A Great Day in Harlem

21 Mar 2008

NYC charter schools, parents band together

You know the old canard about apathetic parents? Fuggedaboutit.

Last night, more than a thousand parents jammed Mt. Olivet Baptist Church on Harlem's Lenox Avenue, waving signs that said "Close the Achievement Gap" and "I Chose a Charter," at a rally sponsored by Democrats for Education Reform.
DFER's executive director, former Daily News scribe Joe Williams said, "I wrote a whole book about parent power, but I don't think I knew what it meant until tonight!"

About 20% of Harlem's public school students are now in charters, and it's easy to see why. These parents love what their kids are getting. I had the privilege of tagging along with Colorado State Sen. Peter Groff (a major charter champion) as he toured Harlem Success Academy before the rally. This is the school founded by former NY City Council Ed Chair Eva Moskowitz, and
what a place: kindergartners learning the Scientific Method by studying snails, seeds, and aerodynamics, first-graders rounding out their long school day -- we were there at 5pm -- by learning music on Orff instruments; and best of all, a very erudite group of second graders who quizzed Sen. Groff on his job. ("How many laws have you gotten passed?" "Do you speak Spanish?") Facing the Denver press corps will be a cinch after this.

Although Gov. Paterson got stuck in budget negotiations, quite a roster of city and state leaders showed up -- along with bigwigs like Essence founder Edward Lewis and philanthropist Joe Reich, who support New York's charters with dollars and personal time. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein gave a stemwinder of a speech, bringing the parents to their feet with a demand that this country close the learning gap between rich and poor -- and pleading with audience members to become foot soldiers in making this a
sustained struggle. (Which reminds me -- watch this space: Sabrina Williams and several other leaders of a new group called Harlem Parents United spoke at the Harlem Success gathering and the church rally; the group is community-wide and fixated on "quality education, period" -- but its energy seems to be coming from the charter parents, and each one of its representatives was a powerhouse.)

By the way, gotts to give some props to one rally speaker in particular. If 90% of success is showing up, then former NBA star Kevin Johnson is running at about 500%. He flew in from Sacramento (where he has turned dysfunctional Sacramento High into St. Hope Charter Schools, that last year sent 73% of graduates to four-year colleges.....and is running for Mayor) to make the rally, and gave a terrific speech. This guy is real class -- and good news for NYC that he's getting to open a new St. Hope charter there in the fall.

So where does all this go? One immediate goal is to make sure that the "forces of the status quo" -- including some absent Harlem politicians -- get an earful about charter schools and their need for decent facilities. As one school leader pointed out, even with Klein's strong support for co-location, the district schools are reluctant to give up their excess space, which is often allocated to adult purposes (teacher lounges, union office time) rather than kids' educational needs.

Longer term, who knows? I think I saw the makings of an earthquake last night, one that could shake the foundations of same 'ol, same 'ol public schooling.

NS

Update - Here is some video of the event. 

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