Monday, April 9, 2018

"GED Program to be cut in half, so charter school can expand"


Marjorie Stamberg: 

I'm hoping this can come before the E-board tomorrow and that we can get a resolution at the D.A. to stop the charter invasion and for everyone to come to the PEP April 25th for the vote.  This is not just another co-location (they are all important), but an attack on a historic African-American school in the heart of Bed-Stuy.  It's a push for gentrification that will drive long time residents out of the neighborhood.

Here is some information about our school's current struggle against a charter co-location that will cut our Brooklyn hub in half, as well as impact two transfer schools, a LYFE program and a D75 school. It's in the old Boys High School building on Marcy Avenue in BedStuy.  A key issue here is the gentrification of BedStuy which is pushing the public schools out.

Here is some local press coverage:

Here is a statement from a teacher
To Whom It May Concern, my name is Nicole Greaves and I am a teacher at Pathways to Graduation (P2G) an alternative program within the NYC Dept of Education (DOE) that prepares adolescents ages 17 - 21 years old for the TASC(GED) Examination. Currently we are located in the Old Boys High School in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Marcy Avenue along with Bed-Stuy Prep High School, Brooklyn Academy High School, Uncommon Collegiate Charter High School and the LYFE Center. P2G has maintained a presence in the building for over 20 years and has serviced thousands of Brooklyn youth during that time. 

On February 15th the Dept of Education issued a proposal to reallocate classroom space in the building which includes: 1. Consolidating Bed-Stuy Prep HS and Brooklyn Academy HS into one school. 2. Pathways to Graduation losing four classrooms, one administrative office and storage space in the basement 3. Relocate Brooklyn East Collegiate Charter Middle School into the building from their current location at PS9  

The proposed Building Utilization Plan (BUP) would give an overwhelming majority of classroom space to Uncommon Collegiate Charter High School and Middle School. They would occupy the 1st, 4th, 5th floors, four rooms on the 2nd floor and the basement. This reallocation of classroom space creates numerous and varied problems for the other three existing schools in the building. P2G would lose four classrooms and one administrative office if the plan is finalized. This would surely be a serious blow to our program and diminish the level of services and resources we can offer to our students. 

The teachers and staff at P2G are committed to saving our school and maintaining our presence in the Bedford Stuyvesant community as long as possible. There are a series of public hearings that will be taking place to address this issue before the final PEP Vote on April 25th at Murray Bergtraum High School. 

The first public hearing was held Monday evening in the auditorium at Old Boys High School, where students, staff and community members alike shared their concerns for the possible closing of schools and reduction of youth educational services in the neighborhood.

We would really like to get the word out to the city about the battle to save our school, the services we offer and the overwhelming need for our services in the community.  http://p2g.nyc/  If we could get an article in your publication that would help us out greatly in reaching the greater New York community. 


 
Recently, our school was featured on News12 Brooklyn "Cool in School" news segment for the Bike Repair Program we offer our students. If the proposed reallocation of space were to happen, the classroom where the bike program is housed is threatened to be taken away and the program possibly ended. 



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sad state of affairs that never seems to go away. I also saw that Eva Moskowitz success academy had a student event at the Barclays Center - a basketball and hockey arena suddenly gives way to a charter school maggot and her so called "scholars". Crying shame if the DOE gives up this space to these outside invaders working for a buck tree eighty. Simply a shame.