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June 4th City-Wide School-Community Based Protests: No School-Based Budget Cuts or School Layoffs
Parents, Students, and School Workers at PS 15 Demand Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein Prioritize Spending for Public Education!
Public Education in NYC has faced over 500 million in cuts since 2009. The Mayor must seek other revenues instead of cutting our schools and other important services that are the lifeblood of our communities!
Bailouts for Banks and Wall Street but NOT FOR OUR KIDS? SAVE OUR SCHOOLS... STOP THE FORCES WHO SEEK TO DISMANTLE AND DESTROY PUBLIC EDUCATION!
Charter schools are public schools and have the same rights as district schools to use public school buildings. The children attending PAVE are children from your community and district. PS15 is under-utilized. Why are you trying to deny the children of your own community access to a quality education at PAVE. Parents have every right to choose which school they wish to send their children.
ReplyDeleteCAPE is comprised of teachers who don't want to be held accountable for failing their students and being protected by a union contract that put children last and union dues first.
It's our children, not yours. Do your job and educate our children!!
I am a parent that went to public school PS 15 and my daughter that is 24yrs old now went to public school and is attending college. Now I have a son that is 6yrs old and I decided to try out the Charter School for a change and I just love the environment, acedemics,curriculum and structure that they have for our children! My son was one of the children that scored in kindergarten 99.9% percentile in math and was reading over 100 site words by the hundredth day of school. it is such a pleasure to have the opportunity of a chater school to be in our community and help our future generation. As children we we're always taught to share whatever happend to this respect? What is this teaching or kids now? This whole thing has become very personal. If you have the space why not share and be patient. It's not about us it's about our children and they are innocent.
ReplyDeleteI find the two above comments so interesting... amazing that somehow PAVE parents miraculously found our blog when it hasn't even been publicized and decided to leave comments... but I'll take the bait and answer anyway...
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, the first post on the 11th is so shameful and inaccurate it's almost funny: CAPE is comprised of PARENTS and teachers thank you very much and we do not fail our students; we are an AAA school with some of the highest test scores in the city, and we are a model for enrichment and intervention programming. The teachers are highly trained, educated, and certified. We are not a big union school, and even if we were, who cares? We have nothing to hide from because our students succeed and in addition unions are there to protect workers, wages and working conditions; any middle class worker would want that. I know the charter movement sells unions as bad news; that makes sense since these are people who come from privileged backgrounds who have no regard for the working class.
Second, it’s funny you say charters are public and have the same rights as public schools. Due process is required and often skirted, they are not entitled to the same things as community public schools, but they sure do get a lot of special perks because they can claim public when it suits them and private when that suits them.
P.S. 15 is not underutilized: we have teachers sharing rooms and a teacher in the library, we have an intervention person in a room the size of a closet so now she can't do pull out. Just because this administration made up a "formula" for the allocation of space doesn't make their numbers true; that formula does not address special education requirements, related services, enrichment, or intervention. It is faulty and the whole thing is really cynical.
To the second post: I am thrilled that you like the charter school. Our purpose is clear, to protect and preserve public schools, we have no interest in fighting against charters nor do we wish to keep parents from them. We do not go out and spend our resources on heavily recruiting children away from their desired school, charters do that. We simply believe charters should be held to some standards, held to their agreements, and should not impose upon or negatively impact public schools and their programming and ability to serve children. Charter schools, and particularly this one, are not tested, they have no success record... we are measured, we are held accountable, we are transparent, and we are successful and there is no reason why our programming should suffer, no reason we should not be able to serve our children in the way we have been for years because this charter was granted space, for free (this by the way is only legal in NYC, it is actually NY State law that charters do not receive free space), and now wants to break their agreement and stay beyond two years. We don't have a problem w/ the concept of sharing, but sharing and taking things away are two totally different concepts. We will not stand by and watch the things that help our students become successful, the programming that prepares our children for the future, to be taken away or negatively impacted.
If the charter school movement’s priorities really lie with children, they would not take actions that negatively impact the existing children and school, both of whom were and are succeeding, meeting every state and city standard and requirement and beyond.
