A Harlem charter takeover: Dismantling public education & public housing

[Hannah Bell]

WILLIAM DANZY, Sandra Thomas and thousands of their neighbors in Harlem are about to lose their green space--to the construction of yet another charter school.

Smack in the middle of 14 buildings known as the St. Nicholas Houses--a sprawling complex between 127th and 131 Streets, and 7th and 8th Avenues in Harlem--is an open-air park, with trees, grass, benches and playgrounds. Currently, 129th Street runs toward the center of the complex, but terminates in a gentle cul-de-sac. No cars can pass through, and consequently, it's quiet. Remarkably quiet.

William and Sandra, who live in the St. Nicholas Houses, oppose the plan. They formed a group called Citizens for the Preservation of the St. Nicholas Houses in Harlem. "Our campaign is to stop Harlem Children's Zone from building a school here," William said, "to stop them from tearing down the park for a through-street, to maintain these green spaces."

Sandra, who was born in the St. Nicholas Houses and whose parents still live there, sees Canada's plan as part of a larger attack on the public sector. "They want to dismantle public education and public housing," she said.

I asked: How are the two connected? "The federal government owns the land," she explained. "The city is buying the land and then leasing it to Geoff Canada. Since the city is interested in privatization, that's just one step closer to putting it in the hands of private real estate developers." She added, "Once the land is sold, it's gone..."

William and Sandra both claim that the police have pulled back their uniformed patrols in recent years. "They want to label this place as crime-ridden," William said...

http://socialistworker.org/2010/10/22/harlem-charter-takeover


The hedge fund boys don't give a damn what the public thinks. About education, or anything else. They think they own the world, & they rig the game because they have the money to do it.

[snot]

1. K&R'd

[Starry Messenger]

2. Oddly enough, I was just reading a comment about this

at EdNext, the right-wing ed reform blog.

http://educationnext.org/fueling-the-engine/

Michael Strong says:
05/07/2010 at 8:13 am

As an educational entrepreneur, something that I have always wanted to do is to partner with a real estate developer. Schools are the primary determinants of real estate values in the U.S. Insofar as the primary option was the neighborhood public school, there was no entry point for educational entrepreneurs.

But now that we have large, branded chains of schools, at some point we should begin to see partnerships between private community developers, on the one hand, and private or charter school chains, on the other. If the school can indeed add value to the real estate development, then the developer may be willing to subsidize the school.

Obviously there are a number of challenges associated in getting to this point; but I’d like to see venture philanthropy begin to explore this model.

[Hannah Bell]

3. yes, "venture philanthropy" should get in on this hot opportunity. jesus christ.

[Starry Messenger]

4. The gated "Villages" properties have their own charters.

I have an uncle and aunt who retired to one of these developments. That's where I first found the property/branded school linkage: http://www.thevillagescharterschool.org/middleSchool/middleSchool.asp It's only a matter of time that this gets scaled to the crap the reformers are into.

[Hannah Bell]

5. I imagine that's one of the selling points of charters -- so the gate people don't have to

let those nasty people outside the gates into their private schools.

[Starry Messenger]

6. Plus, the children of the property employees go to school there.

A rather Stepford environment so the "help" don't get ideas...this stuff is so repellent. Education is now part of the "company store".

[Hannah Bell]

7. you mean their servants & groundskeepers' kids? they're bussed in?

i would think that would be -- awkward.

"he's our maid's son"

isn't it similar to how slave kids played with the plantation owner's kids when they were toddlers but things got uncomfortable after that?

i'd think that would mess with a person's head.

[Starry Messenger]

9. I'm trying to find "non-Village" sources

but sadly much of the info is from astroturf. Here's a sample though:

http://thevillagesdailyphoto.blogspot.com/2009/05/villages-charter-high-school.html

The Villages is an over-55 community. Nevertheless, most of the people who work in The Villages live nearby and many of them have children, and thus the honchos in The Villages decided it was appropriate to build an elementary school, a middle school and a high school.

This is the high school, which as you can see, is a very fine facility.

http://www.thevha.net/the-villages-voice?op=3&issue=7&article=94

Unique Charter

The Villages Charter School is a work-place charter with the state of Florida and one of only two of this type in the entire nation. Students are eligible to attend the Charter School based upon where their parent(s) work – for The Villages, one of the over 300 major contractors of The Villages, or for a business on property of The Villages. Students at The Charter School come from seven different surrounding counties.

The Villages even has their own newspaper.

http://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/news/local/article_f2d8bb92-acda-11df-bf7c-001cc4c002e0.html

Zwick pointed out that “as the businesses grow in The Villages,” charter school administrators aim to continue providing quality education for children of Villages employees.

Such superior educational opportunities can’t help but benefit Villages employers, McDaniel said, adding that he hopes the charter school continues to “attract great employees” to The Villages.

Considering the school’s rapid growth, McDaniel’s hopes seem to be right on target.

According to Darlene Stone, senior vice president of human resources for Central Florida Health Alliance, the charter school is a critical draw for potential employees of The Villages Hospital.

