Monday, May 1, 2023

Edited - NYCDOE PEP Forced a “Transfer School” to Swap Spaces with a Billionaire-Funded School by one vote - Tisch family Robinson

Tax filings show that from 2006 to 2018, the Tisch foundation gave nearly $50,000 to the Eagle Academy Foundation, where Banks was founder and then president and CEO.

 

UPDATE May 2  - Monday night the community was ignored by one vote and these kids are being evicted into a smaller space. 

Another assault on the poorest kids by the billionaire class with their little pet projects, even if their schools are technically not charters. The story I'm hearing is that most of the students at West Side HS live nearby on the west side. Some have children and their child care is near the school. The Tisch family has been anti-public education for decades with Meryl Tish being a Bloomberg agent of deform - and his next door neighbor. This Ann Tisch is her sister in law. Meryl Tisch daughter Jessica runs Sanitation Dept now.


Ed Notes has written about the Tish deformers for years, which I list at the bottom of this article.

Daniel Alicea covered the story on Talk Out of School on WBAI last night. He also talked to NYC Educator Arthur Goldstein.

Daniel's co-host Leonie Haimson has also been in the fight - also see her tweets below, but here is one about the corrupt relationships

Some West Side supporters question whether Andrew & Ann Tisch donations to Eagle Academy led by Banks until appointed as Chancellor is playing a role in DOE’s plans to evict students from their building in favor of school founded by Tisch

Great story by Liz Rosenberg on planned eviction of West Side High—one of the city’s first transfer schools for over-aged, under-credited HS schools – from their supportive home, which includes a day care center for the young children of the students, a GED program and a full-size gym to make room for the Young Women’s Leadership School, part of a selective chain of schools founded by Ann Tisch, wife of billionaire Jonathan Tisch.  

https://www.nycitynewsservice.com/2023/04/29/doe-wants-west-side-high-to-swap-sites-with-young-womens-leadership-school-of-east-harlem/

The Young Women’s Leadership Schools are a chain of district public schools, founded by Ann Tisch in 1996 https://www.studentleadershipnetwork.org/about/mission-and-vision/

 

MEDIA ADVISORY- MONDAY, MAY 1, 2023

 

Press Conference re: PEP Vote to Save West Side High School Monday, May 1 at 3:30 PM


Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, City Council Member Gale Brewer, and Comptroller Brad Lander (or a representative from their offices) will join West Side High School students, staff and community members Monday calling on the DOE to abandon plans to push West Side High School out of its current building.

 

At 6:00 PM on Monday, May 1, the Panel for Educational Policy is scheduled to vote on the DOE’s plan to force West Side High School to move to converted office space on the East Side. 


New York City high school students, parents, and staff will be available for interviews, as well as community members.

            

Date: Monday, May 1st at 3:30 PM

           

Location: Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School, 140 West 102nd St, New York, NY 10025

 

MEDIA CONTACTS : 


Sarah Frank, 617-838-2032, sarfrank@gmail.com

@earwshs on Twitter, https://sites.google.com/view/savewestsidehighschool/home 


Zakiyah Ansari,

Alliance for Quality Education

917-309-5742



 From UFT Chapter Chair at Westside HS:

The PEP meeting where West Side's future will be voted on is Monday. If you can, please join us Monday, May 1 on the PEP (https://www.learndoe.org/pep/may1/). If you can't (I know a lot of folks will be protesting the mayor in other ways), there are plenty of other ways to support. I wanted to reach out for one last major push and a couple updates:
This struggle has been really hard, but really beautiful. I am so thankful for all your support.

In solidarity,
Joel
 
Diane Ravitch:

A “transfer school” in New York City is one that enrolls high school students—some in their early 20s—who have fallen far behind and need intensive support to graduate. The Edward A. Reynolds West Side High School is a transfer school. It has been a life-saver for students who would otherwise have dropped out. The school has a wonderful range of facilities: “the suite of services West Side has offered from its specially designed West 102nd Street building—equipped with a gym big enough for Public School Athletic League play, a working kitchen for cooking classes, a health clinic, a childcare center and a youth employment program—can be transformative.

Unfortunately for the West Side High School, another school wants its building. The Young Women’s Leadership Academy wants a swap. As journalist Liz Rosenberg reports, the students and teachers at West Side High School don’t want to move. The YWLA building is smaller and lacks the amenities of West Side High School.

But YWLA has some advantages. It was founded by Ann Tisch, who is part of the billionaire Tisch family, who are part of the ownership of the Lowe’s Corporation.

Some West Side supporters question whether the Andrew H. and Ann R. Tisch Foundation’s support for the Young Women’s Leadership School, its backing of the Eagle Academy Foundation led by Banks until he was appointed by Mayor Eric Adams in 2022 and its working relationships with both city officials—is playing a role in the DOE’s plans.

There are six YWLA schools in the city, and more in other cities. Last year, their network received a gift of $7 million from McKenzie Scott. Over the past years, the Tisch Foubdation gave $50,000 to the Eagle Academy schools run by now-Chancellor David Banks.

Will these cozy relationships encourage the City to mandate the building swap?

Or will the billionaire Tisch family use some of their assets to build or buy a suitable structure for their YWLA? It would also be a good use of MacKenzie Scott’s millions.

The 23-member Panel on Educational Policy will vote tomorrow night on the swap. Thirteen members of the Panel, like Chancellor David Banks, were appointed by the Mayor.

Some Ed Notes greatest hits on Tisch:
May 15, 2011

Ed Notes has learned that the letter Governor Cuomo supposedly wrote to Merryl Tisch and the State Board of Regents calling for a change from weighing teacher evaluations based on state tests from 20 to 40% was in fact ...

May 04, 2011

Don't be so mean: Ms. Tisch is simply offering a compassionate helping hand to convicted felon Michael Milken (the force behind the privately-owned Learning Group LLC), who served time in federal prison for insider ...

Aug 26, 2010

Meryl Tisch - yes that family - owns Giants and all kinds

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