It is cynical to talk about being “here for the children” when the bottom line is the two year agreement is being broken because they haven’t found a space and we don’t believe they ever had any intention of finding a space. The charters ‘leader’ said on Friday to a parent, “in a few years we will have our own building”… a few years?!?! We don’t know where those few years will be spent, not at PS 15! We will do everything we can to take our school back and protect the free, fair, quality, and truly public education our students and our democracy deserve.
Anonymous on Sept. 11th.. what's your deal? Why are you attacking PS 15's teachers? They are highly successful at educating our children, they are extremely dedicated, they come early, stay late, run tons of programs on their own time (lunches, preps, after school, before school and weekends). You make no valid argument when you spew this kind of baseless hatred and lies.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, your facts are wrong.
I would also like to say to the second post who stated: 'if you have the space, why not share and be patient'. PAVE LIES about the space PS 15 has and about the space and students they have! Around half of PAVE's kids aren't even from Red Hook, they are bused in. We don't have extra space and breaking the two year agreement would require PS 15 to LOSE programming and space for related services, such as speech and therapy, and prep periods, among other things.
I can appreciate that you both seem to have children at PAVE, but I have a child at PS 15, and I am very unhappy with what is happening there and the negative impact PAVE is having on my child.
An agreement was made, it should be honored. PAVE Free at PS 15 by June 2010!
I find the following comment made by Anonymous #1 to be extremely out of line and completely without merit - "CAPE is comprised of teachers who don't want to be held accountable for failing their students and being protected by a union contract that put children last and union dues first."
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, you clearly know nothing about public school teachers. We are held accountable for everything! Furthermore, when have we failed our students? We are a AAA school and have been for the past 3 years. I didn't know receiving an A meant that you were failing kids. We earned the highest marks (AAA) possible due to our unending dedication to servicing our students with the programming and intervention that they need to succeed. The issue at hand is NOT that we are against charter schools. The issue is that this charter school is taking space that we use to service children that have unique and individual learning needs. Sharing is not a problem but when another school's students in the same building are being compromised how is this fair? The comment made by Anonymous #1 that we at PS 15 should do our job and educate "our" children seems to be missing the fact that "our" children are suffering as a result of the lack of space and adequate services needed to help our students grow and succeed. If you truly cared about children in the Red Hook community you would look at this situation from both points of view as we have.
The PAVE charter school is a joke and embarrassment to the city. But what is really sad is the abuse that is happening...lots of it and on many levels.
ReplyDeleteWe hold PAVE and the Department of Education to their word of "Only two years." Will Mr. White, Duffy, and S. Robertson call themselves liars?...Well, with billions behind them, maybe so.....???
ReplyDeletePAVE is an exceptional charter school. I am a proud parent of a PAVE scholar and find it disturbing that so many of the PS 15 teachers are preoccupied with sharing a building. A community building that is meant to raise New York City educational standards by teaching our future leaders instead of gossiping about who made what and how much money so and so Mr. Robertson has in his life. Teachers are underpaid, but not undereducated. Why are PS 15 teachers and parents being so small?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking out against unfair practices and policies that promote a single agenda is not being “small”. The P.S. 15 school community has been left out of important decision-making processes that directly and negatively impact us. We learned about the decision to first allow PAVE to use our building after the decision was made! There was no official notification, there was talk among staff and parents once the information was leaked. We organized, contacted community members and only then did the Department of Education hold what they called a “public hearing” to discuss the issue. Soon after that meeting, PAVE Academy began their stay within our building, with the promise of staying 2 years.
ReplyDeleteNow, in the same way, we learned about PAVE Academy’s intention to remain in our building for beyond the 2 years they were originally granted. When I say “in the same way” I mean we received no official notification of this intent to stay beyond the two years, which is strange, since both schools participated in monthly building council meetings all of last year.
That would have been the proper time and place to make such an announcement. Each year this charter school remains in our building means we give up at least two more rooms. This year, losing rooms has compromised the space our speech, occupational, and physical therapists need to provide quality services that are mandated by law. If we continue to lose space, this will degrade our science and social studies programs as well, to say the least. How is it “small” to worry that the needs of our children? We are preoccupied with sharing a building because our chancellor and mayor’s educational reform platform champions charter schools and allows them to be housed in public buildings free of charge, while no one in the department advocates as strongly for the city’s neighborhood public schools. We are not being small; we are standing up for what is right. To be fair, all schools deserve space to best educate their children, and sharing a building that was not built to be shared benefits no one.
