PEP Video: Community Says "No MORE Charters"

Panel for Educational Policy October 15, 2013:
NYCDOE votes to cram 23 co-locations and charters into existing schools despite large protests, mostly unreported by the press which gave extensive coverage when charters closed schools for half a day and told parents they had to attend.

Members of MORE help lead protest at PEP as parents, students, teachers and entire communities around the city say NO to privately run charter schools that invade public school space. The NYC ed press of course ignores community outrage while promoting every vestige of charter promotion. Included in this video is me speaking on the issue. I handed the camera to someone I won't name who got a good shot of the ceiling as I began to speak but then did a superb job.

My major point was that charters were allowed to close for a politically driven protest while public schools being invaded by these charters had to hold their protests/rallies at their schools after school. Their numbers were way above the charter numbers, with over a thousand people attending the Roy Mann rally, another event the NYC ed press ignored. Yes Virginia, the press was not reporting those numbers of anti-charter people. In fact the press did not report this outpouring of

anti-charter co-loco feelings from a packed house at this PEP. They assume that the UFT was behind the chants when nothing can be further from the truth. Does this person on the right, who you can see in the video while the chant was going on look happy?

I also pointed to the Moskowitz hired camera and sound people who she pays to attend every meeting at a reputed cost of over 75K a year. And she object so paying rent? Again, the press ignores the enormous expenditures by Success. Eva manipulated other charters into taking action to try to protect her revenue stream. We all know di Blasio's arrow is aimed directly at her. And she does too.

Lots of videos to come from that Oct 15 PEP -- hope I can get them done before the next one on Oct. 30. And today I'm heading over to the PS 196 rally and hearing to tape.

http://youtu.be/wX5-I1U-G0I

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PEP Notes - Tish James Rocks the House

You have 77 days and the count-down has begun.... When you treat special needs children differently and when you discipline them and expel them that's separate and unequal... I urge you in anticipation of litigation to save all your emails (especially related to communication with Eva Moskowitz)... That is why I was elected (along with Bill de Blasio) ... that is our mandate... we gotta get back 12 years of this administration failing our children.... Tish James

While the fawning ed press gushes over charters, the PEP was packed with the real choice of the people: no charter co-locations,  anti Success Charter and Eva Moskowitz and schools representing thousands of people. But a more comprehensive report later.

I have over 2 hours of footage and will be putting pieces up. First up is Tish James who put a line in the sand about the end of the Bloomberg administration.

There were a lot of politicians who spoke - this was strong and emotional. Not the full speech but edited to make it more concise.

http://youtu.be/17qXw6E7ZnU



A few stills

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How Much Per Child Did Eva's Success Charters Spend on Ads to Create "Demand" While Not Filling All Seats?

Success Charter forced march over BklynBrModeled on Bataan Death march

According to DOE records, in 2011/2012 Upper West Success was only able to fill 164 of its authorized 188 Kindergarten and 1st grade seat (an estimated marketing cost of some $6000 per enrollee). We estimate that Eva spent over a million dollars on recruitment/marketing for Upper West Success alone in 2010/2011 school year. According to Eva, and to SUNY, her charter authorizer, this effort generated a wait list of 1400 kids, on top of 188 lottery "winners"... Noah Gotbaum

One more reason to go the the October 15 PEP meeting Tuesday to challenge the Moskowitz dominated charter lobby and punch holes in their forced Oct. 8 march over the Brooklyn Bridge.

The Success Charter Network, a chain of charter schools headed by former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz, spent an astonishing $1.6million in the 2009-2010 school year just for publicity and recruitment of new students, the group's most recent financial reports show. ... Juan Gonzales, Success Charter Network has been just that for Eva Moskowitz but not for public schools

Talk about inflating demand for your product...
The money went to everything you can imagine - bus stop ads, multiple mass mailings of glossy color brochures to tens of the thousands of homes, a small army of part-time workers going door-to-door to sign up applicants, high profile "school choice" fairs.
Community leaders and educators in Harlem and the South Bronx - where those first seven schools were located - say they have never encountered such a relentless and well-financed campaign aimed at convincing parents to desert the public schools. Many are stunned that the nonprofit Success network is able to spend so lavishly while regular city schools are being forced to cut their budgets.

Many neighborhood parents and community leaders say Moskowitz enjoys special treatment from education officials both in Albany and at Tweed. They say once she sets up in public school, she keeps insisting on more and more space for her programs.

Individual schools in the network spent another $245,000 on recruitment and marketing from money they got from the Department of Education.

The Success network even spent $72,000 last year on a videographer whose duties included filming protests against its schools.

Not just protests but every single hearing has a videographer and often a sound guy. And sometimes while I get pushed around by DOE security, these guys who are not press get special treatment.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/success-charter-network-eva-moskowitz-public-schools-article-1.159481#ixzz2heRAZQoU

And this from Noah Gotbaum:

Why did/does she need to spend all that money? Because the "huge" demand and "enormous" waiting lists claimed by Success, and by Citizens of the World, and by the charter lobby are, for the most part, fictitious. Either that, or the screening out and cream-skimming of applicants by Eva and other charters is so great that out of 1400 on the waitlist they were unable to find 20 kids THEY would be willing to accept.

