Bronx Charter School turns to public for funds

By Justyna Malota
jmalota@hunter.cuny.edu

A metropolis was rising from the floor of a Kindergarten class at the Bronx Charter School for the Arts on a recent afternoon. Skyscrapers towered and archways beckoned as the children channeled their inner architect, deploying large hollow building blocks to create their urban fantasy.

The children don’t realize it, but the blocks teach them geometry, says their teacher Brooke Peters.

Her school didn’t supply the tools that she believes will give her students a leg up when they begin a more formal study of math. Kind strangers did.

By posting a message on an internet bulletin board, Peters asked for contributions so she could buy the blocks for her classroom. Eleven people responded, contributing $1,296.

Called DonorsChoose.org, the internet site that connected Peters’ class to the donors was created by a former social studies teacher to help public schools in need. When educators submit classroom projects, individuals from across the globe can view them by location, cost, subject and income level. With just a few dollars, says DonorsChoose, anyone can become a citizen philanthropist.

Some schools lack funds for even the most basic materials. In December, a teacher at PS 43, which serves children in Hunts Point and Mott Haven, posted a plea for $287 to buy paper, pencils and glue sticks for her third graders.

Annual per pupil expenditure for the Bronx Charter School for the Arts is $15,100, said Gretchen Wagner Liga, Director of Development. The per pupil expenditure in Scarsdale is $22,545, according to newyorkschools.com, a website that compiles information on schools statewide. http://www.newyorkschools.com/districts/scarsdale-union-free-school-district.html

In addition to more public support than New York City schools get, suburban schools can count on affluent parents to contribute funds. At Bronx Charter School for the Arts, however, roughly 83 percent of the students are eligible to receive free and reduced-price lunches, a measure of the number of low-income families whose children are enrolled at a school.

So to sustain a program “founded,” says the Bronx Charter’s website, “on the principle that arts education is a catalyst for the academic and social success of all students,” the school relies on private funding. New York State covers only 80 percent of the school’s expenses, according to the school website.

During play time in Peters’ Kindergarten, aspiring doctors, fascinated by the human body, examined X-ray slides on a light table worth more than $600. It was funded by contributors through DonorsChoose.org.

Others gravitated to colored paddles or prisms, mirrors, and flashlights, all aiming to enrich the science curriculum. Two donors paid the $345 cost.

Four donors contributed $516 project for social studies posters and books to enrich the students’ vocabulary.

Although they reach into their own pockets to buy classroom materials, without additional support teachers are forced to make decisions about the curriculum based on the available funding, rather than on educational grounds, Peters said. “We have to make a decision on whether to have a picture of something instead of the real thing, or only using a tiny block instead of a big block.”

“Our kids are amazing, but they do come with a variety of strengths and weaknesses; challenges that are associated with their socioeconomic status,” agreed Marshae Newkirk, Lower School Director.

“In any school system, what you’re wishing for is more funding, especially in this economy,” said Newkirk. “My wish is that teachers didn’t have to write in as many proposals to fund things they really need for the classrooms.”

Meanwhile, though, Peters is hoping her fifth proposal meets its goal of $1,255 by April, when her DonorsChoose listing expires. She’s seeking funds to buy models of animals, books about living things, a classroom greenhouse and planting materials for her class.

A version of this story appeared in the December 2009/January 2010 issue of The Hunts Point Express.