That seems like a whole lot to me. That money could go to help struggling public schools. Instead it is going to charter schools whose owners have good connections. No proof that is the reason, just mentioning it in case.
From the Gotham Gazette's Wonkster:
Charter Schools with CloutThe site refers to an article at the New York Daily News.
With schools of all stripes scrambling for money in a tight economy, the Daily News reports today that the key to getting city funds may not be what you teach but who’s doing the teaching. The paper’s Rachel Monahan found that, according to the city’s capital plan, three politically connected charter schools are slated for millions of dollars in money for new buildings.
The schools are: Harlem Promise Academy and PAVE Academy in Brooklyn, which reportedly will share $72 million, and Peninsula Preparatory Academy in Queens, which will receive an undetermined level of funding. Each of the schools has its own politics ties.
More on Harlem Promise Academy:
Harlem Promise Academy is part of Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’s Zone. As the Wonkster has noted previously, Canada and the Bloomberg administration have a long history of back scratching. Canada chaired and created Learn NY, which lobbied hard for extension of mayoral control of school last year. At Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s first one-to-one debate with Democratic mayoral candidate William Thompson last year, Canada was on hand to “spin” for Bloomberg, and he was among the city leaders who pushed for extension of term limits. Even before the latest example, of city largess, Canada had reported received $388 million in contracts from the administration and hundreds of thousands from Bloomberg himself.
More about PAVE and Peninsula:
As for PAVE, the school’s founder, Spencer Robertson, is connected to the mayor through his father, Julian who, according to an earlier Daily News account has given millions to Bloomberg’s educational groups: $6.75 million to Bloomberg’s New York City Center for Charter School Excellence and $3.25 million to the Fund for Public Schools, a nonprofit that raises money for schools. PAVE has been located in PS 15 in Red Hook. Despite vociferous protests from PS 15 teachers and parents, the city last month approved PAVE’s bid to remain in PS 15 for three more years and to expand for three years, until the school could get its own building. The money in the capital fund will help them do that.
Peninsula Prep gets some of its political heft from its founder: State Senate President Malcolm Smith and one of its board members, U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks. According to a News report last month, Smith earmarked $100,000 in state education funds for the school. The school is managed by Victory Schools. In 2006 and 2007, the News found, Smith received a total of $12,000 in campaign donations from Steven Klinsky, who founded Victory Schools.
Sounds a little like some good old-fashioned back scratching going on. Neighborhood public schools will pay a price for that.
Bloggers are about the only ones pointing out these shenanigans going on to dismantle public education.
One blogger said it perfectly.
Blogger gets it: Make big bucks by closing public schools, firing teachers, opening charters.Shows it is going on in other states as well.
Close Public Schools, Fire Teachers, Open Charters and Make Big Bucks!
Well, when they told Jed Clampett Cali-for-nee-ah's the place you oughta be, they weren't kidding. Movie star/ politician Arnold Schwarzenegger's got a deal for parents in La-La Land, giving them all sorts of options to "improve" their schools:
Some of the options parents would have to choose from include: replacing the existing administration with a charter school, closing schools and replacing some or all of the existing staff.
Those NYC charters schools that are friends of Bloomberg seem poised to get the big bucks.
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