Democrats helping the poor minorities, not.

Elite scholar pol now denying kids
By CARL CAMPANILE
Last Updated: 4:18 AM, April 21, 2010
Posted: 3:55 AM, April 21, 2010
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."