PTA of PS 84K Protest on Wed at noon- I spent 5 years at this school and this is beyond outrage

P.T.A. of P.S. 84, The José de Diego School
A Magnet School for the Visual Arts
250 Berry Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR JANUARY 30 at 12 PM:

Contact: Jaime Estades 347.446.5786

CHANCELLOR KLEIN JOINS GENTRIFICATION PROCESS
IN WILLIAMSBURG IN A SECRET ‘SEPARATE BUT EQUAL’ POLICY

At the January 24, 2008 meeting of the PTA of P.S. 84, more than 350 incredulous parents and teachers heard District 14 Superintendent Quail confirm that the Department of Education plans to place a separate elementary school within the building of P.S. 84, an existing elementary school serving minority children within the same grades as the proposed school. Quail stated that the new school is in response to the demands of a group of overwhelmingly white parents who have recently moved into the Williamsburg community and who have demanded their own school to provide them with additional “options and choices” -- by eliminating the “options and choices” of the predominantly Latino and African American children of P.S. 84.

This is a clearly discriminatory decision with no policy or social justification, and in which P.S. 84’s school administration and families were not consulted or notified. P.S. 84 children will be over-crowded in fewer classrooms, teachers will lose their jobs, the school will lose many enriching educational programs, students will have less access to its computer lab and other resources and the children will suffer the effects of negative stigma as a result of this segregation which will send our City back 120 years! P.S. 84 welcomes the integration of newcomers’ children into our school, without the creation of a separate school. This plan endangers our children’s education, safety and self esteem!

WHO: PTA and Community of P.S. 84

WHAT: Press Conference to Protect the Children of P.S. 84

WHEN: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 (12:00 P.M.)

WHERE: 250 Berry Street (corner of South 1st Street) Brooklyn

I watched the neighborhood gentrify but PS 84 is still mostly an Hispanic school with some special ed classes. Over time we expected that some new parents would start sending their kids to the school but this sounds like pure segregation.

Reminds me of the time a Hasidim group of kids were put into PS 16 (not that far away on Bedford) about 30 years ago and the Superintendent ordered a wall to be built to keep the 2 populations from coming into contact with each other. It led to a boycott of some kind by the Hispanic community and the wall was taken down.

I will try to be at PS 84 on Wed. maybe with a video camera. If anyone wants to come, take the L to Bedford Ave. Walk north a few blocks to Grand St. trying to avoid becoming overly hip as this is the epicenter of hipsterdom in The Burg. Go left for one block to Grand and Berry. School is on the corner. Walk one block on Berry to South 1st.