UPDATE: Here is a copy of the official petition to block the Cobble Hill Success Academy. Though it’s fairly long, it reinforces the idea that the school should not legally be allowed to exist outside school districts 13 or 14.
A group of angry parents are suing to keep Eva Mosokowitz’s Success Charter School from opening this Sept in a neighborhood high school. According to the Brooklyn Paper,
“They’re not playing by the rules,” said Coleen Mingo, whose son attends the School for International Studies, which shares space in the school building with the Brooklyn School for Global Studies. “They’ve left us no other choice but to sue.”
The State University of New York approved Moskowitz’s plan to “open, operate and maintain” a new charter school in Districts 13 or 14, which include Downtown, Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Prospect Heights, and part of Park Slope — but not Cobble Hill, which is in District 15.
The city signed off on Moskowitz’s plan, but opponents say that approval is moot because the state never granted “Brooklyn Success Academy 3” permission to open in their neighborhood.
A spokesman for the Department of Education, which is also named in the suit, declined to comment, citing a policy about pending litigation. But a representative from Success Charter Network defended the school, saying there’s plenty of support for it in Cobble Hill.There’s already a waiting list of families who want to attend the charter school, said Jenny Sedlis a director with Success Charter Network.
What are your thoughts?
I’d like to see a copy of the lawsuit that was filed by the parents, but none of the local blogs have posted a copy, or a link to a copy of the lawsuit, or a copy of the Notice of Claim, which must precede a lawsuit. How about what claims are being raised, and a response from the DOE or someone about the merits? Otherwise, this reads like a press release without any real understanding of the merits other than an emotional response. The parent quote is that Moskowitz doesn’t play by the rules, but what are the rules? The lawsuit would state this. What about getting a copy of Moskowitz’s plan, which is presumably public information, or at least available by FOIL. The beauty of the Internet is that this stuff can be easily posted, but nobody is doing so and instead just passes along info that has relatively little worth to it.
Thanks for the comment ANON. I tell you, if I had the time to do all that amazing research, I would certainly do so. But the best I CAN do many times (since this is really just a labor of love and not a paying gig) is get the information out there I think people might be interested in hearing about. And sometimes that means just linking to other stories from real news sources. I don’t have reporters or research assistants working for me, but if I have a few minutes to check into all this great stuff, I certainly will do. I appreciate your taking the time to respond. Please keep letting us know what we can do better!
I don’t get it. I mean, I see what the legal claim here is – the school has legal authority to open in a particular geographic area, but is set to open outside that area, and legally they shouldn’t be allowed to do so. What I don’t get is, why are the Cobble Hill parents objecting? Isn’t it a good thing to have more school options in the neighborhood? (Disclaimer: I’m not married and don’t have kids, so I’m pretty ignorant about the issues here.)
Josh, from what I can tell, I think it’s the parents of the kids who are already in the school the charter will be coming into. And they are upset because they believe it will be overcrowded and taking resources from their children. To be honest, I am not as well-versed as I would like to be so am not sure if this is the truth, though I guess I see why they are upset since their school is fairly under-funded. Does that make sense?
Thank you for posting the Article 78 petition–much appreciated.
I don’t know who to believe on the charter school debate. All is know is it’s getting a lot of heat from both sides and we need to address the concerns of all folks in this brooklyn community. peace, dz
http://www.twitter.com/danzweben
Had a conversation today at Carroll Park with a rep from the charter school , who was handing out brochures and asking for signatures. I started out not knowing anything about a charter school, but by the end of the conversation I still knew nothing, except that I had been subjected to insulting and infuriating double-talk. Went something like this:
Me: Is it a private school?
Him: No, it’s public.
Me: Why are signatures required to open a public school? I mean, there’s one right there (across the street) and no one asked for signatures to build it…
Him: Your signature is optional.
Me: I “know” my signature is optional, but why are you asking for signatures at all?
Him: It’s very complicated; I’m not an expert, maybe you are. If the schools in this neighborhood are good, then that’s great. If you win the lottery, and your child is eligible to attend the charter school, you are not obliged to accept…
Me: I already know that. But that doesn’t answer my question or explain anything. Are you getting paid to gather signatures?
Him: It’s very complicated. Maybe the schools in this neighborhood are fine…
…at which point I told him that he wasn’t making any sense, and that he needed to get lost. He is, of course, correct, that I am not an expert about the issue — in fact, I don’t know anything about it. But I like to think that I can smell used-car-salesman nonsense when I hear it, and this guy couldn’t answer one question coherently, or offer any explanation as to what problem a signature or a new school would solve. Puzzling, to say the least. Maddening is more accurate.