Charter school principals mobilize parents to lobby for Mayor Bloomberg school control

Juan Gonzalez

Charter school principals mobilize parents to lobby for Mayor Bloomberg school control

Friday, March 20th 2009, 12:18 AM

Are parents of charter school children across the city being organized into shock troops for Mayor Bloomberg's continued control of the public school system?

The state law that authorized mayoral control expires on June 30, and the debate over whether the Legislature should extend it has turned increasingly bitter in many city neighborhoods.

Supporters of Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, including principals from many newly formed public charter schools, have launched a well-financed and sophisticated effort to lobby for more charters and for mayoral control.

In recent weeks, those principals have mobilized parents from their schools for "School Choice" community rallies to demand extra space for new charters in existing public schools, and to pack a series of state Assembly hearings on school governance, the last of which will be held in Brooklyn today.

"You see the organizers and the parents brought in on buses, and the sandwiches distributed, and you can tell it's a highly organized effort," said one official who has attended several of the hearings.

Some disgruntled charter school parents have claimed their principals require them to attend such rallies.

A Harlem principal who shares space with one of the new public charter schools is furious at the "obvious double standard."

"If I tried to use my budget and resources to mobilize parents that way, my job would be in jeopardy," said the principal, who requested anonymity. "But the charters have all this extra money to do whatever they want, all with the blessing of Klein."

Asked about the practice, spokesman David Cantor said the DOE does not permit the use of school money to transport parents to political functions, but has paid for buses to take parents to Albany on school funding issues.

"Charter schools ... are independently run and can't turn to a district for this kind of funding," Cantor said. "They have to provide the funding for such activity themselves."

The biggest uproar has been sparked by DOE's aggressive policy of putting new charters in existing public schools without seeking parent approval.

"It's the same in every neighborhood," said Monica Major, president of the Community Education Council in District 11 in the Bronx. "The DOE just tells you they're putting a new charter in your building and you have to force them to even have a conversation about it."

Such directives have turned parents in some neighborhoods into warring factions. Those who favor charters claim others are denying their children the chance for a better education.

jgonzalez@nydailynews.com

LINK: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2009/03/19/
2009-03-19_charter_school_principals_mobilize_paren.html

EVENT: Public Hearing - Proposed charter revision to: Harlem Success Academy Charter School 1 | March 16, 2009

EVENT: Public Hearing - Proposed charter revision to: Harlem Success Academy Charter School 1

TIME: 5:00 PM
(Presentation, Comments, and Questions: 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM)
DAY & DATE: Monday March 16, 2009

LOCATION:
Harlem Success Academy Charter School 1
34 West 118th Street
New York, NY 10026

NOTE: Speaker Sign Up for the hearing will begin at 5:00 PM and end at 5:30 PM

Speaker comment is welcomed, speakers must register. Written comments will also be collected on the day of the hearing and can be submitted via email to: charterschools@schools.nyc.gov

BACKGROUND: (As per attached Hearing Notice):
The school seeks to lower its admissions age of Kindergarten students to four years old by August 1st. Additionally, the school will create a developmental Kindergarten that will prepare the students for the regular Kindergarten program.

DOWNLOAD: Following documents from the CSH Flyer Depot

• Public Notice - Harlem Success Academy Hearing 031609
  

Event: Discussion Group - Charter Schools and the Attack on Public Education

Event: Discussion Group - Charter Schools and the Attack on Public Education

Time: 2 PM
Day & Date: Sunday, March 15, 2009

Note: RSVP to bill.linville@gmail.com or call 608-852-6998

Location:

Karavas Place (a Greek restaurant)

162 West 4th Street

(corner of Carmine St. near 6th Ave)

Transportation: Take the A/C/D/E/F to W 4th Street

Background:
Join an informal discussion group on LA teacher Sarah Knopp's, "Charter Schools and the Attack on Public Education" in International Socialist Review 62, available here.

