By Julie Shapiro
Volume 21, Number 8 | THE NEWSPAPER OF LOWER MANHATTAN | July 4 – July 10, 2008
A few hundred students and parents from P.S. 89 and P.S. 234 marched to City Hall after school let out for the summer last Thursday. A few dozen demonstrators chanted at Mayor Bloomberg (not shown) before the rally, asking him to build more schools.
City removes P.S. 89’s overcrowding banner before rally
When Anne Albright arrived at P.S. 89 one morning last week, she noticed that a red-and-white banner reading “STOP Overcrowding Our Schools” had disappeared from P.S. 89’s fence.
At first, Albright and other parents assumed it was a random act of vandalism. But then they heard that the Department of Education told a custodian to take the banner down, said Albright, co-president of P.S. 89’s Overcrowding Committee.
“I don’t understand why the D.O.E. has anything to say [about the school displaying the banner],” Albright said.
Albright and others channeled their frustration about overcrowding at a rally last Thursday. Several hundred strong, parents and elementary students marched to City Hall after the last day of school to demand solutions for the overcrowding at P.S. 89, P.S. 234 and other local schools.
At the rally and afterwards, parents talked about what the removal of the P.S. 89 banner means for the anti-overcrowding effort.
“If he got mad, great,” said Nicki Francis, a P.S. 234 parent, referring to Schools Chancellor Joel Klein. “He should work harder doing his job.”
Eric Greenleaf, head of P.S. 234’s Overcrowding Committee, sees no reason for the D.O.E. to order P.S. 89 to take down the banner.
“It’s ridiculous,” Greenleaf said. “It’s not like [the banner] says, ‘Fire Klein.’ It’s pretty innocuous.”
Maibe Gonzalez, a D.O.E. spokesperson, would not comment on the removal of the banner, but she said it likely violated the city’s rules about what can be displayed in schools.
“School buildings are not public forums for purposes of community or political expression,” Gonzalez said in an e-mail to Downtown Express. “School facilities cannot be used to promote political or ideological messages of any kind. I’m certain the public can find a more appropriate venue for this purpose.”
Similarly, she said parents should not spend any P.T.A. money on publicizing the overcrowding in their schools.
The chancellor’s regulations about P.T.A. money prohibit political contributions, including to “sectarian groups,” and Gonzalez cited the city’s legal interpretation of this provision as the final say.
Both the P.S. 89 and P.S. 234 P.T.A.s have used only parent contributions to fund the anti-overcrowding demonstrations — they haven’t dipped into P.T.A. funds at all.
“We knew it would be an issue,” Greenleaf said.
Kevin Doherty, past president of the P.S. 234 P.T.A., took a similar tack when parents were concerned that noisy pile-driving at 101 Warren St. would disrupt classes at P.S. 234. Parents wanted to hire a sound consultant, but they heard from the D.O.E. that they could not use P.T.A. funds, so they paid for the project themselves, Doherty said.
“The impact and benefit to children just wasn’t clear enough [for the D.O.E.],” Doherty said. By using their own money, parents were able to move more quickly and address impacts to the surrounding neighborhood, not just the school.
Doherty sees the appropriate use of P.T.A. funds as a spectrum. At one end are obviously legitimate expenditures, like paper for photocopy machines or musical instruments for children. At the other end are items expressly forbidden by the D.O.E., like contributions to political candidates or tickets to social events.
Doherty, though, thinks the P.T.A. should be able to use their money on the anti-overcrowding flyers and postcards.
“Educating parents on a critical matter is well within P.T.A. guidelines,” Doherty said. “That doesn’t fly in the spirit of what the Board of Ed is trying to do.”
A D.O.E. official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the prohibition on P.T.A.s using money to fight overcrowding has nothing to do with the message or the criticism of the chancellor and mayor.
“Even if they’re supporting D.O.E. policy, it’s simply not allowed,” the official said. A more generic activist message, like “Stop global warming,” would also be prohibited, the official said.
Dennis Gault, the outgoing president of the P.S. 89 P.T.A., knew that the P.T.A. could not take any political action, but he isn’t sure that the overcrowding activism fits into that category.
