Time to end New York’s cap on new charter schools

Reliable state oversight enforces a standard for quality — an arbitrary limit does a disservice to students.

By Charles Sahm

New York City is again approaching the cap imposed by Albany on charter schools; after some new approvals are announced, only about two dozen slots will be available for new charters.

The statewide cap, established with the original charter law in 1998, splits the number of charters evenly between the city and the rest of the state. The cap, raised in 2007 and 2010, was adjusted in 2015 to give unused charter slots to the city, but it’s time to end this semi-annual ritual and scrap the cap once and for all.

New York isn’t like states where charters are distributed like candy and weak oversight has led to poor performance, mismanagement and even corruption. New York’s two charter authorizers, SUNY and the Board of Regents, take their jobs seriously. (The city’s Department of Education formerly authorized charters but no longer does.) As long as the state’s authorizers continue to pay close attention to charter quality, there’s no need to artificially restrict charter quantity. …

Read the rest of the piece at New York Daily News.

Charles Sahm is director of education policy at the Manhattan Institute.