Home Blog Page 908

Much Parent Education Work To Be Done Re: Myth Of Charter Schools

Aminisha Black
-
0

By: S.E. Anderson

Ed Activist Folks,

Just a note to say that I attended our little counter charter school rally this morning. By “our” I mean the Coalition for Public Education. It appeared that no other progressive education activist group was in attendance to point out the fact that by law, charter schools are supposed to pay rent to the Board of Ed. Billionaire Mayor Bloomberg bumrushed a waiver so that the charter schools-big and small-can move into public schools for a dollar a year.

Well, mayoral front-runner Bill de Blasio has publicly stated that if he’s mayor, he will abide by the law and have charters pay rent. This has sparked a massive Brooklyn Bridge-crossing demo of thousands of Black & Latino charter parents and their children ushered along by their overwhelmingly white teachers. What a sad sight to see: clueless poor and working-class Black & Latino parents chanting that charters are public schools and should not pay rent while mainly white charter heads like Eva Moskowitz, her rich hedge fund friends and big charter franchises laugh all the way to the bank with big salaries and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars. These parents have been duped and bamboozled to see charter schools as some microversion of the private school (Sidwell Friends) the Obamas send their daughters to. Over the past 20 years of all-charters-all-the-time-propaganda, they’ve fallen for the “school choice” hype of charters being better “public” schools than the traditional neighborhood public school.

Today, for many charter parents, it was cognitive dissonance when they heard that the charter law states that their school must pay rent. They often immediately took the conversation off into chanting or ranting that charter schools are better than “regular” public schools… and their child knows this and that and now does better on tests, etc. Indeed, we need to also have an open discussion of the deeply Eurocentric/test-driven/scripted curricula of most charter schools. And yes, we also need an open and frank discussion of the overwhelming preponderance of white teachers who have no clue about the educational and cultural needs of their mainly Black & Latino students who must live and survive in a profoundly racist society that sees them as criminals-from-birth.

If de Blasio holds true throughout his mayoral campaign to his promise of charging rent to charter schools when he becomes mayor, we have an excellent teachable moment for the truth about charter schools. We need to saturate charter schools and noncharter schools with info exposing the fact that charter schools are, and have been, a privatizing wedge inserted into the NYC public school system to divide parents and students while the wealthy charterites and privateers rip us taxpayers off.

Charters Must Pay Rent! It’s the Law! There must be a Moratorium on all new Charters come 2014! We all must help Dismantle Mayoral Dictatorship and Build the People’s Board of Education!

In Struggle,

Sam Anderson

We Owe It To Our Children … Parent: Getting Through The Pain To The Power

Aminisha Black
-
0

It is in the day-to-day family interactions that either self-esteem blooms or the spirit is broken, flames of anger lit and seeds of hostility and resentment are sewn. For some years our teenagers, who are at a very vulnerable stage, have fallen prey to ills that throw them off the path to reaching their full potential.  Ills are readily identified – truancy, drugs, gangs and currently murder.  While there is much agreement that the cause is low self-esteem, there is not a sufficient response in terms of prevention or healing.  We continue to do the things that we’ve always done – expecting different results.   Money is poured into programs to deal with the symptoms but it would be wise to start at the beginning – the root and that is the family.  Yes, regardless of the family history, we can make a difference.

Oddly enough, at this level it doesn’t require the massive amounts of money that the existing programs dealing with symptoms do, but it does require time and openness.  Perhaps that is the problem.  In this country we may have reached the point where we don’t know anything else to do but spend money and finance nonworkability.  However, if parents and family members are willing to take responsibility, we can put purpose back into our lives and by doing so, support our young adults in finding a purpose for their lives and end the current trend towards self-destruction.

For the most part, we parent the way we were parented or our interpretation of the way we were parented.  Just as our parents could have benefitted from additional information in their time, we definitely need to update our skills since the environment has not stood still for the last half-century, or ten or five years for that matter.  Today, our children live in an environment where lives are taken daily in some form of violence that’s becoming as acceptable as the television shows or movies watched for entertainment.

Most of us became parents as a result of having sex, not as a result of some design or plan.  Our child-rearing has followed the same path.   We play it by ear – not with a design or plan.  For some of us we set goals that the culture has deemed “correct”.  That is simply not sufficient.  In case you are reading this and haven’t discovered your purpose in life, give yourself permission to do that now.  But if you are a parent, you owe it to yourself and to your offspring.   We owe our children more than continuing this “Compare and Compete” drama that’s been going on with Europeans for much too long. Our children are born with innate genius, as were we.   The time is long overdue for us to retrieve it.   However, it can’t be done by watching TV.  It requires experiencing activities that bring a high level of satisfaction or experiencing a strong negative emotional reaction which in that case might indicate a purpose to create change.  So the goal of the “Search for Self” is to discover one’s purpose that gives you a sense of excitement or contentment while contributing to peace and harmony among human beings.

My path to discovering my purpose began after three children and pregnant with the fourth.  I was told in an astrology reading that my purpose was to communicate with my fellow man.  Brother Malliet, the  astrologer, commented:  “That’s difficult to do having a baby every year”.   My question was “Communicate what?”

