CHARTER SCHOOL APPLICATIONS SPIKE FOR 2016/17 SCHOOL YEAR
Over 44,000 Kids Remain on Charter School Waitlists for 2016-17 SY
Nearly 25% of Common Online Charter School Applicants Identify as ELLs
New York – Charter school leaders and parents joined New York City Charter School Center officials on the steps of City Hall today to announce that demand for public charter schools continues to increase. An estimated 68,000 students applied for the 23,600 seats available in NYC charter schools for the 2016-17 school year. Even with 16 new charter schools opening this coming school year, demand continues to far outpace available seats; 44,400 children – or two out of every three applicants – remain on waitlists for a quality public school seat of their choice. Application numbers jumped four percent from last year, according to the Charter Center’s yearly Enrollment Lottery Estimates Report. You can see the report here.
Demand High in Key Neighborhoods
Applications continue to outnumber available seats in all five boroughs. More than half of all applicants came from New York City’s lowest income areas, including the South Bronx, Harlem, and Central Brooklyn. Four children applied for every charter seat available in the Bronx and Queens. Three children applied for each seat open in Manhattan, while Brooklyn and Staten Island had a 2:1 ratio.
Common Online Charter School Application
There were over 270,000 total applications submitted to charter schools this year, of which nearly 50% came through the Charter Center’s Common Online Charter School Application tool. Notably, there were significant increases in the number of special population applicants. Nearly 25% of Common Online Charter School applicants reported being an English Language Learner compared to 8% for the 2015-16 school year. And, 14% of this year’s applicants reported being a student with a disability compared to 5% last year.
“We have 44,400 reasons to be here today and policymakers have 44,400 reasons to tune in,” said James Merriman, CEO of the New York City Charter School Center. “Already charter schools serve nearly 100,000 students in this city – and still we can’t seem to chip away at the waitlists. We must and will continue to open new high quality charter schools – for these 44,400 students and for all of the students to come who need access to a great education.”
“Every family, regardless of income or background, should have the ability to provide their child with a quality education that is a match with their unique interests and needs,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams. “The dramatic increase in charter school applications demonstrates that many families—particularly African-Americans and Latinos—are interested in this option. We have a responsibility to properly meet that demand.”
“Staten Islanders need more school options! Many Staten Island students continue to travel to other boroughs or even other states to get the education they need. That is why I am engaging the charter school sector. At this point, the charter school community is my best hope to create the types of learning environments we don’t have but our students desperately need. Especially those with language based learning difficulties,” said Staten Island Borough President James Oddo.
“The numbers speak for themselves, parents want the ability to choose where their children go to school. They know their kids and what works best for their family. Every parent should have the same access to good schools and charter schools can help ensure that a good school is within their reach. With so many parents being left on waitlists, it is obvious we need more flexibility in school options and more seats in charter schools,” said Council Member Ritchie Torres of the Bronx.
“We’ve seen a steady increase in the number of families who want to send their children to an Uncommon School,” said Brett Peiser, CEO of Uncommon Schools, which manages 21 schools in Brooklyn in grades K through 12. In this past lottery season, Uncommon Schools had nearly 10,000 applications for 1,500 seats. “We are proud and humbled by the thousands of lottery applications we got this year and continue to work to ensure more Brooklyn families have access to a high-quality education.”
“Demand from families for a rigorous liberal arts program in a warm and supportive environment resulted in a record 7,500 lottery applications to Ascend schools for the 2016-2017 school year—a 19 percent increase from last year,” said Steven Wilson, CEO of Ascend Charter Schools. “Since the lottery, we’ve seen an additional 1,800 applications to the wait list. Our community has embraced Ascend’s unique model, and our families appreciate that we welcome students, regardless of English language proficiency or special needs, in every grade.”
“More and more parents in Queens – 530 of them this year, for 110 seats – have taken notice of the outstanding education public charter schools like Central Queens Academy can provide scholars in our borough,” said Suyin So, Executive Director at Central Queens Academy. “We have reached an effective, efficient model for educating Queens’ next generation. Now, we want to make sure that this model is available to every parent who wants to pursue this option for their child.”
“Family Life Academy Charter School Network received 6,043 applications this year. Our own waitlist sits at 5,891 students who have the same basic right to a high-quality public education as our current scholars,” said Marilyn Calo, CEO of Family Life Academy Charter School Network in the Bronx. “As a school in the borough with the highest demand for a public charter education in New York City, FLACS takes on the responsibility of providing each of our scholars with a high-quality education every day.”
