New York charter school leaders say they are “deeply troubled” by state education officials, accusing them of slowing the expansion of publicly funded alternative schools rather than recognizing what they describe as strong academic results.
In a sharply worded letter sent Monday to state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa, 14 charter leaders criticized her department and the Board of Regents, alleging that they have worked against schools authorized by the State University of New York.
“Unfortunately, SUNY’s success has made it a target,” the letter said.
The charter leaders argued that teachers unions and other critics “cannot credibly” dispute the outcomes at SUNY-approved charter schools, especially those serving students in underserved communities.
Both SUNY and the Board of Regents — the policymaking body that oversees the state Education Department — have the power to authorize charter schools.
But under a technical provision in state law, the Board of Regents also reviews applications approved by the more charter-friendly SUNY Board of Trustees and its Charter Schools Institute, a process charter advocates say has frequently led to opposition.
Success Academy Charter Schools CEO Eva Moskowitz and Zeta Charter Schools CEO Emily Kim said SUNY-authorized schools have outperformed Regents-authorized charter schools in recent years by 17 percentage points in English Language Arts and 21 percentage points in math.
“New York’s education officials should not be fighting success,” the letter said. “New York’s students need more of what is working, not less.”
The charter school leaders said they’re “deeply troubled” by “repeatedly second-guessing” SUNY’s decision-making and “even supporting” lawsuits challenging SUNY-authorized schools, which serve more than 117,000 students across the Empire State.
EXCLUSIVE: CNN’s Tapper Faces Criticism Over Unusual Father’s Day Guest Lineup
“Instead, they have increasingly sought to attack the institution itself,” the letter added.
An SED spokesperson slammed the letter, insisting education officials are merely upholding the law.
“While the signatories to the letter boast of their strong academic outcomes, this record is not shared equally among them,” said spokesperson JP O’Hare.
“And, in any event, academic achievement does not excuse, for example, violating the New York City charter cap or ignoring community opposition to new schools.”
Joseph Belluck, chairman of the SUNY Charter School Committee, argued SED and the Regents have gotten more aggressive against charter schools.
“They oppose every little thing that has to do with charter schools,” he said, adding that SUNY is abiding by the charter school cap.
Although several bills have been floated in Albany to strip SUNY of its power to authorize charter schools over the last few years, none have passed.
Meanwhile, a source told The Post some of the charter school administrators who signed the letter have had issues that SED flagged.
Al Cockfield of Lamad Academy has a prior federal felony conviction related to drug conspiracy and distribution, and was denied a charter application by SED, but was approved through SUNY.
The United Federation of Teachers and its state affiliate, New York State United Teachers, recently sued SUNY for allegedly overriding the state charter school cap — permitting Success Academy to transfer a charter from one of its Bronx Success Academies to a new entity, Strive Charter School, founded by Eric Grannis, the husband of Moskowitz.