After my seventh child was born I began typesetting at Black News.  I wrote a few articles, transferred credits from Brooklyn College to Long Island University, changed my major from Accounting to Journalism.  After a few years of freelancing, my oldest son died and it was at that point I realized what I was to communicate: Developing Self-Esteem in African-American Youth.

Attending seminars at the National Black Theatre led to taking the EST training where I recalled buried wounds: my father drinking on weekends, searching for his gun and my mother grabbing me by the hand and running to a neighbor’s house to stay overnight.  I remember my father returning home one weekend overjoyed that he had met his father for the first time.   I later learned that his father was also his uncle married to his mother’s sister.   He discovered his father as an adult.

We must create community where adults can communicate their pain.  We must create community by healing relationships with each other.  We owe it to our children.  We owe it to future generations.  We owe it to ourselves.

***

Geno Geno Geno

Eddie Castro
-
2

If you were to discuss Jets quarterback Geno Smith’s season so far, the word turnovers may be the first thing mentioned. Heading into this past Monday’s showdown with the Atlanta Falcons, Smith led the NFLwith 11 turnovers including 8 interceptions and a couple of lost fumbles. After a discombobulating performance at Tennessee, a matchup with the Falcons did not look promising for Geno and the Jets considering the fact that the Georgia Dome is one of the loudest and most difficult arenas for a road opponent to steal a victory in. To make matter worse, the Falcons have not lost 2 straight home games in nearly 4 years.  Whatever was said by coach Rex Ryan in the pregame speech may have very well lit a fire in the young quarterback.

Smith did not seem intimidated by the crowd, nor did he seem puzzled by Atlanta’s ferocious defense.  What better time to turn things around than on Monday Night Football. The Jets led the Falcons by the score of 17-7 at halftime. The significant play was the Jets defense stopping Falcons’ running back Jaquizz Rogers at the 1 yard line, preventing the Falcons from cutting the lead to three before the half. The Falcons were able to come back, however, their heroics did not rattle Smith at all. With less than a minute to go in the fourth quarter and the Jets down by one, Smith completed a 12-yard pass to receiver Stephen Hill, a 13-yarder to Jeremy Kurley and again to Hill for another 9 yards. After that, coach Rex Ryan milked the clock down to 3 seconds leaving kicker Nick Folk to seal a 30-28 victory for the Jets. It was Smith’s 3rd game-winning drive on the season.  Smith completed 16 of 20 passes for 199 yards and 3 touchdown passes. He had a quarterback rating of 147.7, which was a higher rating than any game Peyton Manning has played in this season thus far. That right there tells you the game he had. The key stat in the game was the ball security by Smith. NO turnovers in the game.

After the game, the talk was all about G-E-N-O. Falcons’ safety William Moore commented on Geno’s performance stating, “He’s a rookie, and we made him look like a 10-year veteran.” Geno Smith has endured plenty of doubters throughout his days at West Virginia and especially in the last 12 months. With a performance like the one he had on Monday night, those critics will sure be put to rest.

Sports Notes: (Football) Coming off his best performance of the season, Geno Smith and the Jets fly back home and welcome the winless Pittsburgh Steelers. This can very well be a “trap game” for the Jets. It is about time for the Giants to press the panic button. Still, it is amazing that at 0-5, they are still just 2 games behind  first place in the NFC East division. Obviously, no one would’ve  thought they’d be 0-5. As we go to press, coach Tom Coughlin (once again) may be coaching to keep his job. The team heads to Chicago trying to get their first win of the season in a battle with a tough Bears club. (Basketball) Preseason for both the Knicks and Nets kicks off this week. (Boxing) Welterweight fight: Juan Manuel Marquez battles Timothy Bradley for Bradley’s WBO title on Saturday, October 12 in Las Vegas. Outside of sports, I want to send my deepest condolences to the family of Nicoleia Taylor. Taylor was shot and killed last Tuesday in the Lafayette Gardens complex. I, for one, am deeply hurt about the news considering the fact I have spent a chunk of my childhood in the area. To many, she was a hardworking single mom. Taylor was only 24 years old.

City’s Department of Homeless Services Okays Study on Sumner Armory

Stephen Witt
-
3

Green light appears day late & dollar short as Bloomberg Administration comes to an end

By Stephen Witt

With just three months left in the Bloomberg Administration, the city’s Department of Homeless Services (DHS) has finally green-lit a study to utilize the Sumner Armory for community services with one caveat – the community must come up with the money for the study.

The DHS currently runs the underutilized armory, located on the corner of Marcus Garvey and Jefferson Avenues, where it has contracted the Black Veterans for Social Justice (BVSJ), who run a 200-bed men’s homeless shelter called Pamoja House on the first floor.

Community Board 3 Chair Tremaine Wright said the feasibility study would look at moving the men’s shelter to the second floor of the massive armory and allow for community use on the first floor.

“This is a huge step. It’s something the community has been fighting to get for a long time,” she said, adding that DHS is planning to put out a Request for Proposals (RFP) for an entity to perform the study.

