UPDATED LIST OF CO-LOCO REVERSALS and APPROVALS

As a follow-up to my last post (Moskowitz, NY Post, Charter - er Chalkbeat Try to Reverse Mayoral Election)
here is the update from Farina. Good news is Eva is gone from her downtown beachhead at Bergtraum. And watch the Post scream about this one which they, probably tipped off, have been doing for days over that credit recovery sham with attacks on de Blasio over keeping failed schools open. Not that that program didn't come under the Bloomberg admin, but why would the Post bring that up?

What about the Eva bastions in Bensonhurst and Mill Basin? Politicians were screaming about it. I guess since Dominick Recchia got Dewey - his alma mata -- off the list he abandoned Seth Low? And what about the slugs at Coney Island prep who were slammed at the PEP hearings?

Good news on the PS 84K expansion to K-8 -- Eva is right down about 2 blocks occupying a middle school and competing directly with PS 84. This should help, especially if Eva is blocked from expanding that school to grade 8.

Dear Community Members,

We are committed to engaging more meaningfully with our school communities—nothing is more important than involving families in decisions affecting their children’s education. I am writing to share our process for reviewing the 49 space-sharing proposals that were approved last fall. 

The previous administration handed over these proposals—and we have had to review all of them under inflexible deadlines. While the circumstances for each proposal are unique, we identified clear criteria and we followed it. But more importantly, as enrollment deadlines approach, we considered the thousands of families that could be affected.  We were deliberate in our decisions and, under the circumstances we inherited, believe this is the best approach.

If there is one thing school communities should know, it’s this: we are going to do things differently. Today, we are turning the page on the approach of the past. We are going to listen and be responsive like never before, and that will be reflected in everything we do.

First, we do not believe new elementary schools should be opened on high school campuses. While there are examples where it can be effective, overall we have heard concerns from high school communities, as well as elementary level ones, about this practice. We believe high school campuses should serve high school students. On high school campuses, if we have several schools together, we can encourage them to share resources such as AP classes or a library.

Second, we want to ensure that all new schools have the resources they need to provide the services students deserve. Very small schools—under 250 students—may have difficulty providing the range of support needed to serve students effectively.

Third, we considered construction. We looked closely at proposals that would have depended on significant capital work to create space for the co-location, or those that required substantial dislocation to the existing schools within a building.

Last, we considered District 75 capacity. We will not reduce seats for these students.

When making these decisions, we considered families. We have many deadlines coming up—in sum, these 2014 proposals have an impact on up to roughly 4,500 students going through upcoming enrollment processes. With Round Two of middle and high school admissions approaching, rescinding many or all of these proposals would mean that students would be limited in their second round options. We aimed to be minimally disruptive to those existing processes and the families going through them.

Of the 49 proposals from last fall, we are sharing our decisions on 45 of them, all of which are for 2014 implementation. There were four proposals approved for 2015, and we are deferring any decision on these at the moment because the needs of the communities between now and the 2015 school-year may change. We want to listen to community concerns as 2015 draws closer. 

Of the 45 that we have decided on, we are withdrawing nine proposals and revising one. In line with the lens through which we reviewed the proposals, we are proposing alternative locations to open three of the schools whose proposals we have withdrawn in order to provide better building matches. Here is the list of withdrawals:

84M386	M	Co-location of grades 5-8 of SA - Harlem 4 @ M149	Re-siting and grade reconfiguration
04M204	M	Opening of a New District Middle School 04M204 @ M096	New School
04M964	M	Expansion of CPE II from current K-5 to K-8 and Co-location @ Bldg M013	Grade Reconfiguration
16K762	K	Opening of New District Middle School 16K762 @ K335	New School
84MTBD	M	Opening of Success Academy - NY 1 K-4 @ M520/Murry Bergtraum	New School
84QTBD	Q	Opening of Success Academy - New York 5 @ Q400	New School
01M203	M	Opening of a New 9-14 CTE High School 01M203 @ M446	New School
21K768	K	Opening of New District High School @ K540/Dewey	New School
30Q335	Q	Enrollment Reduction of LIC and Opening of New District CTE High School @ Q452/LIC	New School

From the nine proposals that will be withdrawn, we are able to propose better building matches for three of those schools, which will be described in two educational impact statements.

