All smiles as Success Academy kicks off first day of school in NYC after winning legal battle with UFT
Students and parents at one of Success Academy’s Queens locations kicked off the new school year Monday with a lesson — in gratitude.
Flanked by orange and white balloons, the doors to Rockaway Park Middle School opened to a sea of smiling pupils — mere days after the city’s largest charter network defeated the powerful United Federation of Teachers union in its protracted fight against co-located schools.
“Charter schools are the best when it comes to the curriculum,” said Adelola Adedokun whose daughter, Aderimosa, is in the 5th grade at the Far Rockaway school. “You can’t take that away from them.”
The proud mom added, “I will go the extra mile to make sure they don’t close the charter schools. You can’t take their rights away from them.”
Parents Donna and Jason McKoy said their daughter, Grace, has attended Success since kindergarten — and prefers the charter to the public option.
“The charter school is better for us compared to the public schools in the community,” Donna McKoy said. “There’s a school for everyone. What works for you may not work for others.
“The public school in our community doesn’t have the best reputation and we wanted the best for our daughter,” she added. “We see the individual attention they get and focus on their education.”
Another mom said her 10-year-old son isn’t the only one benefitting from the school.
“My son is in the 5th grade and he’s reading on an 8th-grade level,” she said. “They don’t ask for a 50-page supply list. All I had to do was get him to school today.
“Why all of a sudden do [the teachers union] care about us?”
On Friday, a Manhattan judge threw out a last-minute legal bid by the teachers union to block Success from sharing space in buildings that also house public schools — PS 225 in Far Rockaway and K495 in Sheepshead Bay.
In its lawsuit, the UFT argued that the state’s new class-size limits for public schools will require more space on school campuses — with the charter schools taking up some of that space.
But Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lyle Frank didn’t agree.
A UFT spokesperson said the union plans to fight the decision.
“The New York City Department of Education must include the impact on the state’s new class size law when it co-locates schools or allocates public space,” the rep said. “Judge Frank avoided addressing this central issue in today’s decision and we plan to appeal.”
Officials at the Success blasted the attempt to shut out its students.
“The lawsuit targeted about 450 children at the two schools and is the latest in the United Federation of Teachers union war on charter school,” the academy said in a statement last week.
“There have been nearly 20 legal attempts by the union over the years to block or delay co-locations for Success Academy, none of which were ultimately successful.”
Success’ network includes 53 schools in all of New York’s boroughs except Staten Island.
Proponents of Success argue that the network provides parents and students better educational options, while critics say it takes away from valuable resources for public schools.
A report by The Post earlier this year found that students of color who attend charter schools fare better than those in traditional public schools.
“I think that when you take a look at charter schools versus any other school, specifically the area we work in, it’s really about the demographics in the communities that we service,” Zen Zhang, principal of the Far Rockaway school, said Monday.
“I think at the end of the day in education it’s about equity, and Success Academy is doing that,” he said.
