Is it your intent to create divisiveness in this community? If you review the proposal you can see for yourself that there is room for both a Community Roots & 287 middle school--the approval of a CRCS middle school has no correlation to "dashing hopes" at 287. Why not speak to the principals of both schools? You will get a very different story than the one you have created here.

I'm glad KATE BRIQUELET got someone to help her edit this article. the last one was abysmal. This is poor journalism at best. I particularly like the paragraph which reads "This won’t be Community" and that is it. Please send a real journalist to cover these events to get the whole unbiased story next time.

Isn't it weird that PS. 67 & P.S. 287 are so close together? They are only about 2 blocks away from each other.

I'm glad to see more balanced reporting as well.

Although I don't understand why the writer is still perpetuating the notion that PS 287 supporters didn't have an opportunity to speak last week with this sentence:

"Tensions erupted last week at a hearing on the charter school plan as well, as a big crowd of Community Roots fans spent two hours extolling their school before PS 287 advocates could even chime in."

The fact is...the PS 287 COULD CHIME in. There was plenty of time during the sign-up process for ANYONE to write their name on the speaker list. In fact, many Roots supporters PURPOSELY STEPPED OFF THE LINE to allow others an opportunity to get on line. I mentioned this in my comments to last week's article, yet the opposite keeps getting written as fact.

So much for accurate journalism.

On a positive note, it's great to see that District 13 now has a new middle school option.

I hope the community supports that having more educational choice (as many other districts have) is a POSITIVE thing for the entire neighborhood.

this is great news. both schools deserve a chance to thrive.

It would be so much more effective for schools that have the possibility to be housed together to work together with peace and harmony. The news covered here is and has been so completely twisted AND is making it harder for a people to come together!

So happy to see there are more opportunities for young people in District 13 now that have so few middle school choices. Why does the Brooklyn Paper not see this? I also hope that 287 can do what they have to do to make more seats for middle school students, too.

There is so much more to say but I will save it for a forum that is real and equitable, cuz this paper is not worth it!

About a year ago the DOE did a sales job on this co-location at a meeting called by the area's Community Education Council (CEC, and all local residents.) At that meeting the CEC and many parents asked why the DOE wasn't considering PS 287's request to expand and add more grades IN THEIR OWN BUILDING. They were simply turned down. So only Charter schools are allowed to expand, starting out as one grade and growing, growing, growing, squeezing out the existing schools.

The DOE stooge actually said they liked "the product" offered by that Charter school outfit. So the DOE is all about outsourcing their responsibilities to these hedge fund financed (and rewarding!) outfits. Bloomberg wants to privatize public education, and Wall Street is all too anxious to help.

To get so much wrong the first time around is poor journalism. To do so again is journalistic malpractice.

1) How can you have a lede that says "dashing hopes of the public elementary school’s own proposed expansion" when you quote a source saying the opposite? The lede needs at least to be qualified..."some say dashing."

2) "Community Roots fans spent two hours extolling their school before PS 287 advocates could even chime in." This is demonstrably wrong. Community Roots folks were there early and signed up as a group. What's more, CRCS folks let Pastor Mark Taylor speak out of turn FOR THE SAKE OF DIVERSITY OF OPINION. If you were watching you would have seen this. If you were reporting seriously you also would have noticed the sign-up sheet and table. (Ideally, all would have been better served by an alternating speaker queue, for and against; why this wasn't done is a good question you could have asked the moderator, whom a reporter would naturally seek out in the case of any speaker imbalance.)

3) "This won’t be Community." Really? Is this reporting or is this an editorial?

Community newspapers like the Brooklyn Paper serve an important purpose. Sadly, you've let the community down not because you're rooting for the right or wrong side, but because you completely missed the real, fascinating story here, the story not of a wrong and a right, but one of two rights clashing, brought into conflict by the shifting powers of educational policy, educational innovation, and politics.

