Leonie Haimson is host of a weekly radio program on WBAI, a Pacifica radio station.
In this podcast, she discusses “How Success Academy Charters Violate Their Students’ Civil, Educational, and Privacy Rights.”
The show focused on Success Academy charters, NYC’s largest charter school chain, which has repeatedly violated students’ civil rights while becoming known for high test scores and high suspension rates. Leonie interviewed Laura Barbieri of Advocates for Justice and Nelson Mar of Bronx Legal Services, two attorneys who’ve successfully sued Success Academy charter schools on behalf of students who have been mistreated at the school.
Then she spoke to Fatima Geidi, a former Success parent whose son’s special education, due process, and privacy rights were violated, the last after PBS News Hour interviewed Fatima and her son about the school’s abusive disciplinary practices. Dany Mangrove also related her experiences as a former operations assistant and teacher at Success Academy High School.
This organization should not be receiving any public funding.
For the past 10 years I have heard countless horrible stories about the way this organization treats children. They should not be in business.
Sorry, unrelated, but this just in:
In his insane and traitorous rant in Georgia last night, Trump said, explicitly, that he expects HIS Supreme Court to overturn the recent election. If you had any doubt about whether this man is a fascist with nothing but contempt for democratic government, there it is, folks.
Thank you to Leonie for this important podcast.
One question I had – I wish that Laura Barbieri of Advocates for Justice and Nelson Mar of Bronx Legal Services had talked more about the SUNY Charter Institute.
Shouldn’t the top administrator at the SUNY Charter Institute, as the oversight agency, and the individuals on the board of the SUNY Charter Institute who keep approving of all of these actions by rewarding Success Academy, be sued for failing to do any real investigations of this?
By rewarding Success Academy with new schools and renewals based on the test scores of the students who remain, and by being complicit in hiding their true longitudinal attrition rates (not annually, but how many kids who enrolled on day one who didn’t make it to 3rd grade testing), isn’t the SUNY Charter Institute a huge part of the problem?
Why should Eva Moskowitz change one thing if her oversight agency rewards her generously for only keeping the students who give them high test scores and require little in the way of experienced teachers and special education services?
I wish that Leonie would do something on the SUNY Charter Institute, because as long as they remain unpunished, this will continue.