As results roll in from NYC’s Democratic mayoral primary, education reformers are concerned about the future of charter school growth. Under the Bloomberg administration, charter schools have grown significantly and given NYC families more school choice. There are still thousands of families on charter school waiting lists, however, and Democratic mayoral frontrunner Bill de Blasio wants fewer charters, not more.
As DNAinfo reports:
Bloomberg’s decision to allow charters to share space, or “co-locate,” with district schools free of charge is widely credited with enabling the number of charters to balloon from 17 when he took office in 2002 to 183 this year. (There are 48 charters in The Bronx, second only to Brooklyn.)
Walcott on Monday echoed the administration’s concern that the next mayor could reverse its pro-charter policies, which he said would deny parents the options they deserve.
“For any candidate to talk about choking off that type of choice is truly unfortunate,” he said in the Story Avenue building now shared by Icahn 7 and P.S. 93.
