Dear Public Education Supporter:
The CEC/Citywide Working Group is a coalition of elected District and Citywide Education Councils across New York City. We – along with numerous other public school parent and pro public education groups including the Alliance for Quality Education, New York Communities for Change, Change the Stakes, Parent Voices and many others – will be convening a rally on the steps of the New York Public Library on 5th Avenue and 41st Street at 4:00PM this Thursday, April 10th. We will then march to Governor Cuomo’s office, 633 Third Ave at 40th Street. (See attachments. This is the corrected time and location)
The rally and march have been called in the face of provisions in last week’s budget which promote the pitting of parents against parents and the willful destruction of public education in New York City by Governor Cuomo and the New York State Senate, all at the direction of the hedge fund-run charter school lobby.
Specifically, Governor Cuomo and the State Senate-led budget provide for the following:
– The de Blasio administration MUST offer space to EVERY charter school rubber-stamped in the final weeks of the Bloomberg administration. Mayor de Blasio previously approved 14 of 17 charters; now he MUST move forward with all 17 – regardless of the fact that autistic and severely emotionally disturbed children will be moved out of their own buildings, or public high schools must step aside to make room for elementary charters.
– EVERY charter now located in public school buildings MUST be allowed to EXPAND as much as the charter wishes. If public school class sizes and building enrollment increase to unsustainable levels, too bad. If it means giving control of entire buildings to charters by pushing out all public school students, so be it.
– ALL new charter schools requesting NYC public school space – and there will be dozens and potentially hundreds more – MUST be provided it or must pay for private space for the charters. No rent can be charged in public or private spaces. Public schools have no such rights.
– The Mayor, the City Council, the CEC’s and the Community are effectively removed from space decisions, giving the charter lobby more say over our public school buildings (and capital budget) than any of our elected officials.
– Per pupil funding will be increased to ALL charter schools despite the millions they receive from Wall Street and the fact that collocated charters already receive thousands of dollars more per pupil than our public schools. Meanwhile the State refused to fund the court ordered CFE decision whereby billions are owed to New York City schools. Instead the budget provides tax cuts to millionaires.
For the first time, parents across the City have united to make our collective voice heard. We seek to ensure that the 94% of New York City students in public schools are treated fairly and equally to the 6% in charters. We ask that you mobilize your parents, your students, your elected officials, your teachers and community members to attend this historic rally. Attached is a flyer with information, and multiple ways of reaching rally organizers, as well as some points of interest about our cause. Please contact us with any questions or information at SaveNYCSchools@gmail.com as soon as possible.
Thank you in advance for your support of public education and all our children. We know you are bombarded with many invitations, but this rally will prove to our legislators that we stand as one.
The CEC/Citywide Council Working Group
email: SaveNYCSchools@gmail.com
Like us on FaceBook: Save NYC Public Education
noah eliot gotbaum
community education council district 3 (cec3)
noah@gotbaum.com
twitter: @noahegotbaum
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I live and teach in Massachusetts. I am inspired by all of the action in NY – opting out, protests, etc.
I think it’s time for the resistance to organize a march in D.C.! This summer?
Anna, I urge you to organize a march in your own community. It is expensive for people to get to D.C., to hire buses, pay for hotels. If there is enough passion in your home town, you can make a lot of noise. And people listen more than they do in D.C.
I would love to. The teachers and parents in my community are misinformed sheep. When I bring up these issues with my colleagues they say- well we need “accountability.” None of them have heard of Arne Duncan. Seriously, they don’t know who he is. I tried to organize an opt out at my daughter’s elementary school and parents said tome – Oh, our kids are fine. At our school they don’t teach to the test.
What about creating one of those “state report cards” that ed reformers are so fond of (Michelle Rhee has one and so does Jeb Bush) except this “report card” would rank states on the extent lawmakers value public schools?
I know they’re gimmicky but ed reformers get huge publicly with them, media treat them as if they’re objective measures of something or other when they’re obviously not, and I would be interested in seeing which states most value public schools based on policy choices, funding, etc.
Rhee and Bush are “measuring” states based on the ed reform agenda-charters, vouchers, online learning, standardized tests- etc. What about turning that around on them and putting out a report card that focuses on public school support by lawmakers? I’m tired of looking at states and cities through a narrow ed reform lens and then rebutting. Let’s set our standards for lawmakers (just as they did) and go on offense.
There’s no national public discussion of support for public schools. That’s crazy. They are, after all, “public” schools 🙂
Since the vast majority of kids attend public schools, I would imagine public school parents might like to know. Part of the reason I think this doesn’t get more attention by parents is it’s always centered on charter schools, and parents think “my kid doesn’t go there, this debate isn’t about me”. But of course it is.
Obviously, we’d be picking the criteria for what makes a “great public school state” but that’s true of any measure.
One could rank cities, too.
Is the UFT offering help? Has the UFT encouraged its 90,000 teachers to participate? Has the UFT offered support to teachers who refuse to proctor Pearson tests?
I was just about to post that I doubt the UFT will let their members know about before I read Michael’s comment. When SOS had it’s first march in Washington with a line up of A-list speakers, only a small percentage of NYC teachers were informed. Now with the NYSUT election going Randi’s (and Cuomo’s) way, I doubt that this rally will be advertised. Then again, how many NYC teachers knew about the NYSUT elections that took place this weekend?
I am a parent of a public school student and I will march so I can be heard!