Politics & Government

Cathie Black Panel Meeting in Brooklyn Met With Strong Opposition

The PEP voted last night on 3 charter school co-locations in Bed-Stuy

The Panel for Educational Policy held a panel meeting last night at Brooklyn Technical High School to vote upon the proposed co-location of nine charter schools across Brooklyn and the Bronx.

Councilman Al Vann, along with parents, teachers, United Federation of Teachers representatives and students from P.S./I.S. 308 (The Clara Cardewell School), the schools on campus I.S. 33; and Paul Roberson High School – all from Bedford-Stuyvesant – attended the hearing.

Also, representatives from six other public schools of the proposed co-locations were on hand to voice their concerns about the Department of Education’s building utilization plans for their schools.

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On the PEP panel was School Chancellor Cathie Black, along with 11 other panelists – a diverse array of education advocates, parents, an investment baker and community development directors. 

P.S. 308 clearly dominated the evening’s agenda, as parent after parent after union representative took turns at the microphone expressing their opposition to the co-location of Teaching Firms of America charter school on the school’s campus, where they insisted it is already overcrowded.

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“The co-location of Cardwell School would be insensitive to the children. There’s inadequate common space there now for the current population,” said Vann to the panel. “I think it will put our children at peril. I would like to think that there’s something to be said here that is logical, relevant and factual that would be taken into consideration.”

However, according to a DOE building utilization plan assembled following the department’s walk-through of the school, the school currently is well below capacity.

According the plan, the building has the capacity to serve 1,213 students. However, in 2010-11, K308 only served 636 students in kindergarten through eighth grade and 13 students in one full day pre-kindergarten section – a total of 649 students.

The current utilization at P.S. 308 yields a rate of 54 percent. In 2015-16, when Teaching Firms would complete its expansion and achieve full scale, K308 would serve approximately 880-920 students, which still only yields an estimated utilization rate of 76 percent, according to the plan.

But teachers at the school claim the numbers do not reflect their day-to-day reality. UFT representatives of P.S. 308 pointed out that the common spaces at the Pre-K through 8th grade school simply were too small to add another charter school, and it would be a health and safety hazard.

The gymnasium is as small as some classrooms, they said, and currently, the library can hold only one class at a time. Additionally, the lunchroom is so small, the school has to start its first lunch during breakfast time, at 10:15 am, and rotate through four shifts until its conclusion at 1:45 pm.

“That cafeteria has to accommodate 660 children, four lunch periods to feed all of those children; it is unconscionable,” said a UFT special representative assigned to P.S. 308. “You cannot service the children now. So how are you going to add more children and cause more confusion in that building?”

However, DOE spokesperson Jack Zarin-Rosenfeld pointed out that from 2001 to 2003, P.S. 308 had 1,000 students, and further, to imply that what the DOE is proposing will make a huge difference from what they’ve dealt with in the past is false.

“We definitely acknowledge that the cafeteria is somewhat small, but ten years ago, the school had 1,000 students enrolled with the same size cafeteria. So presumably the scheduling around the cafeteria has gotten easier,” said Zarin-Rosenfeld. “The new school would make the total enrollment 800 to 900, still lower than it was ten years ago.”

According to the building utilization plan, the school has 21 full-size classrooms and 4 half-size classrooms above its footprint. On page 9 of the plan is a breakdown of proposed space allotment for the cafeteria, with P.S. 308 receiving close to three hours of usage over two periods, while the charter school would receive one lunch period.

“I understand why people might be upset,” said Zarin-Rosenfled. “The school has had the building to [itself] a long time now; they’re no longer going to have the space they used to have.

“But if we can put another school in, not disrupt the programmatic aspect and still have a few classrooms over what they need, it is a good thing.

Councilman Al Vann, who also conducted a walk-through of the school a month back, says that from what he’s seen, the school has no more room.

He wrote an open letter to Deputy Chancellor Marc Sternberg last month stating that, although he does support the co-location of some charter schools in his district, Teaching Firms for America at P.S. 308 is not a good fit. He implored the chancellor to consider the community’s welfare before making a decision.

“I would think that the criteria that put you here [is] your intelligence, your concern for children, your independent judgment and your ability to try to do the right thing for our community,” said Vann.

“If the mayor did not include those as a part of his criteria, then shame on him. But you are [here]. We want you to be concerned about the best welfare of the children in our public schools and their families. If you do that, you’ll have our support. Without that, then shame on you.”

However, Zarin-Rosenfeld insists that the decision will positively impact the welfare of the community. He says that space is not solely a charter school issue, and that public school principals have to work through space issues all the time.

“The fact is, P.S. 308 has lost more than 300 kids over the past ten years,” Zarin-Rosenfeld said. “Putting in a new school that parents might want to send their kids to… you can look at it as a bad thing. We think it is a good thing.”

The panel voted to approve all three co-locations in Bed-Stuy.

  • P.S. 308, 616 Quincy Street; Charter School--Teaching Firms of America: Decision, 8-4
  • I.S. 33, 70 Tompkins Avenue; Charter School-- Brooklyn Success: Decision, 10-0, with 2 abstentions
  • Paul Roberson HS, 150 Albany Ave; Charter School-- Academy for Health Careers: Decision, Unanimous


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