ALBANY, N.Y. (WSYR-TV/AP) - The Legislature is refusing to act on a bill Gov. David Paterson says is needed for New York to have a chance at $700 million in federal school aid.
Paterson called lawmakers into special session Monday night to raise the cap on charter schools.
Right now the cap is set at 200 but the federal government says it needs to be raised to more than 450 for New York to qualify for the extra money.
Republican senators who supported Paterson say the result will likely be loss of the federal aid, higher school taxes and a net cut of hundreds of millions of dollars in statewide school funding.
The Senate met briefly and the Democratic majority refused to take up Paterson's bill, ignoring efforts by the Republican minority to bring the bill to the floor.
The Assembly also met briefly, then the Democratic majority adjourned to closed-door session.
The Legislature is due back in session Tuesday morning.
Changes to charter school legislation could cost state millions
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York's Legislature is proposing last-minute changes to charter schools law that Gov. David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned Sunday will cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in a federal grant for schools due Tuesday.
By proposing to raise the cap of available charters to 400, the Democrat-led Senate and Assembly are following the lead of the state's powerful teachers' union and other school lobbyists, which have long opposed charter schools as now operated.
The current cap is 200, with just six charters left.
Paterson has said that in order to qualify for up to $700 million from the federal Race to the Top fund, the state must eliminate its cap or raise it no fewer than 454. Paterson says the U.S. education secretary told him so.
On Sunday, Paterson ordered a special session to negotiate changes for late Monday, which is a state holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. The application must be in Washington by 4 p.m. Tuesday to be considered in the Obama administration program aimed at improving public education.
The bill in the Senate and Assembly would also give the Board of Regents - appointed by the Legislature - far more power in awarding any charters. It would limit the other entities with authority to approve charters: the State University of New York Board of Trustees, which is appointed by the governor, and the New York City Department of Education, under the mayor's control. The bill also contains accountability measures and reporting requirements that lobbyists for traditional schools long sought for charter schools operated by private companies. Such requirements are already in place for most public schools.
Charter schools were created more than a decade ago to take more innovative approaches to education, including longer school days and years, while reducing ties to bureaucracy and union hiring.
Thousands of families have turned to charter schools, often from waiting lists. That has drawn state per-pupil aid from traditional schools as well as some of the most motivated students. Public schools have long said that has drained their resources.
Senate Democratic leader John Sampson "believes this bill will enhance New York's ability to receive Race to the Top funding while increasing transparency and disclosure when public money is invested," said Austin Shafran, spokesman for the Senate's Democratic majority.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, said the bill would give traditional public school families "a voice" in whether a charter is approved, while "insisting that they do more to educate English language learners and children with learning disabilities."
Currently, most charter schools lack the facilities or funding for special education and are created to serve mainstream students.
Silver said Bloomberg's opposition to the bill is "dooming" New York's chance of getting the grant, "solely to maintain their unchecked power to displace traditional public schools from existing classroom space."
Lawmakers saw the grant as an opportunity to secure changes to the charter school law it says has hurt traditional public schools, but which governors have opposed.
Paterson, the New York City mayor and the Senate's Republican minority warn the stand will cost New York students, who already face an expected cut in state aid during New York's fiscal crisis.
"It would ultimately undermine the improvement that the Race to the Top grants intend to achieve," Paterson said Sunday. "I believe the leaders' bill would harm the state's chances of winning the funding."
Charter schools in New York City have been cited as a national model of success in providing better instruction in low-income, inner-city neighborhoods.
"The bill is a wolf in sheep's clothing, plain and simple, that would destroy a charter law that is a national model - and surely weaken our application for federal dollars," Bloomberg said. "There are tens of thousands of New York City children on charter school waiting lists, and they deserve better than this."
Republicans in the Senate's narrow majority said the bill will likely fall short of what's needed to secure federal funds to avert expected cuts in state school aid that would force layoffs and higher local school property taxes.
"Senate and Assembly Democrats are engaged in a high stakes game of chicken with Governor Paterson," said Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos of Nassau County.
The state Charter Schools Association called the bill a travesty.
"This 'Trojan horse' legislation will not improve educational quality or opportunities for families," said Bill Phillips, the association's president. "Instead, this bill is a raw political statement of surrender in the effort to reform education that repudiates the agenda of the Obama administration."
New York spends about $21 billion a year on school aid.
Paterson, lawmakers agree to more charter schools
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Legislative leaders and Gov. David Paterson have agreed to raise the cap on charter schools as part of steps to meet a federal deadline for getting up to $700 million in additional aid to schools.
They made the announcement in a hastily called leaders meeting after closed-door negotiations that appeared stalled Friday. The grant deadline is Tuesday.
At issue was boosting the maximum number of charter schools in New York from the current cap of 200. Paterson had said the federal program required eliminating the cap, but now says federal officials tell him a maximum of 454 would make New York well qualified.
That would mean one potential charter school for every 10 traditional public schools in the state.
There are just six available charters left.
Union not happy with Governor’s charter school proposal
Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - Governor David Paterson is pushing to remove a cap that limits how many charter schools can operate in New York. The governor says the proposed legislation could help the state win up to $700-million in educational funding.
New York State United Teachers says raising the cap is premature unless there are reforms put into place to change the school funding formula. “Charter schools work for some kids, we just want to make sure other kids aren't suffering,” AnneMarie Voutsinas, of the Syracuse Teachers Association.
The Syracuse Academy of Science is in its 7th year of operation. It is a public school, tuition-free, with a board that reports directly to the state education department. Principal Tolga Hayali says that the school’s small enrollment allows them to help their students be more successful. “Our graduating class is 54, So we can pay attention and not let anyone fall into the cracks.”
There are 130 kids on the waiting list for the Syracuse Academy of Science. The school’s administration says the long waiting list could be due to the school’s 90% college placement rate.
Despite that success, teachers unions don't want more charter schools unless there are reforms in the school funding formula. Traditional public schools lose money when kids enroll in charter schools. Instead of 100% of the funding, they get 33%. “It's a question of equity, making sure public schools don't lose money when charter schools open and keeping an eye on charter schools to make sure they are good quality charter schools,” Voutsinas said.
The administration at the Syracuse Academy of Science says opening more schools is a good idea if the state keeps the same control over them they have now. “They are really good at controlling, auditing finances,” Hayali said, “If you're not doing well, you'll be closed. As long as we make sure our tax money is used wisely, why not?”
The legislature must pass the proposed bill by Thursday, so it could be signed into law by the federal application deadline on January 19th.
