The Daily News to day

Public School 123 space spat pits Eva Moskowitz against Harlem parents
BY ERIN EINHORN DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, April 1st 2008, 4:00 AM
A former city councilwoman is gearing up for what she's calling a "Middle East war" over classroom space for her charter school.
"Dividing land ain't pretty," said Eva Moskowitz, the former chairwoman of the Council's Education Committee who now heads the Harlem Success Academy.
Like many of those running the publicly funded, privately run charters that have taken up residence in a portion of an existing public school, Moskowitz has her eye on classrooms in Public School 123 on W. 140th St. in Harlem for one of three new charters she plans to open in September.
And like many schools across the city that have faced the prospect of sharing their gyms, cafeterias, auditoriums and hallway space with a new school, the parents at PS 123 aren't having it.
"We have three lunch periods already, starting at 10:30 a.m.," said PS 123's PTA president, Antoinette Hargrove. "We've had so many improvements here. We don't want to see everything we've worked hard for going down the drain."
Hargrove is marshaling as much support as she can among parents at her school and community leaders in Harlem to block the charter, mirroring the kinds of protests that have often sprung up across the city when new schools are announced for existing buildings.
Though hundreds of new schools have settled into old buildings without incident - city officials say 280 new schools, including 45 charters, have been created since 2002, with as many as 70 more expected to open in September - there are loud, contentious fights at schools around the city every year.
What makes this battle different is Moskowitz and her plan to fight back.
She plans to bring "hundreds" of parents who support her charter to a meeting between PS 123 families and city officials scheduled for tonight.
"This time, there is another side," she said. "To me, the public policy issue here is that this is a public school building, a public resource. I would argue that it's owned by the citizens of New York and it's supposed to be used in the best interest of children."
School officials say PS 123 has only 581 students in a building designed for more than 1,000 kids, but Hargrove counters that the population fluctuates because of nearby shelters.
"They're not giving us extra funds for these shelter children," Hargrove said. "Instead, they're bringing in [charters]. ... Soon, there's going to be no more public schools."
eeinhorn@nydailynews.com

Somedays I encounter parents that seem to be seriously destructive to their own childrens education. I believe that there should be some kind of consistency with how a child is dealt with at home and at school. You can't expect to displine a child in a million different ways and get positive results. Imagine punishing a child for not doing their homework, but not realizing that no one at home is making sure or caring that it gets done. It seems so crazy how teachers in most cases are blamed when a child fails a test or is disruptive and rude. Why don't some parents take responsibilty for how their children perform in school. Like that great old saying " it takes a village to raise a child", so one person should never be held accoutable for how well a child performs. I learned that there are so many reasons why a child may act up in class, not learn as fast as others or have trouble with rules and regulations. Yup, most of that shit starts at home and outside of school. Then guess who has to deal with the bull. The teachers, otherwise known to somepeople as "Babysitter". I love children and my profession, but it is heartbreaking to see some kids walk into the school with the world upon their shoulders. Doesn't leave much space for learning.

The term public school has two distinct meanings this is one of them:

A school funded from tax revenue and most commonly administered to some degree by government or local government agencies.