A Town Hall on the proposed charter school will be held at on Sunday, March 10, at 4:30 pm at Heritage Homes Community Hall, 18-30 Brook Street, New Rochelle

by Alisse Waterston

As an educator since 1975, I have been a witness to the deeply troubling and growing trend that has accelerated in recent years: public education is under dire threat in the United States. This trend parallels the accelerated move towards privatization whereby community services and the resources that support them are transferred from public to private control.

Charter schools threaten public education and contribute to the ongoing assault of public education in this country. As corporate charters, they drain resources from our public schools, taking vital school district funding while under-enrolling English Language Learners, students with disabilities, and students most vulnerable to falling behind. It is an industry devoid of transparency and accountability. This is not opinion. It is a statement of fact.

Claims that charter schools increase attendance, improve discipline, increase graduation rates, offer more course and curricular offerings are untrue; any such claims are based on manipulated and distorted figures.

Even as there may be areas of weakness in the public school system and in our public schools, these deficiencies must be addressed by identifying, studying, and addressing them thoughtfully and systematically within our public schools, the only sound solution.

Five months ago, word began to spread that someone was planning to bring a charter school to New Rochelle. There was rumor but limited information. Indeed, there is no online presence for the proposed charter school.

Since then, I attended two events in New Rochelle in which this subject was discussed. One was a “town hall” held on October 19, 2023, organized by the person who has or intends to apply for a charter school in New Rochelle. The other was a Board of Education meeting held two months later on December 14. The vast majority of attendees at both events were clear in their positions: New Rochelle does not need and does not want a charter school.

The October town hall meeting was held in a space provided by our public library to hear claims about the proposed charter school. The flaws and dangers of this proposal became clear as I listened to what was said, what was unspoken, and what was sidestepped by the proponent of the charter school.

The Devil in the Details: The Proposed Charter School Exposed

At the October meeting, Dr. Ivan Green was identified as the Founder of the “MSLT Academy,” a charter school he intends to bring to New Rochelle. He distributed a brochure that reads, “New STEM Charter School coming to New Rochelle,” a tag line that suggests this is a done deal (emphasis mine). It is not a done deal. It must be considered and granted by the State University of New York’s Charter Schools Institute by a process that itself lacks transparency.

In his 30-minute presentation, Dr.Green gave: 1) his definition of a charter school and why, he argued, it does not set up competition with our public schools; 2) his vision for this charter school; and 3) “data” that he argued is the rationale for bringing his charter school to New Rochelle.

Throughout the evening, Dr. Green stated that his charter school will not compete with our public schools nor would it drain our school system’s funds. He insisted his charter school is not a “private” school because, by definition, it will depend upon public funds, an assertion that is oxymoronic and reflects deeply distorted logic. The fact is that should his proposal be granted, our New Rochelle school’s public funds will follow each child to the charter school, which means the charter school will take resources away from our public schools. In addition, he denied that his privately selected school board renders his charter school private. Beyond refusing to name the people on his board, Dr. Green failed to acknowledge the implication that his board is not and will not be chosen by vote of the local residents as are all members of our New Rochelle Board of Education. His charter school would not in any way be held accountable to the local community. In sum, the charter school would drive New Rochelle down the slippery slope towards privatization without public accountability.

Dr. Green’s vision for his charter school reads like a great wish list. The educational goals and added-value social supports are what anyone would want for all our children. Noting that his charter school would be a STEM school, he never says in any substantive way how, specifically, he has the expertise, capacity, skills, resources, equipment, space, and personnel to provide such a wonderful education that he promises to deliver. At one point, he stated his charter school would go beyond STEM to be a “STEAM school, the “A” is for the arts, an impromptu addition to what constitutes his wish list.

To justify the charter school in New Rochelle, Dr. Green presented decontextualized statistics on test scores across New Rochelle zip codes and schools, “proving” the need for his charter school given his assertion that some schools are “failing” our children. Despite the fact that the data does not demonstrate failure, the argument he presented does not lead logically to any need for a charter school rather than, as several audience members pointed out, working and advocating within the school system to address specific gaps. He failed to make a case that charter schools in general and his proposed charter school, in particular, would be able to address any disparities and gaps.

