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State Senate Approves Raising Cap on Charter Schools
By
Jaya Saxena
Published May 4, 2010
Modified May 4, 2010
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By
Jaya Saxena
Published May 4, 2010
Modified May 4, 2010
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In an effort to become more attractive for federal funding from the Race to the Top program, the state senate voted 45-15 to raise the cap on charter schools to 460 from 200. The low cap was just one of the many reasons New York lost out on funding during the first round of allocations (that and the weird furniture requests), but the vote may be the first step in getting the state almost $700 million for public schools. Senate Majority Conference Leader John Sampson told the Daily News, "Nothing is more important than investing in our children's education and our future. We need to improve our score for Race to the Top."
The bill needs to be passed by the Assembly and signed by Gov. Paterson before it goes into effect, and many aren't supporting it. Sen. Bill Perkins said the bill "is more like folks seeing an opportunity to get some public dollars," and the AFL-CIO said the bill would create a "dangerous escalation of the charter-school program," and take funding from public schools. Currently the bill doesn't contain any language preventing a for-profit company from running a charter, and includes restrictions on NYC's ability to determine where new schools would be located. However, the city stands to gain 115 new schools if the bill passes.
Those who did vote for the bill highlighted the importance of siding with parents instead of the objecting teachers' unions. Bronx Sen. Ruben Diaz said, "I am proud to vote for this bill...The children should have the opportunity to get a better education. No one should deny them that opportunity." Previous opponent Mayor Bloomberg is even supporting the bill, with Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson saying, “This is the beginning of an important conversation with the Senate, the Assembly, the governor and other stakeholders about how to best position New York to win federal funding.” And if that doesn't work, the city could still go rogue.
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Jaya Saxena
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