Monday, August 28, 2000 in NY
BY ALISON GENDAR, DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
To Honi Scales, it makes perfect sense that not only her son, but African-American children in general, would flourish once they transfer from public to private school.
“At his public school, I would call the teacher and she would never call back. I would write notes and she wouldn’t respond,” Scales said.
“Here [at his new school], I have not only the teacher’s home number, but the principal and assistant principal’s home numbers. They do not consider talking with parents a burden,” she said.
Scales’ 6-year-old son, Hannibul, won a privately funded voucher from the Children’s Scholarship Fund that enabled him to switch last year from Public School 116 in Jamaica, Queens, to a private Islamic school, Al Madrasa Al Islamiya in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He’ll enter second grade this year.
“When you are pushing and the teachers are pushing, your child will gain momentum,” she said. “But when you are pushing and pushing and he goes to school and doesn’t get the same, something is lost.”
Last year, Hannibul’s first-grade class had about 21 students, compared with 30 or more in his old Queens school, Scales said. Teachers had time to work with him, and his reading and math skills took off.
The Children’s Scholarship Fund provides about $1,300 toward private school tuition, with families contributing about $1,155.