‘CRASH’ TEST DUMMY
Pol’s aide acts as if Carranza’s car hit him Whips up backers of high-stakes H.S. test
The man who’s been the loudest in the raucous movement to oust Richard Carranza is on the payroll of one of the school chancellor’s biggest critics — and more than willing to take one for the team.
Queens activist Charles Vavruska works as a part time education director for City Councilman Robert Holden, and Carranza supporters are calling on the councilman to rein him in.
A tight-fitting “Fire Carranza” T-shirt was not enough for Vavruska to get his point across at recent protest over racially-charged changes the chancellor has proposed to the Specialized High School Admissions Test. Vavruska went one-on-one with Carranza’s car, and it’s not exactly clear who won. But the apparent dive Vavruska took after being brushed by the school chief’s sedan outside I.S. 31 in Bay Ridge Tuesday was just one of his more spirited frenzy-whipping antics.
“It really concerns me that a City Council member is paying or supporting or elevating someone clearly happy to sow divisive behavior among communities of color,” said Matt Gonzales, the director of the School Diversity Project for New York Appleseed, one of the groups supporting guidelines to diversify school curriculum that was the subject of a contentious panel meeting last week.
“They’re pushing a level of aggression that worried me about where it could lead,” he added.
Vavruska works up to 10 hours a week for Holden’s office, a spokesman said, and has known Holden, a Queens Democrat, for decades from his work as an education activist and former PTA president. His official role involves attending Community Education Council meetings on behalf of the councilman, and responding to constituent complaints.
At issue is Carranza’s proposal to scrap the specialized high school exam in favor of measures that would increase the number of black and HIspanic students. Vocal critics like Vavruska have lashed out at Carranza, saying changes would unfairly hurt white and Asian students.
“When I’m on my time I’m exercising my free speech,” Vavruska told the Daily News Thursday. “And I’m always advocating for our children.”
Tensions reached a fever pitch at a Panel for Education Policy meeting last week at M.S. 131 in Chinatown over a measure meant to diversify school curriculum.
The panel quickly turned into a referendum on the chancellor’s racial politics, pitting blacks and Hispanics against Asians.
Vavruska, 52, cut a noticeable figure, often leading the protesters in full-volume chants. At one point, Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, a professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College, stood up, pointed directly to Vavruska, and told him he needed to leave.
Gonzales said Vavruska’s aggression was concerning, and undermined efforts to build racial bridges. Vavruska said he was just sticking up for members of his community.
“I didn’t go over the top,” he said. “I was sitting in the back of the room. The [Asian] parents felt disrespected by the chancellor.”
An NYPD spokeswoman, Sophia Mason, said Vavruska wasn’t touched by Carranza’s car Wednesday.
“All evidence in the investigation into this incident thus far shows that the person in the video was not actually struck,” Mason said in a statement.
A Holden spokesman said Vavruska is protesting during his free time.