We asked Success Charter how this could be and didn't receive an answer. Then we asked the DOE, and they directed us to SUNY. SUNY then directed us to Success Charter's Board of Directors. No response. So CEC3 FOILed for information on the lottery/matriculation/enrollment process.

That was 3 years ago.

We are still waiting.

I am hopeful that under Mayor deBlasio the waiting will end, and transparency, accountability and equity for our schools, will begin. I also hope that Bloomberg, the DOE and Success won't be allowed to destroy all the evidence before they leave office.

Noah

I'm looking through my hats to see which one I will eat if deBlasio gets Eva to pay rent.

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Over Eva Invasion, Bergtraum ChLdr Warns of Security Dangers of Co-Location

John Elfrank-Dana is joined by fellow teachers, former students and others in opposing another Eva Moskowitz Success Academy land grab in lower Manhattan this time. He warns of the dangers of putting kindergarten kids in a high school, especially in a high traffic area that suffered the 9/11 attack and remains a target. The recent disappearance of an autistic child from a large high school, shows the dangers of colocation. (The mother of the still-missing 14-year-old autistic boy plans to sue the DOE. (WNYC, NY1, CBS, Times)

http://youtu.be/izSpOI9WeXY

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A Memo on Eva Moskowitz's March and the #TaleofTwoSchoolSystems

• Harlem Success 1, Eva’s oldest school, suspended 22% of its pupils at least once during the 2010-11 school year, while the average for regular elementary district schools was 3%.
• • Most recent tax filings for Success Network show Eva earns at least $475,000, which is two times the salary of Chancellor Walcott.
  • While she refuses to pay rent for normal services and space costs, it was reported in 2012 her network received $28 million from foundations and corporations over the last 6 years, with a combined $23.5 million surplus, and two outside political consulting groups on the payroll.
   

I'm pumping these out as fast as they come in over this morning's charter lobby outrage against ALL parents, students and staff who were led in a forced march over the Brooklyn Bridge while public schools were on lock down so they couldn't join the counter marches and rallies to demonstrate there is severe opposition to the charter lobby.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 8th, 2013
Media Contacts:Julian Vinocur. 203.313.2479. julianvinocur@gmail.com
Dan Morris. 917.952.8920. dlmcommunications@gmail.com
Stuart Marques. 917.273.6194. stuart.marques@gmail.com

A Memo on Eva Moskowitz's March and the #TaleofTwoSchoolSystems

To: Interested Parties

From: New Yorkers for Great Public Schools (NYGPS)

Re: Eva Moskowitz’s March for Separate and Unequal Education

Eva’s Stunt Would be a Fireable Offense for Anyone Else

Today’s march is a political maneuver by Success Charter Schools CEO Eva Moskowitz to perpetuate a dark tale of two school systems in which charter schools thrive and traditional public schools struggle to survive.

Her chosen candidate for mayor, Joe Lhota, has pledged to double the number of charter schools in the city. Moskowitz and Lhota are marching together in favor of separate and unequal education, while Bill de Blasio has said he would charge charter schools rent and support a moratorium on co-locations and closings to make the system fairer and more equitable.

Make no mistake: closing schools for half the day, as Moskowitz has done today, to “facilitate” the participation of parents, students, and staff in a political march would be a fireable offense for most public school principals.

But Moskowitz is not viewed by City Hall as an ordinary figure, so she’ll get away what would be a career-damaging stunt for anyone else. She’s been given special treatment by Mayor Bloomberg and the Department of Education, and she fears the favoritism and perks will end under de Blasio.

NYGPS and Bill de Blasio: Ending the Tale of Two School Systems

New Yorkers for Great Public Schools (NYGPS) is a coalition of thousands of parents, students, educators, and community organizations. We have called for a moratorium on divisive school closings and co-locations that have pit parent against parent, student against student and school against school.  A majority of City Council members and several mayoral candidates—including Bill de Blasio—have embraced our view.

We are committed to ending the tale of two school systems and giving all public schools a fair and equal chance to succeed. We are focused on strengthening all public schools and ensuring that charter schools don't receive special treatment or get away with neglecting the needs of the city's most vulnerable students. 

Charters must be held to the same standards as traditional public schools. Our next mayor should require charter schools to report on finances, instruction, school policy and operations to increase their transparency and accountability within the overall school system. Well-off charter schools should pay fees for their use of traditional public school facilities in a way that is fair and equitable.

Top 5 Reasons Why Eva’s #TaleofTwoSchoolSystems Must End:

1)   Charter Schools Serve Fewer than 5% of the City’s 1.1 Million Students

• Charter schools enroll fewer than 5% of New York City's 1.1 million students and data shows high rates of attrition at some Success Academy schools for ELL students and students with disabilities.  Only 6% of students enrolled in charters are ELLs, compared with 14% citywide, and only 9% of charter students have IEPs compared to about 15% citywide. 
• To continue to give charter schools special treatment would be to neglect the needs of 95% of the city’s 1.1 million students. It’s unfair and unacceptable.

2)   Charter Schools Often Receive More Funding Than Traditional Public Schools

• The NYC Independent Budget Office reported in 2011 that charter schools that receive free space in city buildings receive about $650 more per student in public funding than traditional district schools.
  

