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Charter School Battle Rages On
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 23, 2010
Modified Apr 24, 2010
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 23, 2010
Modified Apr 24, 2010
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The controversy over charter schools, whether they're truly effective or run in a corrupt manner, came to a head yesterday at a public hearing that devolved into a shouting match between supporters and critics. And much of the vitriol seems to be directed toward "Judas" State Sen. Bill Perkins.
The hearing was set up to determine whether more oversight was needed on charter schools' finances, but quickly devolved into sniping between experts and pols. Pro-charter advocates pointed to "impressive" results—most charters outperform neighboring schools on standardized testing—and railed against the 200 charter cap in the city (As a result, though over 55,000 students applied to charter schools, only 11,700 will be accepted this year).
Charter critics questioned the difference in performance for white and black students in charters: "It's not better for African-Americans. It's not getting better because there's still an achievement gap," Assemblywoman Inez Barron shouted at Deputy Chancellor John White. And United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew accused pro-charter Sen. Craig Johnson of accepting $65,000 in political donations from charter school backers.
But Perkins, who organized the hearing, has been getting the most flack. The Post has been running a single-minded anti-Perkins campaign this past week, including several anti-Perkins editorials ("War On Charters" and "Why does Bill Perkins hate kids?") that are hilariously extreme in their rhetoric. As Leonie Haimson, executive director of non-profit Class Size Matters, wrote on the Huffington Post: "I doubt the Post has ever expressed as much hostility against Osama Bin Laden himself."
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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