Bloomberg"s Budget and Schools by Joel Chaffee
Bloomberg's Budget and Schools
 by Joel Chaffee
 Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
 New York, NY
 Views: 10,379
 
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        On May 28th, Mayor Mike Bloomberg released a statement on pending legislation in Albany (since passed) that would increase the number of charter schools allowed in New York State. As the statement testifies, the number of charter schools in New York City has risen from 17 to 99 since 2002. By "increasing competition" the Mayor hopes that new charter schools would "elevate the quality of our entire public education system." How is not made clear, unless there is some sort of trickle down or some other trickle going on between charter school students and public school students. The Mayor makes clear up front why the passing of the legislation is so urgent: "For one, it boosts our chances of getting $700 million in 'Race to the Top' federal funds," whose application deadline looms. But are charter schools making an educational difference? How do they compare to the public school system, which the Mayor admits is "facing big budget cuts this year"?

         A 2009 Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) study found that, "On average, charter school students can expect to see their academic growth be somewhat lower than their traditional public school peers," though the study also revealed that "absolute differences are small." The report also found that first year charter students struggled, whereas second and third year charter students could "anticipate larger learning gains" than their public school contemporaries. (Measured, we must assume, by standardized tests.) Perhaps most importantly, the CREDO report noted that "states permitting multiple entities to serve as authorizers for charter schools ... exhibit negative academic growth." Warns Stan Karp of Rethinking Schools, "Imposing deregulated systems of charters and private management on public school systems will erode the civic common ground and local political structures ... that U.S. public education has been built on." 

         In early May, the Daily News' Juan Gonzalez broke a story about the New Markets Tax Credit, which financers of charter schools in Albany are using to "double [their] money in seven years ... by combining various credits with the interest from the loan itself." This while the schools struggle to pay "escalating rents" which in some cases have jumped over two-hundred percent in less than two years, as a consequence of paying the debt incurred through private financing; and the inability of the government to audit how state aid is used by the school. The United Federation of Teachers was happy with the passed legislation, though were insistent that the Mayor's "proposed cuts to schools could mean the loss of thousands of teachers, growing class sizes and the end of afterschool, tutoring and other vital programs." This, along with the proposed 25% cut to city libraries, means important educational and cultural resources are lost for the city's least privileged. 

        Commenting on the firing of 93 teachers at a Rhode Island school in February, one New York State teacher commented, "Notice that Central Falls is called a 'poor community with a large immigrant population,' which means language barriers. But how much money do you think anyone offers to improve programs for English as a Second Language students?" Happily, based on the Mayor's proposal, these extravagant extras will be provided by making "service and volunteerism an integral part of every school," something overpaid and underworked teachers nationwide know to be an easy fix.

        A new Quinnipiac University poll found that the approval ratings for the Mayor's budget are low (47% in favor), but this only pulls down his overall approval rating to 57%, not exactly Bush era base-only support. Whether the charter schools service their students and the communities they come from will be something left to the history books, as political people like to say. Fortunately by then, Mayor Mike will have moved on (unless a fourth term is in the works?), having made the educational system, with no little help from the progressive Obama, into a market: to be exploited for the greatest private profit imaginable. And you just can't teach imagination.

LINKS:

http://www.uft.org/news/issues/press/albany-passes-charter-school-legislation/ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/arts/15budget.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18571-2004Nov2.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/education/07educ.html

http://www.aft.org/issues/schoolchoice/charters/ http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x1302.xml?ReleaseID=1456

http://www.uft.org/news/issues/press/albany-passes-charter-school-legislation/

http://www.nyc.gov:80/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2010a%2Fpr222-10.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1

http://www.nyc.gov:80/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%3A80%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2010a%2Fpr222-10.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/05/07/2010-05-07_albany_charter_cash_cow_big_banks_making_a_bundle_on_new_construction_as_schools.html

http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/MULTIPLE_CHOICE_CREDO.pdf http://www.zcommunications.org/school-reform-we-cant-believe-in-by-stan-karp


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Last updated by Joel Chaffee - Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 -  New York, NY

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