Have you actually seen the tree, though? When was the last time you set foot in any public school in NYC, let alone more than a single one?

So many members of the public believe that they’re experts in education because they went to public high school. You’re not.

You’re also arguing against a position I have not espoused. Please just stop.

Career educator? No? I thought not.

No, that’s exactly what a straw man is. You’re arguing against a false opponent that you e created, not my actual argument.

You’re all over this thread arguing for charters charging the public rent on buildings bought with public funds intended to educate children. This is so obviously a money grab by organizations less and less accountable to those parents you claim to represent. Stop it.

I’m done here.

Straw man.

Problems are exacerbated by the existence and growth of charters.

I think NYC schools vary widely in quality, just as charters do. The more charters that exist in the system, the more resources, student talent, and tenacious parents flow out of the public system.

When you lift caps on charters, your city’s school system becomes Philadelphia. Public schools become repositories for kids whose parents don’t care or don’t have the wherewithal to get them into charters (minus a couple of high performing magnet schools), and every parent who has the time and inclination to fill out an application sends their kid to a charter of decidedly middling quality. You get to break the union, you burn through every young teacher three years out of college, and your public school system is destroyed. And twenty thousand union members with a passable quality of life go looking for greener pastures. That’s what you’re looking for?

I don’t think charter schools should exist. They’re fundamentally different from all other individuals and companies you’ve mentioned. Want to start a school? Great. Go use your own money.

Philadelphia gutted its public school system in favor of charters. So did the entire state of Louisiana. You should check out how they’re doing.

Money that’s earmarked for educating children should not generate profits. Those profits should not be used to purchase a building that generates further profits. That building should not take further money from the city’s coffers through charged rent.

Isn’t it? It’s taking money from the city to pay for the education of a number of children. It’s taking the excess and purchasing a building. Then, it’s charging the city to educate other children in that same building.

They’re taking your tax dollars, burning through inexperienced teachers, overpaying board members, kicking out students with disabilities or behavioral problems, using the spare cash to purchase buildings, and then stealing more tax dollars by being the public school system’s landlord.

You should be mad.

Sorry, looks like it’s only for young adults. https://www.bklynlibrary.org/card/

Pro tip: get the Libby app, attach it to your public library card (or get a free e-card from a library like Brooklyn that now allows anyone anywhere to borrow), and start enjoying free books and audiobooks. (You might have to wait for some titles.)