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turf wars
February 23, 2010
A charter school moves again, reigniting a marathon space fight
Harlem Success Academy supporters, in the orange shirts, at the hearing about their school's proposed new location
Parents, teachers, and children crowded an East Harlem school auditorium last night for what has become a familiar scene: a shouting match between charter school advocates and defenders of a neighborhood school wary of sharing its space.
The latest showdown took place at PS 30, a neighborhood school near Manhattan’s eastern shore where the Department of Education has proposed moving Harlem Success Academy II. HSA II would vacate its space at PS 123, where opposition to the charter school run by Eva Moskowitz had been fierce. PS 30 will not see an enrollment drop because of the plan, the DOE has said, although a small school located in the building, KAPPA II, is set to start phasing out this fall.
The Panel for Educational Policy is scheduled to vote on the proposal to move HSA II to PS 30 tomorrow.
Last night, the walls of PS 30’s auditorium were plastered with posters opposing the plan, some reading “Harlem Success Academy Go Away.” Teachers and parents made the posters during a series of planning meetings, according to Brian Jones, PS 30’s drama teacher, who with the aid of union activists in the Grassroots Education Movement, has helped lead the organizing effort at the school. Testifying at the meeting, Jones sounded a frequently-heard note, arguing that unlike some schools the DOE has made to share space, PS 30 is doing well academically.
Harlem Success supporters, who included not only parents and students but also siblings, wore bright orange T-shirts and filled about two-thirds of the auditorium.
Tension ran high all evening, with members of each group loudly interrupting speakers representing the other. Emotions peaked during the testimony of Carlton Berkley, a local figure who said he has family members at both HSA II and PS 30. When Berkley’s denunciation of what he called privatization in public schools exceeded his allotted two minutes, another PS 30 supporter ceded his time to Berkley. The resulting outcry stopped proceedings for several minutes. Later, the meeting’s facilitator announced no one else would be permitted to cede time to others.
Some in attendance tried to calm the crowd down. “There is nothing more important to teach our children than the importance of agreeing to disagree,” said Denise Gordon, the DOE’s district family advocate for District 5.
And yet just before the hearing ended, the fight moved to the sidewalk along Lexington Avenue. A mother from HSA II forcefully made her case to a PS 30 teacher who was leaving the school with a large packet of papers in hand. The teacher appeared to consider the mother’s argument. Then she said, “But it’s true that we don’t get the support we need,” and the pair moved toward the subway.
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February 23rd, 2010 7:12 pm
But the underlying story is that, once again as is happening at P 188 on the Lower East Side, a Charter School is forcing out a program for students with profound disabilities. Why? When schools improve,as P 30 has, the first this to go is the program for students with disabilities. it’s almost as if people are afraid of “catching” the disability. Shame on them, shame on Eva Moskowitz and shame on a system that treats its neediest students with such disdain
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February 23rd, 2010 7:19 pm
No space is being taken from PS 30 or the district 75 school located in the building. HSA II is moving into the space being vacated by the soon to be phased out KAPPA II. It is all much ado about nothing.
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February 23rd, 2010 8:10 pm
Corporate Ed Deform/Mayoral Control/Charter schools = Smash and Grab
Smash public education; grab control, tax money, and real estate.
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February 23rd, 2010 8:21 pm
Unfortunately I disagree. In the past year HSA II has taken rooms from the D 75 program. It follows as the night the day, expansion then contraction. if, as is planned, HSA II continues to evolve, there will be a need for rooms. That will leave less space for P 30 and less space for P138@P30.
I am not against parents choice of charter. I do not feel that charters are evil. I do feel that a charter school should have its own building. This is a matter of market economy. Charters have the ability to fund raise, public schools are limited in those efforts.
Charter schools benefit from the use of a public building, do not pay rent, do not pay electricity, do not pay for janitorial maintenance. Charters receive NYSTL money, busing and school lunches, all at public expense and not a part of the charter school annual budget.
While I agree that charter schools provide their students with other benefits, and have no criticism of their generosity, I am concerned about sustainability. If investors decide that they no longer are interested in funding a school, what happens to the staff and students? The leadership of The Edison Schools, formerly the largest national organization creating charter schools, have abandoned their efforts to create profitable charter schools. They have seen something most choose to ignore…..sustainable profits for the investor do not live up to the hype. In four or five years, will we see schools closing for lack of sustainability? Are we planning for continued success or planning for the moment? Are we indulging in a bit of paternalistic self-righteousness? Or are we planning to charge tuition? -
February 23rd, 2010 8:34 pm
Maybe Moskowitz should devote a percentage of her hefty paycheck to find her own space.
Really, this dynamic of the Mayor and Chancellor forcing Charters into existing public schools is down right criminal. The district school systems, the systems they are supposed to represent, are being neglected.
I think there would probably be less anti-Charter sentiment overall if Charters had to find there own space. Also if they weren’t the fortunate son.
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February 23rd, 2010 8:37 pm
There is more than enough space for all the programs. The building was built to accommodate 1300 students. It is currently housing less than 900 students. HSA II only plans to scale up to a K-4 school as the HSA model has long stated its intent to put 5-8 into a separate middle school building so that multiple HSA elementary programs could feed into one middle school program.
“Unfortunately I disagree. In the past year HSA II has taken rooms from the D 75 program.”
