A high school for at-risk kids is facing eviction from its home to make room for a well-connected charter school to expand...the city is planning to create more space in the Brandeis building by moving the Innovation Diploma Plus school to a Washington Heights building that lacks science labs and a gym...The move also means the school’s teen moms will lose access to day care because Brandeis is one of a few dozen locations where day care is provided for students -- NY Daily News
Why are they moving these HS students out now? Because if they delay a year, Eva is not sure that the next mayor will be as submissive to her will. -- Leonie HaimsonAt what point does the edurati actually begin to get what's going on? On the same night Eva's husband's Citizens of the World Charter was committing an outrage in Greenpoint, Eva's agents, Walcott/Bloomberg etc were engaging in actions so brazen as to practically defy description. Thanks to the Eva Destruction title to Sean Crawley. Here are comments from Noah, Leonie and the article by Rachel Monahan.
I have seen some horribly destructive behavior toward our kids by the DOE over the years, but this truly is among the worst. The school targeted to be removed is 100% Black and Latino, overage, under credited, a full 50% of whom are unwed mothers. They are in an Upper West Side location, which has been their home since the DOE included them as one of the four schools to replace Brandeis. Then, Upper West Success Charter moved in. Now they are being sent to be warehoused (and likely drop out) in Washington Heights. While their space will be warehoused until such point that the charter is ready to use it .... Noah Gotbaum
Great article yesterday from Rachel Monahan and an incredible hearing (and rally) at Brandeis on Tuesday over the planned destruction of the Innovation Diploma Plus transfer high school by the DOE. Over 300 people showed up including 100 IDP students to demand to know why they are being kicked out of their state-of-the-art high school facility at Brandeis and exiled to a 90 year old leased factory site in Washington Heights. DOE plan as announced at CEC3 meeting - but found nowhere in the EIS nor discussed at the hearing - is that IDP's space would be warehoused now for an Upper West Success Middle school which won't be even enrolling students until 2015/2016. So why are they moving them now? Or at all?
Of note at the hearing:
- 50+ speakers, not a single one in favor of the proposal;
- DOE refused to entertain the students' question as to why they were considering moving IDP;
- Two of four mayoral candidates - de Blasio and Liu - as well as numerous other electeds against this move including Stringer, Espaillat, Duane, Farrell, Rosenthal, Rosa, Brewer, Jackson, CEC6;
- No Success Charter rep or parent in attendance (except their videographer);
I have seen some horribly destructive behavior toward our kids by the DOE over the years, but this truly is among the worst.
Sadly, beyond politics, there's another aspect at play here in moving these incredible IDP students - one which might be referred to as "reverse busing." The school targeted to be removed is 100% Black and Latino, overage, under credited, a full 50% of whom are unwed mothers. They are in an Upper West Side location, which has been their home since the DOE included them as one of the four schools to replace Brandeis. Then, Upper West Success Charter moved in. Now they are being sent to be warehoused (and likely drop out) in Washington Heights. While their space will be warehoused until such point that the charter is ready to use it.
Parents, students, and reps from 3 or the 4 other schools in the building spoke out forcefully against this move - Frank McCourt HS, Global Learning Collaborative HS, and Urban Academy Green Careers HS.
One school was completely silent and, in fact, absent: Upper West Success Academy.
noah e gotbaum
twitter: @noahegotbaum
Plan to push school for at-risk kids out, to move well-connected charter in
The city is planning to create more space for the Moskowitz charter school by moving the Innovation Diploma Plus school to a Washington Heights building that lacks science labs and a gym.Comments (4)BY RACHEL MONAHAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2012, 9:05 PM
MARIELA LOMBARD FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz, who runs Success Academy Charter Schools.
A high school for at-risk kids is facing eviction from its home to make room for a well-connected charter school to expand, critics charge.
School reformer and former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz sparked outrage last year when city officials turned over space in the newly overhauled Brandeis high school campus on the upper West Side to the Moskowitz-run Upper West Success Academy.
This year, the city is planning to create more space in the Brandeis building by moving the Innovation Diploma Plus school to a Washington Heights building that lacks science labs and a gym.
The Diploma Plus school serves kids who have fallen behind on completing their degrees.
The move also means the school’s teen moms will lose access to day care because Brandeis is one of a few dozen locations where day care is provided for students, city officials said.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.
This is so upsetting and mustn't be allowed. I'm not sure who is worse: the psychopath who appears to take gratification from the subjugation of children, or the parents who knowingly go along with it and send their children to Success. With no level of government willing to do the right thing, isn't it time for radicalism? Sit-ins, occupy...we have to fight back.
ReplyDeleteYou left out perhaps the most galling aspect of this (although it may be hard to top displacing unwed teen mothers)--not only will this space be unused and warehoused until UWS's kids age into it, when it IS finally occupied, due to attrition and Success's no-backfill policy the classrooms won't be filled anywhere close to their capacity. I'll put it another way: some of our most at-risk kids are being displaced so that in four or five years, UWS can have middle school class sizes of 20 or 22 kids.
ReplyDeleteSome legislator needs to step up and propose an amendment to the state charter school law that would forbid any operator from obtaining more charters or expanding existing schools by as little as one square inch if they don't replace students who leave their schools, at a minimum up to the UFT caps.