We will propose opening a 9-14 high school – previously proposed for the University Neighborhood High School – and a Career and Technical Education high school – previously proposed for Long Island City High School – at the Murry Bergtraum campus. If approved, that means that campus will serve only high school grades. We also propose to open a district high school on the August Martin Campus, which was originally slated to open on the Dewey Campus.

In addition, we will revise a proposal regarding American Dream Charter School. Rather than opening four sections per grade at building X030 in the Bronx, we are proposing that it open three to better fit the space available.

As you may know, we are initiating a new, meaningful engagement process. The buildings of the above-described proposals will receive walk-throughs from senior DOE leadership, the principal, and the SLT. We will also consult with the school community significantly - the engagement process for these proposals is going to look very different than it has in the past.

For the 35 proposals that will be implemented, we will host a meeting for each school community to discuss next steps, listen to, and engage with parents and educators.

Let me know if you have questions and I appreciate all that you do.

Best,

Carmen Fariña

Chancellor

ortantly, as enrollment deadlines approach, we considered the thousands of families that could be affected.  We were deliberate in our decisions and, under the circumstances we inherited, believe this is the best approach.”

“If there is one thing school communities should know, it’s this: we’re going to do things differently. Today, we are turning the page on the approach of the past. We are going to listen and be responsive like never before, and that will be reflected in everything we do.”

  

Borough	Proposal Title	Type	Year of Impl.	Status
M	Opening and Co-location of a New 9-14 CTE High School 01M203 @ M446	New School	2014	Withdraw
K	Opening and Co-location of New District High School @ K540/Dewey	New School	2014	Withdraw
Q	TER of LIC and Opening and Co-location of New District CTE High School 30Q335 @ Q452/LIC	New School	2014	Withdraw
M	Co-location of grades 5-8 of SA - Harlem 4 @ M149	Re-siting and grade reconfiguration	2014	Withdraw
M	Opening and Co-location of a New District Middle School 04M204 @ M096	New School	2014	Withdraw
M	Expansion of CPE II from current K-5 to K-8 and Co-location @ Bldg M013	Grade Reconfiguration	2014	Withdraw
K	Opening and Co-Location of New District Middle School 16K762 @ K335	New School	2014	Withdraw
M	Opening and Co-location of Success Academy - NY 1 K-4 @ M520/Murry Bergtraum	New School	2014	Withdraw
Q	Opening and Co-Location of SA - New York 5 @ Q400	New School	2014	Withdraw
M	Expansion of Clinton Academy from 6-8 to 6-12 @ M898 (10 East 15th)	Grade Reconfiguration	2015	No decision at this time
K	Co-location of Explore Exceed Grades 6-8 @ K320	Grade Reconfiguration	2015	No decision at this time
Q	Co-Location extension of MS 311 @ Q744	Co-location Extension	2015	No decision at this time
K	Co-Location of New School Achievement First North Brooklyn Preparatory 5-8 @ K299	Grade Reconfiguration	2015	No decision at this time
X	Co-Location of American Dream @ X030	New School	2014	Revise and Implement
M	The Re-siting of UA High School for Emergency Management (CTE) to M520/Bergtraum	Re-siting	2014	Implement
M	The Re-siting of Mather High School (CTE) to M625/Graphics	Re-siting	2014	Implement
M	Expansion of P.S. 72 Lexington Academy from current K-5 to K-8 @ M072	Grade Reconfiguration	2014	Implement
M	Opening and Co-location of a New District Middle School 06M209 @ M192	New School	2014	Implement
M	Opening and Co-location of a New 9-14 CTE HS 06M211 @ M052	New School	2014	Implement
X	Opening and Co-location of a New District Elementary School (08X392) @ X192	New School	2014	Implement
X	TER of I.S. 131  and Opening and Co-location of Success Academy - NY 2 @ X131	New School	2014	Implement
X	Co-location of Girls Prep Charter School Grades 6-8 @ X120	Grade Reconfiguration	2014	Implement
X	Co-location Expansion of Mott Hall Charter School @X063	Co-location Extension	2014	Implement
X	Co-location Extension and Grade Reconfiguration of Children's Aid College Prep Charter School @ X193	Co-location Extension	2014	Implement
X	Opening and Co-location of new district ES 12X458 @ X050	New School	2014	Implement
K	TER of 13K113 and Opening and Co-Location of Compass Charter School @ K113	New School	2014	Implement
K	Expansion of 14K084 from K-5 to K-8 @ K084	Grade Reconfiguration	2014	Implement
K	Opening and Co-location of New District High School 16K765 @ K455/Boys & Girls	New School	2014	Implement
K	Resiting and Co-location of Success Academy 7 from K167 to K161	Re-siting	2014	Implement
K	Co-location of Uncommon High School 3 @ K515/South Shore	Grade Reconfiguration	2014	Implement
K	Opening of New District Middle School 18K763 @ K244	New School	2014	Implement
K	Co-location Extension of Invictus Preparatory Charter School @ K218	Co-location Extension	2014	Implement
K	Opening of New CTE High School 19K764 @ K420/Lane	New School	2014	Implement
K	TER of IS 171 and Opening and Co-location of New District Middle School 19K760 @ K171	New School	2014	Implement
K	Opening and Co-Location of Achievement First Charter School @ K166	New School	2014	Implement
K	Opening and Co-location of Success Academy - NY 3 @ K096	New School	2014	Implement
K	Co-location of Coney Island Prep K-4 @ K281	Grade Reconfiguration	2014	Implement
K	TER of 22K078 and Opening and Co-location of Success Academy - NY 4 @ K078	New School	2014	Implement
Q	Re-siting and Co-location of 24Q290 and 75QTBD	Re-siting	2014	Implement
Q	TER of 26Q435 and Opening and Co-location of New 9-14 CTE High School 26Q315 @Q435/Van Buren	New School	2014	Implement
Q	TER of 27Q475 and the Resiting of RHHS 9th grade cohort @ Q636 in building Q475/Richmond Hill	Re-siting	2014	Implement
Q	TER of Q226 and Opening and  Co-location of New District ESI High School 27Q314 @ Q226	New School	2014	Implement
Q	Opening and Co-Location of New District ES 28Q312 @ Q040	New School	2014	Implement
Q	Opening and Co-Location of New District MS 28Q332 @ Q072	New School	2014	Implement
Q	Opening and Co-Location of SA - New York 6 @ Q059	New School	2014	Implement
Q	Opening and Co-location of New District CTE High School 29Q313 @Q490/Campus Magnet	New School	2014	Implement
Q	Co-location of 30Q092 at Q329 (Temp Swing Space)	Co-location	2014	Implement
R	TER of R016 and Opening and Co-location of New District ES 31R010 @ R016	New School	2014	Implement
R	Opening and Co-Location of Eagle Academy grades 6-8 in Staten Island @ R049	New School	2014	Implement

