New York City's mayoral primary elections are less than a week away, and Democrat Bill de Blasio is leading all candidates in the polls. Eva Moskowitz, the CEO of the Success Academy Charter School network, wrote an opinion piece for the New York Post about how de Blasio as mayor would be devastating for the City's education system. She argues that many NYC families enroll their children in charter schools since no other quality public school options are available. And de Blasio wants to take that away. Moskowitz writes:
"But charters get less funding than traditional public schools — $2,000 less per student, according to the Independent Budget Office. The disparity is even greater for charters serving needy students.
"The problem is that charter schools get no facilities funding, just operating money. That's why Mayor Bloomberg lets charters use excess public-school space for free.
"But de Blasio wants to charge charter schools rent. Even though they are public schools by law. Even though they get no facilities funding. The rent will therefore come out of each school's operating budget, which is supposed to pay for things like teacher salaries and instructional materials."
