Charter school supporters joined together on Tuesday to protest proposals by NYC Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio. De Blasio has said charter schools should pay rent and called for a moratorium on charter schools.
NY 1 spoke to some of the charter supporters among the 17,000 participants:
The first marchers began crossing before 9 a.m. More than three hours later, they were still coming.
While students placed self-portraits in front of the Department of Education, their message was aimed at the next administration.
"Parents who feel like they've benefited from Mayor Bloomberg's policies would like to see them continued," said Sharhonda Bossier of Families for Excellent Schools.
Their specific concern is with mayoral front-runner Bill de Blasio, who has said he'll be less friendly toward the publicly funded, privately managed charter schools.
"The next mayor has a choice," said one parent at the march.