New York Times and DOE Continue to Ignore Systemic Abuses in City Schools
Contact: Dan Bank (212) 681-1380
The following statement is from Eva Moskowitz, Founder and CEO of Success Academy, in response to the news of yet another teacher arrested for assault in a New York City district school
“Just a day after Success Academy sent the New York Times a lengthy list of tragic, reprehensible and abusive incidents that occur on a near-weekly basis in our city’s district schools, a rival newspaper reminds us of just how systemic a problem we face with the reporting of a PS 194 teacher throwing a special-needs student across a hallway, two years after his violent behavior made similar headlines.
The long-term conditions in Harlem schools like PS 194, in part, led us to open our first Success Academy on West 118th Street in Harlem in 2006. We are proud of the work we have done to offer thousands of Harlem kids a chance at a better life — and with the recent announcement that we will open our sixth elementary school in Harlem, hundreds more children will have a chance at reaching their potential.
But our kids can’t do it alone.
Where are the true consequences for this school beyond the band-aid fix of ‘attempting to terminate’ a single teacher? What is the DOE going to do to fix what is clearly a horrendous, years-long problem? And, perhaps more importantly, where is the paper of record to help shine a spotlight on the systemic problem of abuse in our classrooms?
Our kids need all of our help. Hoping that tomorrow doesn’t bring another example of abuse in our district schools is not enough.”
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ABOUT SUCCESS ACADEMY CHARTER SCHOOLS
Founded in 2006, Success Academy Charter Schools are free public pre-k through 12 schools open to all children in the state through a random lottery. With 34 schools across Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens, Success Academy enrolls 11,000 students, primarily low-income children of color in disadvantaged neighborhoods: 74% of students receive free or reduced-price lunch, 95% are children of color, 13% are children with disabilities, and 8.5% are English language learners. Ranked in the top 1% in math and the top 3% in English on 2015 state proficiency tests, Success Academy schools received more than 22,000 applications for fewer than 2,300 open seats last year. Two Success Academy schools, Success Academy Harlem 1 and Harlem 3, have been honored as National Blue Ribbon Schools by the U.S. Department of Education, the only Harlem schools in the last 25 years to receive this prestigious award.
For more information about Success Academy, go to Successacademies.org and virtualtour.successacademies.org.
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