Moskowitz, NY Post, Charter - er Chalkbeat Try to Reverse Mayoral Election

Can children be kicked out of schools that don't yet exist and have no student bodies yet? DOE reverses 9 out of 45 co-loco decisions. Too precious few for my taste. A

"For the 35 proposals that will be implemented, we will host a meeting for each school community" ... Carmen Farina

For what reason? I doubt anyone would have guessed that 35 out of 45 of these hastily pushed through co-locations would be enacted. .... a parent who was not very happy with the announcement.

Can someone remind me -- and maybe Mayor de Blasio -- who won the mayoralty by an overwhelming margin running on a campaign to curb the charter lobby monster, especially the runaway train that is Eva Moskowitz? And how about Public Advocate Tish James who has been vocal in opposing charters (with many PEP speeches)? She beat back challenges by people with backing of the charter lobby.

Before proceding, let's remind everyone that Bloomberg tried to pull a fast one by holding 2 co-location PEP meetings in October, months before they had every been held before, to present de Blasio with  a fair accompli, with Eva the focus of his largesse. Not all the co-locos were charters.

There were many cries of outrage from the public, the politicians and the students, teachers and parents of the invaded schools. For the charter lobby to cry foul now that a precious too few of these decisions have been reversed is beyond outrage.

The hope was that most of these decisions pushed through by the dying death star at Tweed would be reversed and not we see that is not so.

Well at the Eva train took some kind of a hit and watch the press, especially the NY Post and Charter - er ChalkBeat beat this story to death without every mentioning the de Blasio and James mandate. The slugs at the NY Post are reporting that Moskowitz will sue de Blasio.  Farina noted:

we considered construction. We looked closely at proposals that would depend on significant capital work to create space for the co-location, or those that required substantial dislocation to the existing schools within a building... on high school campuses, if we have several schools together, we can encourage them to share resources such as AP classes or a library. We approached these proposals with the belief that high school campuses should serve high school students.....Farina in statement released today.

