This NY Post editorial gives Perkins the ripping he so richly deserves:

Why does Bill Perkins hate kids?

The teachers-union front, a Democratic state senator from Harlem who has thousands of kids in his district prospering in charter schools, will nonetheless convene a hearing in Manhattan on Thursday intended precisely to damage the charter-school movement.

Specifically, Perkins' charter-school bash-fest is meant to advance a bill undercutting the privately run public schools -- even as thousands of parents in his own Harlem district are clamoring for more of them.

"We hope to educate . . . the public on the structure and operation of charter schools and the companies they contract with," Perkins said.

He whines that charters are "unregulated" -- which is partly true, but which in fact may account for their stunning success.

Results, of course, don't matter to Perkins at all.

Now, no doubt he has reasons for opposing Harlem families; the rest of us can only speculate what they are.

Just who is Bill Perkins?

Well, he's 60 years old and, he says, a "lifelong resident of Harlem." This makes his disdain for residents there all the more odd.

Or maybe not. For he's also himself the product of free private-school education, at the Collegiate School on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Having been spared the traditional public-school experience, it's at least possible he doesn't really understand the potential consequences of what he's trying to do.

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The Perkins puzzle

Last Updated: 1:08 AM, April 20, 2010

www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/editorials/the_perkins_puzzle_Gtgr0RA86EZGhp9cjqruyH#ixzz0lk4nLkl6