3)     Eva Has Received Special Treatment from Bloomberg’s DOE

• The relationship between Eva Moskowitz and the Dept. of Education has been extremely cozy with a level of access to resources and special favors unknown to most other administrators. The disturbing exchanges, made public by FOIL’ed email exchanges, show Eva’s special treatment. She told former Chancellor Joel Klein, "help on space much appreciated," referring to her divisive co-locations, and confided to him, “we will have market share and will have fundamentally changed the rules of the game."
• Eva’s co-located charter schools create separate and unequal health standards in public school buildings, as many Success charter schools were bumped to the top of the line in the removal of toxic PCB’s while public school students were left exposed to hazardous chemicals. Many of the toxic treatment for her charter schools occurred without informing the Dept. of Education.

4)     Eva’s Multi-Dollar Network Refuses to Pay Rent for Public Space

• Eva makes two times the salary as Chancellor Walcott and still refuses to pay rent in co-located schools. Most recent tax filings for Success Network show Eva earns at least $475,000, which is two times the salary of Chancellor Walcott.
• While she refuses to pay rent for normal services and space costs, it was reported in 2012 her network received $28 million from foundations and corporations over the last 6 years, with a combined $23.5 million surplus, and two outside political consulting groups on the payroll.

5)   Eva Uses Zero Tolerance Discipline to Push Out High-Needs Students

• Eva’s schools are notorious for excluding high needs students. The “charter school tapes,” unveiled by Daily News reporter Juan Gonzalez, highlight over a dozen cases where the charter school network has used “zero tolerance” discipline policiesto suspend, push out, or demote high needs students who might lower scores on state exams.
• Harlem Success 1, Eva’s oldest school, suspended 22% of its pupils at least once during the 2010-11 school year, while the average for regular elementary district schools was 3%.
• Further, as reported by New York Magazine, her approach is militaristic: New students are initiated at “kindergarten boot camp,” where they get drilled for two weeks on how to behave in the “zero noise” corridors (straight lines, mouths shut, arms at one’s sides) and the art of active listening (legs crossed, hands folded, eyes tracking the speaker).

Please visit www.nygps.org, for more information

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NYC Public School Parents Comment on Charter Phony Demand Claims

The charter industry spends thousands of dollars per students to pull demand. One of today's march organizers, the CEO of CMO PublicPrep, recently had to pull an offer to pay families ( $100 in AmEx gift cards + $100  to college fund 529) under pressure form DoE/the charter lobby because it exposes how desperate these schools are to create demand.... Clearly demand does not drive policy- so why does the DoE and charter lobby keep pretending they should? ....

We FOILed the enrollment figures and zip codes of students for CWC Williasmburg (Citizens of the World - run be Eva Moskowitz' husband) and this is what we found out: CWC Williamsburg has only 65 students  (out of a planned 126).  A total of only 39 Kindergartners and 26 1st graders.AND, when we looked at their zip codes, only THREE students come from the school's zip code.
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Remember how Citizens of the World Charter Schools was seeking TWO charter schools in D14 because parents were begging for them?  Walcott, in his comments to SUNY, even said that two CWCs were great, but there was only "sufficient space" for one in D14 (the other is in D17).  Yet Walcott found sufficient space to co-locate more schools in D14 later in the year.

The NYC DOE co-located CWC Williamsburg in the ONLY middle school in the area. We FOILed the enrollment figures and zip codes of students for CWC Williasmburg and this is what we found out: CWC Williamsburg has only 65 students  (out of a planned 126).  A total of only 39 Kindergartners and 26 1st graders.

AND, when we looked at their zip codes, only THREE students come from the school's zip code.  Anywhere from 60-86% are coming from out of the district. We would have a more definitive figure, but one of the zip codes is shared by D32 (2/3 of the zip is in D32).

------
We need to push back on the myth that charter schools benefit from what DoE refers to as 'robust demand' which then justifies all the favor, attention and space showered upon them by this administration. Many of us question the accuracy and even existence of these tens of thousands of students on wait lists.

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All the charter schools in my district have claimed enormous demand as evidenced by huge wait lists yet none of them can meet their enrollment targets.

Indeed one of today's march organizers, the CEO of CMO PublicPrep, recently had to pull an offer to pay families ( $100 in AmEx gift cards + $100  to college fund 529) under pressure form DoE/the charter lobby because it exposes how desperate these schools are to create demand.

 

This is the same network that has emailed glossy postcards to the families and students  in the community directly having been given, for free, access to the DoE's registers of enrolled students.

The charter industry spends thousands of dollars per students to pull demand.

Does that undocumented demand justify the creation and colocation of schools that take resources form existing schools/students?

The Mayor does not think that 'demand' for sodas or guns on our streets is reason to allow or encourage their proliferation at the expense of our citizen's health and safety.

At last night's colocation hearing for a new CTE school NOT ONE person or organization attended or spoke in favor of the proposal.

In this year's choice-based  K admissions process in D1 some 3102 applicants applied for 886 seats.

 

Where does that "wait list" and "robust demand" get tallied, weighed and taken into account?

 

Our district seats are getting converted to citywide HS's, G and T and charter schools.

Clearly demand does not drive policy- so why does the DoE and charter lobby keep pretending they should?

 

Such great stuff exposing the myth of charter demand which the press ignores. Keep em coming.

