Do as they say, not as they do.
Elitist Democrats who’ve waged war against charter schools in New York are opting to send their own kids to private institutions — a move critics have blasted as hypocritical, The Post has learned.
Politicians, including Sens. Robert Jackson and Jabari Brisport and upstate Assemblymen Phil Steck and John McDonald, or their children have benefited from alternative schools, even as they fight to prevent economically disadvantaged parents from doing the same.
Jackson (D-Manhattan) — who opposes Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to lift the charter school cap in the five boroughs — recently admitted he sends his daughter to the $56,250-a-year Dwight School on the Upper West Side.
“Our youngest daughter, based on the conversation I had with my wife, we sent her to a private school for high school, the Dwight School. I never hid that,” Jackson said at a Feb. 8 legislative hearing in Albany on Hochul’s budget plan.
“But everyone knows I’m fighting for public schools.”
Jackson represents Washington Heights and Inwood in northern Manhattan, as well as a slice of The Bronx, and has strong ties to the anti-charter United Federation of Teachers from his days serving as a city councilman.
“Every parent has to decide what’s best for their child. If that’s what you decided, that’s what you decided,” Jackson told a charter school parent at the 11-hour hearing.
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Jackson is against Hochul’s plan to allow more publicly funded but privately run charter schools to open in New York City. Her proposal would keep the limit to 460 charters that can open statewide but eliminate a regional cap of 287 that has been reached in New York City, forcing many students on wait lists.
“Gov. Hochul’s budget proposes lifting the cap on charter schools & reauthorizing ‘zombie charters’ in NYC. This undermines the historic investment of public school funds meant to benefit children in NYC,” Jackson tweeted, referring to “zombie charters,” or closed schools that could reopen again of Hochul’s budget passes.
“Until charters are held to the same standards as public schools, I cannot in good conscience support the governor’s proposals.”
Charter school advocates said Jackson’s position on charters isn’t not a good look when he can afford to send his own kid to Dwight School.
“This is pure hypocrisy of the first order,” said Ruben Diaz Sr., a former councilman and state senator who is founder and CEO of the pro-charter Hispanic Clergy Organization in the Bronx.
Diaz was a staunch supporter of charters when he served as state senator and city councilman.
“Robert Jackson opposes charter schools for poor parents but sends his kid to a private school? How could this be!” he railed. “Parents in The Bronx and Harlem cannot afford to go to the Dwight School! The charter school is the only option and now Jackson and the Democrats want to take that away.”
Jacquelyn Martell, executive director of the pro-charter Democrats for Education Reform, added, “It’s just disappointing to see the state senator fight so hard and put up obstacles for less fortunate families to choose the best school for their child, especially when he sends his own kid to private school.
“We wish all of our elected officials would embrace families’ rights to choose which school works best for their child.”
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A spokesman for Jackson downplayed his opposition to charters, saying there are still plenty out there.
“There are currently more than 280 charter schools in NYC — and counting — for parents to choose from,” the spokesman said. “The opposition to raising the cap doesn’t change that reality.”
But the rep didn’t respond when reminded there are thousands of students on waiting lists to get into existing charters, where black students have been proven to outperform their public-school counterparts.
Meanwhile, Brisport, another opponent of charter school expansion, has also benefitted from pricey private education, graduating from Poly Prep in 2005.
Tuition at the prestigious Brooklyn school ranges from $50,000 to $60,000 a year, according to its website.
The Democratic socialist’s website boasts about his career as a math teacher at a traditional public middle school in Crown Heights and how he was a member of the UFT union. But there’s nary a mention of his time at Poly Prep.
The Brooklyn school, however, proudly mentioned his election to the state Senate on its website in 2020 with a special message from his Class of 2005 classmate.
“You have no idea how proud I was to fill in the circle next to Jabari Brisport’s name in my district,” the grad, Amaany Clarke, said. “I’ve known Jabari since our 8th grade year at Poly Prep, graduating class of ’05, and even then he was such a warm spirit, extremely wise, witty, and poised for greatness.”
Brisport declined to comment.
Elsewhere, Steck, an upstate capital region Democrat who also opposes lifting the statewide charter school cap, sent his daughter to a prestigious all girls private boarding school — Emma Willard in Troy.
Tuition at Emma Willard — the alma mater of US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand — is $43,600, according to its website.
“My district also would not support raising the cap on charter schools which funnel money to private operators. That money could go to more mental health or drug abuse prevention programs in public schools,” Steck said in a recent tweet.
“Further, lower pay and less job security doesn’t improve education,” he added, referring to how charter teachers are non-union and do not have tenure.
Another charter-opposed upstate assemblyman John McDonald chose to send his daughter to Cohoes Catholic school over public school.
“I am perplexed by the Charter School proposal in NYC which needs further explanation,” he tweeted Feb. 3, while referencing a report about the drop in enrollment in New York City public schools. “It does not make sense especially in light of the other issues plaguing the city.”
