Democrats Allied with Teachers Union Pledge to Block Plan for Cathy Hochul Charter School in New York

State lawmakers, in alliance with the teachers’ union, pledged on Wednesday to fight Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to open more charter schools in New York.

Hole’s $227 billion budget plan will keep the cap of 460 charter schools statewide, but will remove the regional cap for New York to make dozens of additional places available for new charter schools in the Big Apple.

There is currently a limit of 275 charters for New York and this limit has been reached.

But powerful state senators, with whom Hochul will have to negotiate the budget plan, issued a joint statement saying they oppose an increase in the regional limit in New York, which has 142,500 students or 15 percent of state students.

There are currently 357 charter schools in the state, well below the 460 public schools. Charter schools are privately run but publicly funded, and their students often outperform traditional public school students on the state’s standard English and math exams.

“New York City could have over 100 new charter schools. This will further increase the financial burden of New York City’s traditional public schools by robbing much-needed resources from the schools that serve the vast majority of our children. The New York City Department of Education (DOE) is required to provide space for charter schools in DOE buildings or pay rent for charters operating in private buildings,” said a statement released by Senate Education Committee Chair Shelley Meyer (D-Scarsdale) and Senator John. Liu (D-Queens) and Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan).

Liu chairs the New York Senate Schools Committee, and Jackson, a close teacher union ally, was involved in a landmark Fiscal Justice Campaign to increase public school funding.

Liu, the former New York Comptroller, separately described Hochul’s proposal as “unsuccessful”.

But there seems to be a gap between Democratic lawmakers and their constituents – especially parents – when it comes to charter schools. A poll released Monday showed that nearly two-thirds of New York City parents support lifting the restriction and opening more charter schools in five boroughs.

United Federation of Teachers President Mike Mulgrew welcomed Hole’s plan to increase public school funding by 10% but said he would fight hard to lift the cap on charter schools in the city.

“Public resources should go to real public schools, not corporate charter networks that claim success by refusing to serve our most vulnerable children, who force out students who don’t fit their mold, and who refuse to allow independent audits of their spending. Mulgrew said.

Mulgrew said under current law, charter schools can expand from kindergarten to 12th grade, essentially creating three different schools for elementary, middle and high school students.

He also complained that New York is the only school district in the country that provides free space or pays rent to charter schools, and that they serve fewer students with special needs than traditional public schools.

But Hochul stood her ground when, during a budget briefing, she was asked about the opposition to her pro-New York charter school plan.

She said that having a regional cap limiting the number of charter schools to only New York City “doesn’t make sense.”

“What we are trying to do is just common sense. This legislature approved 460 charter slots in New York State. That number has not been reached,” Hochul said.

“There is no need to raise your cap. But what didn’t make sense was – I’m trying to approach the government with common sense – why is there a difference between the number of charter seats available for one city, New York, and the rest of the state.”

Its budget will also allow for the reissuance of so-called “zombie” charter school licenses that were issued to schools that closed after 2015.

Overall, Hochul’s executive budget provides for a record $34.5 billion total for the school.
aid, which is $3.1 billion or 10 percent more than the current budget.

Her spending plan increases charter school aid per student by 4.5%.