Thursday, October 29, 2015

Eva's Got to Go, Not Children: NY Times Throws Another Grenade at Eva Moskowitz as She Holds Presser to Scam for More Money

Let's see Eva try to fight her way out of this one... Leonie Haimson

At a Success Academy Charter School, Singling Out Pupils Who Have ‘Got to Go’


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/30/nyregion/at-a-success-academy-charter-school-singling-out-pupils-who-have-got-to-go.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

Today Eva has a press conf demanding the city give her pre-k money even if she won't sign a contract like every other school does. These new revelations won't help her case.

This is open child abuse. 
Why did Eva release the records of that child and risk violating federal FERPA laws - a child who happens to now be a successful student at the Earth School with experienced teachers like MORE's presidential candidate Jia Lee, who teaches that child? To intimidate parents who were pushed out of Success from testifying.
See: Cease and Desist letter sent today to Eva Moskowitz of Success Charters

It hasn't worked.

Another goody on Success Charter Scam from NY Times' Kate Taylor. I met Kate in Sept. 2014 at a Success charter school hearing in Brooklyn when she was new to the ed beat and hadn't yet gotten a hold of the Success Charter scam. How nice to see the Times investing in investigative reporting on Eva.

Kate's article goes into the tactics used on 5-year olds. Beat them up over minor infractions until they get so frustrated they lash out and commit more and more infractions. Then tell the world these kids don't belong in their schools - but where else do they go but in public schools where there are great and experienced teachers like Jia who know how to deal with these kids in a humane way?

More parents are following the lead and revealing the excess at Success.

From left, Folake Wimbish, Nicey Givens and Folake Ogundiran all withdrew their children from Success Academy Fort Greene. Credit Sam Hodgson for The New York Times
Will Eva continue to violate FERPA lawa by releasing these kids' records?

Former Success staff are also beginning to talk - anonymously because they know they will be hounded and attacked for talking.
Principals at Success, many in their 20s and 30s, frequently consult with a team of lawyers before suspending a student or requiring a parent to pick up a child early every day. It was a member of that team who described a student’s withdrawal from the Success Academy in Union Square to colleagues as a “big win,” the current employee said. 
I love that Kate mentioned the ages of the principals. I wonder if staff don't have to sign some non-disclosure agreements when they sign a contract? Does anyone have examples of these contracts to publish?

For James Merriman, who heads the charter network and full well knows the evils of Eva, to try to defend them is indefensible.
James D. Merriman, the chief executive officer of the New York City Charter School Center, a group that advocates and supports charter schools, said it was unrealistic to expect any given school to be a good fit for every child. And Mr. Merriman noted that the city had many traditional public schools that required a test or other screening for admission, schools that by definition did not serve all students.
That's an infinitesimal number of public schools and they are open and above board on their policies. Merriman used to sell charters as taking every kid through the lottery. Now they are explaining away their trying to beat the lottery.

And this was just sent out to the Twitter Brigade:
Hi Twitter Brigade,

The news keeps piling on, today the New York Times published an article confirming and detailing some disgusting suspension habits carried out by Success Academy Charter School Network.

The article proves that Success Academy uses frequent suspensions as a tactic to push students out, using a "Got to Go" list. Read the article here: http://nyti.ms/1MkDyX3

This sort of unfair treatment shows that Success Academy is not the "public school" they claim to be and that Eva Moskowitz will use ultimate autonomy to hand pick students.

TWEET WITH US NOW!!

Let Eva and her schools know this is unacceptable. Attached are some meme's and below are sample tweets.

9 of 16 students on @SuccessCharters #Got2Go list withdrew. Frequent suspensions force kids out http://nyti.ms/1MkDyX3

.@SuccessCharters uses frequent suspensions to push kids out, claims they #GotToGo http://nyti.ms/1MkDyX3

Moskowitz wages ultimate autonomy claims kids #GotToGo then suspends until they withdraw http://nyti.ms/1MkDyX3

.@SuccessCharters uses trolling parents with suspensions for minor infractions as form of pushing kids out #GotToGo http://nyti.ms/1MkDyX3

Parents choose @SuccessCharters then learn their child has #GotToGo with frequent suspensions http://nyti.ms/1MkDyX3

Parents say 'lives upended by repeated suspensions' @SuccessCharters says their child has #GotToGo http://nyti.ms/1MkDyX3

.@SuccessCharters staff ADMIT network uses suspension to let parents know their child has #GotToGo http://nyti.ms/1MkDyX3

Students that @SuccessCharters believe have #GotToGo are suspended frequently, left off re-enrollment list http://nyti.ms/1MkDyX3

.@SuccessCharters staff say certain kids leaving is 'BIG WIN' #GotToGo http://nyti.ms/1MkDyX3

.@SuccessCharters decide some students have #GotToGo, start suspending as young as kindergarten http://nyti.ms/1MkDyX3

1 comment:

Abundant1 said...

Success Academy, Achievement First, they are among the top offenders of tactics like this. The words in the article have been repeated time and again to city officials, and news reporters. We've had hearings and community gatherings. I spent my sons entire 5th grade in meetings trying to understand, advocate, advise, and reveal. Those who already knew had been resigned to the idea that the big money backers would make sure none of it would make a difference. As it had not made a difference over the decades that it took for these charter schools to become so prolific and take root in our communities. Now the story resurfaces as if it is news, but it is unmitigated child abuse that it is known by those in a position to change it, and or punish it, and here it is October 2015 still wrong and strong. God Bless people like Leonie Haimson who have not been deterred; and who continues to show up, and fight to expose and change the system of abuse for the children whose own parents barely know what is happening to them. When I see these mothers who are willing to participate in these propaganda commericals for these charter schools, I am sick about all that they don't know, and how their children are subsequently in a position to fend for themselves. I am glad this article repeats the one area that EVERYONE must know regardless of whether your child attends these schools or not. They are criminalizing these children to the point that the children are believing them, and begin to act as expected. When you get detention for squeaking the rubber soles on the floor, or coughing. or sneezing in a disingenuous way; when you are taught that asking for help when you are told not to talk, is a level 4 "disrespect of a teacher" your world begins to change. Twilight Zone comes to mind. What did the few parents who stood against their policies teach them? How to hide their abuses, They decided to start with younger and younger kids, so the communication of abuses would be harder to decipher. They decided to tell the parents one thing, and do another to the child. I once stood in the hall and listened to a dean yell so violently at a student (behind closed doors) that I couldn't even discern the infraction. The child was thoroughly convinced he had committed a sin so unspeakable based on her threats, that he was too afraid to report the incident to his parents, hoping the she wouldn't either. It is a layered problem, but lets start with the illegal stuff and take it from there. But when the office of child welfare stops taking calls, and when you do get through tells you it will be more than a year before anyone even thinks about investigating the complaint, hopelessness can set in. Even the NYC agency set-up to protect children with special needs, failed. It was clear there was a network of silence at work, that is well funded... Anyway, I go on... Hopefully this will be the year, this will be the story, this will be the child that will break the system's back. No more charter abuses!