A large group of MOREistas joined parents opposing Eva Moskowitz's politically and economically (not educationally) motivated Success Charter expansion into the most expensive real estate in the world, a clear shift from the stated purpose of serving poor kids of color - which from day 1 we never believed. Eva used these kids as cover for her real purposes.
Some speakers were benign towards these obviously wealthy and almost all white parents, saying they understood that they wanted what was best for their kids. I saw it differently. I'm betting that what they see as best for their kids is to not be in classrooms with poorer kids of color. Their smirking at some of the positive comments about how many good public schools there were set me off.
MORE's Mindy Rosier, a teacher at the Mickey Mantle school whose kids Eva wanted out in the street - one of the 3 schools where de Blasio actually stood his groung, posted:
What surprised me the most was the SA parents. It's like they stepped  out of the Stepford Wives movie and they pretty much said the same  thing. They did not care what was happening to any other parents and  kids as long as they were happy. Much to our delight, public school  parents later called them out on that.... Mindy Rosier
Here is a video of my speech (I'm working on the others).
https://vimeo.com/107632260
I took photos of the Success Academy parents and officials and their camera and sound guys - Why do they all look so grouchy?
|  | 
| Oh the horror | 
|  | 
| My kid is better than your kid | 
|  | 
| Grim and more Grim | 
|  | 
| My kids get gym, your don't - na na na na | 
|  | 
| A proud lawyer | 
|  | 
| Anyone named Courtney must be a charter school parent | 
|  | 
| One of the few I found likeable | 
|  | 
| Success officials - wishing they were in witness protection program | 
|  | 
| Do we really need to listen to this? Eva - you owe us a bonus | 
|  | 
| One of the regular Success cameramen | 
|  | 
| and the sound guy - | 
More from Mindy:
Last  night's Success Academy's co-location hearing in District 2 
& 3  had a huge showing. Found it interesting that even at a 
hearing you saw  clear separation. Most pro charter on the right side of
 the room an  most publi school education warriors and parents on the 
left. Success  Academy had their own film team and we had our ever so 
faithful Norm  Scott filming as well. The hearing took place in the 
conference room of  District 2. Many people spoke from both sides. 
Members from CEC,  MORE, advocates, parents, etc., all gave powerful, 
passionate speeches!!!  Was so proud to be in the room with them. The 
were no officials from  Success Academy there to speak however there 
were 7 "observers" present.  There was one from the Success Academy team
 that spoke, she is the SA  President of Parent Council and claimed that
 no one has been hiding  anything and will answer all questions and 
after many demanded  transparency from SA and a moratorium from SUNY. 
(Yeah, right!) I took  many pics and posted most them to Twitter. (Check
 out my page for the  live Tweeting and pics.)
What 
surprised me the most was  the SA parents. It's like they stepped out of
 the Stepford Wives movie  and they pretty much said the same thing. 
They did not care what was  happening to any other parents and kids as 
long as they were happy. Much  to our delight, public school parents 
later called them out on that.  Most of those SA parents had children 
with special needs and two of them  had ELL's. Hmmmmmmmmm. Those are the
 two areas that SA gets slammed for  and those parents just so happened 
to be in attendance AND give  testimony. Planned much!?!? I spoke to one
 of those parents after the  hearing after she spoke to a few others. 
This woman claimed to be a  labor lawyer. She told me she defends 
teachers all the time. Some of the  things that came out of her mouth 
really surprised me. About Special Ed  Teachers, she felt they are ALL 
too young and inexperienced and that's  why they leave and the kids 
don't do well in pubic special ed programs. I  called her out on that. I
 have 17yrs experience. Most of the  teachers/paras in my school are 
seasoned. She stumbled. About teacher  attrition, she dismissed that 
saying it doesn't matter. "SA teachers  have very long days and work 
very hard." I replied, "yes they do and  they burn out and leave. How is
 this good for children?" We calmly  talked overall for about 10 
minutes. She just didn't seem to get it. She  only cared about her kid, 
(I understand parents always wants what's  best for their kids,) however
 she clearly dismissed all of us because it  does not fit into her 
vision of SA. So sad how much tunnel vision there  is. I'm sorry, 
Success Academy CAN be compared to a cult with Moskowitz  as their 
leader.
3 comments:
I wish "they were in the witness protection program" too.
We have something in common... at long last!
Much Respect, Norm.....hot damn....you dropped it on their asses like it was hot!!!!!!!!!!!!
Great Article Norm. Come and visit arrival and dismissal of Success Academy Bensonhurst-co-located at Seth Low IS 96. Mostly white students, who were recruited at PRIVATE pre-k centers in the brighton beach/bensonhurst area.
Post a Comment