Parents from PAVE Charter speak out with the help of public school parents.

[madfloridian]

This is an interesting blog at the website of C.A.P.E...Concerned Advocates for Public Education. The blog features PS 15 which is sharing a building with PAVE Charters School.

From the Mouth of Pavers

It has been immensely frustrating for the parents and teachers of PS 15. We know PAVE parents, we talk to them, and we know how unhappy they are and some of the corrupt goings on that take place at the charter forcefully housed in our building. There as a moment when a few brave parents were ready to come forward, only to be intimidated and their children threatened by Spencer and Cooper. Alas, blogs are the only place where they can now say what they really feel, and one teacher too, because they are protected by the anonymity. Hopefully, sometime soon, parents will just pull their kids out all together and speak freely about the lie and destruction that is PAVE Academy:

Then they present many comments from frustrated parents who expected better of their charter leaders. These are from the comments section:

Last year it wasn’t really like this but then everyone started leaving and new people came and so many things have changed. Parents barely know the new principal and she doesn’t even get involved with the kids except to yell and punish them and take their recess away. At least Mr. Burk knew who the parents were and had a good relationship with us and our kids. Then they have this new office lady who is so rude and acts like she is straight from the ghetto. Ms. Tiffany was good because she knew how to treat people with respect and made us parents feel welcome. All the good teachers left and then Mr. Spencer hired all these new people who don’t even know how to work with kids from our community.

And another:

As a teacher at PAVE, I was sucked into believing that they had the best interests of students, their families and the teachers in mind during decision making. I was wrong. The work environment is similar to the sweat shop that many people described it to be. Long hours and slave like conditions makes me dread going to work most days. PAVE teachers wont come forward to support PAVE because we are all trying to leave. As a staff member, I would have to say 80 percent of the teachers aren’t happy. They were fooled in teaching there with empty promises. I am bidding my time, like many other teachers to get away from PAVE’s oppressive workplace.

PAVE Charter may continue to share the building with the A School called PS 15 for about 5 years.


The Brooklyn Paper / Tom Callan
Parents at PS 15, an elementary school on Sullivan Street in Red Hook, are fighting a city plan to house a charter school inside their building.

The Department of Education released details of a controversial space-sharing proposal for a Brooklyn charter and district school today, and it would allow the charter to remain in the building until 2015 and add five more grades of students.

The plan follows months of controversy about whether PAVE Academy Charter School should be allowed to continue to share space with Red Hook’s P.S. 15, and if so, whether the charter should be allowed more classrooms in the building.

PAVE originally agreed to leave the P.S. 15 building at the end of this school year. Its request earlier this year to extend its stay sparked worries among P.S. 15 parents and teachers that the charter school would stay indefinitely, squeezing the district school.

Here is more:

Parents don’t want the charter school in PS 15 because they say the loss of space jeopardizes the “A” grade that the school just earned on its city report card.

“The kids are going to lose out on a lot of the things they have now,” said Vicki LaSalle, a parent who was gathering signatures on her anti-charter school petition last week.

PAVE is one of the charter schools with clout

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.

Another school with clout:

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.

Lots of connections to Bloomberg and the desire for mayoral control.

PS 15 is an A school, so that tosses the "failing school" theory out the window.

[aquart]

1. Bloomberg needs to retire.

[madfloridian]

4. And no more mayoral control. Takes all the power from the people

and gives it to connected politicians.

[Hannah Bell]

2. k/r

[Starry Messenger]

3. k & r

[madfloridian]

6. That guy has his eye on all public school teachers.

That is such an apt sig picture.

[madfloridian]

5. PS 15 parents say kids with special needs crowded out by PAVE in bldg.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/05/12/2010-05-12_red_hook_parents_push_to_toss_pave_charter_school_from_ps_15_space.html

"Parents John Battis and Lydia Bellahcene have charged the DOE violated state education law by failing to spell out the impact on PS 15 students of having PAVE in the Sullivan St. building.

"We're fighting for our local school," said Battis, 46, a hospital administrator whose son Liam attends pre-K at PS 15. If Steiner grants the appeal, PAVE will have to find a new home, Battis said.

Battis and Bellahcene allege students at the A-rated public school have less space for general education classes and special education therapy since PAVE moved in two years ago.

"Two-thirds of our kids have special needs," said Battis. "Now our facilities for them are being squeezed."

..""Tensions are high," said Bellahcene, who has three children at the school, including Lailah, 5, a kindergarten student with special needs.

"Lailah's still getting her physical therapy in a locker room because there's no place else to do it," Bellahcene said. "We're in this battle for the long haul."

PAVE and DOE officials disputed the appeal."