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Media release Tues. Oct. 8, 2013: Parents and Advocates comment on today's charter school march

New York State Education Law requires that when a district provides space or services to a charter school it shall do so at cost.  Yet the DOE provides free space and services for more than 100 co-located charter schools.  Using figures from the NYC Independent Budget Office, we estimate that the space and services these charter schools currently receive is worth more than $100 million a year. A large chunk of that unfair subsidy goes to Success charters, which operates 22 schools across New York City, all of them co-located, with plans for seven more schools in 2014. Yet Success had an operating surplus of more than $23 million in 2012, and probably enjoys an even larger surplus this year.” 

A follow-up to this morning's post: NYC Public Schools Rally in Opposition to Charters....


For immediate release:  Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Arthur Z. Schwartz, Advocates for Justice: aschwartz@advocatesny.com; 917- 923-8136 Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters: leonie@classsizematters.org ; 917-435-9329
Sam Pirozollo, NYC Parents Union: sam@nycparentsunion.org ; 917-533-3437

Today, Eva Moskowitz and other charter school operators have closed their schools and are holding a political rally of students, parents and teachers, to try to pressure Bill de Blasio, Democratic candidate and frontrunner for Mayor, to go back on his campaign pledge that if elected, he will call for a moratorium on charter co-locations and charge charter schools rent.  What she and others in the charter lobby have ignored is that while Section 2853(4)(c) of the NY State Education Law allows districts to lease public school “buildings and grounds” to charters and to “contract for the operation and maintenance thereof,” it also requires that “any such contract shall provide such services or facilities at cost.” 

Arthur Schwartz, attorney with Advocates for Justice, who first filed a lawsuit on behalf of public school and charter school parents on this issue in 2011, says: “New York State Education Law requires that when a district provides space or services to a charter school it shall do so at cost.  Yet the DOE provides free space and services for more than 100 co-located charter schools.  Using figures from the NYC Independent Budget Office, we estimate that the space and services these charter schools currently receive is worth more than $100 million a year. A large chunk of that unfair subsidy goes to Success charters, which operates 22 schools across New York City, all of them co-located, with plans for seven more schools in 2014. Yet Success had an operating surplus of more than $23 million in 2012, and probably enjoys an even larger surplus this year.” 

“We have now been instructed by Justice Barbara Jaffe to take the issue to the State Education Commissioner. But in light of a recent ruling in a related case, we are asking the judge to reconsider. If she sends us to the Commissioner again we will appeal, in time to face off with a new Mayor. Success Charter Schools, which has organized the upcoming rally, is trying to exert political muscle. It will not succeed, in the public arena or in the courts. That $100 million will go back to our public schools, starved for resources, and hopefully allow them to reduce class sizes, which are now the largest in 15 years.”

"This 'protest march' is yet another example of separate and unequal treatment afforded to charters, especially Eva Moskowitz's Success Charters," says Noah Gotbaum, a public school parent of three and a Vice President of Community Education Council District 3 on the Upper West Side and Harlem. "Success claims its schools are public, but what other public school could close their doors and demand that its parents and students attend a political rally? What other public school could sue the State Comptroller to avoid the transparency of a state audit?  And what other public school could use our tax dollars to pay its CEO almost $500,000 per year?" 

As Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters points out, “A 2011 study from the Independent Budget Officeshowed that co-located charters in NYC receive more in public dollars per student than regular public schools, and city spending on charters is expected to exceed one billion dollars next year.  A report released by the charter lobby attempts to contradict the IBO analysis but has little credibility, especially since its author, Harry Wilson, is personally close to many in the charter school movement , according to Whitney Tilson, prominent board member of Democrats for Education Reform.  Indeed, Wilson promised not to “harass” charters by auditing their books when he ran for NY State Comptroller in 2010.” 

Karen Sprowal, whose own son was pushed out of a Success charter in Kindergarten, observes:  “Over the last few months we have learned of even more cases of troubling disciplinary and push-out policies in charter schools, in a series of investigative reports from Juan Gonzalez of the Daily News.  There needs to be an immediate moratorium on expanding charters as well as co-locations, so that these abusive and potentially illegal practices can be carefully examined by authorities before any new charters are allowed to open in New York City.” 

Mona Davids, President, NYC Parents Union, said:  "As a former charter parent who spearheaded the charter reforms in 2010, I'm disgusted that Eva Moskowitz and other charter leaders are using parents and students as political pawns while continuing to violate the law by not serving their fair share of students with disabilities and English Language Learners, by not establishing Parent Associations and by refusing to be audited by the State Comptroller.  This march is an abuse of power by Eva Moskowitz and other charter leaders because no public school would be allowed to shut down for an entire morning to have their students engage in political activities." 

According to Sam Pirozzolo, president of the Community Education Council in District 31, Staten Island: “I find it ironic that Ms. Moskowitz, a leader who has been given the task of eliminating the achievement gap has done little more than increase the divide between the haves and have nots.  It is unfortunate that Eva Moskowitz has chosen to intimidate mayoral candidates by closing her schools for a day. She is hiding behind parents and children for the sake of profits and a paycheck. Since their inception, charter schools have been creaming only the best students from our public schools.” 

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NYC Public Schools Rally in Opposition to Charters....

But Cannot Close Schools to Do So. Protests take place after school but are ignored by pro-charter press.

