In this post, Leonie Haimson calls on the charter committee at the State University of New York to reject Eva Moskowitz’s request to enlarge her charter school in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.
If she expands, she will cause overcrowding and larger class sizes, Says Haimson. Cobble Hill is a mainly white, middle-class-affluent neighborhood, which is the target for expansion of a chain that prides itself on educating poor black and Hispanic students.
Success Academy has a bad habit of getting their foot in the door, then encroaching on their neighbors, eventually making a grab for the entire school. sA redefines the meaning of the term “the camel’s nose inside the tent.” Before you know it, the entire camel is inside, and everyone else is pushed out.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Not being a New Yorker, Eva has long been somewhat of an abstraction to me. I know about what I’ve read, and it’s not good. But having watched her on C-SPAN last night, I get it completely now. She is very much the embodiment of the banality of education policy evil. As exhausting as it is to keep up with and resist our Dear Leader, I now understand how exhausted my New York-area friends must be to add Eva on the pile of crap you have to deal with. Her packaging seems appealing to those who neither pay attention to or understand education issues. And her softball moderator from the NY Historical Society seems to be quite the fellow-traveler.
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You’ve nailed it.
The comparisons to Trump are apt as she gets away with saying some of the most blatantly untrue statements while so-called interviewers (really enablers) cover it as “well the other side says” and then she dismisses the other side and the enabling journalist moves on to the next question.
The only interviewer to challenge her recently (I mean in the last 2 years) to her face was John Merrow and it is worth watching her reaction to her lies being challenged by any facts. She looks so dishonest like the guy flop sweating and blinking too fast and sputtering. What’s incredible is that every other journalist is terrified to do that. After all, Merrow got attacked by more of her enablers at PBS led by the embarrassing bad PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler who really should have been fired for his defense of her releasing — against the law! — a young student’s private records.
Michael Getler at PBS (who really should be fired already for his kowtowing to rich funders over being a moral person) is like the Republicans in Congress who happily carry water for corruption because it lines their own pockets (I’m sure he gets a generous salary for pleasing the PBS funders) and convince themselves they are doing good instead of enabling true dishonesty and greed. Shameful.
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There are so many reasons why Success Academy Cobble Hill should be denied any new space or expansion:
SUNY Charter School Committee Chair Joseph Belluck stated that expansion would be difficult as long as Daniel Loeb, infamous for his racial slurs against Senator Andrea -Stewart Cousins and others, remains on the Success Academy Board https://www.wsj.com/articles/daniel-loebs-racially-charged-post-could-be-sticking-point-for-expansion-of-success-academy-charter-schools-1503358934?mg=prod/accounts-wsj. (““It would be difficult for me to expand the network of a school that has somebody on the board that holds those views,” Mr. Belluck said.”)
The school is not serving its English Language Learners. Of 14 who took the NYSESLAT test 2015-16, not one moved up a level. The prior year, only 1 of 8 moved up a level. http://www.newyorkcharters.org/wp-content/uploads/Success-Cobble-Hill-Renewal-2016.pdf, page 16.
The school has not come near meeting its enrollment targets for at risk populations. These numbers are set when the school is authorized. These targets are mandatory. Success Academy should not be rewarded for failing to meet this mandated numbers:
Percent required of Economically Disadvantaged students: 64.9%
Actual percent enrolled of Economically Disadvantaged students: 47.6%
That’s over a full one third under the legally required target (36%)
Percent required of English Language Learner students: 23.9%
Actual percent enrolled of English Language Learner students: 4.6%
That’s roughly 500% under the legally required target (519%)
Percent required of Students with Disabilities: 17.5%
Actual percent enrolled of Students with Disabilities : 11.1%
That’s 57% under the legally required target.
http://www.newyorkcharters.org/wp-content/uploads/Success-Cobble-Hill-Renewal-2016.pdf (AX-3)
The school has admitted that some of its uncertified teachers don’t even meet the criteria required for uncertified teachers. http://www.newyorkcharters.org/wp-content/uploads/Success-Cobble-Hill-Renewal-2016.pdf, page 23 (“while the number of uncertified teachers is within the numerical limits, serval, not all, of the uncertified teachers do not meet the additional criteria under” NY’s Education Law.)
The school cannot cover its expenses. The school’s renewal report states that in 2014-15, expenses exceeded revenue by over 8%, specifically by $487,570. http://www.newyorkcharters.org/wp-content/uploads/Success-Cobble-Hill-Renewal-2016.pdf (pp Ax -11, Ax-12). The school also shows negative assets. Id. at Ax-13.