YES. This is a direct hit at Eva who doesn't take over a school with a light footprint. She requires enormous capital expenditures on the part of the DOE to keep her happy. Every high school she invaded cost lots of money to renovate for her. She already has beach heads in Brandeis, Graphics and Washington Irving and was given Bergtraum in Manhattan so she could have a gentrified geographic base in every corner of the borough. So this may be good news. We'll see.

When parents sued over the handing over of public school space to charters in the past they were turned back. Let's see which side the courts are on. If they allow Moskowitz to get away with this once again expect an even stronger turn against charters in the city. One interesting angle is where the other charters stand. Many of them I bet are cheering de Blasio on this one if he leaves them alone. And maybe his goal is to separate Eva from the others.

With Round 2 of middle and high school admissions approaching, rescinding many or all of these proposals would mean that students would be limited in their second round options. Conversely, moving forward with all of the proposals could have yielded co-locations that may not be best for some school communities....Carmen Farina 

This is disingenuous. They knew in October and they knew they were winning the election. Thus 3 months have gone by and they could have made some of these decisions a month ago. So to claim that they must go through due to Round 2 is a waffle.

Our side will not be happy with what looks like waffling by the de Blasio admin. I was expecting no more than 9 co-locos to go through. But there are some nuggets here. 

Carmen Farina sent this out without the specifics.

Dear Colleagues,

I want to share some news with you. As many of you know, we have been carefully reviewing the 49 proposals that were approved by the Panel for Educational Policy towards the end of last year. This was a process we took very seriously. We diligently reviewed every public comment submitted, analyzed each proposal, and considered upcoming enrollment deadlines for families.

These decisions were not easy, but they were made carefully. We identified several core values that comprised the lens through which we evaluated the proposals. First, on high school campuses, if we have several schools together, we can encourage them to share resources such as AP classes or a library. We approached these proposals with the belief that high school campuses should serve high school students. Second, we want to ensure that all new schools have the resources they need to provide the services students deserve. Very small schools under 250 students may sometimes have difficulty providing the range of support needed to effectively serve students. Third, we considered construction. We looked closely at proposals that would depend on significant capital work to create space for the co-location, or those that required substantial dislocation to the existing schools within a building. Last, we considered District 75 capacity - we will not reduce seats for these students.

Of the 49 proposals from last fall, we have made decisions on 45 of them, all of which are for 2014 implementation. Through this lens, of the 45 that we have decided on, we are withdrawing 9 proposals and revising one. There were four proposals approved for 2015, and we are deferring decisions on these because the needs of the communities between now and the 2015 school-year may change. We want to listen to community concerns as 2015 draws closer.

 

When making these decisions, we considered families. We have many deadlines coming up – in sum, these 2014 proposals have an impact on up to roughly 4,500 students going through upcoming enrollment processes. With Round 2 of middle and high school admissions approaching, rescinding many or all of these proposals would mean that students would be limited in their second round options. Conversely, moving forward with all of the proposals could have yielded co-locations that may not be best for some school communities. I am confident in our decisions. We approached this thoughtfully and thoroughly, and through a clear, sensible lens.

Going forward, we will approach these issues differently. Earlier this week we announced new engagement practices – a new Blue Book Working Group to evaluate school utilization, a required walk-through from DOE senior leadership of each building proposed for significant changes in school utilization, and increased outreach to parents, CECs, SLTs, and other groups. We will meaningfully engage with the school communities we serve in a way that has never been done before. And we will make sure to listen. 

As always, thank you for all of your hard work in serving our schools and our City.

Warmly,

Carmen

Do I really believe they will engage the community and actually listen? Or will they just be more successful at stroking people? I have to see where community input actually has an impact.

The national alliance for charter schools (they insert the words Public to create the phony impression but I won't dignify that falsehool) was screaming bloody murder in more deception with this false headline: National Charter Schools Group Outraged over Mayor de Blasio’s Decision to Kick Children Out of their School

Out of what school since most of these schools have not opened and don't officially have any students?  Their joke of a statement is below.

Knowing this was coming, Moskowitz already had this in the works to go crying to Gov Cuomo and whoever else will listen in Albany as she closes down her personal little school system for a day.

Ravitch reports:

Albany, Néw York, will be the scene of two competing rallies on Tuesday.

Eva Moskowitz is closing her charter schools on NYC and will bus thousands of children and parents to lobby for her charter chain.

On the same day, allies of Mayor de Blasio will assemble to urge the legislature to permit NYC to tax the richest--those who earn more than $500,000 annually--to pay for universal pre-K.

