"I've said time and time again, asking those who've done very well, asking those who are wealthy, who make a half million or more to do just a little more so our children can succeed just a little more... that's just plain fair." -NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio revoked the city's offer of free classrooms for Success Academy Harlem Central Middle School, arguing it would displace crucial programs for displaced students, as reported in The New York Daily News. This move puts the mayor at odds with Governor Andrew Cuomo as well Eva Moskowitz, the Success Academy's founder, concerning the future of charter schools.
"We have a mayor in the City of New York who says he's a progressive on the one hand, but wants to deny poor kids an opportunity, a shot of life," said Moskowitz on an appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe.
"I was never expecting in my wildest dreams that the mayor of the city of New York - a so-called progressive- would throw children in the streets," she said.
Charter school advocates, like Moscowitz, have excoriated de Blasio in recent weeks for pulling $200 million in capital funding for three charter schools, which were approved by his predecessor Michael Bloomberg.
"Instead of shutting down an extremely high-performing school, I'd think the mayor would want to focus on solving the education crisis," added Moskowitz who has had a longstanding political feud with the mayor ever since both had served on the City Council together; they frequently clashed over education.
A "charter school is a school which receives public funding but operates independently. Charter schools operate under private management systems. They promote small class sizes, often academically outperform public schools in the area and encourage more innovative approaches to teaching," as reported by Foxnews.com.
In a move to counter the mayor who already scheduled for a rally unveiling his pre-kindergarten plan up in Albany, Governor Andrew Cuomo held a simultaneous rally supporting charter schools. The governor spoke to about 7,000 parents, students and teachers.
"You are not alone. We will save charter schools," Governor Andrew Cuomo told the crowd.
Education is "not about the districts, and not about the pensions, and not about the unions and not about the lobbyists," Cuomo added.
Just two blocks away, Mayor de Blasio held a much smaller rally, according to news reports.
"Of course we're going to work with the charter schools, and there's a lot of very good charter schools, but we're going to treat them with an equality as - the same way we treat traditionally public schools. We're not going to favor them the way the Bloomberg administration did," de Blasio later said on Thursday on a radio show.
De Blasio took office on January 1st and a new poll released this week found that 57% of New York City voters disapprove of his handling as mayor thus far. In 2002, at a similar point in his mayoralty, Michael Bloomberg's job performance was at 50%.
His plummeting numbers also stemmed from his widely perceived mishandling of the various snowstorms, which hit New York City this winter. His decision to keep public schools open, for instance, received great consternation -and ridicule- from parents, teachers and students alike throughout the city.
