NYC Charter School Center Launches Petition Drive to Lift Arbitrary Cap on Great Public Schools
September 28, 2016 (NEW YORK, NY) – On the day thousands of charter school families rallied in support of their children’s education and the need to dramatically grow the sector, the New York City Charter School Center launched a petition drive to pave the way for more great public charter schools to open. The petition calls on Governor Cuomo and state lawmakers to lift, once and for all, the arbitrary cap limiting the number of charter schools that are able to operate in New York. At the current authorization rate, New York City will reach the charter school limit by or close to the end of 2017.
“We are now a year away from having to tell families we can’t create any more charter school seats and that is simply unacceptable,” said New York City Charter School Center CEO James Merriman. “Even as charter school waitlists grow, we are hampered by an arbitrary cap that will deny tens of thousands of children the opportunity to receive an excellent education. Enough is enough. Our schools are getting excellent results. We have outsized demand from families because of it. Now all we need is for politicians to do the right thing.”
There are currently 243 charter schools open or approved to open in New York City. That leaves room for just 32 additional charter schools under the current cap. Once these additional schools are authorized and open, there will still be tens of thousands of children left on wait lists.
To view and sign the petition, visit http://nyccharterschools.org/eliminate-the-cap.
Click here to view a list of facts about charter schools for the 2016-17 school year.
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