PARENTS, CHILDREN SECURE LEGAL VICTORY AS CHARTER SCHOOLS PERMITTED TO EXPAND INNOVATION IN PRE-K PROGRAMMING
New York – The New York City Charter School Center (“Charter Center”) today praised a key legal victory for parents and children as the New York State Appellate Division struck down New York City Department of Education (DOE) overregulation of pre-kindergarten programs run by public charter schools. The Charter Center filed a joint friend of the court brief in the decision, DeVera v. Elia. The ruling means charters participating in New York City’s Universal Pre-K (UPK) program will now, as state law provides, have their UPK programs monitored by their authorizer, who will ensure that charter schools’ UPK programs are high-quality and meet all the legal requirements of the UPK statute.
The Appellate Division unanimously found that the UPK statute provides charter authorizers with the full authority to oversee charters’ UPK programming and operations and does not vest that authority with DOE. The Court was clear that while DOE has the ability to inspect the program, DOE does not have the power to regulate the programming or the operations of charter school UPK programs, including those of Success Academy schools.
“The Charter Center has always maintained that DOE over-reached its statutory authority in making charter schools across the city sign onerous contracts as a condition of providing UPK program to the children most in need of the head start pre-k brings,” said James Merriman, CEO of the New York City Charter School Center. “Today, the Appellate Division affirmed our view. We’re proud to have supported Success Academy’s lawsuit.
“This decision means children who enroll in public charter school pre-k programs can benefit from the kinds of innovative curricula that charters, freed from overbearing bureaucracy, can now implement. As those innovations prove successful, we look forward to charter schools sharing them with their district and not-for-profit partners.
“While the legal issues in this case were not difficult, we remain puzzled why the de Blasio administration, which should get so much credit for making UPK a reality, feels compelled to strait-jacket charter schools into making UPK a one-size-fits-all program. Progress and excellence for students come from giving gifted professionals autonomy, not making them sign contracts with endless, rigid rules.
“The real winners today aren’t charter schools, but the children of this city.”
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