If you would like a physical copy of the magazine with the article for $2, contact Bill. If you have other suggestions for supplementary readings, please let Bill know so that he can send them out to the folks who have RSVP'ed.

From Chicago to New Orleans to New York City, charter schools are being proposed as alternatives to failing and underfunded schools under public control. We already know that some of the schools that are being closed in NYC are to be replace by charter schools. Join a discussion with other progressive educators on this important issue.

Questions To Be Explored:

• What are the origins of charter schools and what forces are behind the movement for charter schools?
• How is this movement tied to the attack on teachers' unions?
• How do we respond to parents or teachers who are attracted to charter schools because of failures of the public school system?
• How are charter schools being pushed by private forces?
• What do we say about "progressive" charter schools?
• How are non-profit charter schools under simliar pressures as for profit charter schools?
• Why have for profit charter schools failed to turn a profit?
• What talking points can we use with other teachers and parents on this issue?

Reported by marissaltorres

EVENT: 2nd Facilities Hearing for Harlem Success Academy 2 Charter School - Tuesday | March 10, 2009

EVENT: 2nd Facilities Hearing for Harlem Success Academy 2 Charter School

TIME: 5:30 PM
DAY & DATE: Tuesday March 10, 2009

LOCATION:
PS 194 (Auditorium)
244 WEST 144 STREET
MANHATTAN, NY 10030

NOTE: Speaker Sign Up for the hearing will begin at 5:30 PM and end at 6:00 PM

Speaker comment is welcomed, speakers must register. Written comments will also be collected on the day of the hearing and can be submitted via email to: charterschools@schools.nyc.gov

CONTACT:
District Family Advocate: 212-769-7500 x235
Central OFEA: 212-374-2323

BACKGROUND: (As per attached Hearing Notice):
The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) has proposed that beginning in September 2009 Harlem Success Academy 2 Charter School, an existing charter school, will reside in the M194 building. A public hearing will be held to discuss this proposal. The hearing will be held at PS 194 (auditorium) on Tuesday March 3, 2009 at 5:00 pm. Speaker sign up will start at 4:30 pm and end at 5:00 pm.

Harlem Success Academy Charter School 2 will introduce its school program. The State University of New York and the NYCDOE will facilitate the hearing and help address any questions or concerns.

DOWNLOAD: Following documents from the CSH Flyer Depot

• 2nd Public Notice Facilities Hearing

EVENT: Facilities Hearing for Harlem Success Academy 2 Charter School

EVENT: Facilities Hearing for Harlem Success Academy 2 Charter School

TIME: 4:30 PM
DAY & DATE: Tuesday March 3, 2009

LOCATION:
PS 194 (Auditorium)
244 WEST 144 STREET
MANHATTAN, NY 10030

NOTE: Speaker sign up for the hearing will begin at 4:30 PM and end at 5:00 PM

Speaker comment is welcomed, speakers must register. Written comments will also be collected on the day of the hearing and can be submitted via email to: charterschools@schools.nyc.gov

CONTACT:
District Family Advocate: 212-769-7500 x235
Central OFEA: 212-374-2323

BACKGROUND: (As per attached Hearing Notice):
The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) has proposed that beginning in September 2009 Harlem Success Academy 2 Charter School, an existing charter school, will reside in the M194 building. A public hearing will be held to discuss this proposal. The hearing will be held at PS 194 (auditorium) on Tuesday March 3, 2009 at 5:00 pm. Speaker sign up will start at 4:30 pm and end at 5:00 pm.

Harlem Success Academy Charter School 2 will introduce its school program. The State University of New York and the NYCDOE will facilitate the hearing and help address any questions or concerns.


