Sen Bill Perkins (D NY) Knows How to Keep His People in Harlem in Line: Bill Perkins Mission to Destroy Charter Schools Part ll

The following is a fictional dramatization.

Or is it?.

Union Official: Look Bill you better get this shit under control

Bill Perkins: Don’t worry, I got it under control.

UO: Oh yeah? Have you seen the papers? Do you see what they’re writing about Charter schools?

BP: So. What about it?

UO: It says Charter schools work better than out schools….test scores are higher…we’re getting our ass kicked.

BP: Like I said, so what?

UO: It’s in the papers man! If more people find out about charter schools, they pull their kids out of our schools. That means the DOE shuts the school down and our teachers get the boot. Less teachers means less union dues, Bill. We can’t have that shit!

BP: Relax, I got it under control.

UO: If we don’t get our money, then you don’t your money come election time. Do you read me? It’s in the papers, man., and you act like it’s no big deal!

BP: You ever heard that Chris Rock joke about where to hide money in the hood?

UO: No

BP: He said put in a book because niggers don’t read. I know my constituency. They don’t read the Post, baby. They think it’s a racist paper because I told them it was. They believe what I tell them.

UO: But, these charter school are doing a great job. People want better for their kids and our schools are a mess.

BP: You worry too much. If I point my finger and yell racists, my people up in Harlem fall in line time after time. Like I told you, I got this.

From The New York Post:

State Sen. Bill Perkins is a "total hypocrite" for trying to block the expansion of charter schools -- while he enjoyed a scholarship to attend an elite private high school, parents and charter advocates charge.

The Harlem Democrat was one of the first students accepted into the New York-based national program, called A Better Chance.

ABC was founded by the headmasters of prestigious private and public high schools in the 1960s to enroll high-achieving, economically disadvantaged minority students into their institutions.

Thanks to ABC's support, Perkins -- who first attended the public Robert F. Wagner Middle School on the Upper East Side -- enrolled and graduated from Collegiate HS on the Upper West Side and received a bachelor's degree from Brown University.

"Our program exists to provide opportunities for young people who are like Senator Perkins -- to help them achieve the success he has achieved," said ABC President Sandra Timmons.

ABC publishes a parent-resource guide that includes charter schools, and works with charter-school parents looking for high-school options.

Harlem parents said the opportunities that benefited Perkins makes his fight against charter schools more outrageous.

"Perkins is a total hypocrite -- 100 percent. The choice he had, he doesn't want to give to our children. This is a civil-rights issue," said Natasha Shannon, a co-founder of Harlem Parents United.

"I don't know who he thinks he's representing. But it's not us. I will not for vote for him."

Perkins -- who once flirted with running for Rep. Charles Rangel's House seat -- has announced he's seeking re-election to the state Senate.

Perkins, who chairs the Senate panel on corporations, authorities and commissions, plans to grill charter-school firms and operators at a Manhattan hearing tomorrow. Charters are privately run, publicly funded schools exempt from most union rules. They typically have longer school days and school years.

In the heart of Perkins' district, charter-school students scored nearly 20 points higher on the state English and math tests than kids in traditional public schools.

"It's total hypocrisy," said Harlem Success Academy II Charter Academy parent Karl Willingham. "He got to go to a prestigious high school with a scholarship. You would think he would be an advocate for school choice and opportunity. He's a shining example of choice and opportunity. I want that for my son."

Pro-charter state Assemblyman Michael Benjamin of The Bronx said, "[Perkins] is being disingenuous by denying parents school choice. He won't allow parents the choice his own parents chose for him."

Perkins declined comment about being called a hypocrite. In a prior interview, he admitted parents in Harlem are "fleeing" their schools for charters.

"Why don't we fix traditional public schools?" he said. "You got charter schools uptown and regular public schools downtown. That's polarizing."

Via New York Post


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