March 1, 2012Coming on the heels of a disturbing meeting with public school Chancellor Dennis Walcott, public officials as well as church and community leaders will charge the Chancellor with “Academic Malfeasance” and call for an end to the PEP process that they decry as the antithesis of good government practice.
A group of Williamsburg community leaders met with Dennis Walcott 10 days ago to request the removal of the Success Academy invasion of MS 50 from today's PEP agenda for further discussion, especially given the outpouring of people in the community opposed to Moskowitz and the lack of any serious level of support to the extent she had to bring 4 busloads of people in from Harlem to give the appearance of phony demand at the Feb. 16 hearing. This was the 2nd hearing because at the first one on Jan. 17 Eva didn't organize people because she knew it was a slam dunk. But the 500-1 voices opposed caused her and the DOE to rethink the issue and they suddenly found a "clerical" error in order to have a do over.
I was at both meetings and I think the 4 busloads of people from Harlem was one final straw for people in the community. Eva has united elements that have not worked together in the past in a coalition
But it takes years of seeing people like Walcott in action to realize exactly what he is made of so they figured he must be a reasonable man and a logical appeal to at least postpone the vote so other options/locations could be sought might work. His unmoving arrogance and obvious catering to Moskowtiz was the final straw, especially with Walcott's final words, "do what you have to do." Well they are and they will. This is hopefully only a first step. I'm still in Florida and won't be there today at all the PEP outside actions (March 1 - Stand UP! Speak OUT!)
and it will be interesting to see what the call for a PEP boycott will mean. But when the outrage spans politicians from the City Council to the US Congress we are entering some interesting territory.
For Immediate Release: Wednesday February 29th, 2012
Contact: Luis Garden Acosta 718-387-0404
Public Officials and Major Civic Leaders Break with the Bloomberg Version of Mayoral Control
Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Councilwoman Diana Reyna and a host of other public officials and high profile leaders will take the unprecedented step of breaking with the Bloomberg administration control of the public school system. A press conference is scheduled for tomorrow, March 1st, 2012 at 5:00 p.m., Brooklyn Tech High School, 29 Fort Greene Place, Brooklyn NY, (set up at S. Elliot Street and DeKalb Avenue) prior to the Panel on Education Policy (PEP) public meeting at Brooklyn Tech High School at 6:00 p.m.
Coming on the heels of a disturbing meeting with public school Chancellor Dennis Walcott, public officials as well as church and community leaders will charge the Chancellor with “Academic Malfeasance” and call for an end to the PEP process that they decry as the antithesis of good government practice.
Church and community leaders of the Southside Community Schools Coalition* will be present to denounce the Bloomberg administration handling of schools as irresponsible, lacking integrity and a failure for District 14 (Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Bedford-Stuyvesant) public schools in general, and Williamsburg Southside schools, in particular.
High school students from at least four high schools will rally across the street against the “closed back room dealings” of corporate driven charter networks that do not emanate from the communities they propose to serve, are not accountable to those communities and who are backed by the Mayor’s autocratic rule in the use and abuse of public school space.
*Southside Community Schools Coalition (SCSC) partial listing:
Brooklyn Legal Services Corp., Churches United For Fair Housing, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, Councilmember Diana Reyna, District 14 Community Education Council, El Puente, First Spanish Presbyterian Church, The Make School Planning Collaborative, Los Sures (the Southside) United HDFC, Nuestros Niños Child Development Centers, Occupy Williamsburg, Parents of P.S. 19, Parents of P.S. 84 Dual Language Program, Parents, Teachers and Staff of M.S. 50, Progress Inc.
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March 10 - STATE OF THE UNION PART 2: TIME TO FIGHT BACK ----
See Norms Notes for a variety of articles of interest: http://normsnotes2.blogspot.com/.
And make sure to check out the side panel on the right for important bits.
Where is the UFT? Oh that's right, they support mayoral control. They and others will point to the former corruption of community boards as if it is an either or situation. What about a third option?
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