"They're charter schools. They're on their own now."
— New York Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina, on the city's move to deny classrooms to students of a high-performing charter school
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has launched a war against charter schools.
His administration's hostility is summed up by the comments of Farina, his choice to run the city's schools.
She sent a chilling warning to thousands of parents and schoolchildren.
In recent weeks, de Blasio has:
• Canceled plans for three high-quality Success Academy Charter Schools to be co-located in public schools. One of those endangered is among the city's highest-performing middle schools, Success Academy Harlem 4. You'll remember the Success Academy schools from the terrific documentary "Waiting For Superman" and the hundreds of desperate low-income students (and parents) who sought a precious charter seat via an annual city lottery.
• Diverted $210 million earmarked for charter school construction to other education programs.
• Moved to fulfill his most significant charter-choking pledge: To charge the schools rent, based on a sliding scale, extracting the most money from the schools with the greatest cash reserves. That's a major reversal of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's policy of allotting free space to charters in public schools. New York charters receive no state funding, and if they're suddenly charged rent, particularly with Manhattan's exorbitant rates, many will struggle. The Manhattan Institute for Policy Research recently estimated that charging charter schools significant rents would create budget deficits for 7 in 10 of the city's charters. Want to kill charters? Bleed them financially.
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