Here's a chance to make up for it. How about doing some reporting on the nugget of information no one has bothered to look at: whether there is in fact space for two middle schools in the same building, or whether there's not. And what's behind PS287's claims that the DOE is discouraging enrollment there? What was its relationship with the charter school that was there previously, and that's now moving? Why is it moving? Why was that charter school ok and why is CRCS not ok? Will CRCS's new middle school "provide more options for d13" as they like to say, or will it do so just for folks already at CRCS? That, however, would take some work beyond the energy needed to raise a pom-pom.

You'll know you're getting somewhere when there's more information and better questions in your stories than in the comments section.

Rooting for you to do better.

brooklynparent from d13 says:
How can you have a lede that says "dashing hopes of the public elementary school’s own proposed expansion" when you quote a source saying the opposite? The lede needs at least to be qualified..."some say dashing."

Good point. In fact, Tish James specifically said at last week's public hearing that she would support middle school expansion for BOTH schools. She said there is space in the PS 287 building to have 2 middle schools.

So...brooklynparent is absolutely correct. Community Roots moving in to the building is not "dashing expansion". Although writing that does make for dramatic reporting.....which our local papers apparently seem to thrive on. Unfortunate since it's a disservice to the very community they write about.

Some have mentioned this phrase that was at the end of what seems to have been an earlier version:

"This won’t be Community."

From what I saw when it first appeared, it seemed to be a formatting issue since it appeared to make a fuller sentence regarding Community Roots.

Seems they have now fixed it.

Once again, another charter school opens in a public school when there was other lands they could have taken. It almost makes me feel as if the overcrowding of the public schools was done on purpose to make them look bad. Come to think about it, Bloomberg might be doing other things to help promote what he wants. What better way to promote congestion pricing by making the roads gridlocked from the use of bike lanes, or even saying there is blight by already demolishing some buildings to make a neighborhood look that way let a lone cut off services. More importantly, charter schools will always have friends in high places in that they will get more use of the facilities forcing others to be left out.

I guess the city is admitting what most of us know -- the progress reports are worthless.

Yes, the progress reports are worthless. CRCS out-performs State, City and District 13 in test scores, but received an "F" grade on their first report card. This was because there was no "floor" established by a previous grade due to the fact that the school had not been graded before.

Once they got an "F" improvement on the following year's testing resulted in a grade of "C." The school had the support of the Chancellor and the Council Member because it provides an excellent education, "despite low grades in school progress reports."

I know that the parents of both schools will be able to work together to build a sound educational community in the 287 building.

To answer brooklynparent from district 13's questions.

1. The co-location we have currently is horrible. The middle school children have no respect for their own school faculty. They constantly disrespect anyone that tells them anything because they think they are grown.

2. We are not "claiming" the DOE has discouraged enrollment. It is a fact. We have several parents who were told to look at district 19 instead of coming to our school. Mind you they are zoned for P.S. 287. That is fact not fiction and the DOE can deny it all they want, but those parents, who were told to go somewhere else exist and can tell their stories.

Another thing, Community Roots Charter School is so good and it's supposed to be the better option than a public school. Then why, did a good number of students from this school end up having to do summer school at PUBLIC SCHOOL 307? They were educated over the summer by PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS NOT CHARTER SCHOOL TEACHERS in order to pass the state exams they failed. Why was there no summer school for them in their own school with their GREAT teachers? Explain that.

Also not everyone signed that sign in sheet when they arrived at that meeting CRCS keeps referring to. When Community Roots arrived there was a big issue about signing in. Not everyone wanted to sign in. They even had someone try to tell our security that it was not necessary. All of P.S. 287 parents signed in without giving security an issue and Community Roots did block the entrance with their little crowd. They were told they couldn't block the entrance. I was there and if CRCS claims they want to have a peaceful co-location STOP projecting that we don't care about our kids and that we didn't do what we needed to do. No one from Community Roots has stopped to really ask us about our story with the 2 previous middle schools. Our little ones have been exposed to sexual issues from the first middle school and a lot of profanity and negative behavior from the current one but DOE likes to wear blinders and say co-location is successful! They put that P.E.P panel because of OUR struggle with them putting KGIA in our school! Yes, P.S. 287 knows how to walk to the Tweed building too. P.E.P. exists so that no other parent group gets to walk up to the tweed steps and do a press conference like we did at that time. The Mayor doesn't want that to happen again. Engaging with parents is complete B.S. Parents are fighting each other about schools when we should be fighting the mayor to stop developing condos that people can't afford to live in. When they should be building school buildings instead of trying to treat our kids like sardines. ALL of OUR children are suffering over real estate!

