ADDITIONAL PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS APPROVED FOR NEW YORK CITY
Only 14 Charters Left to be Issued in NYC
(NEW YORK) – The State University of New York (SUNY) Trustees today voted to approve three additional public charter schools for New York City. These approvals mean that there are 14 charters left to be issued in the City. The New York City Charter School Center released the following statement:
“Every time that a new, promising charter school is authorized, our city moves a little bit closer to having a system of public schools that are successfully educating all students. However, with so few charters left, it also means that we are quickly getting to the point that no matter how promising a potential school is that school will not be allowed to open and contribute to our shared mission. We can’t let that happen. We need to ensure that there are as many charters available as there are talented, high-capacity teams committed to serving students,” said James Merriman, Chief Executive Officer, New York City Charter School Center.
The three charter schools approved today to open in New York City are:
- Lamad Academy Charter School
- Our World Neighborhood Charter School 3
- Storefront Academy Harlem Charter School
Background on the Charter Cap:
- SUNY’s recent approvals have expended the 6 charters that were remaining under New York City’s charter sub-cap and subtract 8 from the 22 reserve charters that were revived as part of the 2015 legislative session. The New York City sub-cap has been depleted, and only 14 charters are left in reserve.
- A majority of the 14 charters left are likely to be used up in the coming month. The New York State Education Department (NYSED), New York’s other charter authorizer, is currently reviewing 15 applications for New York City charter schools and is slated to vote on new charters at its November 5-6 meeting. Depending upon how many charters NYSED approves, there could be a handful to no charters left to be issued in New York City in 2019.
- Get the facts: The Charter Center’s Status of the Cap Fact Sheet.
SUNY’s new charter school approvals come after the 2018 New York State test scores revealed that charter schools were far outpacing district schools, while significantly closing the achievement gap for Black and Latino students.
With more than 52,700 students without access to seats in New York City alone, and with the number of available new charters running dangerously low, the Charter Center and other advocates are pushing New York State to pass new legislation that will remove the current arbitrary restrictions on creating more charter schools in New York City.
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