Charters dont take away money from district schools
And my thoughts on the School Choice Week summit
One of the most persistent myths in NYC education debates is that charter schools take money away from traditional public schools. My latest article on discuss how the budget allocated for the NYC Department of Education has only grown since the first charter school opened in the city back in 1999.
“The problem with this view is that the pie of public school dollars isn’t fixed—it keeps growing. Charters now enroll 15 percent of the city’s student population. Yet, this expansion has not negatively affected the New York City Department of Education (DOE) budget. Data from the city’s Independent Budget Office show that the DOE budget exceeded $20 billion in 1999 ($22 billion in inflation adjusted 2022 dollars), when the state’s first charter opened. Since then, despite significant enrollment declines, the DOE budget swelled to nearly $40 billion as of 2024—of which, only $3.17 billion constitutes charter school ‘tuition.’ ”
National School Choice Awareness Foundation Summit
I spent last week at a conference organized by the National School Choice Awareness Foundation. I met organizations from across the country who are working to expand school choice options in their states. It was so inspiring and energizing to see the work of Families Empowered to pass the school choice bill in Texas and now to ensure low-income parents are aware of their options under the new system.
It is also disheartening to see how behind NY is in this movement. There are states that only have ESA and vouchers for students with special needs, so they are working to expand to all low-income students. Other states have strong programs but are being sued by the teachers’ unions so they are organizing parents to keep their school choice program.
We have so much work to do in NY to even catch up to the level of education freedom that is already a reality in so many states!
What I am reading this week
Gaslighting parents about learning loss could cost Democrats the White House (Flypaper)
Sex scandal rocks NYC school as third staffer probed for misconduct: ‘Should not be happening’ (NYPost)
Educator targeted for ‘white toxicity’ during anti-bias training can sue NYC for ‘racial harassment’ (NYPost)
Please share this newsletter with your friends and families.
Contact me if you want to help bring universal education choice to NY! #SchoolChoiceNY
