Advocacy Agenda

Recent Wins

Charter Leader Engagement

Nearly 100 charter school staff and family accompanied us to the capitol to meet with their elected representatives, while our personalized “Meet Your Electeds” briefings educated 26 charter school teams about the opportunities to engage locally.

Raising Charter Leader Voices

Our legal and policy teams submitted 2 amicus briefs, delivered testimony at 5 local and state hearings and developed 2 sector wide sign-on letters to bring attention to and garner resources for NYC’s charter schools.

Pro-Charter Legislation Introduced

For the first time ever, pro-charter legislation was introduced in both NY’s Senate and Assembly. The bills, which our team helped shape, call for facilities funding for charter schools in private facilities that were left out of the 2014 legislation.

New Marketing Tool for Charters

Our new NYC Charter School FINDER serves as the definitive guide to NYC’s more than 430 charter school campuses, making it easier than ever for families to find and apply to charter schools.

Legislation Passed!

After more than 7 years of advocacy, our team secured charters’ inclusion in NYC Council Bill 532a-2024, which will enable NYC charter schools to access approximately $8M to cover security guard expenses.

A Win for NYC Charter Schools!

For the first time ever, the New York City Council passed legislation in support of NYC charter schools (many thanks to Councilman Justin Brannon for his support)! Local Law 2025-0004 will enable charter schools located in private facilities to access reimbursement funds for their security guard expenses. This has the potential to bring more than $10 million in funding to the sector.

New York State

advocacy

No Student Should Have to Pay Rent For Their Classrooms!

Under a 2014 law, charter schools located in private facilities that had already grown to capacity or established grades were excluded from receiving the same rental assistance funding every other NYC public school receives. As a result, there are now nearly 27,000 students across 86 charter schools whose per-pupil funds are being diverted from the classroom in order to help pay for the cost of their school buildings.

Lift the Arbitrary Cap on Great Public Schools

There is a statutory limit on the number of charter schools that can open in New York State with a smaller sub-cap for New York City. NYC hit its limit in 2019; since then, we won the ability to reissue 14 previously closed charters, but the demand remains. Until every child in NYC has access to a high quality public school, there should be no cap on the number of charter schools that can open.

Charter School Students Deserve Equitable Funding

NYC’s Independent Budget Office reports that charter school funding falls far short of district school funding – in some cases by more than $5,000 a student! Charter school students are public students who deserve the same resources and supports as their district counterparts. New York’s electorate must address this issue by revisiting the per-pupil funding formula or providing supplemental aid.

New York City

Engagement

Charter Schools Should be Able to Offer PreK

For the last three years, NYC Public Schools has denied charter schools the opportunity to serve PreK students. By not issuing a PreK RFP to charters, dozens of schools are unable to offer PreK 4 to the siblings of their currently enrolled students. Charter schools stand ready to build NYC’s capacity for providing high quality public PreK seats to NYC’s most vulnerable students.

Related Services are a Right Not A Privilege

While we understand there is a national shortage of related service providers, NYC Public Schools prioritizes services for district students over those for charter school students with disabilities. NYC Public Schools, which serves as the LEA for charter schools, must act quickly and decisively to bring more providers into the City’s public school system.

Career Supports for ALL High School Students

District transfer high schools, serving over-age, under-accredited students, have access to the NYC Public Schools’ Learn to Work program, which assists schools in providing internships and jobs in their communities to ensure future preparedness and success. Charter school students at NYC’s nine charter transfer high schools have been excluded from this program for years. As public school students, NYC Public Schools needs to invest equally in its students.