Sign for Oct 8 Charter Rally:
Keep Eva's salary at half a million

In essence, there is a lockdown today so Public Schools cannot hold a mass Anti-Charter Rally which would dwarf the one being held today on school time.

If public schools were allowed to close this morning, use their resources to organize a counter rally, they wouldn't have to order all employees, parents and students to show up. Many thousands from all over the city would be there.

As the video below shows, public schools like Seth Low must organize rallies at their school off school hours. Here are some snippets of the rally they held on September 30 protesting an Eva Moskowitz invasion of their school in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Included is some early video of the buses outside Harlem Success Academy this morning.

https://vimeo.com/76424817

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Sept. 30: Portelos Hearing, Protest Eva Invasion of Seth Low, High Stakes Test Forum at PS 51K

Oy! On a beautiful day that I would love to be spending in my backyard contemplating my little garden construction project that has become my obsession (contemplate, not do actual work on it -- but look for a photo soon to show where I am at with it) I am about to leave for the Portelos hearing -- where I hear the slimy investigators will testify. I know Portelos did talk to them and no matter how innocent you think you are they will twist any word out of place and use it against you. This should be a good lesson for all of us to pass on about how to deal with OSI. My instinct is to refuse to say anything. Let them gather evidence -- you will have your day at the hearing. Of course people talk to them hoping they will hear your side and there won't be a hearing. Looking at the evidence, they are not interested in your side -- the interview is to catch you. But maybe I am wrong -- check with lawyers.

As I've been reporting, we are not telling details -- you can check the charges at Protect Portelos -- but so far all I hear is nonsense from the DOE -- without much to go on they are trying to paint Portelos as a terrorist -- someone to fear -- like the principal and staff are afraid of him -- taking some of the words of anger he used when he came under attack out of context. The DOE lawyer was already whining that some are intimidated by him and won't testify against him. As NYSUT lawyer Chris Callegy said -- "If I had a nickel for every person intimidated by the DOE...."

Callegy keeps pointing out that if these people in his school were upset at him they wouldn't elect him as chapter leader. Let's see how many of these people actually testify against him. Given the actions of the principal towards Portelos supporters there is much more fear of her than of him. Here's my report from last Monday's hearing. Portelos Hearing: DOE Legal Invalidates Chapter Le...
I expect other retiree MOREistas to attend.

STOP THE CHARTER SCHOOL INVASION THREATENING DISTR... I have to leave the hearing about 4:30 to get to the 5:30 rally at Seth Low at 99 Ave. P (near West 9th St in Brooklyn) where Eva is invading. Say what? This is white Bensonhurst. The border of District 20 and 21. A charter there? Well you know the Eva drill. Poor kids of color are passe. She need to build her political machine in all parts of the city to fuel her mayoral ambitions. There is a hearing at 6 and I will stay for a while. Click the link above for more info. (I will take some footage).

MORE/Change the Stakes Jia Lee and Fred Smith on P...
But then I have to get over to PS 51 at 350 5th Ave in Park Slope for the CEC 15 sponsored High Stakes Testing forum where our pals Leonie Haimson, Jia Lee and Fred Smith will be on the same panel with Shael Polokow-Suransky. I will tape if I can.

I don't expect to get home until 10PM or later. And I will be very hungry. Can someone email me a chicken parm hero?

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Councilman Stephen Levin to Eva Moskowitz: "Prioritize pupils instead of politics"

Levin for KING!

“Forcing parents and children to march in a political rally is obscene and has no place in our schools,” said Levin. “It is insulting that someone who is supposed to be educating New York City’s children would choose to pull kids out of school in order to benefit her political agenda.”

Levin calls on Department of Education Chancellor Dennis Walcott to intervene and prevent the political rally from occurring at a time when students should be in school.

Eva has a political agenda? I'm shocked. I truly love Eva. Her outrageous actions end up exposing all the deformers as they try to dance around her actions. Watch Walcott dance around this one. How great would it be for even one public school principal in this system to announce he/she is closing the school for a counter rally? That would make some fur fly as the Tweedies would come down hard.

And I just love the closing:
Warmly,
Eva

Statement from Council Member Stephen Levin

33rd District, Brooklyn

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

DATE: 9/26/2013

CONTACT: Matt Ojala

(718)875-5200

Stephen Levin to Eva Moskowitz: “Prioritize pupils instead of politics”

Calls on Chancellor Walcott to intervene and prevent Moskowitz’s political rally from occurring during school hours

BROOKLYN – Council Member Stephen Levin is criticizing Success Academy Charter Schools and its founder Eva Moskowitz for prioritizing politics rather than educating the children of New York. As reported by Gotham Schools this Monday, Eva Moskowitz has directed parents of the schools that they “must” plan to accompany their children to a march across the Brooklyn Bridge. She is delaying the start of school until after the march, which means students will lose most of the school day.

Levin is also calling on Department of Education Chancellor Dennis Walcott to intervene and prevent the political rally from occurring at a time when students should be in school.

“Forcing parents and children to march in a political rally is obscene and has no place in our schools,” said Levin. “It is insulting that someone who is supposed to be educating New York City’s children would choose to pull kids out of school in order to benefit her political agenda.”

