Report: NYC Charter Schools Violate Federal, State Law With Disciplinary Codes

Orange jumpsuits anybody?

Most of New York City’s charter schools have disciplinary codes that do not meet either state or federal requirements, according to a report by a children’s advocacy organization that is to be released on Thursday.

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In preparing the report, the group surveyed the disciplinary policies of 155 charter organizations — large networks as well as smaller, independent schools — out of 183 such organizations that operated in New York City during the 2013-14 school year. (The 155 organizations had 164 disciplinary policies between them because some set different standards for different grade levels, Advocates for Children said.)

Some charter schools have drawn criticism for having high suspension rates and a strict approach to discipline that pushes children out of the classroom unnecessarily. But many charter advocates have said it is crucial to maintain order so children can learn.

The Advocates for Children report cites complaints from parents who said their children had been suspended from charter schools over minor offenses such as wearing the wrong shoes or laughing while serving detention. Ultimately, though, the group said the main issue was legal.

Half of the policies examined by Advocates for Children let charter schools suspend or expel students for being late or cutting class — punishments the group said violated state law. At three dozen schools, there were no special rules covering the suspension or expulsion of children with disabilities, which the group said violated federal law. And in 25 instances, charter schools could suspend students for long periods without a hearing, which the group said violated the United States and New York State Constitutions, as well as state law.

Of course the pushback from the charter operators and supporters is that charter schools are not public schools so they don't have to abide by the same state and federal laws that public schools do.

You see, charter schools are only public schools when it comes time to take public money, get co-located in a public school building or have their rent paid by NYC for private space if no co-location space is available.

For everything else - from the disciplinary codes to the ability of city or state agencies to audit them to the teacher evaluation law - they're private entities that do not have to abide by the same rules and regulations public schools do.

It's fabulous being a charter school operator in Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's New York State.

You get the best of both worlds - all the benefits without any of the responsibilities, obligations, rules or regulations.

And so, it's perfectly all right for a charter school to make students wear orange shirts (so similar to the orange jumpsuits prisoners are forced to wear) when they're being punished for some minor infraction whereas if a public school ever tried that same thing, it would (rightfully) be stopped in its tracks.

Eva Moskowitz Plays Victim, Says Bill De Blasio Is Trying To "Kill Us"

From Eliza Shapiro at Capital NY:

Success Academy C.E.O. Eva Moskowitz said Tuesday she hopes to have 100 schools in her New York City charter school network within the next 10 years, and predicted another battle with the de Blasio administration over school space.

"We think it would be a contribution to get to 100 schools" Moskowitz said during an event called "Exploring the Success of Success Academy" hosted by the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.

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The Success network was recently awarded an additional 14 schools by the SUNY Charter Institute. That will bring the number of Success charters to 46 by 2016, with an estimated enrollment of over 36,000 students with a $165 million cost to the city by 2020.

But Moskowitz predicted another conflict over space with the de Blasio administration for those new schools.

"We are waiting to hear from the de Blasio administration about whether they are going to give us space," she said. "Most likely I won't be able to open those schools," due to what she called "pure politics."

Moskowitz criticized the mayor and his ill-fated decision to reverse co-locations for three of Moskowitz's schools earlier this year, which led to an all-out battle between New York's influential, well-financed charter school advocates and the administration.

Although the charter sector ultimately gained an advocate in Governor Andrew Cuomo and successfully lobbied for a sweeping pro-charter law passed during the last legislative session, Moskowitz said she refers to this spring as "the dark period."

Moskowitz criticized de Blasio for attempting to "throw out" three high-performing charters while "managing a sea of schools that have been failing." It was clear who Moskowitz was referring to when she said she wakes up everyday paranoid because "people are trying to kill us."

Last year Moskowitz ate de Blasio for lunch, launching five million dollars in anti-de Blasio ads, coordinating pro-charter rallies with Governor Cuomo, and eventually getting exactly what she wanted when Cuomo forced NYC to either co-locate all future charters or pick up their rent tab.

She played "victim" and she continues to play "victim" now by claiming de Blasio wants to "kill us."

That's what she does best - play victim, bask in the media glow, rally the politicians to her cause, and suck up the Wall Street contributions that roll in as a result.

When you look back at last spring, the period which Moskowitz calls her "dark period," de Blasio was the one who almost got "killed."

His polls numbers dropped after the millions in anti-de Blasio ads Eva and her charter supporters ran and Cuomo managed to cut part of de Blasio's mayoral control of schools.

Rumor has it charter advocates are looking for more of de Blasio's power to be chopped this legislative session when the mayoral control law comes back up for renewal (apparently mayoral control is only important to maintain when the mayor is pro-charter, pro-ed deform.)

De Blasio has gotten much savvier since the spring in how he handles crises - he was very calm and collected with the Ebola case and has so far managed to navigate the minefield that is the Garner case, so here's hoping he handles whatever showdown is coming with Eva and the charter operators better than he did last spring when he got rolled.

Alas, if the UFT, NYSUT and other stakeholders in the public schools don't come to his defense when the battle is joined, I don't see de Blasio putting up much of a fight against Moskowitz.

Not after they abandoned him last spring in the battle against Moskowitz and Cuomo.

In any case, the self-pitying act Eva plays is getting old considering how powerful she is, how wealthy her backers are, how much influence she has in Albany.

But she keeps playing the role over and over and over - and it keeps working.

Will Media Call Eva Moskowitz, Charter Allies On Their $3.6 Million Ad Buy In Last Three Weeks?