HSA II is not currently housed with a D75 program.
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February 23rd, 2010 8:40 pm
The Educational Impact Statement for this sighting:
http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/585A6F4E-316F-45AF-A1C4-0F38AC7260E8/75229/M030HSA2EISFinal1810.pdf -
February 23rd, 2010 9:04 pm
Odd that my kids sit in a building at 250% capacity and that’s no problem, but if Moskowitz is on the move it’s a crisis that needs attention. In NY, apparently, it’s Some Children First.
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February 23rd, 2010 9:11 pm
HSA has taken rooms from D 75 students at another school. I only have experience to guide me. I have no reason, in hihs case, to believe that past actions do anything but indicate future actions. If HSA II has no space to identify as a middle school program, what will happen? And again, what is the plan for sustainability for HSA II? Where will funds be found for the expansion to middle school? The complaint is always that charters are not funded as publics are. How will HSA, or any charter, promise stability and sustainability?
But this disagreement we are having doesn’t address the issue of siting. Why can’t a charter school find its own space? The NY Times claims that there are 90 football fields worth of empty space in lower Manhattan and even more scattered throughout the City. There are, and will be more, numbers of Catholic school buildings that are empty. Why are they not a viable alternative? Why can’t the charter school movement have a space planning team to identify and negotiate for space? Cost? Or a need to provide investors with returns? -
February 24th, 2010 3:25 pm
HSA IV is definitely taking space from PS 241, another school Moskowitz shares space with. PS 241 is now ranked #132nd out of the almost 1200 NYC schools, but that hasn’t stopped the DoE and Klein from taking more space from 241. The chatter coming from the DoE (they are like a terrorist cell that needs to be monitored by schools for their next attack) is that HSA will be getting 5 more classrooms from 241. Last year, HSA IV parents came to PS 241 and yelled and screamed that PS 241 was a failing school and that their building should be given to HSA. Klein attempted to close 241 so he could give the building to his friend, moskowitz, but tripped over a little thing called the law. Thank goodness for laws. They prevented Klein from destroying a school before they had a chance to show their true greatness. 241 is now an A school with a top ranking. Klein has caused 241 tremendous damage as they’ve lost many great teachers, in addition to space, as a result of his and Moskowitz smear campaign. The disrespectful nature of HSA parents was shocking on Monday night and last year at PS 241, but I do not blame the parents. It is Moskowitz who is feeding these parents lies and pushing them to act this way. Moskowitz sat at the PS 30 hearing reading her blackberry, while her parents were mocking and yelling at the very community members whom they want to share space with. If there is one thing Moskowitz, Bloomberg and Klein have been successful at, it is bringing out the worst in people. Fighting, yelling, disrespect, stepping on your neighbor to get the crumbs these people are dropping is tearing communities apart. This is what these “reformers” have to offer and hundreds of children were there monday night to learn the lesson. I fear for our children’s future as more and more of them participate in these hearings. A hefty price will be paid by our children, who are being used as pawns in the Mayor’s political game. This is very sad.
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February 24th, 2010 9:22 pm
Harlem Success Academies do not TAKE SPACE. Your information is incorrect if you believe that for a second. You may want to research much much much further before believing that.
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February 24th, 2010 9:49 pm
Wrong! Didn’t you read my last comment. Denial may be a comfortable place to live, but it’s not reality.
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February 25th, 2010 7:11 am
I apologize for the disrepectful tone of my last comment. There is already enough disrespect coming out of Tweed as they pit families, especially in our black and Latino communities, against one another. I was wrong, not you. I’m sorry.
What I should have said was that PS 241 had a pre-k program last year, which they received 20 applications for this year. They also had a beautiful art room stafffed by a “Studio in a School” artist, a Science Lab for their elementary school and much more gym time . PS 241 no longer has any of this since HSA moved into their building. One cannot help but draw the conclusion that the Mayor abd his chancellor are content to destroy one community in favor of another, in my opinion, based upon dollars and nepotism, not the needs of children. The loss of these programs and space has been devastating to the PS 241 community, especially their English Language Learners and Special Education students. These students, really all students, benefit greatly from the arts and physical movement, which stimulates academic and emotional growth. PS 241 students rarely leave their classrooms any longer, thus stifling growth.
Again, I apologize. We must come together as communities for the benefit of ALL of our children, not fighting against one another so that one community benefits at the expense of another.
Please take the time, if possible, to visit PS 241 and see for yourself.
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May 1st, 2010 12:25 am
If HSA has taken no space from PS 30 then why are we moving from most of the third floor? Why are we losing our Science lab and Computer lab (both of which were built up from large grants we obtained over the years)? We are gaining students even now as charter schools throw them out before they can test and bring scores down. We just got three last week and, yet, HSA has the right to take over our space. Incredible. We have received A’s and B’s on all of our report cards. We were declared a model school and, believe me, most of us work so hard it is sick in order to get our students where they are. Now we have to be bullied by some $300,000+ prima donna? Great. Instead of forcing their way in, HSA should be meeting with us to find out how we it is that we increase our students’ scores every year despite not having the option (not that we would take it) of throwing out the children who we don’t think will make us look good. They could learn a lot from us. What they are learning now, whether they want to or not, is that we are not just going to give up; we will keep fighting.
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