Low accountability for charter schools, critics say

Tensions ran high on Thursday as education administrators, advocates, parents, and public officials gathered for a heated public hearing on charter schools led by State Senator Bill Perkins.

Perkins, who represents West Harlem, has been an outspoken critic of charter schools, which are public schools run by a private board of directors. The majority of Manhattan’s 27 charter schools are located in Harlem, where the debate has been particularly contentious. Opponents argue that charters take away space and resources from struggling schools, while charter advocates argue that new schools with specific missions provide unique choices for families.

Perkins is the chairman of the New York State Senate Committee on Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions, which held the hearing—also streamed online—downtown on Thursday.

“Schools should be in the business of teaching our children, not enriching corporations,” Perkins said, referring to the high salaries of charter schools employees and operators.
Common criticisms of charters surfaced at the hearing, including accusations that charters shy away from serving special-needs students and English Language Learners, as well as complaints about the negative impact of co-location. Many charter schools currently share buildings with traditional district schools, a phenomenon that has created conflicts over space allocation.

Critics also argued that the accountability standards faced by charter school operators are insufficient, allowing for profiteering and money laundering. Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers—an organization that has been critical of the mostly non-unionized charter schools—argued that New York State’s cap on the number of charter schools should not be lifted until greater accountability is put in place. “This can’t happen before steps are taken to reform the charter school industry and ensure that it properly serves the kids and the communities where they operate,” he said.

Charter school advocates put on the defensive praised the movement, which is marking its 10th year in New York City. Charter schools are also public schools, they emphasized, saying that they increase public school choice in neighborhoods like Harlem, which have historically lacked such options.

Mona Davids, founder of the New York Parents Charter Association, said her daughter found refuge from her district’s failing middle schools at Equality Charter School in the Bronx. But, she said, she soon learned that there were few mechanisms in place for parents to have a voice.

“There is no transparency and that, to me, is a big problem,” Davids said. “Parents need to know what avenues they have if there’s a problem at their school.”

Exchanges between charter advocates and their opponents often got emotional, with squabbles erupting over facts and figures and an obvious skepticism of the other side’s motives.

State Senator Velmanette Montgomery, who represents Brooklyn, said that while she is not against charter schools, she is afraid that the trend could lead away from public education.

“The discussion is of the danger of dismantling the only system that has been part of the success of people of color in this country,” she said. “We can’t afford to see that picked off one piece at time because there’s someone waiting behind the door waiting to get their hands on that money.”

ray.katz@columbiaspectator.com