“If someone made Obama pins, that’s obviously political,” Gault said. But as for the “Stop Overcrowding” buttons and banners, “Someone could argue that’s freedom of speech,” Gault said.
Freedom and speech were out in full force at the rally last Thursday afternoon, a hazy, humid day that marked the end of school. As parents and children waited along Broadway to get into the plaza in front of City Hall, they waved posters and chanted, “Stop overcrowding, build more schools!” They magnified their voices with megaphones and their message with the sheer number of people who turned out. Red buttons showing stop signs adorned their T-shirts, strollers, backpacks and baseball caps.
But no one was wearing more than Connor Donigian, 6, who covered the front of his turquoise polo with 10 red buttons, which clinked like armor, and was in the process of attaching the 11th.
Connor had just finished the last day of first grade at P.S. 234 and wanted everyone to know that he was against school overcrowding. Why are overcrowded classes bad?
“Then people can’t learn and they can’t get smart,” he said firmly.
Linda Moutinho, Connor’s mother, has lived in Tribeca since 2000 but the overcrowding is making her seriously consider moving out of the city. Her younger son will enter kindergarten in September 2009, which looks like it will be the most crowded year for Downtown schools.
“I love the city and I don’t want to leave,” Moutinho said, “but I have to put my kids in front of that.”
Protestors from P.S. 89 and P.S. 234 met in P.S. 234’s schoolyard to march over to City Hall, where they joined parents from schools as far away as the Upper West Side and Brooklyn. As the parents strode along Warren St., pushing strollers and chanting, several people came out of The Park Preschool to applaud.
The crowd reformed outside of City Hall, where everyone continued to chant, making noise with their voices, a tambourine and even an overturned bucket and drumstick.
In the very front, chanting at the top of their lungs, were Camille O’Keefe and Miriam Helene Rudd, who just finished third grade at P.S. 116 on E. 33rd St.
Camille, 8, said her school is too crowded, with more than 25 kids in a class.
“People are not learning what they’re supposed to learn,” she said. “We need to help the teachers. The teachers are like, ‘Ahh!’” she shrieked, raising her hands to her cheeks to demonstrate.
Rudd, 8, agreed, saying her class was disorganized because there were so many people.
Like their parents, the kids have heard a lot about the one potential overcrowding solution that no one likes: busing fifth graders to other schools.
“I think that’s horrible,” said Esmee Greenfeld, 9, who just finished third grade at P.S. 234. “I don’t think any fifth graders should be kicked out of schools. It’s rude. I think they should build more schools instead of more buildings.”
On the steps of City Hall, as elected officials spoke, parents waved posters reading “Bloomberg flunked as education mayor!” and “Kids before stadiums.” The children held smaller signs that said “We are your future” and “ABCDEFG, will there be a seat for me?” One neon yellow sign asked simply, “WHY?”
It was a word that State Sen. Martin Connor picked up in a rousing speech that demanded the city fund education. Shouting and gesturing broadly, he criticized the mayor for planning new residential buildings without thinking about schools.
“Why, why, why are you in charge of our schools?” he said. “It’s time for a change next year. It’s time for a system that gives a voice to the community.” The time for mayoral control of education, Connor said, is over.
Daniel Squadron, Connor’s opponent in the September Democratic primary, attended the rally and told Downtown Express he favored renewing mayoral control of the schools, but giving parents and the community a stronger voice.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Borough President Scott Stringer and Councilmembers Alan Gerson and Robert Jackson attended the rally.
The main target of the protests, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, came down the City Hall steps as the rally was gearing up. About 30 parents and kids from P.S. 89 and P.S. 234 walked in his direction, chanting, “Stop overcrowding, build more schools!”
Bloomberg smiled briefly as he passed, but he did not stop or comment, just walked toward his SUV and got in.
“He didn’t pay attention to us. That sucks. He should have said ‘hi’ to the kids,” said Patricia Orlando, whose child just finished first grade at P.S. 89. She’s worried about the overcrowding.
Ed Johnson, a United Federation of Teachers member who advises P.S./I.S. 89 teachers, thinks the angry parents’ message is finally getting to the chancellor.
“The D.O.E. is in turtle mode,” Johnson said. “They’re hiding in their shell.”
With reporting by Josh Rogers