@perdidostschool can someone spent $3.6 million on restorative programs within public schools, infrastructure and classrooms
— Mutale Nkonde (@yppe06) March 20, 2014

Eva claims she has no money to pay rent but she and her allies drop $3.6 million on a three week pro-charter/anti-de Blasio ad blitz.

The ads are still running, so that tally on the ad campaign will go higher.

Can you imagine if de Blasio and his allies spent $3.6 million attacking Eva and her Success Academies?

What would the media say about that?

But here we have Moskowitz and her hedge fund friends spending more than $1 million a week attacking de Blasio and crying poverty over the rent and so far, we get mostly silence from the media about this outrage.

What would it take for the clowns on the Morning Joe Clown Show to mention this hypocrisy the next time the charter school issue comes up?

Eva Moskowitz And Her Allies Spent $3.6 Million On Pro-Charter Ads In Last Three Weeks

How come they can't pay rent but they can spend $3.6 million dollars on pro-charter ads?

A pro-charter school group has spent $3.6 million over the past three weeks on TV ads attacking Mayor de Blasio, an insider revealed Wednesday.

Families for Excellent Schools — founded by a deep-pocketed group of financiers — has run a series of ads, including a spot blaming de Blasio for taking away the “hopes and dreams” of 194 students by blocking Success Academy Harlem Central.

De Blasio stopped three Success schools from co-locating in public school buildings while allowing five others to go ahead. His allies call the ad campaign hypocritical.

“They have parents believing there’s no way they’re going to find space for these 194 students,” said Zakiyah Ansari of the labor-backed lobbying group Alliance for Quality Education. “Do they tell them they’re spending $3.6 million on these ads in less than a month? Put that into the building that you say you can’t find.”

Seriously.

Capital NY: Cuomo May Broker Deal Using Teacher Evaluation "Flexibility" For Extra Charter School Funds

From Eliza Shapiro at Capital NY:

Governor Andrew Cuomo offered few specifics when he pledged to "save charter schools" at a massive rally on Tuesday, beyond promising "financial capacity, physical space and the government's support."

But as Mayor Bill de Blasio begins to follow through on his promise to rethink co-locations and free rent for charters, Cuomo is actually in a position to help them significantly, as long as he's willing to spend some political capital to do so.

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The politics wouldn't be simple. The governor would have to get the Legislature to go along with his ideas. And while he'd be pleasing the donors to Eva Moskowitz's Success Academies who have contributed heavily to him, the governor would further alienate union-aligned activists like Billy Easton of the Alliance for Quality Education, who blasted him for "severely underfunding public schools."

State budget and education experts told Capital that Cuomo can help charters by maneuvering more money in the state budget towards the city's schools, and then stipulating that some of that money be used for charter revenue.

Parrott called that the "easiest option" for Cuomo, even though, he said, "it does represent a new level of state intervention regarding New York City."

Budget deals could hypothetically include additional funding for charters bartered for flexibility on teacher evaluations, sources say, or for myriad other non-education related priorities for members of the Senate and Assembly.

Shapiro quotes David Bloomfield saying that without Cuomo brokering an actual deal on charter funding himself, his talk at the Eva rally on Tuesday remains nothing more than talk.

I find it unconscionable that Cuomo would use "flexibility" over APPR in NYC to get extra money toward Eva and Company.

He's been saying that he will brook NO CHANGES to APPR no matter the problems with the evaluation system or the CCSS tests, but now suddenly "flexibility" is fine so long as Eva Moskowitz gets free rent?

Cuomo Says He Will "Save Charter Schools" From The Phony War On Charters

Looks like all that money Eva Moskowitz and her backers gave to Governor Cuomo paid dividends:

A fired up Gov. Cuomo vowed Tuesday afternoon to “save charter schools.”

“We are here to tell you we stand with you. You are not alone,” said Cuomo, speaking at a massive pro-charter school rally that attracted thousands of parents, teachers, and kids from across the state who braved frigid 20-degree temperatures to fill the park in front of the Capitol in Albany.

“Our point today is that parents deserve a choice,” Cuomo said. “I am committed to ensuring charter  schools have the financial capacity, the physical space, and the government support to thrive and grow.”

Cuomo made the comments around the same time Mayor de Blasio was up the block at a smaller rally in support of the mayor’s push to hike the city income tax on the wealthy to fund expanded prekindergarten and after school programs—a plan Cuomo opposes.

De Blasio last week announced he’d be cutting funding for charters and revoked the co-location agreement for three charters that are run by former City Councilwoman Eva Moskowitz.

Cuomo didn’t mention the mayor, but argued that education is “not about the districts, and not about the pensions, and not about the unions and not about the lobbyists.”

“Education is about the students; students come first,” he said.

And so there we have it - the governor, the State Senate Republicans and the Independent Democrats are going to make sure Eva Moskowitz continues to get free rent for her charter empire.

This is why it matters that Tony Avella just became an Independent Democrat caucus member.

The only thing standing in the way of Eva and free rent money from the state is the Assembly:

Not in attendance was Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who told the Daily News Monday that his conference has traditionally been opposed to co-location of charter schools in public school buildings. He also said he didn’t think there Assembly move to save the three Moskowitz-run charters.

But while Silver didn’t attend, Assemblyman Karim Camara, the Brooklyn Democrat who heads the legislative Black, Hispanic and Puerto Rican caucus, vowed to fight for the charters.

We'll see where this goes.

If I had to bet, I'd put money on Eva getting free rent money from Cuomo for her charter empire, de Blasio's pre-K plan going down to defeat, and Eva Moskowitz emerging from this battle with the de Blasio administration emboldened for even more empire-building.

Here's hoping I lose that money - and Eva loses her free rent.