Organization slaps charters with right hand, reaches out with left

The Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition’s youth group, Sistas and Brothas United, was one of the most vocal opponents of the phaseout of John F. Kennedy High School and of the charter schools that will replace it. 

But NWBCCC has also been helping New Visions spread the world about its new charter schools.

Before the Panel for Education Policy voted in February to close Kennedy in four years, Sistas and Brothas United organized a rally outside the school. Members brought people to a public hearing who spoke passionately against charters and in favor of keeping JFK open. 

“Oh no, what was we fighting for?” SBU organizer and JFK senior Ahmani Croom said when informed by The Press that the organization she represents has been working with New Visions.

“That’s like stabbing us in the back,” she said, adding that she planned to talk to leaders to find out what was going on.

Ronald Chaluisan, vice president of charter schools at New Visions, which has founded schools across the city, said his company reached out to the NWBCCC, a grassroots organization known for fighting for progressive causes, and asked for help. He said the two groups co-hosted a New Visions information session to spread the word about the new schools and how to apply.

“We have a very long history with working with a bunch of different community organizations … so we’ve known them for a long time,” Mr. Chaluisan said of NWBCCC.

Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, NWBCCC’s board president, said the two organizations worked together in the past. New Visions helped NWBCCC found its Leadership Institute, a public high school in the Bronx, and NWBCCC honored New Visions last year at a gala. 

“We have a very good working relationship with them,” Ms. Pilgrim-Hunter said, but cautioned, “Supporting New Visions is not about supporting charter schools … we support an equitable education for all our kids.”

Laura Vazquez, NWBCCC’s co-executive director, denied involvement with New Visions but, when pressed, said her organization helped New Visions find a space for its information session on the new charter schools. 

Ms. Vazquez also said she gave New Visions advice about how to disseminate information on the charters in the northwest Bronx and recommended the organization work with one of her former youth leaders, who New Visions then hired. 

“Our relationship is very cordial,” she said.