GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

A list of proposals being pushed by the city teachers union to overhaul state charter school laws could shape the imminent debate over how and when to raise the charter school cap.

The proposals, which conclude a UFT report on charter school demographics, are intended to force charter schools to open their doors to the same populations served by district schools, which would mean enrolling larger numbers of English language learners and students with special needs. In the days leading up to January 19, the deadline for states’ applications to the federal Race to the Top competition, the union’s proposals could become bargaining chips for legislators hesitant to raise the charter cap without requiring significant changes in the way state charter schools are run.

Flanked by legislators from both houses at UFT headquarters in lower Manhattan on Sunday, union chief Michael Mulgrew called on Albany to, among other things, require charters to maintain student populations with similar demographics to the school districts in which they are located, centralize charter school admissions under the city or state education departments, cap the salaries of charter school administrators and ban charter schools from sharing space with district schools in New York City until the city has met its class size targets.

Mulgrew and the lawmakers insisted that the changes would bring the state’s charter schools closer to their original mission, as written in state law, to reduce educational inequities.

“The original intent of the law was fairness and access for all students,” Mulgrew said. “The way the law is written currently, we know that is not happening.” (more…)

I grew up in Long Island, and I’ll never forget the construction of a local park, named for a spectacularly corrupt local politician. For years, we rode our bicycles past the park, watched piles of dirt move from one side to the other, and nothing of consequence happened. As long as they kept shuffling back and forth, it gave the appearance of progress. When I hear talk of “reform” from Tweed, I always think of those ever-shifting dirt piles.

For example, snow is falling, and that can only mean it’s school-closing time again in New York City. According to Tweed, these schools are failing and must be replaced ASAP. It’s not their fault the schools are failing, because nothing is their fault, and anyway, it’s not their job to fix schools.  What is their job? Nobody really knows. And anyway, why should they bother fixing schools when they can simply rename them, fill them with different kids, and pretend the old ones never existed?

If schools they started specifically to replace closed schools don’t pass muster, that’s not their fault either. The folks at Tweed are ready and willing to close the schools they opened, and take no responsibility whatsoever. The important thing is they’re going to open even newer ones, and whether they end up closing is not their problem. It isn’t Tweed’s fault, it isn’t Chancellor Klein’s fault and it isn’t Mayor Bloomberg’s fault either. Here in New York City, that’s called “accountability.” (more…)

• A UFT report criticized charter schools for enrolling too few special needs students. (Daily News)
• Thomas Carroll writes that the union’s recommendations would “gut” charter schools. (Post)
• A new study says Teach for America alums have comparatively low rates of civic involvement. (Times)
• City students rallied this weekend to save free Metrocards for students. (NY1)
• Some prospective teachers tried to get onto the old pension plan before it ends the week. (AP, Post)
• Parents at Stuyvesant HS and other top schools are paying for programs whose budgets were cut. (Post)
• Chancellor Klein withdrew a DOE proposal that would have banned school raffles. (Times, NY1)
• Top State Senate Democrat John Sampson says he supports lifting the charter cap. (Daily News)
• Eric Grannis, lawyer (and Eva Moskowitz’s husband), says some charter schools should fail. (Daily News)
• A handful of Islamic schools were among the only schools open last week. (Times)
• The city unveiled two schools that will open on a new campus in Forest Hills. (Daily News)
• New York City hasn’t decided if it will take advantage of the stimulus and build new schools. (WNYC)
• Parents and teachers at the Bronx’s Alfred E. Smith HS plan to fight to keep the school open. (Daily News)
• District 2 rezoning is stressing out Tribeca parents who want their kids at P.S. 234. (Tribeca Trib, NYMag)
• Gov. Paterson says he plans to repay school districts in January whose aid he withheld. (Post, Daily News)
• State officials say Race to the Top applications take more than the estimated 681 hours. (Times)
• “Turnaround” is just one approach the Obama Administration backs for failing schools. (Washington Post)
• There are so many honors students on Long Island that their credentials feel devalued. (Times)
• New data continue to undercut Arne Duncan’s record as Chicago schools chief. (Washington Post)
• Michelle Rhee says she’ll try to avoid teacher layoffs in D.C.’s next budget cuts. (Washington Post)
• Kevin Huffman, the newest Washington Post columnist, outlines his ideas for improving schools.
• The mayor of Rochester wants control of the city’s schools. (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
• A Houston charter school gets its students motivated by making college the goal. (AP)
• A Michigan teachers college has incorporated med school-like “rounds” into its teacher training. (NPR)
• A perpetual substitute teacher says teachers like her go unregulated in many districts. (Times)
• Neighborhoods in Chicago will compete to open a Harlem Children’s Zone of their own. (Chicago Tribune)