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Speeches
April 6 , 2009
Contact: 212-669-4813
Testimony from Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum for the City Council Hearing on Charter School Expansion in New York City
Public Advocate BetsyGotbaum said, "Thank you, Councilmember Jackson for holding this important hearing.
Currently, the process of siting charter schools used by the Department of Education often pits parents against parents and schools against schools: moving a charter school into a community or placing a charter school inside an existing public school without any notice or prior discussion are examples of how the DOE’s process has gone awry.
While I am pleased the Department of Education has decided to back away from its plan to replace three traditional public schools with charter schools, I am dismayed that it took the threat of legal action for the DOE to do what is right and lawful. Such behavior cultivates the perception that the DOE favors charter schools at the expense of traditional public schools and undermines the goals of building support for the creation of additional charter schools.
I saw an editorial today suggesting that those of us who challenged the closing of these schools want to keep bad schools open. That misses the point entirely. The DOE seems to consider closing schools a badge of honor. What I want is for the DOE to work harder to help bad schools do better. For example, in the Chancellor’s district, struggling schools were given the resources and attention they needed to improve. And if schools must be replaced, it must be done with public input and respect for the law.
We cannot allow the DOE to conduct their affairs in the shadows, raising the ire and suspicion of the community. For years, I have been calling for increased transparency at the DOE, as well as increased efforts to involve parents and the public.
But beyond the problematic way in which DOE sites charter schools, I am also concerned with the way this administration characterizes the successes and the necessity of charter schools.
Not even three percent of the student population in New York City attends charter schools, but the Mayor and Chancellor believe that every student should have the opportunity to go to a charter school—that’s just not reality. In their push to create more charters and to lift the cap on charter expansion in Albany, the Mayor and Chancellor tout the successes of charter schools in contrast to the failures of the traditional public school down the street. This is totally unfair.
In 2007, according to the DOE, only nine percent of charter school students required special education, and only three percent of charter school students were English Language Learners (ELL). By contrast, in traditional schools, 14 percent of students require special education and 14 percent are ELL, on average.
My office has received calls from charter school parents who say their schools can’t handle their children’s special education needs. That has to change before we can fairly compare achievement at charter schools to achievement at traditional schools.
It’s time for this administration to adopt a new manner of working with the community, especially when closing and opening schools. Divide and conquer is not an acceptable strategy."
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