I wasn't going to post any more about the conflict between NEST+m and the Ross charter school because I was starting to feel like the only people who really care are in my sad little Manhattan parent world. (In all honesty, an awful lot of parents I know down here used to like charter schools before the whole NEST dustup, and now they aren't digging them too much.) But then I finally read to the end of the lawsuit that the NEST+m supporters filed in their attempts to halt the Ross school from sharing underutilized space.

Here is how the lawyers for the NESTies phrased it: "The charter school will discriminate against Jewish students and employees."

Oh dear. What gives?

Like some other charter schools statewide, the Ross charter school intends to have Saturday classes as part of the school's regular schedule. The lawyers argue that this is a slap in the face of Jewish families in the diverse Lower East Side neighborhood. They even thrown around the "discrimination" word, lamenting that Jews who observe the Sabbath will be banned from the charter school.

I'm not making this up. Read it for yourself. Like everything else involved in this exhausting case, doesn't this seem like the kind of thing that reasonable people should be able to work out? Oh man...

Another reader who is well versed in the charter school finance world took exception with the portion of the suit where the lawyers consider it "double-dipping" to receive per-pupil charter school funding and also then have things like electricity and maintenance paid for by the school system because they are in a public building.

Finally, among all the complaints about TheChalkboard's previous use of the terms "privileged" and "yuppie" to describe the NESTies, this was probably the best response from a NEST+m parent (aside from her asking me who even used the word "yuppie" anymore? Why, this honky uses it all the time!) But seriously, the parent wrote:

The NEST+m building was a decrepit, rat and roach infested filthy wreck when our Principal took it over. There were no doors on bathrooms, offices and classrooms, there were no lights, obscene and racist graffiti covered every wall, there were bars on the outside and inside of all the windows, every single thing was broken and water poured out of leaks all over the place. Every day after 3PM the outside space became a market for drugs, sex. Illegal dumping, and other crimes and when the cleanup began a dead body was found in the rubble. But NEST+m parents and staff took a leap of faith, signed on, rolled up our sleeves and opened our wallets.

Because NEST+m is K-12, (the only NYC public K-12) parents are willing to put their cold cash into capital improvements in the building. If I know my kid is going to be in a building for 13 years, (or more for people with bigger families), I will pay to re-carpet the auditorium, air condition the entire building, or convert a parking lot into an upper school recreation area. There is currently over $550,000 of parent money in the NEST+m building...not because we are "yuppies," but because we know the investment is worth it.

As a result our building is beyond beautiful. We have incredible lighting, doors, flooring, seating areas, carpeting, curtains, library, dance and art studios, a 12 cameras outdoor security system, air conditioning, businesslike dining hall furniture, etc. Courtney Ross wants to come to NEST+m because she is used to comfort. She has no intentions of putting her OWN money into fixing up a decrepit building, as we did. She wants to (as one of our third graders said) "glom" our school.

So, as a 38 year resident of the Lower East side, an 18 year public school parent, the founder of a community garden, and a typical LES NEST+m parent...don't call me a yuppie or rich or privileged. Call me hard working, committed to my community, and a good parent.

Send lawyers, guns, and money.