DeBlasio: Cobble Hill schools stuck with dangerous PCBs, while charter in same building cleaned up
City denies preferential treatment for Success Academy Charter School
Public Advocate and Mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio said Monday that dangerous PCB-containing lighting fixtures were removed from the politically-connected Success Academy Charter School in Cobble Hill – but not from the three regular public schools that share the same building.
De Blasio and parents at a press conference at DOE headquarters at Tweed said the inequities go beyond PCB removal. Success Academy Cobble Hill, which moved into 284 Baltic Street in September with the Brooklyn School for Global Studies, the School for International Studies and P.S. 368K (a special-education program), has been transformed “into a modern and sleek school, while the three public schools have languished.”
“This is worse than unfair. Time and time again, we’ve seen a Tale of Two Cities, with resources lavished on Success Academy while traditional public schools in the same building lacked the most basic necessities. In the case of Cobble Hill, we could have inequities that affect the very health and safety of children,” de Blasio said. He called on the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the NYC School District to investigate.
“Before opening in September, Success Academy Cobble Hill side got a new paint job, asbestos floor tiles were removed, new bathrooms outfitted, and new doors, carpeting, and new furniture installed,” Michael Mulgrew, President of the United Federation of Teachers, said in a letter to Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.