Dee... Small? What is small is to not live up to your word. That is all PS 15 parents and educators want. Be honest. Keep your word.
ReplyDeleteWe do not have the space and we have every right to protect our children...Hold to the agreement and leave PS 15 in June 2010.
BTW, calling students and children 'scholars' as opposed to 'students and children' does not elevate PAVE or anyone else to another standard. PS 15 is an exceptional community public school and its students are very successful; we will not stand by silently while our children are negatively impacted.
RE:Dee's comment
ReplyDeleteI would find it disturbing if the PS 15 teachers were NOT preoccupied about sharing a building. Their dedication is what drives them to persist in their efforts to regain full use of their building. Their "preoccupation" only goes to show, that once again, PS 15-The Patrick F. Daly School, is staffed by teachers who are ethical, kind, and honor creativity.
Please ask yourself this question:"Do I want my child to go to a school that is sharing a space with another school?" I'm sure your answer would be the same as mine. "No"........Support the cause. Hold Mr.Robertson to his promise.
Maybe the PAVE PARENTS should actually see all the things that go on with there children. Walking around like soilders. Head straight, Hands on there sides and no Speaking is this a school or the military.
ReplyDeleteI feel that they should stick to there aggrement to leave in 2010. why say that u have something and u dont. our kids need there space they have alot of activities in P.S.15 to just give up class rooms.
ReplyDeleteMr.Robertson and all his tag along teachers should follow up to there 2 year agreement and leave the building. It shouldn't be all that in the PAVE when one of there teachers wanted to get an interview to work with P.s.15 somethings wrong.
ReplyDeleteAs a parent who has a child attending PS 15 not PAVE, I will begin by stating that this blog was not intended to have people utilizing anonymity to make uneducated statements. I am all for the right to chose what the parent feels is best for THEIR child, but the children at PAVE deserve a location in which they can flourish without compromising my child's educational growth as well. My child has a right to a public education and I feel that problem is when the Mayor and the DOE are dictating to me, what my child needs or what they want I do not care what the Mayor wants, this is my child not his, my child's education is just as important! For those of you who wish to make false accusations regarding the educational staff at PS 15, I will clarify this much: 1. For an individual to teach in a public school they must at least have an associates degree 2. The teacher has to be bonded, which means a background check and complete finger printing. 3.The teacher/instructor also must be licensed and continue his/her education which if I do not misquote all of our teachers at PS 15 have a Masters Degree in Education not finance, liberal arts; law or economics. PS 15 teachers or rather Public School Teachers education is continual, which means although they have a masters Degree they continue to educate themselves in specialized courses to better serve our children.Some specializing in the needs of students with learning disabilities and or special needs. Once again I will state the choice between Charter, Private or Public school should lie with the parent and not the government.
ReplyDeleteJUST A FRIENDLY REMINDER PS15 IS A TRIPLE A SCHOOL and I am almost certain that the Teachers, Students and Parents want it to continue being a AAA school.
I demand what my child deserves which is a quality education with educational growth, taught by qualified instructors. No child deserves to be crammed into another class with another grade because PAVE will need yet another 4 classrooms for the next coming academic year. Mr. Robertson please remember your words at a meeting with parent and Licensed Bonded Educators were if I may quote " I give you my word we already have a site PAVE will only be in PS15 until June of 2010"
shame on you for not keeping your word and then feeling like you owed no one as much as an explanation but then demanding the students of PS15 be stripped of their right to an education to fulfill your needs.
Privilege does not entitle you to the right of disrespecting OUR principal either. SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!
I AGREE SHAME ON YOU!!!!!! ON NOT KEEPING YOUR WORD.
ReplyDeleteWhere is the UFT in all of this? Where are you UFT? Do you exist? Union teachers are fighting all over the city...with charter school SHOVED down their throats... where are you UFT? What are we paying you for? To wait for uncertifed charter school teachers to join? While we, the members suffer?