“When (TVH) opened eight years ago, (the charter school) was a huge recruitment tool for us to be able to staff the hospital,” Stone said, explaining that the school is “one of the benefits that a Villages hospital team member could have.”

[Hannah Bell]

10. ooh, that *is* stepfordy, being as how over-55's aren't likely to have many school-age children.

a whole school system for the institutions serving the corporation & the over-55s. i feel something creepy about it, but i can't quite put my finger on what it is.

[Starry Messenger]

12. Well, Arne Duncan would love them

http://isurfthevillages.com/thevillagesschools/schools-in-crisis/486-crisis-in-the-village-charter-schools.html

he Villages Charter School engages in a data gathering exercise at the end of each school year to gain feedback on how each school and teacher is perceived by parents. This is done through surveys. However, administrators are also evaluated by the teachers. During the 2008/09 school year, only 40% of the middle school teachers responded on the Peggy Irwin survey. All but two were completely negative regarding her job performance and passion for kids. Irwin justified this by saying, " that means that 60% are happy with the way things are going". However, this reporter spoke to several staff members who refused to fill out a survey for one reason: they were fearful of being fired. Staff members are told that the surveys are completely anonymous although few believe it to be true. After polling the teachers who were fired during the school year, all gave Irwin a bad survey. Coincidence?

Irwin completed her first year the way she started; with a bang. She waited until June 9th after most of the Marion County teaching jobs had been filled, then scheduled teachers to come in for their final evaluation. She and Cathy Hinkley (who is not certified in leadership) proceeded to line them up and fire them one by one. No reason was given to any employee, all who had spotless records and evaluations. The only response was a smug smile from Irwin according to those let go.

The final count looks like this. Of the teachers who began the 2008/2009 school year, 37% were fired or quit in disgust. Many more desire to leave but are sacrificing for their children or were unable to secure another position.

Peggy Irwin can best be summed up by a quote she made to the guidance counselor one day in May. "The best thing about being principal is I have all the power and I love it"! Undoubtedly, few would argue that point.

How "innovative".

[Starry Messenger]

15. Sorry, I'm derailing your thread.

But here is one more link, no more I promise!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120836343682019831.html?mod=Books

The Andersons were moving to the largest gated retirement community in the world. It spanned three counties, two zip codes, and more than 20,000 acres. The Villages itself, Dave explained, was subdivided into dozens of separate gated communities, each its own distinct entity, yet fully integrated into a greater whole that shared two manufactured downtowns, a financial district, and several shopping centers, and all of it connected by nearly 100 miles of golf cart trails.

<snip>

According to the Andersons, The Villages provides its 75,000 residents (it is building homes for 35,000 more) with anything their hearts could possibly desire, mostly sealed inside gates: countless recreation centers staffed with full-time directors; dozens of pools; hundreds of hobby and affinity clubs; two spotless, crime-free village centers with friendly, affordable restaurants; and three dozen golf courses—one for each day of the month—with plans for many more.

<snip>

When I asked about diversity, Betsy said that she didn't much care for it. Dave explained that diversity to him is more about interests and background than about age or racial demographics. "There are very few blacks—although I did play golf with a nice man—and I don't think I've seen any Orientals, but there's still so much stimulus there. Diversity exists if you want to find it. There are hundreds and hundreds of clubs to join, and if you don't find one that suits your interests, they'll help you start one."

<snip>

"Life in The Villages is really too much to describe," Betsy added. "It's simply unforgettable. For me, it was love at first sight." She patted her heart for emphasis. "I can only equate it to the movie The Stepford Wives. Everyone had a smile on their face like it's too good to be true. But it really is."

Obviously this is just one example of an upscale enclave for white monied seniors. But I could seriously see a push where everyone is sectioned off by privateers. Neil Stephenson wrote a novel called "The Diamond Age" that had a set-up in the future where "neighborhoods" were transformed into economic tribal enclaves by "culture". Perhaps it isn't that far off!

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. I was thinking the same thing

This is the price we pay for not teaching history.

[donco6]

16. They already do that here in Colorado.

A developer builds a huge tract of houses and reserves a section for schools (as he is required to do.) But they then create a charter with the parents in the development, who pass a bond and HIRE THEM to build the school. Presto - ultra-mega-gated whitebread community and the developer even gets the school building profits.

[Starry Messenger]

20. Hey, when you get a moment can you PM me some development names?

I'd like to dig into this a bit, maybe for a future OP. Thank you for this tasty bit of info, donco!

[leftstreet]

8. Yep. Decreased law enforcement presence, too

And voila! Look! A crime-ridden area!!1111.

This is happening more and more.

K&R

[Hannah Bell]

11. withdrawl of services = time-honored way to create ghettos.

and those doing the withdrawing make super-profits by their foreknowledge of the sure results.

[stray cat]

13. Public education in some schools is an oxymoron

[donco6]

17. Off topic.

Care to focus on the topic at hand - namely the takeover of public land by private entrepreneurs?

[stray cat]

14. Would you send your kids to the average public school in Harlem?

[donco6]

18. Off topic again. n/t