Cami Anderson Supported Charter Calls Off Public Hearing - ICE's Jeff Kaufman Led Opposition to School

 A Joint Hearing scheduled for Thursday evening for the colocation of a new charter school for just released incarcerated students and other "disconnected youth" was abruptly cancelled by the proposed school. A Charter School Association representative stated that the failure of the new proposed charter to obtain a principal caused the sudden withdrawal for the application while others understood that the pressure by local civic leaders and Aspirations High School staff brought to bear was too much for the DOE and the proposed Charter.- 

MORE at ICE blog: UFT Chapter at Aspirations HS Stops Charter School in Its Tracks

Hit the Road Cami- with new best friend, or sibling,  Chris Christie

New Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson was involved in this school. Are they pulling back because she left as Supe of Dist. 79? (In case you're not following, her bio is the usual ed deform suspect: Teach for America official plus other hazzerai.)

Or was it the strong opposition from the UFT chapter and community as intimated in the ICE post?

UPDATE:  COMMENT FROM JEFF:

Could be. But I think this model is dead. Privatizing this segment of public education may have gone too far. When I spoke to the SUNY Charter rep yesterday she understood that the proposal was fast tracked because of political considerations and little thought was given to how the school would actually function. While I’d like to feel it was our pressure that stopped them I believe they knew it would fail.

Jeff

How nice to cancel the hearing about an hour before. Jeff Kaufman was going to lay it on them. I posted previous stuff from Jeff, who is chapter leader of Aspirations - Jeff Kaufman on Joint Hearing for Charter School

An interesting sidelight is that Aspirations seemed at one time to be a hotbed for E4E - they held a mixer that Jeff attended: Up Close and Personal With An Opposition

Here is the cancellation notice:

Good afternoon all,

The Department of Education just received notice from the ROADS Charter School Board that it will be requesting a planning year and will not be ready to open its new school, ROADS Charter School I, until the 2012-2013 school year.  As a result, the DOE is considering revising the proposal to co-locate ROADS Charter School I in Building K894 beginning in September 2011. 

In addition, the hearing that is to be held tonight on the proposal will be cancelled.  A DOE representative will be coming to the school to discuss this and to answer any questions from the community.  We apologize for the inconvenience this late notice may have caused. 

The DOE is currently discussing the matter with the ROADS Charter School Board, as well as other stakeholders in Building K894 and the community.  If the DOE decides to revise this proposal (i.e., to propose that ROADS Charter School I open in Building K894 beginning in the 2012-2013 school year), a revised Educational Impact Statement will be issued and a new joint public hearing will be held. 

Thank you again for your cooperation and apologies for any inconvenience.

Have a good night.

Best,

Izaak

Izaak Orlansky

Portfolio Engagement Specialist

New York City Department of Education

212-374-6811

AFTERBURN
I might have some more stuff soon on some backdoor stuff between Jeff and some key UFT officialdom. Really an interesting and developing story which we are monitoring.