Protect our Public Schools: No Zeta Charter School in the P.S. 150 Annex in Sunnyside
Zeta Charter Schools
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Zeta Public schools is a charter school planning to establish a branch in the P.S. 150 Annex in Sunnyside. If they establish a branch here, they will:
- Take away necessary funding needed for our public schools
- Zeta will block incoming schools from opening and our ability to fill 7,266 seats allocated for our district.
- Zeta Charter Schools are not unionized by the UFT Teachers Union, which leads to high teacher turnover and instability for our students.
Funding for public schools comes from enrollment numbers. Should Zeta Charter Schools establish a branch in Sunnyside, it would negatively impact our communities; Zeta would siphon students from the public school system, impacting the amount of funding our public schools get. This funding is necessary for our schools to thrive and provide our students with the best education.
We also have a number of public schools opening in Long Island City, Sunnyside, and Woodside. There will be four new elementary schools, three middle schools, and five high schools, with a total of 7,266 seats. A branch of Zeta Charter Schools will instead pull enrollment from these schools, preventing them from hitting necessary enrollment numbers to maintain funding streams from the city and state. In fact, our elected representatives have also stated that they are against Zeta Charter Schools coming to our neighborhoods.
By establishing a Zeta Charter School in Sunnyside, you would be essentially stealing necessary resources from our children’s schools. Our children need schools that are inclusive and committed to all–regardless of race, ethnicity, language-spoken, immigration status, or disability. We do not need charter schools that drop students with special needs or who need assistance to inflate success metrics. We know of students and families who have been pushed out of charter schools because they haven't been able to meet certain metrics, and this is an incredibly painful experience.
As parents and community members, we want to see smaller class sizes and better funded schools. Charter schools upend the public system of education and siphon resources from traditional public schools by playing by a different set of rules and receiving private funding. Zeta’s presence in our neighborhoods would be harmful and will hurt our existing school system. We demand that Zeta stays out of Sunnyside and other neighborhoods in Western Queens!
Petition by
To:
Zeta Charter Schools
From:
[Your Name]
Dear Emily Kim, Executive Director of Zeta Charter Schools,
We are public school parents and community members writing to demand Zeta Charter Schools stay out of the P.S. 150 Annex in Sunnyside. We live in Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City, Dutch Kills, and other western Queens neighborhoods.
We recently received mailers from Zeta Charter Schools, encouraging us to enroll our children into your school. A new charter school in Sunnyside will hurt our existing public schools, which rely on student enrollment and are financed solely by public funding.
By establishing a Zeta Charter School in Sunnyside, you would be essentially stealing necessary resources from our children’s schools. Our children need schools that are inclusive and committed to all–regardless of race, ethnicity, language-spoken, immigration status, or disability. We do not need charter schools that drop students with special needs or who need assistance to inflate success metrics. Many families in the neighborhood have been adversely affected as charter schools chose to disenroll their children as students, because they did not meet charter school standards.
Our students also deserve to build long lasting, meaningful relationships with their teachers; while our teachers should have the protection of just-cause terminations and access to union benefits. Zeta charter schools are anti-union and do not have support from the UFT teachers union. Due to these factors, there is high turnover for teachers, which leads to instability for our students.
Zeta’s establishment in Sunnyside would hurt the planned public schools set to open in our neighborhoods. We have a dozen new schools coming into this area–four elementary schools, three middle schools, and five high schools; New York City Public Schools has stated that the elementary schools in Long Island City will have a total of 2,100+ seats, the middle school will have around 2,100+ seats, and the high schools will have a total of 3,066+ seats. These schools were cited with our community with our children in mind, and will be designed to meet our children’s needs. A branch of Zeta Charter Schools will instead pull enrollment from these schools, preventing them from hitting necessary enrollment numbers to maintain funding streams from the city and state. In fact, our elected representatives have also stated that they are against Zeta Charter Schools coming to our neighborhoods.
As parents and community members, we want to see smaller class sizes and better funded schools. Charter schools upend the public system of education and siphon resources from traditional public schools by playing by a different set of rules and receiving private funding. We do not want Zeta Charter Schools in our neighborhoods. We ask that you reconsider your decision and keep Zeta out of western Queens.
Sincerely,