MANHATTAN — As Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz continues to battle at the local level, sparring with Mayor Bill de Blasio over getting more space for her growing charter school network, her national profile seems to be on the rise.
Moskowitz’s name is being floated for possible consideration for U.S. education secretary, according to the Daily News — and she was reportedly seen leaving Trump Tower on Wednesday.
►UPDATE: Eva Moskowitz Won't Take Trump Job In Order to 'Keep Eyes' on De Blasio
Donald Trump has taken a pro-charter stance, which might align with Moskowitz's vision, but his opposition to the Common Core might not sit well with the Success Academy founder, who is a strong supporter of the standards, the Daily News noted.
A Success Academy spokeswoman declined to comment on whether she’s interested in the education secretary position.
Moskowitz, a Democrat who previously represented the east side of Manhattan on the City Council, has been the subject of much speculation about a mayoral challenge to de Blasio — a move she has denied.
She plans to stand on the steps of City Hall on Thursday to blast de Blasio for blocking her schools from expanding into under-utilized buildings as she hunts for a permanent home for three of the charter’s middle schools.
Moskowitz claimed, in an open letter sent to the mayor this week, that the city’s proposal for her high-performing network to temporarily house Success Academy middle school students from five Brooklyn schools in just two locations was not “reasonable, adequate or comparable,” as state law requires.
It would require many of the students to change school locations three times over their four years of middle school, from grades 5 – 8, she said, calling the plan “an aggressive affront to families.”
Moskowitz then listed 10 school buildings that have empty seats in Brooklyn, citing Department of Education data, including the building Success Academy shares in Cobble Hill with the School for International Studies, the Digital Arts and Cinema Technology High School and P.S. 368.
Her letter added that the city's own numbers also show there’s adequate room at Success Academy's Williamsburg location, which it shares with J.H.S. 50 John D. Wells.
At the Cobble Hill location, tensions between the public schools and the charter have been high, especially as the public schools there have been re-branding themselves with new programs and hoping to grow.
The Digital Arts school, which had until July been called the Brooklyn School for Global Studies, now partners with BRIC and Brooklyn Arts Council, which send teaching artists into the school.
The School for International Studies recently started a French dual-language program for middle school and now offers the rigorous International Baccalaureate diploma, making it more appealing for local families, especially the Francophones and Francophiles who send their children to a popular French dual-language program at a nearby Carroll Gardens elementary school.
Meanwhile, de Blasio, too, had a meeting at Trump Tower the very same day — albeit for different reasons. De Blasio said he told the president-elect that New Yorkers are scared of him occupying the White House.
