At the end of last year, the D.O.E. under ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg approved the proposal to place a Success Academy charter school, serving grades K-4, within the halls of Murry Bergtraum, located near Police Plaza at 411 Pearl St.
But that move was heavily criticized and rallied against by many Downtown parents, education advocates and elected officials. Thursday’s annoucement showed a clear shift — by Mayor Bill de Blasio and his new education officials — away from the charter school-friendly policies of Bloomberg’s D.O.E. under ex-Chancellor Dennis Walcott.
“If there is one thing school communities should know, it’s this: we’re going to do things differently,” said D.O.E. Chancellor Carmen Farina, in a statement released with Thursday’s announcement. “Today, we are turning the page on the approach of the past. We are going to listen and be responsive like never before, and that will be reflected in everything we do.”
The reversal of the Murry Bergtraum co-location plan was one of nine such reversals throughout the city, and one of three blows dealt to Success Academy that day. The D.O.E. also blocked the charter’s proposed move into a Jamaica, Queens high school, as well as removing a Success Academy school from a Harlem location — which also serves two other schools — where it had been co-located since 2008.
Success Academy, which is run by ex-City Councilmember Eva Moskowitz, whom de Blasio criticized during his campaign, immediately shot back after the announcement, with harsh words for de Blasio.
“With so few good school options in many of the city’s neighborhoods, it’s shocking that Mayor de Blasio would limit families’ access to high performing schools,” said Success spokesperson Ann Powell. “Instead of the progressive politics he ran on, the mayor is waging a campaign of personal politics that hurts the very communities he vowed to protect.”
As part of the same Thursday announcement, D.O.E. also said it is shutting down a previous proposal to co-locate a new public high school at University Neighborhood High School, a District 1 school located at 200 Monroe St.
That co-location plan had also faced heavy opposition, as supporters of U.N.H.S. said there was no chance its building could successfully house two schools due to severe lack of space and resources.
D.O.E.’s announcement was enthusiastically applauded by Downtown education advocates.
“I am pleased that the Department of Education heard the voices of the parents, students, educators who understand firsthand the educational needs of our community,” said Councilmember Margaret Chin — who had written letters to D.O.E. and joined parents in rallies against both Downtown co-location proposals — in a statement released Thursday night. “This is a major victory for U.N.H.S. and M.B.H.S., and I thank Chancellor Fariña and Mayor de Blasio for putting our children first.”
Lisa Donlan, president of the District 1 Community Education Council, said she was “pleased that the new administration heard the real concerns raised by District 1 parents, students, staff and community members about the negative impact the proposed co-location would have had on [U.N.H.S.].
And Shino Tanikawa, preisdent of the District 2 Community Education Council, said she was “delighted by the decision that responds to the needs of the community, and [I] am deeply grateful to the Chancellor for listening to the parents.”
However, D.O.E. said on Thursday that it still plans to propose two co-locations at the Murry Bergtraum campus, including both the public high school that had previously been planned for the U.N.H.S. building, and another public high school that had previously been planned for co-location in Long Island City.
In a memo detailing the plans, D.O.E. spokesperson Devon Puglia called those new proposals “better building matches” for the schools.
Last year during the fight over moving Success into Lower Manhattan, Murry students and parents said the school had already been hurt by the co-location of another high school into the building.
With reporting by JOSH ROGERS
