Last night, a 13 member panel that oversees education policy, voted “yes” to co-locating the Brooklyn Success Academy in a building that already houses 3 existing public schools in District 15. The site of the co-location, located at 284 Baltic Street (at Court Street), currently houses the Brooklyn School for Global Studies, School for International Studies and P.S. 368 for special ed children. Success Academy is run by Eva S. Moskowitz, the former city councilwoman.
The NY Times was there and reported that, “The teachers’ union brought opponents by the busload, and they flocked to the microphone to offer their views during the meeting, at Newtown High School in Corona, Queens. Jeff Tripp, a math and special education teacher at International Studies, disputed the department’s analysis, saying the building’s gym was so overused that high school students had a hard time meeting graduation requirements in physical education. Lunch in its sole cafeteria starts at 10:30 a.m., he said.”
According to Patch, the 13 member panel of appointees briefly discussed the issue, before voting almost unanimously in favor of co-locating the new Brooklyn Success Academy. Even so, a vast majority of those who turned out on Wednesday mounted raucous resistance against anyone who championed on behalf of charter schools, systematically shouting down proponents of alternative education whenever possible.
Patch quotes: “You are committing education genocide,” blasted one angry attendee. “Keep these charter schools out of my neighborhood,” added another as Herrera tried speaking over their heckling.
The result: The Brooklyn Success Academy start accepting students for its class of fall 2012. Success Academy Charter School would admit students for Kindergarten through 4th grade.
One father that Patch interviewed at the end of the meeting said, “It’s just a sad moment for the New York City Public School system,” said Ernie Ramirez of Bedford Stuyvesant. “Especially sad for the children,” he added.