mona is trying to be honest. That is something charter schools do not do. That is something charter parents do not do. Charter schools are founded on lies. Charter parents, desperate for a different school situation ignore the lies and fully support the lies. It is sad for NYC.

By: Harley Sanchez

Harley Sanchez — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:49:48 +0000

Mona is a clown and I’m extremely happy that my daughter’s charter school decided not to deal with her. She attempted to go into a few Charter Schools and “organize the parents.” If you want to consider what Mona does as organizing! She was all over the place she COULD not tell the parents what would take place at the CEC meetings. Before you choose to support her, try to find ANY charter schools hosting her visit. Everyone can see right through her, except for the few parents receiving a few dollars from her monthly. What 75 DOLLARS to be her little obedient soldiers. Mona went from hating charter school, to supporting them, back to talking against them! Just like a politician flip flopping!

By: Ahhh, Transparency

Ahhh, Transparency — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:07:59 +0000

So, because all these so called .orgs are not doing what they are supposed to do, they should all be shut down. Where are the investigators? They are all fakes and full of boo hoo hoo.

By: Informed Charter Parent

Informed Charter Parent — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:00:48 +0000

Examiner- NYCPA is far from a mailing list. NYCPA parents leaders have actually been in the field hearings at Livingston to keep charter children that were trying to be pushed out. If you feel it necessary to continue to attack NYCPA please do with more informed facts. Last time I checked I haven’t seen CPAN/CENTER board members listed on the website either!

By: KitchenSink

KitchenSink — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:35:26 +0000

Ellen, I don’t expect this strand to turn into a referendum on the DOE progress reports, but if you are interested I have specific examples to back up my assertion. The progress reports are designed to recognize incremental gains, but when students are failing at high rates, you take an already dysfunctional school culture and add to it the high-stakes testing craze we seem to universally abhor, and you have a toxic cocktail.

By: Examiner

Examiner — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:10:29 +0000

I checked the web site.
Our History
New York Charter Parents Association was founded by Mona Davids in April 2009. Ms. Davids started the organization to be a resource for parents who are interested in learning more about public charter schools and parents whose children are presently attending a public charter school.

Our Board
We are presently updating this page. Please check back soon.

Almost one year old. Where is the listing of the Board? How are they selected? When is the next meeting? Open to the public?

This is not an organization. It is a mailing list.

By: All Children?--- YEAH RIGHT!

All Children?--- YEAH RIGHT! — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 19:23:31 +0000

Please people, this whole charter movement has NOTHING to do with children.
These are businesses, companies and the filthy rich wanting to attach their names onto something that might make them feel like they did something good for the world before they drop dead. So please EVERYONE, stop saying it is about the children. PS 15 is being taken by a filthy rich white guy. He could care less at the end of the day about the children. All he wants is his new public school building. At the end of the day, what ever happens, he will go on about his business and Red Hook will be left hurt and divided. This is what has happened so far. Tell me, anyone, hurting and dividing school communities and neighborhoods that is a good thing for the children? Their communities splintered; some getting and others not getting. Sure, it is about the children and their are bridges for sale. Actually, all the bridges will be sold soon enough and the tolls will go on them too. Hey Moaning Mona, here is a new one. How about the Charter Toll Bridge Association? Let Spenser, Mike and Bill know you are branching out. Opps, you might not get through to Spenser. As on the Pave office during a school day, the billionaire and school that is getting almost 30 million dollars of public money the message, “Office Closed Until 1:25.” During a school day? Was the answering machine on? How is that for getting your 30 million dollar money’s worth? Little did Spencer, the other pave administrators and office staff know of the children and adults knocking on their door? It is not about the kids at all.

By: Ellen

Ellen — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 16:40:45 +0000

“A or no A – I don’t believe 98% of the schools are successful, I’ve been around too many “A”s to think so”
That sort of comment is what keeps this dialogue from being civil or informative. By your reasoning, I shouldn’t believe the charter school advocates triumphing their gains either.

By: KitchenSink

KitchenSink — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:45:46 +0000

PS 15 teacher, your quote: “Of course there is something wrong, they clearly show privilege and preference toward a charter administrator and propagator at the expense of the existing public schools, successful public schools. How many public school principals have that kind of access and support, particularly financial support? Yes, it is true anyone can email the Chancellor, but it is the responses that really matter.”

Which response(s) from the chancellor?

If you were the chancellor, and Robert Jackson came to you after leaving city council and said, “I want to start 40 new schools in your lowest-performing neighborhoods and they’re going to be damn good ones” what would you do? Would you ignore his emails? Or would you respond? Would you say, “Good luck, keep up the good work” (essentially the tone of the chancellor’s responses from what I can tell)?

