REPORT PANS NEW YORK STATE’S CHARTER SCHOOLS

Stressing that there is no conclusive evidence that charter schools in New York state are improving student achievement, a report released in November by the New York State United Teachers, the National Education Association-New York and the New York State School Boards Association calls for a moratorium on creating any new charter schools in the state.

The report, Not So Fast , says existing charter schools are “a heavy financial burden on many school districts, triggering tax increases and major program cuts that hurt students in traditional public schools.”

“New York should not and must not expand the number of charter schools until more convincing long-term evidence of their effectiveness and viability is presented, and remedies to protect traditional public schools from financial disaster are adopted,” the report says.

The analysis by the education groups examined 23 of the state’s 51 charter schools and the nine districts that fund them. It found improved student performance in some charter schools; in others, academic performance remains weak. Overall, says the report, “Student performance in most charter schools remains below that of students in ‘host’ public school districts.”

Not So Fast  cites numerous examples of New York school districts being forced to increase class sizes, eliminate academic programs, increase taxes and borrowing, and lay off teachers and staff—just to make payments on the experimental charter schools.

The most significant problem, the report notes, is a poorly thought-out funding formula that both miscalculates the expenses school districts face and rewards charter schools with a disproportionate share of funding.

Copyright by the American Federation of Teachers, AFL•CIO. All rights reserved. Photographs
and illustrations, as well as text, cannot be used without permission from the AFT.