Charter school rally in Downtown Brooklyn draws 15,000
Jennifer Hudson, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Aloe Blacc perform
As helicopters buzzed overhead and chartered buses lined Cadman Plaza West, roughly 15,000 chanting charter school supporters — many from the city’s 34 Success Academy schools — held a politically-charged rally in Cadman Plaza Park in Downtown Brooklyn Wednesday morning.
Organized by the charter umbrella group Families for Excellent Schools, speakers called on Mayor Bill de Blasio to end what they called two separate school systems — charters versus traditional public schools — saying that minority students in New York City are limited in their educational options.
Charter supporters including Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Joe Herrera, an organizer for Families for Excellent Schools, and Bronx Assemblymember Carmen Arroyo said the mayor hadn’t done enough to eliminate what they called the “Tale of Two School Systems.”