BLAS DISSES KIDS
Moment mayor ignores charter schoolchildren begging for help
Faced with AfricanAmerican and Hispanic students who are excel l i ng at Success Academy and desperate for middle-school space, Mayor de Blasio hurried past the protest at City Hall without a word.
Nothing to see here. Hundreds of charter-school students flocked to City Hall on Monday to protest how they are invisible to Mayor de Blasio — and he proved them right when he completely ignored them as he walked inside with a grin on his face.
The 200 Success Academy fourthgraders from southeastern Queens, who are without seats for next school year, were joined at the rally by parents and staffers to demand action and accommodation.
As the demonstration concluded with remarks from Success founder Eva Moskowitz, Hizzoner’s vehicle coincidentally pulled up to the scene.
Moskowitz told the assembled kids to brace themselves for a firsthand civics lesson.
“What perfect timing,” she said as de Blasio exited his vehicle with First Lady Chirlane McCray. “He has come to join our press conference and to announce all his good deeds for kids. This is very exciting.
“Let’s see how much courage he has to face the children he is going to disenfranchise.”
With the students chanting, “Kids before politics,” just steps away, de Blasio ambled up the stairs, averted his gaze and disappeared inside with no recognition of the rally.
“This is an important civics lesson,” Moskowitz told the kids after de Blasio’s snub. “He walked right by you. You are not invisible. You are visible. You have self-determination. That’s why you are here. You are not going to be invisible, and we are going to stand together so you are visible.”
Despite de Blasio’s evasion, he claimed he was committed to getting the job done — eventually.
“It’s not a matter of snapping your fingers — it has to be done right,” the mayor said on NY1 when asked about his delay in getting more space for the children. “We’re moving as quickly as we can to accommodate them appropriately.”
The Success Academy network, which serves mostly black and Hispanic kids, says that de Blasio promised it middle-school space in southeastern Queens two years ago but that he has failed to fulfill his pledge.
Without an 11th-hour accord, Success
Academy officials say hundreds of their students could be forced back into their local — and often poorly performing — public schools.
At Success Academy Rosedale, 99 percent of students passed their math exams and 96 percent passed English. At the network’s Far Rockaway location, 94 percent passed math and 84 percent passed English.
“The children behind me would have to go back into a system that has not been able to provide for them either academically or from a space perspective,” Moskowitz said at Monday’s rally. “I call on the mayor to put kids over politics.”
Also speaking at the rally were Tiayna Harris and Kayla Montgomery, two students from Success Academy HS of the Liberal Arts in Manhattan, which faced a similar space crisis in 2014.
“I felt unimportant, disrespected and invisible to the educational system,” Harris recalled.
“In truth, I was so visible, the mayor wanted me to be invisible. When I heard that Mayor de Blasio was denying these kids in Queens a middle school, I thought, ‘Again?’ ”
“If I were to tell Mayor de Blasio anything I would say, ‘Mayor, have a heart,’ ” Harris said.
She added, “These kids will have a space, and they will continue the legacy of Success Academy.”
The city Department of Education has said that it is following space-provision protocols and that the network has the option of leasing private space and seeking reimbursement.
City Hall officials said they had “productive” discussions with Success Academy reps last month.
“We’re working on our standard timeline. We have conversations with both district and charter-school communities in the fall, and then we present school-space proposals after the community has had a chance to give feedback,” City Hall spokeswoman Jane Meyer said.
“Success will have a middle-school space option, either in public space or in private space with rental assistance, by the end of the year.”
But the network, whose schools have lengthy waiting lists, argues that there is ample room in more than six publicschool buildings and that it’s too late for them to secure private facilities for next year.
They stressed on Monday that de Blasio had expressly promised them seats in existing facilities.
“It has been very challenging with this mayor,” Moskowitz said. “He has not been totally honest and straightforward.”
Charter critics argue that the schools divert funds from traditional public schools. But Moskowitz and other advocates say charters offer lower-income parents a way to pull their kids out of failing city schools.
“We really need the city focused on public policies that are going to give lowincome children who don’t ordinarily have access to great free education access,” Moskowitz said. “I’m looking forward to this mayor and future mayors really making that commitment. Our city desperately needs it.”