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Joeph Belluck and SUNY have broken their own rules to enable Eva Moskowitz’ desires. There are no reports of any investigations into the myriad of complaints against the schools by parents — unless you consider “we asked Eva and she said it was an anomaly so we’re good!” to be an investigation.
Furthermore, SUNY improperly renewed some of Moskowitz schools’ charters years before they were suppose to — saying that they were so terrific they could not only ignore all complaints against them! They didn’t need no more stinkin’ data about high attrition rates and high suspension rates of 5 year olds to know that she should get whatever she wanted.
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^^I should have added that this is impressive research. Thank you, Lisa Litvin, for posting it.
My remark above was simply my observation that Joseph Belluck will do whatever Moskowitz wants — period. He has never once said no to her no matter how much his actions break former guidelines for how SUNY is supposed to renew charters.
Until some enterprising journalists start looking closely at the many times Joseph Belluck and the entire SUNY Charter Institute have failed miserably in their oversight duties (never once questioning why on of the SA charters suspended 19% of their non-white students in charter whose oldest children are in first grade?!!!), Belluck will continue to do this because Cuomo and his billionaire funders want it done.
The SUNY Charter Institute are 4 white men and one white woman who “oversee” another white woman, Susan Miller Barker, the executive director.
I won’t hold my breath waiting for a journalist to get them on the record as to why they have never once examined the high suspension rate and high attrition rate of non-white 5, 6 and 7 year old students at Success Academy schools.
I won’t hold my breath waiting for a journalist to get them on the record for why SUNY never questions why Success Academy would have one of the very highest attrition rates of any NYC charter network when the very opposite should be true since Parents don’t usually go running away in droves from high performing, richly funded charters offering extras that no public school can match. Except when it is a Success Academy charter.
I won’t hold my breath waiting for a journalist to ask Joseph Belluck for the written results of any investigation they have done into the myriad of complaints.
When Pedro Noguera sat on the SUNY Charter Institute board, there was one person who at least occasionally questioned the bad practices of Eva Moskowitz and her “we have so many terribly violent non-white 5 year old kids how can I help but suspend them”. Now the all-white SUNY Charter Institute says: of course those non-white 5 year old are violent — we believe you!!! Suspend them as much as you want and we promise never to look into their parents’ complaints unless a lot of affluent white parents start complaining like they did at Success Academy Hudson Yards. But since we know you told that principal not to treat their kids like the poor non-white kids, it’s all good now!
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I wonder why it is ok for SA to take over Harlem, Washington Heights, and Bedstuy (all predominately Communities of Color), but not Cobble Hill? I’m not advocating for SA to bring their racist violence to any community, I just wonder why there is no national attention when SA has been destabilizing Black and Brown communities in NYC for decades, but when it comes to the segregated rich-white schools, NIMBY…
This sentence sums it up pretty well, and exemplifies the hypocrisy of white liberals:
“Cobble Hill is a mainly white, middle-class-affluent neighborhood, which is the target for expansion of a chain that prides itself on educating poor black and Hispanic students.”
Do it to the poor Black and Brown kids, just leave our segregated affluent-white schools alone.
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MattG,
If it helps, I oppose her bringing her brand of discipline and conformity to children of color. I referred to the publicity stunt of claiming that SA is “saving” poor children of color. Slim pickings in Cobble Hill.
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I know you have long been a strong critic of SA, and that has always been appreciated. I don’t want any children subjected to SA style schooling, rich or poor, white or kids of color. I just worry that many middle class white parents (rightfully) opposing this SA expansion are also sending their kids to majority white segregated schools, without thinking twice. We need to expose that hypocrisy too.
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MattG,
You know very little about District 15. Parents have been sending their kids to neighborhood schools for the last 15 years and if some of the elementary schools NOW seem “segregated”, I can assure you that they were never segregated but simply reflect the changing neighborhood demographics. The school you think is “segregated” used to be 60% economically disadvantaged and only 30% white not very long ago.
Even today, there are schools that are very integrated that in 5 or 10 years people will complain are segregated! I suggest you take a close look at PS 32, PS 261, PS 230 among others — their demographics look like what the now majority white schools looked like not very long ago.
So before you start accusing parents of being hypocrites, why not get some facts.
Furthermore, while parents may be less willing to suddenly bus their elementary school kids all over the place (and by the way, non-white parents do not want that either), the MIDDLE schools in District 15 have been addressing integration for a while and the parents have been sending their kids to ALL middle schools.
