Thursday, July 9, 2009

UPDATE: PS 123 Harlem Parents Make Their Case Against Harlem Success

7/10/09
Two days after this rally, the DOE ruled Harlem Success could go in and take over a swath of PS 123. Another event was held this morning that drew Man. boro pres Scott Stringer and mayoral candidate Tony Avella.

Harlem parents make a powerful statement defending their public school against the invasion of public schools by charters, in this case Eva Moskowitz' Harlem Success. They talk about the space their kids are denied, the favoritism shown to charters by the NYCDOE, the creaming, where even in the same family, only the higher scoring kids get recruited. And it's happening all over the city. They go beyond to talk about how they feel about public education in general. One of the most eloquent statements parents have yet made as they refute the charge that only white upper class parents oppose Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein.

Members of GEM and ICE were there to support them, as were reps from PS 15 in Red Hook who are undergoing a similar experience.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_aGF9n8sE8

2 comments:

DAVID PAKTER said...

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WAKE UP, STAND UP, SPEAK UP TO

THE PROFITEERS BEHIND CHARTERS
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THE SOLUTION TO THIS DEBATE IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR EYES
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Am I the only one who gets it ?

Even a blind man with a cane and a tin cup can see through the smoke and mirrors set up by the profiteers who are in the Charter school business for the huge profits.

What is so hard to understand to expose this sleight of hand charade of Biblical proportions.

The Charter School profiteers cherry pick the children with the best report cards, best attendance records and best behavior profiles and then cry from the rooftops:

"Hey look how Charter School children get ther best scores, have the best attendance records and best behavior records".

Duh- I guess they know something about educating children that no one else knows."

BUT WHY DOES NO ONE ANYWHERE, EITHER IN THE PRESS, IN THE "THINK TANKS" OR ANYWHERE ELSE JUST SAY:

"Hey- we could all save the millions of dollars we're pouring into the pockets of the Charter School (so called Non Profit) corporations if we just do what they are doing".

Let's just try what was done in the old days in the Public Schools for decades regardless of Race, Religion, Ethnic background or economic strata.

Every grade in NYC schools had so called "gifted classes" for the kids with the best grades, the best attendance and the best behavior.

Most years I got into that class. A few times I just missed getting in. But I never got angry and whined about it or rioted in the streets. I just worked harder to make sure I made the "gifted class" the following year.

All the students were OK with that system. Most students totally got the message that Life entails a certain amount of "competion" and you rise and advance in Life to a large degree according to how hard you work and how much you are willing to sacrifice play time for Homework time.

WE CAN END THIS WHOLE CHARTER DEBATE IN ONE DAY BUT IN LIFE THE OBVIOUS IS WHAT NO ONE EVER SEES.

Oh- but I forget. If you create so-called gifted classes in each grade, all in the same physical scool building then some people will say that's bad for the morale and self esteem of the kids who were not included in the "gifted classes".

Voila- the money chasing PROFITEERS came up with the solution. All you have to do is "cherry pick" the kids with the Best report cards, the Best attendance and the Best behavior and group them together all on the same floor in the School and give them T shirts with a DIFFERENT SCHOOL NAME.

Wow and SUPER WOW !

Suddenly that Magic T shirt with a DIFFERENT SCHOOL NAME makes those kids become instantly invisible to all the other kids who were NOT selected for inclusion in the CHARTER SCHOOL part of the school building.

There is no jealousy, no feelings of exclusion on the part of the NON-CHARTER kids and their parents because the Charter kid's school has a DIFFERENT NAME.

So even though all the Charter and NON Charter school kids are in the same building- ALL THE PROBLEMS HAVE BEEN INSTANTLY SOLVED ??????

Except of course for all the NYC taxpayers who just got ripped off to the tune of tens of millions of dollars which also required that a lot of teachers became ATRs or ended up in Rubber Rooms on trumped up charges and maybe lost their jobs.

Guess they will just have to eat cake if they have no budget for bread.

Hey- no system is perfect and the Profiteers who feed off Education Budgets have to live too- don't they ???

I pass Joel Klein's 565 Park Avenue Co-op Building on 62 nd Street every day. His duplex came with a hefty price tag.

Well don't all his hangers on, lackeys, stooges, lapdogs and cronies in the so called Charter School business have a right to land up in a luxury Duplex Apt in Manhattan.

They also want to "Move on up" and they may not be as fortunate as the Jefferson's to own a chain of Dry Cleaning stores.
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Gideon said...

If charter schools are so bad, why do so many parents sign up to get their kids in to them. These parents want better choices, not schools as usual.