No movement on charter cap, ‘zombie’ schools in New York

(The Center Square) – Efforts to expand access to charter schools in New York were unsuccessful earlier this week when Democrats in the state Senate blocked a proposal to lift a cap on the number of schools.

State Sen. George Borrello, R-Sunset Bay, offered the proposal Wednesday as an amendment to S.3468B, a bill sponsored by state Sen. Timothy Kennedy, D-Buffalo, that would create a state office on racial equality and social justice.

In a statement, Borrello said that if public schools aren’t meeting a family’s needs, they should have other options.

“It is disappointing that despite Democrats’ continual rhetoric about prioritizing equity and opportunity, when presented with a chance to truly move the needle on those issues, they declined,” the senator said. “While all families want the very best for their children, those without the financial resources to afford private schools must rely on the public schools.”

New York currently allows 460 charter schools, and within that, there’s a separate cap for New York City that’s already been hit. However, that also is where demand for charter schools is the greatest. Borrello noted that more than 80,000 applications were submitted to New York City’s charters for the 2019-20 school year, but the schools had only about 33,000 spaces available.

The senator noted that recent studies show that 88% of New York City’s charter school students do better on the state’s language arts exam than their peers in traditional public schools. On the math test, 91% of charter students perform better.

Because of that data, he wanted the charter school cap removed and felt it was appropriate to include it in Kennedy’s bill because access to quality education would promote racial equality and social justice.

“Availability is so scarce that tens of thousands of student applicants are regularly turned away, leaving them not only disappointed but less likely to reach their full educational potential… (Opponents) are undermining the futures of countless children, which is unconscionable,” he said.

Even without lifting the cap, the Empire Center noted in a report published earlier this week that the state could help out about 10,000 New York City students by eliminating so-called “zombie charters,” or schools that have been approved but no longer are operating.

There are about 20 such schools, according to the Empire Center report. The average charter in New York City has an enrollment of 515 students.

“The charter caps are intended to limit active charter schools – not closed ones,” the nonpartisan, nonprofit public policy think tank stated in the report. “The law is supposed to result in closed charters so that new schools can replace failing ones. It defeats that purpose to count unused charters toward the cap.”

The New York Charter School Association told The Center Square in a statement that work is needed on both fronts.

“We strongly support the reissuance of ‘zombie charters’ to increase the educational opportunities available to students and families across the state,” said Yomika Bennett, the group’s executive director. “More broadly, we support removing the limit on the number of charter schools so families across New York State can choose the right high-quality school for their children.”