AS STATE BUDGET TALKS BEGIN, NEW YORK CITY CHARTER SCHOOL CENTER PUSHES FOR ELIMINATION OF ARBITRARY CHARTER CAP
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New York – As Governor Andrew Cuomo presents his 2017-2018 budget today, New York City Charter School Center (“Charter Center”) announced its renewed efforts to eliminate the arbitrary cap on new charter schools in New York. The Charter Center will advocate on behalf of the 44,000 students who remain on waitlists for a quality public charter seat by meeting with elected officials and highlighting parents’ and educators’ calls for new seats.
“Our elected officials should begin this year’s legislative session and budget negotiations by listening to the tens of thousands of parents who have demanded a public charter school that meets their child’s needs,” said James Merriman, CEO of the New York City Charter School Center. “Instead of allowing these students to languish in failing district schools, let’s make 2017 the year we expand access to a great public education by eliminating the arbitrary cap on charter schools.”
Two out of every three applicants in the 2016-2017 school year were waitlisted for a charter seat. Demand remains especially high in lower income communities of color in Central Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Upper Manhattan. With only 30 new charter schools still available to be issued under the current cap, parents could be left without quality options for their children by next year.
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