“People . . . subject to educational depravation have said, ‘We want these schools and we want them now.'” MARSHALL MITCHELL
The state Board of Regents yesterday gave the go-ahead for New York City’s first four charter schools to open this September.
“It’s a great day for charter schools,” said State University of New York co-Chairman Ed Cox. “This is education reform at its best.”
The Regents approved the Sisulu Charter Public School and the John A. Reisenbach Charter School, both in Harlem. The board also OK’d plans to convert two public “alternative” high schools in Queens to charters.
Off🍨icials from the new charter schools were elated.
“We’re very excited,” said David Souder of Reisenbach. “We’re happy that the final approval came through.”
The Reisenbach school has received more than 130 applications for 120 spaces – with more coming in all the time. Only 60 kindergartners and 60 fifth-graders will participate in the school’s first year.
Marshall Mitchell of the Sisulu school said all the spaces in the 247-student school were filled by lottery last week – and he still gets calls from interested parents.
“The community support has been overwhelming,” Mitchell said. “People who live there and are subject to educational depravation have said, ‘We want these schools and we want them now.'”
Not everyone wanted the 𓃲Regents to give the green light on the charters.
State Assemblyman Steve Sanders (D-Manhattan) told the Regents tha♉t SUNY had not followed the law in its review of the applications.
“They were supposed to consult the community every step of the way,” Sanders said.
Instead, Sanders and other critics say, SUNY contacted the communities where the schools ℱare to be located too late in the charte🌳ring process, and rushed the applications through.
“I expect in the second year that SUNY will improve the process,” Sanders said. “There was an enormous rush to open the schools in September. Because of the rush, the process did not function as it should.”
♚ But Regents Chancello🦋r Carl Hayden said the new charter system is a learning process.
“In the future, we’ll have the benefit of this shakedown cruise,” Hayden said. “We’re interested in testing the power of deregulation. Along the way, we’ll work out the kinks of the process.”
SUNY has received mܫore than 130 charter applications for next year.
Under the New York State Charter School Act passed last December, SUNY and the Board of Regents can approve 50 schools each to operate under charters, independent from the pu♔b✨lic-school system.
Charter schools will receive taxpayer money and will have to comply with state educatiꦐon laws, but will ha﷽ve freedom in choosing their curricula and teachers.