US Education Secretary Arne Duncan visited some of the top charter schools in Brooklyn yesterday, calling them models for national education. "You guys are about the best. You're amazing," he told the Kings Collegiate charter school. "This is the most wonderful school. You're setting an example for the entire country." Duncan, who is backing legislation that would put billions towards saving teachers jobs, said that charter school reform is necessary if New York wants to win Race to the Top funding, the deadline for which is June 1st. He told the Post, "This is an extraordinarily close competition. In the first round, New York lost 13 points [on federal grading of applications]. Does New York want to [just] compete or does New York want to win?"
Duncan's visit didn't come without its fair share of controversy. The American Federation of Teachers was upset that Duncan had included PS 65 on his itinerary. Several teachers have left the school in the past year, claiming principal Daysi Garcia was disrespectful. We hear it's like a straight up Fight Club in there! Members of the United Federation of Teachers also handed out pamphlets titled "A Tale of Two Schools," pointing out that students at IS 588, which shares a building with Kings Collegiate, did not score nearly as high as their charter school peers, and argued there needed to be reform that addressed the achievement gap.
The state Senate has already approved a measure that would raise the cap on charter schools, but it still needs to pass the Assembly and get signed by Governor Paterson before the June 1st Race to the Top deadline. Mayor Bloomberg also supports the bill, and so does one Kings Collegiate fifth-grader, who called getting more home work "Awesome!" Kids these days...
