Repost of Trapped By a Zip Code

As the 2011 advocacy season is well under way for those of us who want to see the Charter School Movement grow and thrive, I thought to repost an entry that I originally posted on April 26, 2010.  This post speaks to the warehousing of children in failing schools in poor school districts.  This issue of having children bound to failing schools based on nothing other than their zip code, for me, is one of the primary reasons to to open the playing field and enhance the realistic educational choices available to parents in reference to acquiring a free and excellent education for their children.  Happy reading, and a HSA roller coaster cheer for those of you who become motivated and get involved after reading Way Beyond Z!      

Trapped By A Zip Code

NYC Public Charter Schools are under fire, and as a result may be legislated right out of business. As the insults fly, angry mobs of picketing, flyer-shoving parents form and politicians strategize how best to woo their constituents, the youngest, and among the most vulnerable of our citizenry, are being ignored and overlooked. The real victims or beneficiaries of this less than civil discussion are the one million or more school aged children who’s present and future are tremendously affected by the decision whether or not to allow them access to a free, quality education. Charter Public Schools are free, independently run public schools open to all New York City students. They are innovative in terms of policy and curriculum and the students are diverse. Public Charter Schools are an environment where teachers are empowered and schools are accountable. They serve regular as well as special education students and unfortunately do more with less operating funds.

My story is not so unique. My family and I live in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx. Well before the age at which my children would begin their formal education, my husband and I began to search for performance statistics of my neighborhood public schools. Much to my dismay, I found dismal statistics in reading and math and also realized that most traditional public elementary schools have not the resources, or so I believed, to teach science in primary school. I contacted schools outside of my district in reference to admission practices only to find out that my children would require a much coveted waiver in order to place my children outside of their neighborhood and in a better performing public school. It seemed that they were being held captive by their parents’ choice to live in Mott Haven. Being a product of private and parochial schools, I considered this a viable option, only to find out that these spaces are also coveted and scholarship funding is reserved only for the exceptionally academically gifted or most impoverished. My children fit neither of these descriptions. We were faced with making the decision that all parents dread. Accept sub-standard education that my children would receive because of their unfortunate zip code or sacrifice basic necessities to educate them properly. 

Let’s think “beyond Z” people! Children and their parents who happen to have zip codes that tether them to failing schools are expected to accept this as their only option or make the decision to live from hand to mouth in order to pay for a private education. Unfortunately, time stands still for no one and the children of New York City don’t have time for an ailing school system to be revived when there are excellent public charter schools now. I wish for all NYC children to be the beneficiary of a free, quality education not the victims of political opportunists who are only concerned with securing their seats in the upcoming election. I now pose this question to all New Yorkers, “What do you expect for the children of our city, access to excellence or mediocrity?” Frankly, even one school year is too much time to waste, much less an entire elementary education. You decide… 

Have a Beyond Z Day!