A pro-charter school rally in City Hall Park Wednesday served as a reminder of yet another thing Albany isn’t doing: letting more kids attend good schools.
The Legislature refuses to lift the cap that prevents more charters from opening in New York City, though enrollment in charters has jumped 9% these last two years even as Department of Education schools keep losing kids by the tens of thousands. The best chance to do it is now, as part of the budget due April 1.
With 50,000 kids stuck on the waitlist for a charter seat, “it is unconscionable in these past two years in particular that we would not do everything possible to make sure that our kids and our families have the best possible education choices,” notes Crystal McQueen Taylor from StudentsFirstNY.
The smallest fix would be to revive the dozen-plus “zombie” charters, issued in past years but no longer active, so that schools ready to open could do so. That’s “just a different way to count charters as the number of schools operated,” argues James Merriman, CEO of the New York City Charter School Center.
Better still, end the special cap on charters in New York City, and let Gotham use some of the 70-plus charters still available under the main cap in the rest of the state.
Best of all would be to do away with the cap entirely: It was set up when charters were experimental; now that they’ve succeeded so thoroughly, the only reason to keep it is the lobbying of the teachers unions that dominate the regular public schools.
If the Legislature refuses to at least lift the cap, it’s a clear sign lawmakers just don’t care about the kids.