Place your bets, folks. Will it come down to a contest between which groups made the biggest campaign contributions? Or will the greater public good prevail?

Support for de Blasio:

Zakiyah Ansari Reacts to Announcement on Co-Location Reversals

NY, NY— Following Dept. of Education's announcement on how they will proceed with the handling of contentious school co-locations approved under the last administration, Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director for the Alliance for Quality Education,released the following statement:

“Thank you Mayor de Blasio for sticking to your word. This is good education policy and an uplifting start to bring fairness and equity to our schools. Although there are arguments to be made for having reversed many more inherited co-locations on the table, it is clear that the administration used fair and objective criteria to make this decision.

“It is an historic step for the Mayor to propose reversing co-locations and he has focused in on some of the most damaging ones. For those that are not reversed, we expect the Dept. of Education to follow through on their commitment to take a new approach of responsiveness, collaboration and a genuine understanding of how students are affected.

“Families all across the city are ready to move past the ‘old system’ of divisiveness and inequity. Now, we must re-focus on how we're going to improve opportunities and provide the best possible education for all children,” said Zakiyah Ansari, Advocacy Director for the Alliance for Quality Education.

And here is the charter bullshit. Someone give Katherine a call and let her know that there was actually an election in NYC.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT
February 27, 2014	Katherine Bathgate
	(202) 521-2827
	Katherine@publiccharters.org

National Charter Schools Group Outraged over
Mayor de Blasio’s Decision to Kick Children
Out of their School
Four charter schools kicked out of school buildings,
hundreds of children affected

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has told four charter schools they would lose their school buildings, leaving at least 700 children without a school this coming school year. One of the schools is already open and serving children, three were scheduled to open this fall. Among these schools is one of the top performing schools in the city, and more notably, the state. National Alliance for Public Charter Schools President and CEO Nina Rees issued the following statement in response:  

“Kicking one of the state’s top-performing schools out of its building and leaving three other schools without a building is nothing short of outrageous. At the school already serving children, Success Academy’s Harlem 4, 83 percent of the students passed the state math exam last year, putting it in the top one percent of all schools in the state. Why would anyone want to stop that kind of student achievement? 

“This is an unjustified attack on the city’s most vulnerable youth—93 percent of students in charter schools in NYC are minorities and 73 percent are low-income. Among the country's 10 largest cities, all other mayors (8 of whom are Democrats) have embraced charter schools as a solution to urban education challenges. It is incomprehensible that Mayor de Blasio would intentionally force hundreds of children out of their schools. He is threatening to take away the most valuable thing we can give to our kids – a quality education. 

“These children and parents don’t deserve to have the rug pulled out from under their feet. De Blasio should immediately reconsider this decision and put the interests of the city’s children first.”

A recent report by the Center for Research on Educational Outcomes at Stanford University showed that students who attend charter schools in New York City are doing better in school than their peers who attend traditional district schools. There are 70,000 students enrolled in charter schools in New York, and 50,000 more students on charter school waiting lists.

About the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools

The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is the leading national nonprofit organization committed to advancing the public charter school movement. Our mission is to lead public education to unprecedented levels of academic achievement by fostering a strong charter sector. For more information, please visit our website at www.publiccharters.org.

  

Teacher Union Support For Housing for TFA Scabs in Newark

...we shouldn't create construction jobs at the expense of unionized teacher jobs. ... Jersey Jazzman, July 2013

One of our partners, the AFL-CIO’s Housing Investment Trust, or HIT, which is funded largely by building trades’ pension funds but also by educators’ pension funds, has helped create affordable housing for teachers. Through its subsidiary, Building America, HIT is moving forward on plans to invest in the new teachers’ village in Newark, N.J.... Randi Weingarten at AFT Convention in Detroit, July 2012

There is little doubt that TFA has many ties to Teachers Village, and that many of its corps members will rent apartments there. There is little doubt that the charter schools occupying Teachers Village will not have a unionized staff. And there is little doubt that Teachers Village is yet another step in the charterization of Newark's schools - a process that has led to budget cuts and school closings against the will of parents, students, and the elected yet powerless school board..... despite all this, NTU's leaders have heartily endorsed Teachers Village: a project that will accelerate the growth of charters and the deunionization of Newark's Schools.... Jersey Jazzman, July 2013

Even my pal Michael Fiorillo seemed astounded when he read my earlier posting this morning "Dear Randi" From a Newark Teacher.
With Cami Anderson wanting to lay off 700 tenured teachers and replace them with newbie Teach for America scabs, this story takes on new dimensions, especially with Randi's letter to Chris Christie yesterday - excuse me for a minute while I gag.

