See letter below from Council Education Chair Rita Joseph and nine of her colleagues on the Council Education Committee, urging the leaders of the Legislature not to succumb to pressure from Governor Hochul and the charter lobby to raise the cap on charters. Below that is a press release with quotes from many education advocacy groups, including Class Size Matters.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that charter-loving billionaire and former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg has secretly been spending millions backing a new shadowy organization called "American Opportunity," run out of the Democratic Governor's Association, that is buying deceptive TV ads and sending mailers, urging people to contact their legislators to accept Hochul's budget, without mentioning the word "charter" since it might scare away those he is trying to lure into her camp.
Hochul and the charter lobby are pushing this proposal despite the fact that their enrollment is falling. More than half of all NYC charter schools lost enrollment over the past three years, not including charters that opened or closed during that time; and 45% lost enrollment this year, including the most aggressively expansionist Success Academy, down 7.7% despite spending over $13 million per year on marketing and recruitment.
Success Academy is so desperate to recruit more students that according to an eyewitness account, they have hired people to hang out in playgrounds to hand out flyers and beg parents to enroll their children in their schools.
We have a briefing on the history of the charter cap and why it should not be lifted; you can also send a message to your legislators here.
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