Schools
DOE Moves Meeting Amidst Charter Debate
The DOE has moved it's monthly meeting to a high school in central Queens, and critics say it's to hush public comment on Success Academy.
Two weeks before the controversial vote on Success Academy charter school, the Department of Education has relocated it’s monthly meeting from midtown Manhattan to Newtown High School in Elmhurst, Queens, according to Gotham Schools.
Critics says that the move was abruptly made to a location away from the schools in question as a backhanded way to suppress public comment, though the DOE maintains that construction at the original Manhattan location made the move necessary, according to the report.
The new location in Queens is about an hour subway ride from 284 Baltic Street, the Cobble Hill building that Success Academy plans to move into, according to data from Google Maps.
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An online petition to move the meeting has been launched by Justin Wedes, a NYCORE member and former teacher, with over 200 signatures so far. He calls the Queens location “extremely inaccessible” to parents, teachers and students who will be affected by the vote. Wedes would like to see the meeting moved to Brooklyn Technical High School, in downtown Brooklyn.
on the co-location of Success Academy lasted five hours, while amongst heated debate.