I'm back. Really and truly, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

Beit's got himself one sweet deal, doesn't he? He uses $100 million in tax credits to finance a project in Newark, then lines up a group of charter schools as his business occupants, who will pay their rents with taxpayer funds.

Then, as if that isn't enough, he sets himself up to direct a steady flow of college-educated renters right into his residential units - through TFA! In fact, TFA has a page where prospective "teachers" can figure out their expenses when they move to Newark. By default, rent is listed as $1150: right in the range for units at Teachers Village. There's also a happy-happy neighborhood description on the TFA-Newark website: I don't think a real estate agent could have written one better. ... Jersey Jazzman

My relentless ednotes reporter on the scene in Newark reminded me of this Jersey Jazzman piece from July 2013, where I left my usual "vichy, quisling" comment. Read this one in full and get the full flavor of what we are up against when our own union leaders have the foresight of flea. JJ asks: "Let me ask NTU leadership something: do you think Karen Lewis out in Chicago would have signed off on this plan?"

How the Newark Teachers Union Shot Itself In the Foot

By now, those of us in Jersey are well aware of the construction trade unions' endorsement of Chris Christie, the biggest foe of public worker unions in the Northeast. I guess these supposed "allies" of teachers and cops think Christie's "pro-business" policies will lead to more jobs, even though the evidence suggests Christie is very bad for economic growth and job development.

Whatever: it still stings mightily when, as a teacher, I see my union "brothers and sisters" out there shilling for a man who has done more to take money out of my family's budget than any other politician in the state, and who is gearing up for a run at national office. Weren't we all supposed to be sticking together as a united labor movement? After all, the leaders of New Jersey's public worker unions have happily stood up and endorsed public works programs when they meant creating union construction jobs.

Take, for example, the president of the Newark Teachers Union, Joe Del Grosso [annotation mine]:

Here's Del Grosso supporting the Teachers Village project in Newark that, apparently, created union construction jobs for AFL-CIO members. Keep in mind that the NTU is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, which is, in turn, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO. And it was only with the AFL-CIO's support that the developers of Teachers Village could get the New Markets Tax Credits necessary to make this project so lucrative for the big-money boys who financed it.

So it was, of course, perfectly natural that Del Grosso would support a project that would create jobs for AFL-CIO members in the building trades. But his members - the teachers and support staff of the NTU - ought to ask themselves: at what cost?

Normally, I wouldn't think this was a particularly noteworthy story: how TFA chooses to organize itself isn't really a big issue. But then I took a look at who serves on the Advisory Board for TFA-Newark, which will undoubtedly be the hub around which the state-wide TFA is built:

Advisory Board

Ron Beit, Partner and CEO, RBH Management

[...]

Ron Beit - hmm, where have I heard that name before? Oh, yeah, that's right - he's the developer behind Newark's Teachers Village:

Remember the name: Teachers Village. It's a $150 million, mixed-use development that just broke ground with great fanfare in Newark. The idea is that teachers will live in the complex and teach at one of the three charter schools that will occupy the site.

As you might imagine, your taxpayers dollars are funding this experiment:

The project was awarded nearly $40 million in Urban Transit Hub tax credits from the state Economic Development Authority and allocated $60 million in federal New Markets tax credits for the school portion. Other public financing came from the city of Newark, the state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, and federal Qualified School Construction Bonds, according to an EDA memo. Private financing came from Goldman Sachs, Prudential Financial Corp., TD Bank and New Jersey Community Capital, Beit said. In the early months of the recession, Beit said, Berggruen’s unwavering commitment to the project — Berggruen said he considers his investment "long-term" — brought everyone else together.

$100 million in tax credits; not too shabby. If anyone tries to convince you that billionaires are interested in charter schools solely out of altruism, point them to this project. Why else do you think the biggest Master of the Universe of them all showed up?

A veritable who’s who of real estate developers, corporate leaders and elected officials gathered this morning to celebrate the groundbreaking of Teachers Village in downtown Newark and mark the start of a major project now underway.

