GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

Hoping to bring a diverse mix of students to a new Upper West Side high school, parents and neighborhood activists are jumping at the chance to write rewrite its admissions rules.

Frank McCourt High School, which will have a writing and communications focus, is highly anticipated by middle and upper-middle class families on the Upper West Side who want a selective school close to home. But McCourt is also one of the small schools replacing Brandeis High School, a large school that has served needy students from Harlem. Some advocates fear these students will be displaced as the school phases out.

The challenge, those who’ve been involved in the school’s development say, is building a school that attracts both sets of students. (more…)

A group of parents is forming its own political action committee and donating small amounts of money to candidates who share their educational views.

Members of the NYC Coalition for Educational Justice, a group that focuses on educational barriers facing low-income and minority students, will debut their new PAC tomorrow on the steps of City Hall. At this point in the campaign season, the group is supporting four challengers and nine incumbents — among them Speaker Christine Quinn and Education Committee chair Robert Jackson — for City Council.

The PAC is “really designed to support those candidates who we have goals in common with,” said Victoria Bousquet, a coalition parent member. The PAC is technically independent from CEJ.

“It’s really a matter of when we interviewed them, the general feedback - how they felt about English Language Learners, about middle schools, about the new Regents requirements, and parental involvement,” she said, adding, “No one’s perfect. We know that none of them are going to be infallible.”

The list includes incumbents Helen Diane Foster, Gale Brewer, Charles Barron, Julissa Ferreras, Letitia James, Rosie Mendez, and Melissa Mark Viverito. (more…)