“Choice” is a main trope in Dr. Green’s narrative. He invoked the language of “choice” to lure parents into believing they have a right to choose his charter school over sending their children to the public schools. He also professed that his charter school would be the natural and only alternative that parents need.

It is essential that we find ways to support and address the needs of vulnerable children and parents without harming our New Rochelle public schools. Parents who are swayed by Dr. Green’s promises and narrative maneuvers need to see action from the New Rochelle Board of Education and our public school system that ensures all our children get what they need and deserve. It is important to acknowledge that our school system is far from “broken” even as it falls short in meeting the needs of all of its nearly 10,000 students.

It is certainly the case that Dr. Green will not deliver on the promises he makes to those parents looking to support their children. He offered enough clues to warrant suspicion. There is the matter of his admissions process. There is the matter that charter schools are known to be exclusive, bringing in the “cream of the crop” students guaranteed to succeed while ejecting those who struggle academically, emotionally or in any other way. There is the matter of Dr. Green’s qualifications to pull off launching and sustaining such a school. And there is the matter of his deep ties to the Catholic diocese, which may be delighted to receive the public funds that belong to our public schools.

On the matter of admissions, Dr. Green’s assertions are confusing and contradictory. On one hand, he stated that students would be admitted on a lottery basis. If this were so, he was not able to answer a basic question: how will he address disparity gaps when any child from all New Rochelle zip codes can submit to the lottery?  His assertion was also inconsistent with the information provided in the brochure he distributed, which reads: “What is a Charter School Lottery?  When applications exceed available seats following the end of the application period, charter schools hold an admission lottery—a random drawing process.” This suggests that Dr. Green plans to implement a selective admissions process. His words and assurances misrepresent his actual intention.

There are more questions. Dr. Green does not have a proven track record in implementing such a program in any successful way. In fact, he offers a distorted impression of his background, suggesting, for example, that he received a doctorate from NYU when, in fact, he only received a master’s degree from NYU. This is revealed in the wording on his pamphlet: “Ivan Green. Graduate of NYU. PhD in Educational Administration and Leadership.” He received his doctorate from Concordia University in Chicago whose tagline is “Christ at the Center.” A Google search turns up that he is the principal of St. Stanislaus Kostka Catholic Academy in Brooklyn, is a physics teacher at Ursuline, and an adjunct at Iona.

When asked by audience members to provide details on his plan, Dr. Green said the school would be housed at The Church of the Holy Family in New Rochelle. It remains unclear how he intends to house a school from pre-K through high school in that space; when asked, he deflected with “We will start at Holy Family.” Several times he invoked the diocese of New York although he refused to discuss the charter school’s specific ties to the diocese. Among others, a key question left unanswered is: Will Holy Family and the diocese secure public funds for rent and other expenses of housing and running a school?

It is easy to see that Dr. Green has consistent ties to the Catholic diocese. Given his close ties to religious educational institutions, I believe it is deeply worrisome that the slippery slope of this charter school also enables public funds to go to religious institutions. Our public school system upholds the principle of the separation of church and state, guaranteed by the US Bill of Rights.

It would take enormous resources for Dr. Green to deliver on his promises. He never articulated how he is going to get adequate resources to establish and run a charter school that has a full curriculum, a full sports program, and a full arts program, provide social support services, and serve 80 students in each grade. He would not say how he will secure resources for insurance, for the cost of space, and on and on. He did not say how he would secure resources for teachers and administrators, nor did he assure that his teaching and administrative staff would be qualified or unionized. He fails to acknowledge that his charter school amounts to reinventing the wheel. He fails to reveal that, indeed, his plan will take resources away from our established public schools. These failures reveal sleight of hand. I cannot help but feel this is a predatory endeavor.

Based upon what was said that evening in October and what those of us committed to public education know about the danger that charter schools represent to public education and to the education of all our children, we must come to only one sound conclusion: Charter schools have no place in the City of New Rochelle.

Alisse Waterston is a 35+ year resident of New Rochelle who is Presidential Scholar and Professor Emerita of Anthropology at City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice.