The neighborhoods of Harlem have suffered over time from urban poverty and decay. The traditional public education system has been accused of failing Harlem’s children for some time. Recently Harlem has experienced an educational renaissance through the auspices of the charter school movement. Of particular note is the work of The Harlem’s Children Zone and The Promise Academy. This year, nearly 7,500 students in Harlem are enrolled in charter schools, up from just 1,500 five years ago.
Yet with all this economic and educational renewal in his district, State Senator Bill Perkins (D-Harlem) has come out in adamant opposition of charter schools. Senator Perkins district encompasses some 20 charter schools with his constituents clamoring for expansion of these models and more choice – Perkins opposes raising the cap and supports increased oversight, restrictions and constraints.
“His position and attitude has become really adversarial, unlike what I have seen in any other member,” said Peter Murphy, a spokesman for the New York State Charter Schools Association, an advocacy group. “Rather than embrace the change that many of his constituents wanted,” Mr. Murphy added. “He is focused on thwarting charter expansion rather than working through how to make it coexist with district schools that are working well.” [NY Times March 6, 2010]
On an interesting note NYPost.com reports that the New York State United Teachers (UFT statewide affiliate) has contributed a sum of $10,750 to Perkins political campaigns. As you may have guessed, many believe his charter opposition is related to union backing and affiliation.
My thought - and I welome yours as well is that there is a civic lesson at the heart of this issue. Charter supporters in Harlem now have a responsibility to vote in to office those politicians that will act in their interest.
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Chartered Waters/Dr Petersen -
ReplyDeleteI have read some more on this topic and much of what is written talks about how powerful Senator Perkins is and how difficult it would be to unseat such a leader. Also that charter advocates are searching for someone strong enough to run against him, so I guess that validates the civics lesson is at work.
Dear Charter School Parents,
ReplyDeletePlease note “All politics is local”.
When long time speaker of the house Tip O’Neal uttered this quote no one had ever heard of a charter school, yet it is profoundly relevant to their struggle. Chartered Waters (CW) reference to the charter struggle in Harlem seems remote in relation to our issues in California-but it’s not! Here, as everywhere, charter schools are intensely political. Some low performing charters survive because of strong local political support while in other cases high performing charters have been closed by political adversaries.
When the going gets tough i.e. budget deficits, district losing revenue for students attending charters, high scoring students attending charters thus dragging down district scores, etc; Katie bar the proverbial door! Contractual business agreements, district authorization time lines or meeting the state statute for Charter revocation be damned; it’s about the bottom line. When this happens, which is frequently, what saves imperiled charters aren’t lawyers, scores, charter or district “for the kids” rhetoric or Ed.code; what most often saves imperiled charters is strong, clear, voluminous parents and community support- Period!
Charter Schools are really about community option. True, it’s an option for students but really it’s about options for parents. After all, it is parents who decide whether or not their child will attend a charter school. If in “supporters” she also includes parents, and I sure she does, they also have a responsibility to make sure that all local political candidates have gone on record with their stance on charter schools...
CW’s comment that “charter supporters have a responsibility to vote” is only true if they want to have their charter options survive!
*Incidentally Re: the Senator from New York, it’s hard to believe that in today’s market $10,750.00 alone buys much political allegiance?