Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Will Governor Cuomo Help His Charter School Allies?

Eliza Shapiro at Capital NY:

Operators of charter schools in New York City are looking to Albany for support after failing to gain traction on a series of core issues with local elected officials or the de Blasio administration.

...

Charter groups are beginning to plan Capitol-based actions for the next few weeks and looking to assemblymembers from city districts to push for state funding to help co-located charters.

"With the environment around ed reform changing, we're asking for fairness for charter schools," Brett Peiser, C.E.O. of the Uncommon Schools network, which has schools in the city and upstate, told Capital in a statement. "We're pursuing every possible angle for support, including the State Legislature and Governor Cuomo."

What are the chances of getting help from the Legislature?

David Bloomfield, a professor of education at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, said going to the Capitol for funding assistance is a "predictable and potentially successful strategy in that it doesn't implicate New York City public school buildings."

"It's still a heavy lift," he added. "If the Legislature wanted to [help fund charters] in the first place they would have."

I wouldn't be surprised to see Governor Cuomo come in with lots of money for his charter allies, since they have come with lots of campaign money for him.

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