Charter School Invasion Hearing At PS 123 Harlem - Dist.5

excerpts from Norm Scott's Report: http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2010/04/charter-school-invasion-hearings-change.html

"PS 123/Harlem Success hearing: April 12, 2010

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

City Councilwoman Inez Dickens rouses the crowd at PS 123 over the tactics of Eva Moskowitz' Harlem Success Academy http://ednotesonline.blogspot.com/2010/04/city-councilwoman-inez-dickens-rouses.html

I was at the rousing PS 123/Harlem Success invasion hearing on Monday April 12 and it's been wonderful to see this Harlem school community get themselves organized. The teachers and parents did an amazing job. They even had posters made up of the Klein/Moskowitz letters. GEM has been involved since the end of the last school year and was there with our banner this time too. ...


A change in charter school strategy
The absence of charter school parents and teachers at both hearings was noticeable. This seems to mark a new strategy - charter schools around the city often work under a joint plan. They now seem to be keeping their parents away from these hearings. Why bother? They know these hearings have no impact. In addition, some of the charter school parents may have been affected - and infected- by the host schools' passionate defense.

The PEP to endorse the invasions will take place next Tuesday (Apr. 20 at 6pm) at Prospect Heights HS campus in Brooklyn. We know that the public schools will be out there. Will the charter schools feel it necessary to organize their troops (with buses and pizza and who knows what else) for the PEP when it is a fait accompi? (Repeat this 5 times and see if it has a beat.)
...
Where is the UFT?
As far as I could tell there was no UFT presence to support the PS 123 community, but I left early. GEM, on the other hand, had a strong presence and has developed an excellent relationship with the 123 community and some other schools in Harlem. The Coalition for Public Education (CPE) also came out in support (GEM and the CPE are developing strong lines of communication.)

The ambivalent nature of the UFT response to charter school invasions is obvious, given that two UFT charter schools have invaded space in public schools (George Gershwin MS which I went to is one).

With Harlem being the epicenter of the invasions, there seems to be a stronger UFT response coming with this announcement from District 5 UFT rep Dwayne Clark. Is this the usual UFT holding action to give the impression of a response to keep GEM and the CPE from making inroads? Or is it a legitimate turn in direction regarding charter schools on the part of the UFT? Or are we seeing a local action on the part of Dwayne Clark who must clearly be perturbed at what is happening to the schools in District 5? (Last summer a retired UFT District Rep was at the rallies). Note the language used below borrows from GEM by calling it a "charter school invasion" instead of the DOE term "co-location" the UFT has been using.

Can GEM, the CPE and the UFT work together on these charter school issues? GEM member Antoine Bogard is the chapter leader at PS 197 and is supportive of this UFT initiative. While I don't think the leadership is changing direction (the UFT charters are like any other avaricious charter and looking to expand), I do think that we all can work locally together. The GEM ally CAPE group in PS 15 has maintained a good relationship with the UFT with the idea that they will take all the support they can get in their battle against Goliath.

I am curious why PS 241 and PS 30, which both have HSA Evil Mousekawitch schools in them, are not included.

UNITED FEDERATION OF TEACHERS CHARTER SCHOOL INVASION PROTESTS MONDAY APRIL 19, 2010@ 7:15 A.M.PS 197M SCHOOL ENTRANCEChapter Leaders of PS 175, PS 92, CAH, PS 194, PS 197, PS 123, and PS 133: The UFT is engaging in an action on Monday, April 19th in the morning before school begins. We are asking that your school have at least 3 - 5 members leaflet outside your school because you have a Charter school in your building or geographically located near your school. This campaign does not involve the entire District but your school was selected. I will be providing you with flyers at Friday's Chapter Leaders meeting for Monday morning distribution. Please start speaking to your members to volunteer to leaflet outside your school. Your support in this endeavor is greatly appreciated. I will see you on Friday.
COME OUT AND MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

Dwayne Clark, UFT District 5 Representative
52 Broadway- 10th floor
New York, NY 10004
212-598-6800- work
212-510-6424- fax "