Seeing the writing on the blackboard, new charter schools are scrambling to find private space as Mayor de Blasio moves to keep them from using city-owned public-school buildings in the future.
And operators of the publicly funded, independently run charters are willing to open shop under less than ideal conditions to make their dream a reality.
The Collegiate Academy for Math and Personal Awareness Charter School in Brooklyn will spend 12 to 15 percent of its student operating aid to lease three, one-story modular classroom buildings from the Bethlehem Baptist Church in East New York this fall.
Each 9,000-square-foot unit includes 10 classrooms, office space and bathrooms.
The educators behind CAMPA said the buildings will serve the school just fine after some sprucing up. The school will serve students in grades five through eight when fully phased in.
“The classroom space will be sufficient to house CAMPA’s entire program once it grows to scale,” CAMPA said in its proposal to the state Education Department, but adding, “The modular that will be used in Year 1, requires mostly restoration in order to be in the condition CAMPA seeks.”
Founder Viola Abbott, an award-winning math educator who spent 36 years in the city public schools as a teacher, principal and supervisor, promises “a safe and pleasing environment for our children.”
Abbott said she sought to avoid conflicts with traditional public schools by seeking out private space instead of trying to share space in a city public school building – well before de Blasio’s election.
“As a principal I wanted to have my own building to myself,” Abbott said. “We’ll take the space. We’re pleased to be there.”
She said space in one of the modular buildings will be eventually converted into a gym and hopes to open a health food store someday. She said there is a public park across the street for recreation.
Her approach has won the support of important community and political leaders.
“It is important to note that the school will be housed in a private space and will not occupy seats from local middle schools in District 19. Therefore it will provide parents of the district with enhanced options in selecting a school for their children,” Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries said in a letter to state Education Commissioner John King endorsing CAMPA Charter.
“Charter schools are public schools. It’s just another way of educating children,” CAMPA founder Viola Abbott said.
Meanwhile, a study by a group representing the charters has found that they have cost the teachers union an estimated $5.6 million in membership dues this school year.
Charter schools employ about 4,000 non-union teachers and only some 600 union members.