Gov. Kathy Hochul plans to allow about 100 more charter schools to eventually open in New York City, a decision that should be an obvious one given the benefits of charter schools.
In many lower-income neighbourhoods, charter schools are the only good public school option, yet state law prevents new charters from opening by “capping” the number in the city.
Public charter schools overall do a far better job than the regular public system in teaching their students, with 62% of charter students citywide scoring proficient on statewide math tests in 2018-19, compared to 45% at Department of Education schools.
Charter schools mainly enrol children from black and Hispanic lower-income families, and do an exceptional job of addressing learning disabilities and actually teaching English.
Charter schools also excel despite getting less than half the per-pupil funding, disproving the lie that they “steal resources” from DOE schools.
Hochul’s plan simply permits about a dozen charter allowances “used up” by schools that closed to be re-used by new ones and removes the NYC-only cap on total charters allowed so that the 100 or so still available in the rest of the state can be issued in the five boroughs.
Yet, the Legislature resists, thanks solely to the power of the teachers’ unions that hate charters because they’re mainly non-union.
We pray that the governor stands strong and that enough lawmakers listen to their consciences, not to this special interest, and stand with the children.
The right choice couldn’t possibly be more clear.
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