More charter schools would be allowed to open in New York Citꦯy under a proposal advanced in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget plan.
Cuomo would reissue so-called zombie charters — the slots of charter schools that have closed.
Those charter slots cannot ✃be transferred to another entity to open a charter school without legislative approval from the governor and the Legislature, said James Merriman, CEO of the New York City Charter School Center.
“The FY 2021 Executive Budget proposes to authorize the reissuance 🌜of any charter originally issued to a charter school that has subsequently closed due to surrender, revocation, 🎐termination or non-renewal of its charter, regardless of the date of such closure,” Cuomo’s budget plan states.
“This amendment permits the issuance of additional charters to charter schools located in New York City, expanding educational opportunities for disadvantaged students,” Cuomo said.
Charter advocates said Cuomo’s proposal, if approved by lawmaker🙈s, provides a temporary relief to open about 15 more charter schools without having to raise or eliminate the cap under state law. New York City has already hit its legal limit and can’t open any more charters that aren’t already in the pipeline.
“Generally the only people I’ve met who think we don’t need to raise the cap in NYC are those whose cꩲhildren are in a public school of their choosing. Parents who don’t have any choice get it and overwhelmingly support not just this modest temporary fix but eliminating the cap altogether,” Merriman of the NYC Charter School Center said.
Cuomo has championed charter school expansion, particularly after Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2014 sought to deny them space in public school facili🔯ties. The governor 🐎approved a law requiring the city to provide space for charters in its school buildings or pay rent to afford them space in private facilities.
But that’s when pro-charter Republicans controlled the state Senate. Democrats who are more hostile to charters🍷 now control both the Senate and A🌜ssembly and they’re not interested in making it easier for the popular privately managed, mostly non-union alternative publicly-funded schools from opening.
Many charter school students outperform their traditional public school counterparts on state exams but the teachers’ union and other critics claim they serve fewer special needs students and divert funding from them.
Charter operators and parents expressed concern when Cuomo’s 2020 policy address delivered earlier this mont🐓h made no mention of charter schools, and whether he would use his political muscle to lift or abolish the legal cap.
HIs budget plan on Tuesday also emphasized charters would get a boost in funding.
There are currently 260 charter schools in the city serving 126,000 students. But the city has already reached its legal limit, after another 32 in the pipelin😼e open.
The state law sets a cap of 460 ch💮arter schools statewide. But within the cap, there are further restrictions on how many can open in New York City🌸.
Six other city charter schools approved by the state last year can’t open because of the cap set by🐓 the Legislature, according to the NYC Charter School Center.