bracing for a fight<\/a> if Zohran Mamdani \u2014 who is critical of the privately run, publicly funded schools \u2014 is elected mayor in November.<\/p>\nMoskowitz made clear that the employees \u2014 many of whom work in administrative roles at Success Academy\u2019s headquarters on Wall Street \u2014 had not met expectations for \u201cphone to action\u201d outreach to politicians urging them to support charters. Moskowitz said the employees are required to participate in the rally, which is considered part of the school day. Students will be attending.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou did not do the phone-to-action because you thought, \u2018This is not very serious,\u2019\u201d Moskowitz said. \u201cSo I want to just reset for all of you. It is an existential threat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Enrollment at charter schools, which serve around 142,000 students in New York City, has slowed since the pandemic, according to the New York City Charter School Center. They will likely be forced to compete with traditional public schools over diminishing federal funding.<\/p>\n
Under laws governing nonprofits, charters can require staff to participate in demonstrations if they are advocating for the schools, rather than speaking in support or opposition to a political candidate, according to David Bloomfield, an education and law professor at Brooklyn College and CUNY Graduate Center.<\/p>\n
A Success Academy spokesperson defended its practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody who works at Success should be surprised by this or should object to standing up for charter schools,\u201d the spokesperson, Ann Powell, said in a statement. \u201cThat has always been true and it’s why we have organized so many marches over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
An attendee of the meeting who was uncomfortable with Moskowitz\u2019s demands provided the recording to Gothamist. She said employees are \u201cpissed\u201d but also scared to oppose Moskowitz.<\/p>\n
Moskowitz, a former city councilmember known for her sharp and aggressive questioning, reminded staffers about Success Academy\u2019s \u201cchain of command.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen your boss asks you to do something, assuming it\u2019s not unethical or a question of conscience, you do the task. Are we clear?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She pointedly suggested those who fail to comply with both the rally and \u201cphone to action\u201d could face consequences. \u201cManagers are going to hold you accountable to an extraordinary standard of performance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Unlike prior mayoral campaigns, education has not dominated the race. But the two leading candidates sharply disagree on charter schools. The schools, which have received significant support from hedge funders and billionaires, focus on college-readiness. But some charter schools, like Success Academy, have faced criticism for the strict rules imposed on both children and parents.<\/p>\n
Mamdani, the democratic nominee and front-runner, opposes expanding charters, saying they \u201csiphon resources\u201d from traditional public schools. He\u2019s also said charters should receive more oversight. The powerful city teacher\u2019s union endorsed Mamdani after the primary.<\/p>\n
His rival Andrew Cuomo, who was supported in the primary by pro-charter donors including former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has said he would support replacing underperforming traditional public schools with charters.<\/p>\n
But opening more charters in the city would require raising the charter cap, which is set by Albany lawmakers.<\/p>\n
The battle over charters peaked more than a decade ago under former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who, like Mamdani, received support from the United Federation of Teachers and opposed expanding charters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a theoretical worry,\u201d Moskowitz said. \u201cWe lived through eight years of Bill de Blasio.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that the workers perhaps did not understand the \u201crisk\u201d they were facing, sarcastically suggesting they\u2019d grown complacent because they are \u201chighly compensated\u201d and work in \u201cnice offices.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moskowitz also took a swipe at unions.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should know that we are very deliberately not unionized. We are not in a union because we believe that when management and labor lock arms on behalf of children, the children benefit,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Mamdani\u2019s campaign and the UFT both declined to comment.<\/p>\n
Mamdani, a democratic socialist, has made universal child care a centerpiece of his campaign but has talked little about education policy. He could face pressure from charter school families, the majority of whom come from lower-income communities of color.<\/p>\n
Bloomfield said clashes involving charter schools have been \u201csporadic\u201d in recent years.<\/p>\n
He was skeptical that their protest could shape the election. \u201cIt\u2019s not clear that the rally will turn into votes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moskowitz half-jokingly said the rally offered one bonus to employees: a break from the dress code.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you’ve always wanted to wear holey jeans, this is it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur dress casual might be a little different, but I’m more worried about the dress code at the network, which you guys need to elevate a little bit here,\u201d she said. \u201cYou’re not meeting the standards.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the meeting concluded, Moskowitz asked if there were any questions. No one spoke up.<\/p>\n
This story has been updated with new information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The founder of Success Academy, New York City\u2019s largest network of charter schools, admonished several hundred employees this…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":235223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-235222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-new-york","10":"tag-new-york-city","11":"tag-newyork","12":"tag-newyorkcity","13":"tag-ny","14":"tag-nyc","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115222763606538501","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}