There are many integrated middle schools, including the one located in the same building as SACH, BH School for International Studies. It’s been many years since the white parents believed that the only acceptable middle school is MS 51 (which, at 56% white is hardly “segregated”). So accusing parents in the district of hypocrisy seems like an odd attack. Why are you making it?
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To understand more about the dishonesty that allowed Success Academy Cobble Hill to exist, one has to go back to 2011. (If anyone cares, it was witnessing the blatant lies of Eva Moskowitz with regard to establishing this Cobble Hill school that first brought to my attention her lack of any moral or ethical compass in her pursuit of what benefits her the most.)
In 2011, Success Academy applied to the SUNY Charter Institute for space in District 13 or 14, both (especially at that time) high poverty school districts. In that charter application, Moskowitz promised to give priority to at-risk kids zoned for failing public schools. SUNY granted that request for a charter.
However, it was right about the time that people were starting to ask why Success Academy schools in Harlem were starting with so many Kindergarten children and ending up with so few by the time of testing grades. Why were elementary schools where the oldest children were only in 3rd grade having school wide out of school suspension rates of 20% (which could mean that 30 or 40% of the Kindergarten children were suspended and fewer of the remaining 3rd graders)?
To help out his billionaire pals favorite charter operator, Joel Klein offered Eva Moskowitz free space (despite not offering this to all charters) in very affluent District 15 in very affluent Cobble Hill. Despite not having any demand for a school in very wealthy Cobble Hill which had such good schools that many were becoming overcrowded, Moskowitz spent hundreds of thousands of dollars hiring ignorant chumps to gather signatures for “a new school” and then claimed there was a demand that never existed. She also insisted that SUNY bow to her will and allow her to change her charter so that she could DUMP the priority she promised to give to children zoned for failing public schools — was she worried that if too many poor kids had seats the richer families she was desperate to attract would not come?
And SUNY ignored its best practices and allowed Moskowitz to change the location from a poor neighborhood to a very rich one and — to add insult to injury — said it was just lovely that she was dumping priority for kids zoned for failing schools so she could instead make sure there were enough seats for the kids who lived in one of the most affluent school districts in NYC.
FYI — it was this very questionable move by SUNY to establish Success Academy Cobble Hill and grant Moskowitz’ wish to dump priority for any of those unwanted poor kids that led to SUNY Charter Institute board member Pedro Noguera stepping down from SUNY. He saw how corrupt they were and they have only become worse as there is no longer anyone to stop them from flouting their own rules to help Eva Moskowitz get more schools.
There was NEVER any demand for that new charter except one manufactured with a lot of money and marketing.
Even today, a journalist should ask Eva Moskowitz how many kids come from out of district to her Cobble Hill charter? Despite claims of long wait lists, if there is a single child admitted from out of district — and I suspect there are many — the wait lists are a sham. Leonie’s post mentions that there are kids from as far away as Queens.
And the % of economically disadvantaged students at Success Academy is disproportionately low.
I believe Joseph Belluck and SUNY have already approved a second charter school for District 15 because according to SUNY, the richest NYC districts should be flooded with Success Academy schools and the poorest ones should be happy with one. Which makes sense only if you understand how corrupt the SUNY Charter Institute has become.
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NYCpsp: thank you for that last paragraph. Not just in NYC but elsewhere (charter schools–coming soon to a suburb near YOU!), invasion of the charters.
Also, in ILL-Annoy*–shutting down PE classes (in passing their wonderful school formula bill, PE was one of the programs on the chopping block {an “unfunded mandate”}–cut down to 3 days or less {middle & h.s.students involved in extracurricular sports may opt out of PE altogether). So great for all of our kids who live in shooting areas, &whose parents keep them indoors for safety reasons–now they won’t even be able to have healthy physical activity at their schools, either.
More computer time, more testing= more sitting=even more obesity…for other people’s kids. Literally sickening–both increased mental AND physical sickening of our children.
*Great Page 1 article in Wednesday’s Chicago Tribune (don’t have the link–if someone does, please post. One h.s. district is using PE to “teach students how to cook healthy,” & it is being lauded. I dunno…it used to be called Home Ec, then Family & Consumer Sciences…now, both gone, of course–not enough time or money for materials or teachers. Test prep time a priority in middle schools (IL-Annoy abolished the CRRAP in the high schools, requiring only the SATs, but middle school students still have to take CRRAP. All the middle schools I’d taught in used to have great F&CS classes {& also Industrial Tech}). Gone, & never coming back.
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Let us recall that classes at SA are a transition from human teaching to screaming robot bs teaching
[video src="http://wd369.csi.hu/apu/sa_math.mp4" /]
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