DOWNLOAD: Following documents from the CSH Flyer Depot

• Public Notice Facilities Hearing
• PS 194 Letter

Former City Council member Eva Moskowitz makin' a bundle at nonprofit schools

Former City Council member Eva Moskowitz makin' a bundle at nonprofit schools

Friday, February 27th 2009, 12:32 AM

Ex-Council member Eva Moskowitz made $371,000 for running four charter academies, more than Chancellor Joel Klein got for running 1,400 city schools. Costanza for News

Ex-Council member Eva Moskowitz made $371,000 for running four charter academies, more than Chancellor Joel Klein got for running 1,400 city schools.

Eva Moskowitz, the former City Council member who founded a small chain of nonprofit charter schools, is a passionate and abrasive champion of the charter school movement.

She's also making a bundle.

Moskowitz, who makes no secret of her desire to create 40 charter schools across the city and run for mayor some day, raked in $371,000 in salaries in the 2006-2007 school year from organizations connected to her four schools, tax records show.

Those schools, Harlem Success Academy 1, 2, 3 and 4, have an enrollment of about 1,000 pupils, from kindergarten to third grade.

The nonprofit organizations connected to the schools have yet to file more recent tax returns, but Moskowitz said in an interview late Thursday she received $310,000 last year - the 2007-2008 year - $250,000 in salary and $60,000 in a bonus.

That means Moskowitz, who is responsible for four schools, makes more than Chancellor Joel Klein, who gets $250,000 to run 1,400 schools.

In 2006-2007, she even surpassed John Ryan, the former chancellor of the State University of New York, who earned $340,000 to manage some 70 campuses with nearly 300,000 students.

Needless to say, she left your run-of-the-mill public school principal, with an average annual salary of $124,000, in the dust.

Tax records show in her first year of operation Moskowitz made $85,000 as executive director of Harlem Success Academy, the group that receives DOE money to operate the charter schools.

At the same time, she received $186,000 as chief executive officer of the Success Charter Network, a separate nonprofit that provides "management services" to her schools.

Finally, she received $100,000 as an "independent contractor" for Friends of Gotham Charter School, which provides support finances for Harlem Success.

All three organizations share an address and list as officers Joel Greenblatt and John Petry, the millionaire hedge fund managers who bankrolled the Success Charter Network.

Moskowitz said her unusually high pay for 2006-2007, included compensation for months of planning work from the previous year.

"Yes, I earn a good living," Moskowitz said. "I also have an enormous responsibility to try and design 40 schools that are immensely successful. If your child walks into my school, I treat them like my child."

Charter schools are free to use the money they raise from outside sources any way they see fit - even if that means huge salaries for the chief executive.

Given that Moskowitz routinely complains that the Department of Education has failed to provide a fair share of funding for her students, it's fair to ask why she's paying herself so much for educating so few. Charters get about 90% of what it costs to teach each child and raise funds for additional money.

Parents from Moskowitz's schools vehemently defend the Harlem Success Academy and say their kids are making phenomenal progress. That could very well be true, but the DOE has not posted independent test results for any of the Moskowitz schools.

Her critics, who include educators, parents, the teachers' union and Harlem political leaders, say she is a relentless self-promoter.

They say she is not shy about packing public meetings with a parent group she has organized, and then demanding that other public schools give up their space to make way for her programs.

"We had one meeting in East Harlem last year where she bused in her [students'] parents, and the situation got ugly and tense as they kept demanding space in our school," said one East Harlem community leader.

This week, more than 500 parents from the Harlem Success Academy were bused to a hearing at Public School 241 in West Harlem, a school the DOE wants to phase out and turn over to Moskowitz.

"We're unwilling to accept failure," Moskowitz said. "PS 241 has failed for years on end, and it needs to change."

Parents who send their children to 241, along with the local Community Education Council, say the DOE is violating the law by eliminating a zoned public school and replacing it with a charter.

jgonzalez@nydailynews.com

IMAGE: Costanza for News | Ex-Council member Eva Moskowitz made $371,000 for running four charter academies, more than Chancellor Joel Klein got for running 1,400 city schools.

LINK: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2009/02/26/2009-02-26_former_city_council_member_eva_moskowitz.html