But DHS spokesperson Heather Janik denied the agency is putting out an RFP on the armory and offered only tepid support.

“A feasibility study is welcomed by the Department of Homeless Services if funding options are offered by the community,” she said.

The slight movement on the study comes after the agency (under the Bloomberg Administration) has repeatedly stonewalled efforts by local elected officials including City Councilman Al Vann, State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery and Borough President Marty Markowitz to allow part of the armory for community use.

Meanwhile, the Bloomberg Administration supported the Park Slope Armory receiving $16 million for a state-of-the-art recreation center, along with being a women’s homeless shelter, and the city is in the process of taking bids for $14 million in similar work at the Bedford-Atlantic Armory in Crown Heights.

Wright said DHS Adult Services Commissioner Douglas James announced the agency would finally support the study at a Sept. 23 budget consultation meeting with the community board.

Former CB 3 Chair and current District Manager Henry Butler had previously said the study would cost about $105,000, but needed DHS approval.

While it doesn’t appear the study will get off the ground under the current administration, City Councilman-elect Robert Cornegy will most likely back the project. Additionally, former Park Slope City Councilman and Democratic mayoral nominee Bill de Blasio was instrumental in helping the Park Slope Armory get funding for community use.

BVSJ officials did not return calls at press time.

Kings County Politics

Stephen Witt
-
7

By Stephen Witt

Hynes a long shot to beat Thompson in general election

While most of Central Brooklyn continues to rally behind Kings County District Attorney Democratic Nominee Ken Thompson, several pockets of Southern Brooklyn appears positively giddy that current DA Joe Hynes, a lifelong Democrat, has decided to challenge Thompson on the Republican and Conservative Party line next month in the general election.

And while Thompson remains the odds-on favorite to again beat Hynes, whom he trounced by 10 percentage points in the primary, it is by no means a sure thing.

“A lot of Democratic money came in at Hynes’ recent fundraiser and there will be a lot of Republican money backing him,” said Bay Ridge GOP State Sen. Marty Golden, the highest-ranking Republican elected official in Brooklyn. “A lot of Democrats favor his candidacy and will be crossing over to him, and between that crossover vote and the Republican and Conservative Party vote, I think he has a good shot.”

Among the pockets of Southern Brooklyn where the Hynes vote is expected to be strongest includes Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and particularly both the Sephardic Jewish neighborhood around southern Ocean Parkway and the Orthodox Jewish vote in Borough Park. This segment of the Jewish vote is both fairly conservative and have benefitted from Hynes’s alleged favoritism regarding prosecution of Jews accused of sexual abuse and other felony crimes.

Among the Democrats who may silently be backing Hynes is City Councilman David Greenfield, who strongly backed Hynes in the primary. While Greenfield did not return calls for comment at press time, Golden said that Greenfield has spoken to Hynes about running in the general election.

But Kings County Democratic boss Frank Seddio, who backed Hynes in the primary, now strongly backs Thompson as the Democratic nominee, and said the rest of Kings County’s Democratic leaders are also solidly supporting Thompson.

“The Kings County Democratic Party is totally behind the Democratic candidate. All of our leadership and elected officials have endorsed Ken Thompson and will work for his election. I don’t anticipate any defections,” said Seddio.

Meanwhile, Hynes, who has a good record on instituting programs to prevent recidivism, continues to allege that Thompson had the strong help of convicted felon and former Kings County boss Clarence Norman.

Norman, however, remains popular among many of Central Brooklyn’s elected officials who point out that Norman did his time. They also point out that Hynes utilized convicted felons who have done their time and moved on.

Among those from Central Brooklyn who continues to support Hynes is Geoffrey Davis, brother of slain former City Councilman James Davis, who successfully ran against the old Norman machine that long-dominated Central Brooklyn politics.

“I’m not into party lines, I’m into the candidates. I’ve seen firsthand how Hynes has helped thousands of people through his Project Safe Surrender and Project Redirect,” said Davis. “He has been consistent with his programs and with my family’s Stop the Violence program.”

Davis said that because of the importance of the DA position every voter should have a chance to vote and not just the primary voters.

“In the general election he (Hynes) will get the Republican and Conservative line, and if he gets 30 percent of Democratic votes, he has a shot because he has name brand,” said Davis, noting that he will work with whoever wins.

 

Bay Ridge City Council Race heats up

If Hynes does do well in the Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Bath Beach area, this might also spell trouble for incumbent City Councilman Vincent Gentile, who is running against Golden’s deputy chief of staff John Quaglione.

“When I first got in the race I knew it was an uphill battle, but as I go door to door every day and visit churches and community and senior centers my message is beginning to catch on that this has been a neglected community under Gentile,” said Quaglione.

Quaglione noted that Gentile, who is running for his third term despite voting against extending the term limits four years ago, ranks 50th among City Council members for bringing money back home to the district.

“People see graffiti coming back and the quality of life going down,” said Quaglione.

Gentile’s campaign had no comment at press time, but at a recent debate Gentile said his City Council record includes passing a bill to lower restaurant fines, restoring the B37 bus and bringing an Eco Dock to the 69th Street Pier.

1...907908909...1,292Page 908 of 1,292