“This would never be allowed at a public school, and it has no place in charter schools either. There are 24 hours in a day, most of them occurring when class is not in session. I call on Chancellor Walcott to intervene so that Ms. Mosowitz’s political rallies are not being held at a time when students should be learning.”

See below for the full e-mail from Eva Moskowitz that tells Success Academy Charter School parents they must attend her political rally:

Dear Parents,

Your child’s education is threatened.  Our very existence is threatened.  Opponents want to take away our funding and our facilities.  These attacks are a real danger — we cannot stand idly by.

This is an outrage: There are hundreds of empty classrooms all across New York City, and more than 1,000 district schools share space without a complaint.  Yet our opponents want to penalize our success — and are proposing legislation to do so.

These issues are tremendously important.  If we lose ground – literally, if we lose access to public space – we cannot fulfill our commitment to you and your scholar.

Which is why you – you and your scholar, your friends and relatives –  must join us on Tuesday, October 8 to march with other charter parents across the Brooklyn Bridge.

What: Parent March across the Brooklyn Bridge in support of charter schools and parent choice!

When: Tuesday, October 8, 7:30am-11:00am.  Buses will pick you and your scholar up from school at morning arrival, and you will be dropped off at Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn. We will delay the start of school until after the march.

Where: The march will start in Cadman Plaza, go across the Brooklyn Bridge, and end in City Hall Park (Downtown Manhattan).  All families will then take a subway back to school after the march to drop off scholars for the rest of the school day.

Don’t let opponents of ed reform steal your children’s future.  This is about your child, your choice.  Your voice must be heard.  We must show public officials that parents will fight for the right to choose excellent schools.

Warmly,

Eva

___

Eva Moskowitz

Founder and CEO

Success Academy Charter Schools

Matt Ojala

Communications Director

Office of Council Member Stephen Levin

250 Broadway, Suite 1820

New York, NY 10007

718-875-5200 (Office)

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Can We Close the Achievement Gap Between Success Academy and Democracy Prep, KIPP et al?

Emergency crisis emerges as Eva's Success exposes massive achievement gap amongst charters.

Moskowitz proclaims: They would have done better if not for those bad teachers at the charter schools. Clearly there are not enough choices out there for parents to choose between good and bad charters. But since we are the only good charter, I am changing my position on choice. We should be the only choice.

{OK, above it satire alert, though would it surprise you of Eva actually said that?}

Gary Rubinstein did some great work on the charter scores (Driven by data … right off a cliff). Gary uses their own data to hammer the nail.

The most stunning example is the famed Harlem Village Academy which had 100% passing in 2012, but only 21% passing in 2013 for a 79% drop....Democracy Prep officials didn’t respond to a request for comment...KIPP also did not respond to a request for comment.
I actually got one of the third grade questions wrong....these new tests have the opposite problem:  Students can do very poorly on them even if they do understand math.  This is why I don’t like to base 20% of my teacher rating on a single test that I didn’t write.
.... Gary Rubinstein

Gee, Harlem Village Academy suffered a bigger drop in scores than Michelle Rhee gained in her 10 minutes of teaching. HVA's Ed deform media darling Deborah Kenny, who had that noted educator Cathie Black on her board, will escape scot-free on this. I call for a recall on all her appearences on NBC's education shmation. Do any of these "experts" ever ask the question as to how a school gets 100% rates when it has enormous teacher turnover. [Below, in Afterburn, are a batch of ed notes links to Kenny and the school, including  a link to the fawning Brian Williams interview with her.

Gary also points to the hit in the big chains, KIPP and Democracy Prep, with TFA miracle workers, took.

Anyone have an eraser?

While DP won't comment, former chief Seth Andrews, wearing his yellow baseball/thinking cap, is probably thinking: I only left 6 months ago and they already fucked up our scam. Leonie Patrick Sullivan points out on the NYCParents blog:

The Democracy Prep results shouldn't be surprising to those who recall the earlier audit of Democracy Prep where DOE reviewers found “few lessons required higher-order thinking skills or deep analysis of concepts.” 

KIPP is already making plans to expand S.L.A.N.T.S. so KIPP can close the achievement gap between then and Eva's Success Academy. Can't let the competition get too far ahead. KIPP Amp dropped from 79% in 2012 to just 9% in 2013.

And TEP run by Zeke Vanderhoek, profiled on 60 Minutes, the NY Times, and the film "American Teacher" dropped from 76% to 20% in one year. Rewrite. [Also see Afterburn for Ed Notes links to TEP stories]. Gary sums up:

To see if most charter schools were like KIPP Star and Democracy Prep, scoring well below the 22% city average, or if most were still doing relatively well, like the Success Academies, I made another scatter plot, but on this one I marked all the charter schools (or at least the ones that had the word ‘charter’ in them) with a red circle.... charters are, in general, the ‘outliers’ meaning the schools that had the biggest drops relative to other schools with similar 2012 scores.  In the Stephanie Simon report she mentions that KIPP Star and Democracy Prep hadn’t done so well with their proficiency rate, but she doesn’t mention how far they had dropped.  Out of over 500 schools, which includes about 35 charter schools, of the one hundred largest drops, 22 were charter schools.

