Charter School Advocates Beseech Mayor to Block Law Suit

By AMANDA RODRIGUEZ

Supporters of charter schools on Tuesday massed on the steps of City Hall  to urge Mayor De Blasio to break ranks with his liberal municipal partners and oppose a lawsuit filed last month seeking to evict such schools from public school space.

The lawsuit was filed last month by City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Public Advocate Letitia James.

“If this lawsuit goes through, the plans I had for my daughter will not be carried out,” said the mother of a student attending a charter school in East New York.”Charter schools are a necessity to neighborhoods like mine.

“Parents in Brooklyn, and Harlem and the Bronx need these options” said Shimona Herklin, another parent.

“I am a proud father of a girl attending the fifth grade in Girl’s Prep in the Bronx,” said Cesar Guererro in Spanish.  “I am here this morning speaking to the masses about an obstacle stopping my daughter from continuing at Girl’s Prep of the Bronx. If this lawsuit stands, my daughter and her classmates will run out of options.”

Such views were echoed by other parents.

“The lawsuit is affecting my daughter’s school from expanding to the 4th grade,” said Anisa Henry, a parent from Crown Heights. “They need space to do that and if this lawsuit goes through, she’ll be stuck. I am asking politicians to let go of this lawsuit because you’re not hurting the parents, you’re depriving the kids of learning in ways that help them thrive.”

One mother from the South Bronx raved about the changes she had seen in her 7-year-old child’s progress at Girl’s Prep: “She’s eager to learn, she’s been nominated for a specialized program, and became student of the week there. I am just hoping politicians put aside their agenda and just think about our kids. We just want to give them the best and they are our future, so we have to better prepare them for it.”

A spokesperson for the mayor did not respond to a request for comment.

 

The Mayor’s office was contacted for commentary and has yet to respond.