8/11/2019 Cuomo Closing Off Best Pre-K Hope

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Cuomo closing off best Pre-K

hope By BILL PHILLIPS

Last Updated: 12:57 AM, February 6, 2013

Posted: 10:29 PM, February 5, 2013

Why is Gov. Cuomo hobbling one of his

signature initiatives?

Drawing on a core recommendation of his

education-reform commission, Cuomo is

targeting pre-K education in New Yorks

worst school districts. Hes moving to create

a competitive grant process to set up strong

pre-K programs for students in New Yorks

most troubled areas New York City,

Buffalo and more.

But his proposal prohibits the states most

innovative public schools, charter schools

which eagerly and successfully serve

these very same students in these very

same tough communities from even

participating.

Helayne Seidman

Cuomo: Ruling out best hope for his own initiativessuccess.

Its not that hes locking out a set of schools

so much as hes locking outparents who

want to choose charters for their children,

as well as the beneficiaries of their choice

their kids.

We hope he changes his mind or that the

Legislature intervenes.

Heres why:

* Parents love charter schools and are

choosing them for their children. This year,

some 75,000 students attend charters

statewide, while another 53,000 children are

stuck on waiting lists in New York City

alone.

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8/11/2019 Cuomo Closing Off Best Pre-K Hope

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* Charter schools are working: Statewide,

84 percent of charters exceeded the

average Math proficiency of their local

district last year, and 78 percent exceeded

the average proficiency in English

Language Arts.

* Charters serve the neediest children. More

than 90 percent of the 209 charters

operating statewide are in high-needs

districtsa response to the failure of those

districts to adequately serve their students,

as well as a loud vote by parents to choose

public schools that emphasize school

culture, academic accountability and focus

on college and career readiness.

Cuomo has been fair to charters. Thatswhy

this change puzzles charter educators and

advocates, including the 1,200 or so who

attended our annual Advocacy Day in

Albany yesterday.

Locking out charter parents stifles success.

After all, these schools are successfully

overcoming the very challenges these

grants aim to fix.

Rather than close the door on them, we

should be expanding access to funding, and

letting charters go head-to-head with district

schools and each other for the same

opportunities.

Charter advocates love Cuomos

competitive-grant proposals. Weve long

embraced competition and accountability

charters have to produce results or else

face closure. Weve long known that New

York can no longer afford its public

education system as now structured, and

cheer the governors call for schools to find

ways to educate children more effectively.

Which is why the charter lockout makes no

sense. Because district schools are

shackled by bureaucratic rules and

regulations, they cant always innovate or

find new ways to better educate children

within modern cost constraints.

By contrast, charters are built for innovation,

creativity and flexibility with a record of

success that make them prime

candidates for a competitive process that

rewards the most effective methods. We

even agree with Cuomos insistence on

using data to measure performance; in fact,

its built into our contracts.

And charters already do more with less

theyre the least-funded component of New

Yorks public schools, receiving on average

70 percent of what districts get for the same

child.

The charter community is on board with the

governors push for more pre-K and

extended learning time, particularly with his

focus on high-needs districts. His

competitive-grant approach is the right one

for fiscally challenged times.

But not when you leave charter-choosing

parents and their children out in the cold.

Bill Phillips is the president of the Northeast

Charter Schools Network, which represents

charter schools in Connecticut and New

York.