Perhaps you have forgotten that Eva was the City Council Ed committee chair (succeeded by Robert Jackson) who did actually fight for science instruction and famously exposed when district schools were inaccessible to parents, not even having an answering machine when no one was in the office to take calls. Say what you want about her tactics, but in terms of having access (and remember anyone can email the chancellor), she carries with her a level of authority and gravitas that suggests a response.

By: KitchenSink

KitchenSink — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:40:07 +0000

PS 15 teacher – I’m not against you, I’m with you. I agree we should not be fighting if it’s about kids. I understand your school is doing really well (A or no A – I don’t believe 98% of the schools are successful, I’ve been around too many “A”s to think so). I don’t see why it should shrink because of a charter school. The efficient use of space, however, is a very difficult topic and from experience, I know principals hang on to more space than they need because resources are so scarce and the future is always uncertain. (That’s nothing new with BloomKlein, that’s been institutional Board of Ed culture for as long as I’ve been an educator and prior to that Board of Ed student.) As a charter school leader, I’ve been on the receiving end of deception by DOE principals about how much space is really available for sharing…later to be exposed, with no consequence for the principal other than the tacit acknowledgement that he/she was just “protecting their turf.” Wouldn’t we all?

I’m not commenting specifically on PS 15, because I don’t know the facts, but the bad behavior of some DOE principals in this area keeps us all from knowing how inaccurate the Blue Book, the DOE footprint, etc., REALLY are.

I don’t see a Tuskegee connection, and unfortunately that’s the kind of comment that just fans the flames of controversy and feeds ignorance. The kids in charters are benefiting, not hurting. There is a feeding frenzy ready to jump on any hint of impropriety in charters because of the current controversy and the fact that it’s a school here, a school there when we are nearing 200 schools statewide tells me there’s a lot more speculation than bad behavior.

By: Anti-Chater School

Anti-Chater School — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:13:58 +0000

Mona is a race-baiter (her attack on PS 15 teachers) whose operation is being funded by an outside source she refuses to mention (probably Bill Gates). That makes her a corporate shill.

By: Underminding Progression

Underminding Progression — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 06:37:47 +0000

Norm- I believe that you have also actively engaged and participated on the attacks on NYCPA President Mona Davids. Didn’t you state that she comes from CO-OP City to leave her droppings? So can she expect an apology from you as well? There is a saying that actions speak louder than words. NYCPA is the only INDEPENDENT charter parent organization calling for accountability and transparency for charter schools and we believe that ALL children should get a quailty education. I don’t see organizations such as the CENTER/CPAN calling for that, infact they are doing quite the opposite. We have all been placed in a a situation that has us charter and district parents fighting each other and I for one am seeing the bigger picture! NYCPA has been the only INDEPENDENT organization that has been educating charter parents on their rights. If NYCPA doesn’t who will? I can tell you that the CENTER/CPAN, or school leaders would NOT. FYI , Ms. Davids is not the only one replying to these postings. There are many charter parents such as myself that are tired of what is happening to our children and we want our voices heard. We need change for ALL children !

By: PS 15 Teacher

PS 15 Teacher — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:43:25 +0000

ah where to begin: 1st: While I do believe it would be beneficial for Mona to apologize to PS 15 parents and teachers, finding common ground and working to make changes is a good first step. I, for one, am willing to work with anyone to make the changes that need to be made. We may not have the same end goal, but battles along the way are worth fighting together if they benefit our kids. Mona does not have to reveal anything she does not want to, this is political, and she has to be cautious about her moves as anyone who is fighting for something they believe in must do. Do I question her motives, of course I do, but I question everyone’s motives—that’s politics and advocacy, it is the way of the world. You will not always have the benefit of working with people you agree w/ fully or know everything about them. 2nd: KS, you are always good for a laugh. Nothing wrong with those emails? Do you even believe yourself half the time?! Of course there is something wrong, they clearly show privilege and preference toward a charter administrator and propagator at the expense of the existing public schools, successful public schools. How many public school principals have that kind of access and support, particularly financial support? Yes, it is true anyone can email the Chancellor, but it is the responses that really matter. In addition, you ask what the previous poster is so angry about… I don’t know, maybe the undermining of public education, the destructive policies of this mayor and chancellor and the hijacking of the charter school movement that pits us all against each other, hurts kids, and only benefits those with money and power (and please spare me your rhetoric here about how great charters are and this is about choice blah blah)… most of these co-locations are happening in A schools so all the justifications in the world about why we need charters do not hold water when you fully consider the facts. The DOE does need to be held to task regarding co-locations. Their formulas and justification for most if not all of them are faulty and do not benefit either student population. The intent of course is not to benefit children anyway, this is a well executed design right out of 48 laws of power and art of war: divide and conquer amongst other tactics with the intention of dismantling public education. This administration wants us to fight over the scraps, because after all, healthy competition is really about survival of the fittest, and now since we are racing to the top in education there has to be winners and losers… who will the losers be? Finally, the whole choice argument and the back and forth above about minority/charter parents being manipulated and the response that they are not is simply ridiculous. I have never seen a more beautifully orchestrated marketing and PR campaign than what this administration and their charter friends have done to sell the charter movement here in NYC. To say that all charter parents know what they are doing and are not being manipulated it to deny Tuskegee… it is also to deny the closet full of crap you have buried in a closet in your house that you bought b/c commercials and nice packaging convinced you to. We are all manipulated every day by those in power and by those with a personal stake in whatever it is they are trying to sell. We all need to wake up, and if this was really about kids, we would not be fighting each other, we would all be in front of Bloomberg’s home demanding accountability, transparency, and equity. We would be demanding the policies and the resources to create excellent community public schools.

