I sent the following letter to Senator Diane Savino this morning. I hope she posts it. Senator Savino, Yesterday I received numerous requests to take a stand against Senator Diane Savino’s support for the NYS budget which would allow greater protections for charter schools. I was asked to draft letters and to apply pressure against her support for this proposal. Well everyone was surprised when I said no. In fact they were shocked when I suggested to them that they write a letter to Senator Savino and Governor Cuomo thanking them for tacking such a bold action. I applaud the senator and governor for finally admitting that some of our public schools are preforming so poorly that legislative action is required. A few days ago a report was released saying that New York State has the most segregated schools in the country. In response to that report I pointed out that the segregation was not one of color but one of zip code. Statistically it has been shown that schools in lower income and minority zip codes do not perform as well as their counterparts in more affluent zip codes. There are a whole host of reasons for this disparity but among them is the quality of teaching and learning in minority zip codes. And this disparity is exactly the purpose of the charter school movement. I would like to say that I support Senator Savino’s actions and I would like to say that I am not against charter schools. If I were to make on request it would be that the senator modify the legislation to ensure that ALL charter schools be required to be a bit more responsible to the communities they serve. I would like to see them mandated to serve a percentage of special education students from their communities. Even if the percentage is a low as 1% it is more than some of Ms. Moskowit’s schools now serve. It has been said that the measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members. Please don’t exclude our weakest members form this bold step forward in improving education in New York. Sam Pirozzolo
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 14:32:04 +0000
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