Harlem state Sen. Bill Perkins hasn’t had a serious political challenger since he was first elected to the City Council in 1997. It’s about time he got one.
As was in full evidence at Perkins’ charter-school bash-fest hearing last Thursday, he’s turned his back on the best interests of his constituents — many of whom see charters as their kids’ only hope for a high-quality education.
This year, more than 10,000 students applied for barely 3,000 open charter seats in his district.
After all, charters, which are publicly funded but privately run, operate without suffocating labor rules, leaving them free to demand excellence — and making them a mortal threat to the teachers union whose lines Perkins parrots.
And Perkins doesn’t just oppose raising the cap on the number of charters allowed to operate — he’s libeled the existing ones as “segregationist” and proposed legislation to bring them under the union’s thumb.
In other words, if Harlem parents want choice in where to send their kids to school, they may first have to exercise it at the ballot box.
By booting Perkins.
Fortunately, there’s a stable of young, qualified, pro-charter Harlemites reportedly thinking about challenging him in the Democratic primary this September.
They include:
* Basil Smikle, a political consultant and Columbia professor who’s worked for then-Sen. Hillary Clinton. He also helped start the Eagle Academy, a charter school in The Bronx.
* Rodney Capel, also a consultant, and with a political background that includes a stint as executive director of the state Democratic Party. Plus, he’s the son of Rep. Charlie Rangel’s chief of staff — a pedigree that could make Perkins nervous, even though Rangel lukewarmly promises to support Perkins, as he traditionally supports incumbents.
* Larry Blackmon, a deputy commissioner in the city Parks Department who’s also worked in the Department of Small Business Services.
Other names may surface as well.
But someone should throw his hat in the ring soon.
Harlem needs a choice — in more ways than one.