ReplyDeleteWhere are you UFT?
I do not know one teacher or staff member of a school that will stay home and NOT vote on election day. We are sick and tired of the Bloomberg abuse! Our children and schools have suffered so badly from Bloomberg and his puppets of a Dept of Education.
TEACHERS FOR THOMPSON! All the way!
Respect term limits and lets get away from the Bloomberg BureauCRAZY!
TEACHERS FOR THOMPSON ... and for a UFT with a BIG RAT to put outside where there are non-union people working!
Where are you UFT? Ummm, it is time to open your mouth... like now... Where are you UFT? Who are we paying dues to? Where is the UNION?
To the comment of Sept.13 by a parent who attended PS15 and has a child who attended PS15 and is attending college. First and foremost I applaud you, but you as a parent. Thankfully your eldest child did not have another school imposing or taking up classrooms that were being utilized for her enrichment. Your children will achieve their goals because as a parent YOU are doing a great job. Yes the DOE stated that PS15 was being under utilized because they do not want to acknowledge the benefits that the students had because the classroom were being used for programs that are being threatened by lack of space, or the impact the overcrowding can have on all of the children. It is difficult to get a variance and have your child placed in PS15 as a public school if you are not in the catchment area or immediate area which means if a parent wants to transfer into PS15 from PS 27 they have to go through a process which can and usually gets denied. My child goes to PS 15 and no I DO NOT WANT TO SHUT UP or SHARE SPACE with anyone else, not just PAVE if it is going to compromise my son's education!! I have 2 children who are attending college, who went to PS 15. and they were not FORCED to share space with a GROWING SCHOOL that will need yet more space with each coming year. Look to the future this will affect both of our children negatively due to over crowding this is not acceptable.
ReplyDeletePS This comment was not intended to offend anyone.
I BLAME THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION EVEN MORE THAN SPENCER ROBERTSON, BECAUSE THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ALLOWS THIS TO CONTINUE.THE DOE HAS THEIR OWN AGENDA AND THAT IS TO MAKE PUBLIC EDUCATION OBSOLETE.
ReplyDeleteSPENCER ROBERTSON IS LIKE THAT DISTANT FAMILY MEMBER WHO MEEKLY ASKS TO STAY FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS AND SOMEHOW TRIES TO RUN YOU OUT OF YOUR OWN HOME, HE CAME IN LIKE A LAMB AND HAS MANAGED TO SHOW HIS TRUE COLORS PREMATURELY AND IS ACTUALLY A WOLF.
HOW CAN ANY UNCERTIFIED PERSON TEACH CHILDREN AT SUCH A CRUCIAL STAGE IN THEIR LIVES AND CALL THESE CHILDREN SCHOLARS, WHEN IN FACT THE INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF ARE NOT EVEN SCHOLARS, SHOW THE PUBLIC YOUR CERTIFICATIONS, MASTERS BONDING DOCUMENTATION IN THIS DAY AND AGE,PARENTS SHOULD BE CAREFUL ON WHERE AND HOW OUR CHILDREN SPEND THEIR DAY.
EVEN PUBLIC SCHOOL AIDES AND DAYCARES NEED SOME LEVEL OF CERTIFICATION, WHY NOT CHARTER SCHOOL STAFF.
IF YOU DO NOT WISH FOR NEGATIVE STATEMENTS TO BE MADE DO NOT LEAVE YOURSELVES OPEN TO RIDICULE BUT YOUR IGNORANCE.
Any time we talk about the education of our children and their wee-being, it tends to arouse powerful emotions. this is ok and natural. How we channel those emotions is important. But we need to maintain our composure as best as we can for the sake of our children not the adults. This is fustrating and half of the things that are said you know is untrue. It should be positive and not negative for everyone's sake. Time and patients is what it will take and tonite we will know the truth!
ReplyDeleteWe only need to know one truth:
ReplyDeleteThe community was given an agreement. Spencer Robertson has stated he wants to break that agreement. This is unacceptable and we will not stand for it.
BTW: I'm not sure what you are saying on this blog is untrue... please enlighten us...
