Charter school opposition builds

Following the Sept. 22 public hearing on the proposed New American Leadership Academy charter school in the Lawrence School District, residents who oppose the plan created an informational website where community members can send a form letter to the State Education Department urging the denial of the school’s application.
State officials are currently reviewing the application, which was received on Aug. 18, according to Jeanne Beattie, a spokeswoman for the State Education Department. “Review of applications is an ongoing process up until the Board of Regents meeting, when the commissioner’s recommendations are considered by the Regents,” Beattie explained. “That is planned for November or December 2014.”
Should the application be approved, plans call for the school to open next September, with one kindergarten and one first grade class of 60 children each. A “master teacher” and four other teachers would lead each class, and a headmaster would run the school. Charter school officials have said they plan to expand up to fifth grade by the 2019-20 school year. Students would be chosen by lottery. If Lawrence district students did not fill all 120 spots, the charter school would open them to students from surrounding communities.

LPS site

The site, LPSforum.com, has information on the impact of the charter school on the Lawrence district, videos detailing the claimed disadvantages of charter schools, a frequently-asked-questions section and the form letter.
“After the meeting, we were looking for a way to get the word out, and this is a good way to do it,” said Atlantic Beach resident Victoria Simao, one of the people behind the website. “This is all happening very quickly, then the state is voting,” she added. “There needed to be a place to find out information.”
More than 1,000 people have viewed the site, and some have done so multiple times, according to Richard Libbey, another Atlantic Beach resident who helped create it. Libbey said that 140 people have sent the form letter, and that the site has been viewed by people in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Albany.
Opposition to the charter school appeared strong at the September public hearing, held in the Lawrence High School auditorium. A majority of those who spoke said they were against the proposal. The only people who supported the charter school were prospective board members, their spouses and employees of New York City charter schools that are aligned with the curriculum of the planned school.
“I just don’t see the need for it,” said David Sharin, an Atlantic Beach resident who has three children in Lawrence schools, and whose sixth-grade daughter, he said, is an honors student. “The biggest problem is, who in the district wants this? Nobody that has spoken to me.”
Lawrence could lose approximately $8 million in state money that would go to the charter school. District officials said that could result in cuts to academic programs, music, arts and athletics.
“It has been a long time since the Lawrence community has been united about anything regarding its public schools,” said Jesse Lunin-Pack, another Atlantic Beach resident. “Where are the families with children who are asking for this charter school? After listening to the testimony at the hearing, the honorable thing for them to do would be to withdraw their application.”

Forging ahead
Burton Sacks, also of Atlantic Beach, who is expected to serve as a board member of the school, said that despite what appears to be stalwart opposition, the application would not be withdrawn. “It’s the opinion of people — I don’t know if it’s a cross-section [of the community],” said Sacks, the deputy chief operating officer for management services for the City University of New York. “That is what democracy is all about. All we want to do is give parents another alternative.”
Sacks likened the Lawrence district to an investment, and said that based on the district’s low state test results, he doesn’t think the millions of dollars being spent are paying off. “We have a five-year charter and will be held accountable if we don’t meet our benchmarks,” he said. “[The state] will close us down.” Those benchmarks include 50 percent of students who attend the charter school for at least two years meeting or exceeding grade level standards.
Lawrence’s math scores showed improvement this year in grades three, four, five and seven, but remain lower than the county average. English Language Arts scores were down in grades three, five, six and seven.
Sacks said that there have been misconceptions about how the charter school classrooms would operate. “There are not just five teachers in one room,” he said. “There are many rooms, and the teachers work with groups of kids.”
Lawrence resident Laurie Golubtchik, an assistant principal at Yeshiva of Central Queens, said that the “red flag” for her regarding the charter school was the concept of “looping,” where a teacher is expected to follow students through their school career. “A New York state educator certified in early childhood is up to second grade,” Golubtchik said. “Teaching upper grades is not something they should be expected to do.”
Board of Education President Murray Forman, who is in the first year of his fourth three-year term, said the district is making progress on the academic front, maintaining programs under difficult fiscal constraints, keeping taxes low and meeting its obligation to the private schools. He is adamant in his opposition to the charter school. “It will sap precious resources from the district and will result in the elimination of non-core programs such as arts and music as well as sports,” he said.
CUNY’s interim vice chancellor for facilities planning, construction and management, Judy Bergtraum, who is also involved in getting the charter school launched, said she believed the New American Leadership Academy would increase student academic performance. “We think we can improve on what is being done,” she said.

Have an opinion about a charter school in the Lawrence district? Send your letter to the editor to jbessen@liherald.com.