By: norm

norm — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:19:19 +0000

Hey Mona
Don’t you think we know that many of these anonymous comments are yours? Until you renounce your attacks on the teachers of PS 15 that you made in Sept. – and you made similar attacks at the August PEP meeting – there will be distrust. Why not answer the questions S-Davis asked you?

“I asked Ms. Davids who her Parents Association board consisted of,(Vice President,Secy, treasurer, etc.). where her by-laws could be found and when would there be elections. Since she approached me to become a board member I inquired on more than one occasion when a meeting was going to be held. Ms Davids response to those questions were defensive, evasive and quite offensive. They left me with the impression that although the concerns she raises may have some legitamacy, her motives are suspect. ”

Let us know about your board meetings and elections. I would love to come and tape them.

By: Underminding Progression

Underminding Progression — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:00:44 +0000

In response to Moaning Mona Screams- Have you been alert this week? NYCPA is reaching out to both district and charter school parents to unite. It was the DOE, not NYCPA that has approved the co-location. It is the DOE and CPAN fuelling the fight that is pitting district parents against charter parents. On Tuesday February 24, 2009 NYCPA and CEJ joined voices to unite ALL public school parents. And to be factual the building is property of the DOE and they are the ones that decide who is housed in that building, whether its PS 15, PAVE, or any other school of their liking. They have made it in such a way that us parents to dont have a say on what goes on in our community schools but yet we are the ones that are fighting with one another. Where should the children of PAVE go? They are members of the community as well. Lets focus on the bigger picture here. ALL children deserve a quality education. We need to place the heat on DOE and organizations such as CPAN that are benefiting from the charter school movement!

By: Moaning Mona Screams - Then Leaves

Moaning Mona Screams - Then Leaves — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:46:40 +0000

You know only if you were there.
Moaning Mona did scream at the PS 15 PTA. Then she gave some nice big smiles to the Pave community as she walked away. Hey Mona, the PS 15 community pays taxes too.
She accused the PS 15 staff of not being part of the community. Can you believe that? Little does she know several live in Red Hook, many were born in and around Red Hook. Meanwhile, Mona gets out of Brooklyn real fast and returns to her home… I am not sure… Mona, you live in the Bronx, correct? And you come to blame the PS 15 staff of not being part of the community and not caring, and you blame us for leaving for our homes? This lady is full of ……! BIG TIME! Do not let Mona fool you; she divides parents and school communities just as much as Bloomberg, Klein and the DOE.

By: KitchenSink

KitchenSink — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 23:04:10 +0000

Nothing wrong with those emails. Klein has done nothing for me that he hasn’t done for any other charter school – and there has been no back room deal. Do you see even a hint of a back room deal in those emails between Moskowitz and Klein? Where? Facts please.

I see a charter operator pleading her case…and a chancellor responding. I don’t see anything inappropriate.

You’re so angry (the good Lord above only knows what about) that you can’t distinguish between a legitimate request for resources and the machinations of corrupt politicians.

“Give me what I want, and I’ll deliver you votes.” That’s Tammany-speak, or perhaps the UFT. Did you see that in the emails?

Please, back up your angry rhetoric with specific quotes from those emails that you found inappropriate. Don’t just tell me what you find objectionable – you can’t always get your way – tell me what you find that’s illegal or unethical.