GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Of course the demand – a very elastic term, given her wasteful marketing budget- for Moskowitz’s schools is not local; it’s not intended to be.

That’s for two reasons. First, it’s in the nature of a chain enterprise, which this is. Just as chain stores and restaurants are part of the Geography of Nowhere, so Success  Academies, KIPP, Uncommon Schools and the like are based on homogenous, authoritarian pedagogy, taught mostly by transients with no long term connection to the communities where they are located. 

Second, elite support for charter schools – without which they could not exist – is predicated in part on their first feeding parasitically off the public schools, and ultimately swallowing up a large part of the system. What will be left behind is a shrunken, vestigial public system with a small constellation of desirable schools for public show, and test prep workhouses for the unworthy poor.

This looks like another ad for Success. Do they send out a press release that triggers an automatic article? (Same goes for E4E – when Evan or Sydney burp we can expect an article). Why not include one of Success’s glossy posters? Give me a break. Success hires loads of workers at $10 an hour to waylay people who often don’t have any idea what is going on or even have kids at subway stops with a distorted message and then tries to use the sigs as a sign of demand. Ask them to show you the names and do a follow-up on some of them.
And when you throw a million dollars in advertizing over a wide area of course you will get applications. Check with some of these people, who figure “what the hell” and apply but with no intention of going there.

The Charter Institute is designed to push the application forward, Mayoral Control guarantees its approved location, the massive marketing wave is guaranteed to attract applicants, and there is always some parent ready to claim how important it is to have “choice.”

The destructive effect of forcing Success Academy onto a community that does not need -and does not want- this parasitic insult to its truly public schools is also guaranteed.

Time to give the power back to people who suffer the impact of these decisions. They are more likely to lead responsibly.

“hope their children and lucky enough to get a slot. ”
correcting your grammar and spelling, that should be: hope their children ARE lucky enough to get a slot.”

They should also hope their children will not have any special needs that will land them on the street in no time, and in violation of civil rights and IDEA laws. 

Very well said! it is nice hearing from an actual Success parent and not people who have no idea what actually happens at the schools..

By all accounts less than thirty percent of the “applications” for “Cobble Hill Success” reside in D15.  Tthat’s WITHOUT letting its target Brownstoner parents know that under its current admission standards, ELLS and those children otherwise zoned to attend “failing schools” (of which their are NONE in Brownstone Brooklyn) – WHETHER OR NOT RESIDING IN D15 – MUST get priority over their children in admission preference.  that “lottery preference” currently applies to ALL Success Academies admissions standard

Could that policy ex

I think the heading for this article should be, There Is Absolutely No “Demand For The Newest Success Charter Schools.” People are so short-sighted; they don’t realize the negative impact charters have on public school communities. Even if people are just looking out for theirs and their own, charter schools make no sense. There is absolutely nothing special, or even better about the Eva brand.

 Maybe not even $10 but a slice of pizza.

If Success Academy continues to throw these numbers around – 700 applications for Williamsburg – we should really unpack them.  These numbers are coming from Success Academy and they don’t have a good record of transparency.

To apply to a DoE school, you must walk into the office with your child and proof of address. That work shows a genuine commitment to the school. Going on a tour of a public school is not considered an application.

To apply to Success Academy, you just go online and check a bunch of boxes. Each box you check is considered an independent application. Seeking INFORMATION is considered interest. There is no commitment within the application at all. If DoE conducted applications that way, they’d have ridiculously inflated numbers as well.

There is also no check to see if anyone is a real person with a real child! And it takes a whole of 30 seconds. Then, Success Academy starts calling and calling and calling those families – buying them pizza and spreading lies about the schools around them. 

Do you know how I know this? Because I applied to Success Academy under a false name and address with a made up child. I wanted to see the inside of how they do business.

There is no audit to these numbers and there should be. If these numbers are acting as VOTES, we have a legitimate reason to investigate them.Report abuse

That’s an ENORMOUS part of the problem, Gideon.  There is no accountability to our community, no transparency, and no oversight in this entire process.  Why should we wait a few years to give her school a chance to enroll students from our district?  Success Academy wants space in a ZONED public school.  If they can’t attract students in THAT catchment area, reflecting the REAL population of the community in which that school sits, why should we give Success Academy a pass?  This is such a profound waste of resources that it’s alarming. 

Success Academy knows that our district does not have the population to fill up their school:
 ”Kerri Lyon, a spokeswoman for the charter network, said the lower demand in Williamsburg reflected districtwide under-enrollment more than a judgement on the charter schools.”That quote right there speaks VOLUMES.  Success Academy admits that there is NO need for more schools with our districtwide under-enrollment.  Even if we weren’t talking about charters, the consequence of adding NEW schools will be a deleterious effect on ALL of our schools.