NEW YORK—It was a massive undertaking for large New York City charter school networks this Thursday. Instead of taking students to school, buses took thousands of students and their parents to Foley Square, just a block away from City Hall, for a rally a long time in the making.
The organizers of Don’t Steal Possible estimate 21,000 attended. No official count was available.
Their message: About 10 percent of city public schools fail miserably on state standardized test scores.
Their demand: Every child should have a chance to go to a great school.
Most of the participants were students of Success Academy charter schools and their parents. With 32 schools and 9,000 students, it is the largest charter network in the city—and its founder Eva Moskowitz plans to add 14 more schools in the next couple of years. Achievement First network, with 17 schools in the city, also participated.
Charter schools are privately run schools that receive per-pupil public funding and don’t charge tuition. Admissions are based on lotteries.
“My school is a charter school and we support other charter schools,” said Josiah Ragin, 11, a student at Success Academy Harlem Central, who came to rally with his class. He said the rally felt a bit like a field trip and they will return to school afterward.
Pascaline Ayenengoye attended the rally with her two children that go to Success Academy Bronx 2. She had a bad experience with traditional public schools. When her son David was in kindergarten, he wasn’t able to learn to read or count, and the school, M.S. 44, recommended him for medication. Ayenengoye didn’t agree and instead applied for a seat in Success Academy. David got in but had to repeat kindergarten. A year later M.S. 44 was closed for poor performance.