At this point in the scenario, Spencer Robertson cannot be believed until he supports his statements with solid proof because he LIED, point blank. How do you lie in a community's face and expect the community to be so gullible to once again believe him. It is not about PAVE servicing the children whose parents have made the decision to have THEIR children in a charter school, it is the expansion of PAVE within PS15 will continue pushing my child and the other children of PUBLIC SCHOOL 15 out of THEIR SCHOOL.
ReplyDeleteI know it is a difficult situation but like the parents of PAVE MY MAIN CONCERNS ARE THE CHILDREN ATTENDING PS15.
I don't understand why there is so much secrecy about a location and date of transition to the new location. That is scheduled for June 2010.
We're are still within the 120 days of the school year agreement and Hope that when that time is up then Like Mr. Spencer said you PS 15 will be the first to know! Until then we as parents and with children in this Public City school we need to be lenient with one another and as for the teacher's especially the one's that are talking or teaching their children anamosity toward the lil Pavesters need to get a grip on It!
ReplyDeleteAnamosity toward the lil Pavesters.... ?!?!?! That is a BLATANT lie... don't let Robertson and Cooper brainwash you with their propaganda... they are full of it and they are trying to get you guys all hype to defend what is indefensible... PAVE parents should be outraged too... you too were sold an agreement and your children deserve their own space so they can have the programming they deserve and are not getting. NO ONE is teaching any PS 15 children ANYTHING about PAVE AT ALL. AGAIN, that is a blatant lie and a tactic being used by Spencer and Cooper to try and shift the focus, bind you all together, and make their school look like victims. You don't know half the shit they do, to PS 15 and to your kids. Be careful who you believe and who you are loyal to. They only have their OWN interests at heart.
ReplyDeleteATTENTION: you can comment on any post... unless of course you are not reading anything and are just going to the last thing you commented on because you only want your voice heard and have no interest in hearing what others are actually saing. You can click on 'comments' at the end of each blog entry to discuss the real issues in each post. Just FYI
ReplyDeleteI have my child in PS 15 and I would NEVER allow anyone student,teacher, adult,child to ever treat ANY child in a disrespectful manner, so for someone who has never even been within the building throughout a day to say that the children of PS 15 are being taught animosity (the correct spelling)especially towards another individual. Please do not make false comments. As an adult , stop, breathe and try to think clearly. The students of PAVE are not allowed to even look at anyone: it's look straight forward and march, no, stopping, talking or acknowledging another individual.
ReplyDeleteI have friends, associates and acquaintances with children who attend PAVE, I DO NOT discuss the school at all. I TRY NOT to make false statements because if I don't see, hear or experience for myself then I don't ASSUME.
IT IS NOT ABOUT PAVE IT IS WHAT IS BEST FOR ALL OF OUR CHILDREN!!!! CHILDREN LIKE WEEDS GROW TOO QUICKLY AND NEED ADEQUATE SPACE. THAT IS ALL. I REFUSE TO DISRESPECT ANYONE.
For the woman who made the comment about PS15 Teachers, not residing in Red Hook, come out of COOP City and you may just see them in Red Hook I know I do live here and have for over 40 years , oh and I do know that the teachers of PS15 care because I have older children and the teachers actually stop me to ask about my older children, if it was just about a job and unions then they wouldn't bother don't you think?
ReplyDeleteAs the president of the charter school committee or whatever you call yourself, don't you think you should set an example to all of the parents at the meeting and not be so aggressive, arrogant and ignorant.
As a teacher in a school that is now occupied by 3-high school level charter schools, I suggest you watch the attached video I made about my library renovation.
ReplyDeleteAfter continuously being denied funds by Councilmember David Yassky & BBP Mary Markowitz, I was able to renovate my library with no $ whatsoever.
I came back to work just two weeks ago and was told that the library that I made into a beautiful castle is now the "Charter Schools." Our middle school kids won't be able to come and go from the library, as I'm able to keep my office, but that's it. It's been suggested that I push a cart around w/books and teach library lessons in individual classes.
Judge for yourself and decide who is being hurt the most?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8jqwGxUKpg
What's being done to our poor kids is criminal!