BK District's Proposed Pause On Charter Schools Gets Vote Tuesday

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Parents will get their final chance this week to weigh in on a proposal to stop new charter schools from opening in New York for the next five years. District 15's community council will hold a final vote on the resolution Tuesday night.

The proposed resolution is what the council is calling a call to "press pause on charter expansion." It asks New York not to increase its current cap on the number of charter schools allowed in the state, or a subcap in place in New York City, and instead proposes a five-year moratorium on new charters opening.

The resolution is up for a final vote at District 15's meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The public will get a chance to offer comments at the meeting, to be held in PS 131 at 4305 Fort Hamilton Parkway.

Council members contend that the resolution isn't necessarily anti-charter, but would allow time to review the impact of charter schools before allowing more to possibly threaten the city's public schools.

"We realize there are different opinions on the Charter school issue across the five boroughs," said Antonia Ferraro, chair of the district's Charter Committee. "However, given the numbers, a charter cap and/or subcap increase should be something our city’s parents, educators, and elected officials oppose with a unified voice. The legislative session is upon us and we as parent leaders can’t miss this opportunity to press pause on Charter expansion at the source—Albany."

New York City, home to at least 71 percent of the state's charters, has raised its 50-school charter cap three times since it was put in place in 2007, according to the resolution.

Brooklyn, the borough with the most charter schools, is home to 37 percent of New York City's charters. After Brooklyn, which has 97 charters, the Bronx falls in second with 77, Manhattan in third with 53, Queens in fourth with 27 and Staten Island last with six schools.

"Charters are an unproven experiment that continues to grow, predominantly in New York City, while other parts of the state with far fewer local alternatives go ignored," the resolution says, pointing out that Suffolk County has one charter per 100,000 students while most boroughs in the city have one per every 3,000 students.

"Now is not the time to increase the number of charters," it continues. "Now is the time to begin an evaluation period."

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