The Bronx Charter School Of Excellence, which recently received money from a $4.5 million grant to help public schools emulate what they do, dropped from 96% in 2012 to 33% in 2013.  So these are the schools that are the red ‘outliers’ hovering near the bottom right of the scatter plot.  In general, the average charter school went down by 51 percentage points compared to 34 percentage points for the average public school.  The most plausible explanation for charters dropping so much more than public schools is that their test prep methods were not sufficient for the more difficult tests.  In other words “you’re busted.”

evidence that charters are certainly not working the miracles they claim is very clear from this data.... if the ‘reformers’ really value their ‘data’ so much, they should really think about how to interpret the charter grade crash.... this suggests that maybe the hundreds of millions of dollars given to charters, both from the government and from private benefactors could be spent elsewhere in education more effectively.

Afterburn

Ed Notes Online: Harlem Village Academy Retained Only 4 Full ...

Sep 19, 2010

This year Harlem Village Academy opened its doors with only 4 full time teachers returning, a turnover of more than 75%. There are office staff, department heads and and administrators that returned (some of them teach one ...

Cathie Black on Board of Harlem Village Academies, HVA Head ...

Nov 29, 2010

Cathie Black's placement on the board of Harlem Village Academy as a way to get her ed creds- despite the fact that she didn't attend any meetings, has focused attention on this scandalous school and its relation to the ...

  

Ed Notes Online: NBC Bias on Deborah Kenny HVA Charter Scam ...

Jun 12, 2012

Why would you believe anything reported on NBC? Even more outrageous was the puff piece NBC's Today show and Brian Williams did in an interview with Harlem Village Academy founder Deborah Kenny. Leonie has done ...

Ed Notes Online: Steve Koss: The Cathleen Black story just gets ...

Nov 11, 2010

Seems that her singular claim to education involvement was being on an advisory board of some sort for Harlem Village Academy. However, the Times is reporting that she not only just joined that group a few months ago and ...

 

Ed Notes Online: NBC Bias on Deborah Kenny HVA Charter Scam ...

Jun 12, 2012

I was researching Deborah Kenny to see what teaching experience she has and to learn more about her credentials (and salary) and you were the second piece to show up on a Google search. Great writing, Ed. I'm definitely ...

Ed Notes Online: Cathie Black on Board of Harlem Village ...

Nov 29, 2010

"[Deborah] Kenny, who oversees 450 students, is paid $442,000, including a $140,000 "bonus" and $27,780 in "other" expenses.....Bloomberg has called the school a national "poster child" for school reform. Conservative ...

Ed Notes Online: Videos: FairTest Honors Diane Ravitch with the ...

Jun 10, 2012

After all, being in the same space with Debbie Meier and Diane Ravitch is a very special occasion, especially as it was a fundraiser for a worthy organization. ..... NBC Bias on Deborah Kenny HVA Charter Scam and NY .

--------------

Ed Notes Online: TEP: Hey, Buddy, Wanna Teach for 125 Grand ...

Oct 02, 2012

Remember a year ago at Education Nation at the premiere of American Teacher celebrated Zeke and TEP, which had lured a Harvard grad teacher away from Jersey who ended up being a low rated teacher based on flawed ...

Ed Notes Online: The Failures of Katie Couric as a Reporter: Biased ...

Mar 14, 2011

Couric did bring up the fact that TEP's scores were lower than the public schools in the area (only a 31% pass rate) but didn't drill too deep on that one. You know the line: it takes time to reverse the effects of those awful public ...

Ed Notes Online: UFT Leaders Show Disdain for Tweedies: We Don ...

Dec 17, 2012

This is for all non-TEP schools (TEP is Danielson Pilot schools). If your school is not in the pilot, please let me know if you have groups of people coming into your rooms to observe or to ask you for your lesson plans, etc.

Ed Notes Online: Reviewing "American Teacher": Ed Deform Wolf in ...

May 27, 2011

And presenting Zeke Vanderhoek as a hero (on the post-screening panel) who pays teachers at his TEP charter school $125 grand is enough to make you gag. Vanderhoek was featured on 60 Minutes (Ed Notes link) trashing ...

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NYC Supervisor: Barbara Morgan is getting what she deserves

I said "Ms. Morgan you work for the DOE what the hell are you doing here defending [Moskwitz]?! She steals money from our public schools by opening non-unionized charter schools which profit off our kids." ... NYC Principal

Oops! Did it again. Don't open your twitter.

This just in from a school principal in response to our Weiner press chief Barbara Morgan post (Unflappable Weiner Press Spokesperson Barbara Morgan Flaps)

 I was happy to see her get her comeuppance. She is an arrogant, mouthpiece for the neo-liberal deformers (and perverts) she represents.

She got upset that they say she had a thin resume? She never did anything of substance but talk the party line whatever the marching orders – Klein, Cerf, Weiner...

I met her at a rally against Moskowitz. 

I asked Moskowitz:

"How do you justify paying yourself half a million dollars a year to run 3 schools when I am a principal and don't make that and when my sup't has dozens of schools and only makes 170,000?" 

Eva just made a bored annoyed face and then Barbara Morgan who was observing everything runs over, jumps in and says "I will answer that!! She does not take a pension like you and the sup't so it is just another way of looking at compensation." 

I asked her "Why are you answering for her? Who are you?"

She says "I am Barbara Morgan. I work for the DOE Press Office." 

