A foundational principle Americans hold dear is that every child should be afforded the opportunity and freedom to learn, grow and realize his or her full potential.
New York taxpayers invest more in public education than those of any other state in the nation.
Yet somehow, far too many children are trapped in failing schools.
It’s no secret that most of the state’s business is done through the annual budget process.
This year, our children and the parents who love and care for them deserve to have education reforms front and center during the state-budget debate.
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s budget proposal includes a record $34.5 billion in overall school financing, fully funds Foundation Aid at $24.1 billion and provides unprecedented support to economically distressed school districts.
Yet her plan is provoking fierce criticism from her colleagues on the left. Why?
Because she is also proposing to modify the state cap on charter schools by eliminating regional caps and adding more slots for students in places like New York City, where they have parental support and are in high demand.
New York City charter schools are capped at 275. The governor’s plan would add 85 more slots for charter schools anywhere in the state while operating within the current overall statewide cap of 460.
Special-interest opponents of charter schools claim these institutions take millions of dollars away from public schools.
This is a flat out lie, which ironically comes as the state public-school system is receiving the highest level of funding in New York history.
The old, tired canard that charters hurt public schools has been disproven time and again by real-world data.
The Manhattan Institute found in a 2019 study that “competition from New York City charter schools has either no effect, or a positive effect,” on the city’s traditional public schools.
I call on Hochul’s Democratic allies in the Legislature to stand, for once, for the parents and children instead of the far-left activists, who wield far too much power over Democrats’ political campaigns.
Empowering parents — not special interests — is the solution to fixing our broken education system and making it work for our children.
New York politicians cannot continue dictating how teachers should teach and students should learn. We need to restore those decisions to teachers and parents.
Ahead of this year’s Executive Budget presentation, my Senate Republican conference advanced a comprehensive “Rescue New York” agenda that would lift the cap on New York City charter schools and let those already approved open as planned.
We’d accomplish this goal without sacrificing the state’s historic financial commitment to public education.
The facts are clear and indisputable: Charter schools have proven success in raising scores of students in our state’s most socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, including inner cities.
State Education Department data show that 80% of New York City charter-school students are economically disadvantaged.
Yet they score higher than both district averages and statewide averages in math and English. The trends hold true for black and Hispanic students as well.
Lifting the charter-school cap is the single most important thing our state can do to immediately give hundreds of thousands of young people a better education and better opportunities for the remainder of their lives.
Let’s take this chance now to work in a bipartisan fashion to do what is right.
There is surely no interest more special than our children. They deserve our attention and decisive action to ensure they have a path forward to a brighter future.
Rob Ortt is the Republican leader of the New York state Senate.