The whole charter school thing is a crock! They want to privatize public education and break the union at the expense of the education of an entire generation of kids. Bloomberg's DOE will say anything, juggle any numbers, and just plain make up ANYTHING to justify this shell game!

Anybody who voted for this man's 3rd term should be beating themselves bloody right now

Who you fooling cyndi we all know that you are the parent coodinator at the school so you have the inside scoop as to wh at the principal is making you say.perhapsyou should stay out of the conversation and realize that you are an employee of the doe

To B:

I'm a parent of P.S. 287 for over 10 years. Long before the current principal arrived. The "Khani" days. The days when they put the School of Law of Justice inside the building. I don't need to be spoon fed by anyone. I'm an educated, involved and informed parent. By the way, Cyndi is a common name.

I have to say that Cyndi from brooklyn is correct in stating the following facts...@B From Fort Greene.. I guess you're assuming that all of the PARENTS at PS 287 are being spoonfed the truth by the principal to bad that many of us have attended too many disheartening meetings where we have been given the news that our school is another dumping ground for yet another school in district 13.

1. The co-location we have currently is horrible. The middle school children have no respect for their own school faculty. They constantly disrespect anyone that tells them anything because they think they are grown.

2. We are not "claiming" the DOE has discouraged enrollment. It is a fact. We have several parents who were told to look at district 19 instead of coming to our school. Mind you they are zoned for P.S. 287. That is fact not fiction and the DOE can deny it all they want, but those parents, who were told to go somewhere else exist and can tell their stories.

Another thing, Community Roots Charter School is so good and it's supposed to be the better option than a public school. Then why, did a good number of students from this school end up having to do summer school at PUBLIC SCHOOL 307? They were educated over the summer by PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS NOT CHARTER SCHOOL TEACHERS in order to pass the state exams they failed. Why was there no summer school for them in their own school with their GREAT teachers? Explain that.

Also not everyone signed that sign in sheet when they arrived at that meeting CRCS keeps referring to. When Community Roots arrived there was a big issue about signing in. Not everyone wanted to sign in. They even had someone try to tell our security that it was not necessary. All of P.S. 287 parents signed in without giving security an issue and Community Roots did block the entrance with their little crowd. They were told they couldn't block the entrance. I was there and if CRCS claims they want to have a peaceful co-location STOP projecting that we don't care about our kids and that we didn't do what we needed to do. No one from Community Roots has stopped to really ask us about our story with the 2 previous middle schools. Our little ones have been exposed to sexual issues from the first middle school and a lot of profanity and negative behavior from the current one but DOE likes to wear blinders and say co-location is successful! They put that P.E.P panel because of OUR struggle with them putting KGIA in our school! Yes, P.S. 287 knows how to walk to the Tweed building too. P.E.P. exists so that no other parent group gets to walk up to the tweed steps and do a press conference like we did at that time. The Mayor doesn't want that to happen again. Engaging with parents is complete B.S. Parents are fighting each other about schools when we should be fighting the mayor to stop developing condos that people can't afford to live in. When they should be building school buildings instead of trying to treat our kids like sardines. ALL of OUR children are suffering over real estate!

Having spent time at a public high school, one can see there is a plan to destroy public schools. Charter School employees have no rights, can be fired when their objective toward kids are first.

Parents are outside of the debaucle created by Bloomberg. Parents should band together, create a parents group to sue this mayor, his cronies and those who are ruining every effort to give children a decent education.

The truth is, If you really want to look at the data underlying the so-called Progress Reports, you'll see that Community Roots outperforms the city, the state, and District 13 on all standardized tests. In fact, it is one of the highest performing schools in the district. PS 287, by contrast, has dismal scores and has had dismal scores for a while - your school just came off the Sini List right? Instead of trying to argue others down, or boast and toot your horn about the reasons why the P.E.P. panel exist, perhaps you should go back to what is important - The education of students!