That really pissed me off as I was there as part of a Community Rally AGAINST the unwanted $ucce$$ Charter vultures.

I said "Ms. Morgan you work for the DOE what the hell are you doing here defending her?! She steals money from our public schools by opening non unionized charter schools which profit off our kids."

Look at this crowd-

FROM THIS COMMUNITY, not the twenty folks bussed in from harlem by Eva Moskowitz - 

THEY DONT WANT THE SCHOOL.HERE IN THIS DISTRICT. 

The parents are against it, the unions are against it and most importantly the CEC is against it. 

I asked Ms Moskowitz a question and you jump to her defense. 

Why would you do that as a n employee of the DOE? Are you here as an apologist for $UCCE$$ ? If so it shows a serious bias in favor of Charter schools over Public Schools which we have been alleging all along. You should be speaking up for me as a NYC PUBLIC SCHOOL principal not this corporate raider/privateer.

Ms Moskowitz walked off during this exchange as she knew full well the City was merely holding the Mandated Community hearing and that the City's decision was predetermined... 

When she was gone Ms Morgan changed faces and says "well I understand that you are a union Rep and I respect that. I am from New Jersey and have a brother who is in a union"...

Two-faced foul-mouthed hypocrite. I don't wish ill on people. Life is too short. But when her brother can't get work or medical benefits he can thank soul-less empty-vessel spokespeople like his sister.

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DeBlasio Calls for Investigation of Moskowitz Operation: Monday 1PM Press Conf

“If they spent all that money, why are there still holes in the ceiling of the locker room?” asked Pamela Bynoe, president of the Global parents association. As for those special-education renovations, Cecila Green, whose child attends that school, says no major repairs have been done, except for a paint job last summer and some new smart boards. Oh, and those lighting fixtures leaking PCBs? They are still present in all the classrooms of the three public schools. ... Juan Gonzalez

Monday, April 22 at 1PM at Tweed (52 Chambers Street) event calling for an investigation into Success Academy. Bill deBlasio will be hosting a press conference calling for an investigation into Success Academy and Eva Moskowitz.

This alone might make diBlasio my favorite for mayor.

deBlasio will be talking about the special access the NYCDOE gives Eva Moskowitz and the disparities between the schools where she co-locates, her host buildings, and neighboring schools.

deBlasio will also ask for an investigation into the lower numbers of children with special needs and English Language Learners.

See the latest article by Juan Gonzalez.
 

The Department of Education counters that it invested more than $2.1 million in upgrades to the public schools and spent $350,000 on charter school Success Academy Cobble Hill on Baltic Street. The law requires the department to spend at least as much on the public schools, the Brooklyn School for Global Studies, the School for International Studies and Public School 368K.

Construction crews worked feverishly last summer to renovate space for Success Academy Cobble Hill, a new charter school that began sharing space in September with three regular public schools in the same city-owned building on Baltic Street in Brooklyn.

The workers removed decrepit asbestos floor tiles in the hallways and a dozen classrooms assigned to the new charter school. They outfitted new bathrooms. They got rid of old lighting fixtures that had been leaking dangerous PCBs and upgraded electrical lines. They installed new doors, carpeting and furniture, then painted the entire area.

“The Success portion looked like a brand-new school when it was finished,” one teacher said.

But angry parents and teachers say the Department of Education failed to provide similar improvements for three public schools in the same building, as mandated by state law.

That law was passed several years ago when the state lifted caps on the number of charter schools. It requires the DOE to “spend the same amount on each noncharter public school” co-located with a public school “within three months” of the charter school improvements.

DOE officials insist they have done more than the law required.
The agency spent only $350,000 to renovate the Success facilities, agency spokeswoman Marge Feinberg said, while the charter school, part of a chain of charters run by former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz, spent another $340,000 of its own.

At the same time, Feinberg said, the DOE invested more than $2.1 million in upgrades to the three public schools — the Brooklyn School for Global Studies, the School for International Studies and Public School 368K, a special-education program.

The improvements included $1.3 million for new lockers, a new dance studio and fitness room used by the two secondary schools in the building, along with $770,000 this winter to completely gut and create new classrooms for the special-education program, Feinberg said.
But parents and teachers can’t see where that money went.

“That just blows my mind,” said Clare Daley, a longtime physical education teacher at Global Studies and chairwoman of the teachers union chapter. “There’s no way they spent $1 million on the gym improvements.”

Yes, the DOE cut the girls’ locker room in half and built a small new dance studio, Daley said. And yes, it put up a wall in the boys’ locker room and created a fitness center with some exercise machines. But nothing was done to repair the shower rooms that haven’t worked for years or the fetid bathrooms that adjoin the locker rooms.

“If they spent all that money, why are there still holes in the ceiling of the locker room?” asked Pamela Bynoe, president of the Global parents association.

As for those special-education renovations, Cecila Green, whose child attends that school, says no major repairs have been done, except for a paint job last summer and some new smart boards.

Oh, and those lighting fixtures leaking PCBs? They are still present in all the classrooms of the three public schools.
jgonzalez@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/gonzalez-public-school-parents-cry-foul-charter-school-improvements-article-1.1321367#ixzz2R9Ls7mQz

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/gonzalez-public-school-parents-cry-foul-charter-school-improvements-article-1.1321367#ixzz2R9LKu06M

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