The crowd of more than 200 piled into a tent at the site at the corner of Halsey and William streets, two blocks from the Prudential Center. Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, whose urban investment group helped finance the project, said projects like Teachers Village are exactly the types of opportunities they look for to support economic growth. World famous architect Richard Meier, who was born in Newark and designed the buildings, said the day was “more than a homecoming, it is a dream come true.” The majority of project investors are from New York, including lead developer Ron Beit of RBH Group. [emphasis mine]

I'm going to have a lot to say about this as I keep digging over the next few weeks. For now:

• The apartments in the complex are studios to two-bedrooms that will range from $700 to $1,400 a month. Who do you think will be attracted to this housing: young people just starting out, or older couples with families? So much for experienced teachers working at these charters, although that has always been one of the key points of the charter "movement," hasn't it? Even here in Jersey (thanks, Darcie).

Beit's got himself one sweet deal, doesn't he? He uses $100 million in tax credits to finance a project in Newark, then lines up a group of charter schools as his business occupants, who will pay their rents with taxpayer funds.

Then, as if that isn't enough, he sets himself up to direct a steady flow of college-educated renters right into his residential units - through TFA! In fact, TFA has a page where prospective "teachers" can figure out their expenses when they move to Newark. By default, rent is listed as $1150: right in the range for units at Teachers Village. There's also a happy-happy neighborhood description on the TFA-Newark website: I don't think a real estate agent could have written one better.

This is hardly a new idea: in Baltimore, 70 percent of Miller's Court's residents are TFAers. Again, the financing was helped by New Markets Tax Credits.

Now, I want to be fair: there is no reporting that I have seen that confirms TFA has signed an agreement with Teachers Village akin to the deals they cut in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Las Vegas. But when you look at the connections TFA has to Newark and Teachers Village, it's clear that a formal deal isn't even necessary:

• The primary developer of Teachers Village, Ron Beit, sits on the board of Teach For America - Newark.
• One of the three charter schools housed at Teachers Village, TEAM Charter School (a KIPP school), is run by Ryan Hill, a 1999 TFA alum (Hill has also been asked back to cheer on new TFA grads).
• KIPP was instrumental in securing supplemental financing for Teachers Village: "With so many Teach For America corps members and alumni involved in TEAM Schools, the broker was eager to help both organizations."
• Another occupant of Teachers Village, Great Oaks Charter School, "strongly encourages" TFA alumni to apply.  
• Cami Anderson, the pro-charter State Superintendent of Newark, is the former Executive Director of TFA-New York and a 1993 TFA alum.
• The Foundation for Newark's Future, fueled by the $100 million grant from Mark Zuckerberg, gave $500,000 to TFA.

There is little doubt that TFA has many ties to Teachers Village, and that many of its corps members will rent apartments there. There is little doubt that the charter schools occupying Teachers Village will not have a unionized staff. And there is little doubt that Teachers Village is yet another step in the charterization of Newark's schools - a process that has led to budget cuts and school closings against the will of parents, students, and the elected yet powerless school board.

Newark Public Schools, under state control for decades, has already announced its intention to layoff staff; NTU leadership walked out of a budget meeting in protest. The unionized teaching jobs in Newark are being converted into non-unionized teaching posts in charters, often filled by TFA corps members.

And yet, despite all this, NTU's leaders have heartily endorsed Teachers Village: a project that will accelerate the growth of charters and the deunionization of Newark's Schools.

Is NTU unaware of what is happening in Chicago? In Philadelphia? That TFA is still pushing to place its members in these cities even as experienced, tenured, unionized teachers are being laid off? That non-unionized charters are an important part of TFA's clientele, with one-third of TFA's recruits placed in charters? Given all this, how does supporting Teachers Village help support NTU members?

As I have said many times before: I am a union guy. AFT-NJ and the NTU know that I am on their team. And I completely understand that when you're part of a larger organization, you sometimes have to do something you don't particularly want to do, if only to show solidarity.

But this, in my humble opinion, goes too far. It's fine to create private-sector construction jobs through public investment; we should do a lot more of that (remember the ARC tunnel, Christie-supporting union members?). But we shouldn't create construction jobs at the expensive of unionized teacher jobs.

Let me ask NTU leadership something: do you think Karen Lewis out in Chicago would have signed off on this plan? Maybe "WWKD?" should be your mantra from now on...

We gotta start thinking about the long game, fellas. I'm just trying to get you to see that.

This blog remains a proud and loyal supporter of AFT-NJ, and the Newark Teachers Union.