This past Friday, the parents, teachers, and administration of Lefferts Gardens Charter School were notified that Chancellor Carmen Fariña has decided to close the school, effective June 2016. This is devastating news to our community. LGCS has an amazing school leader, a dedicated administration and wonderful teachers, and we intend to voice our discontent with the decision.

Closing schools is both counterintuitive and counterproductive. It puts the faculty and staff out of work, disrupts our children's education and disables a trusted institution in our neighborhood.  Closing a school because it "failed to meet academic standards set by the DOE " conveniently puts the blame on teachers and punishes our students for struggling through their academic challenges. Punishment is not the answer.   It does nothing to solve the real issues - which are that the DOE standards are unrealistic and not geared toward true educational growth. The DOE has been failing our children (and our teachers) for far too long.  

Our daughter joined LGCS in it's founding year, and six years later,  she has grown to love learning, her teachers and her school community. We have been thrilled with LGCS. As parents of a LGCS student, we have seen how hard the teachers and administration have worked to make LGCS a place that fosters learning, respect, communication and growth.

Please join us in this fight by signing our petition! We need to show Chancellor Fariña that we will not stand by and allow the DOE to close our beloved school.