Petition against co-locating another school at PS9

Wow what a way to make a generalization from one news story. Guess you should judge a book by its cover huh?

Why don't you find out a little more about the situation instead of looking at the color of the children on your one news story.

For your information PS 9 is only 11% white with 87% of the children receiving free lunch. This protest was put together quickly and many families were unable to attend. Also did you know that not only do the children of this school know the "common" national anthem they also know the African American national anthem? Did you know that these students receive a year long education in African American history?

Did you know that the Charter School coming in said that they include all students (not just District 13 which is need of more Junior High schools for our own students residing here) in their lottery but they will give District 13 preferential treatment? Last time I checked it was luck of the draw with lottery.

Did you know that originally JHS 571 was supposed to be for the students who attend PS 9?

Wooohooo!!!! Hopefully the DOE will give up on this stupid idea now and PS9 can expand K-8.

Yes, we are back at where we were in January. There will be another public hearing on May 16th at PS9 and then the PEP vote on May 18th. A good group is attending D13 Town Hall Meeting tonight to show our faces and hopefully get some support there. We are not backing down, they won't take over the school without a fight, that's for sure.

Oh and here is the link to a good article about the issues we are facing:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/11/nyregion/11winerip.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&src=twrhp

Thanks plop. I support you guys and wish you luck. My son went to 9 and from what i remember 571 originally was supposed to be an extension of 9. Also I am confused about the charter school's admission i.e., they say that it is by lottery but they will give district13 students priority? Doesn't that go against the whole idea of a lottery? Since Ratner screwed us royally I would love to use eminent domain to get back those vacant lots and give this district a jr high school and high school.

please keep posted.

Thanks Stacey. Actually in lotteries you can have priorities like zone or sibling preferences. In this case, they say that the preference will be the district that they reside in.

We attended the D13 Town Hall Meeting last night where Mark Sternberg answered questions. He really didn't answer any questions, but just went around in circles, and sometimes would just say "We'll agree to disagree". He obviously did not have the answers to a lot of very good questions, including questions from the CEC panel (Community Education Council).

Next up is the public hearing on May 16th and then the vote on May 18th. I'll post closer to the date to update everyone who is interested.