Chalkbeat

Education news. In context.

Chalkbeat

David Umansky

public private

New York
March 4, 2014

Prospective charter school operators resign themselves to the private space process

Mayor Bill de Blasio's coolness toward charter schools and co-locations mean that few applicants planning to open a charter school in the future are counting on public space. Instead, they're strategizing about how to navigate the rough and tumble (and very expensive) New York City real estate market and construction world.
New York
October 4, 2011

Despite price tag, a charter school finds perks in private space

A picture taken by Civic Builders days after ground broke on construction in June 2010; The school was completed on Aug. 18 this year. By the time Hyde Leadership Charter School expanded into high school grades three years ago, overcrowding at its co-located Department of Education building had become severe. Limited to two floors for over 700 students, classes were held in hallways and high school students complained of filthy conditions in the bathroom they had to share with elementary students. "It was terrible," said Dominic Batista, a junior. "It was like a jail." Rather than jockey for more space in an increasingly crowded public school system, the growing school took a road less traveled for a charter school in New York City. Keeping its elementary and middle school at P.S. 92, Hyde developed a private facility for its high school just down the road on Hunts Point Avenue in the south Bronx. Today, the gleaming 30,000 square foot building was on display at an official ribbon-cutting ceremony with elected officials and community members. Inside the auditorium – which splits time as a gymnasium and cafeteria – Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. recalled how prostitutes and arson used to dominate this stretch of Hunts Point Avenue in the South Bronx. Hyde Leadership, he said, was an example of how the area, still the nation's poorest congressional district, was turning a corner. The facility was developed and is now managed by Civic Builders, the nonprofit real estate developer for charter schools. The group bought the property in 2010 with lending help from Goldman Sachs and the Low Income Investment Fund. The price for giving up rent-free public space – about $1 million more per year – was worth it, said Celia Sosa, the school's director.
New York
July 19, 2011

Donations reflect DFER execs' early support for Stringer 2013

People with an interest in the city's school system are beginning to throw their support behind prospective candidates for the 2013 mayoral race, according to Friday's campaign finance filings. Campaign finance filings released on Friday showed that two top officials with Democrats for Education Reform, a major education lobbying group, donated exclusively to Scott Stringer, who defeated charter school operator Eva Moskowitz in the 2009 Manhattan Borough President primary with support from the city teachers union. Joe Williams, executive director of DFER, gave a total of $1,500 to the Stringer campaign in two different donations. Elizabeth Ling, DFER's New York State political director, gave $150, according to the filings. Stringer was the only candidate to whom Williams and Ling donated. Ling, who serves on the board of one of Moskowitz's Success Charter schools, said it was too early for DFER to endorse anyone just yet and that the group is "continuing to build relationships at all levels."