By: Serach Nissim
A pair of charter schools proposed for Long Island districts are being opposed by New York State Department of Education officials.
As reported by the NY Post, bids to create the Academy Charter School in Wyandanch and the South Shore Charter School in Central Islip, were rejected. Education Department staffers urged the Board of Regents, which makes education policies in the state, to block the schools, even though struggling students may benefit.
The proposed charter schools say they can offer students and parents who cannot afford private school an alternative to the failing system. The publically funded but privately managed charters are popular with parents but are meeting opposition from public school officials who don’t want the competition for their local schools. District administrators and the teachers’ union are arguing that the funds allocated to charters should stay to improve existing schools.
The state Education Department officials are siding against the charters, and recently voted against both proposals. The department’s position “is based on significant community opposition to the proposed schools, and the inability to make the required findings that granting the application is likely to improve student learning and achievement,” wrote Jim Baldwin, its senior deputy chancellor for K-12 education, in his recommendation to the Regent trustees.
In the Central Islip Union Free School District, only about 36% of students are proficient in both math and reading, as per recent data. “The response from the community was overwhelmingly supportive,” said Dermoth Mattison, founder and Executive Director for the proposed South Shore Charter School.
“We are quite surprised by the opposition. It’s a last-minute attempt to keep the status quo in Wyandanch,” said founder Barrington Goldson of the proposed Wyandach K-to-6 school, who also operates two other charters in LI. “It would be unfair not to offer students and parents a chance and a choice.”
“It cannot be overstated that the district’s financial resources must be reinvested in our school system, rather than siphoned to an education corporation at the expense of our scholars,” said head of the Wyandanch school district, Superintendent Gina Talbert. “If the Wyandanch Free School District is to continue to prosper, the proposed charter school application must be denied.”
As per the Post, under state law, the State University of NY’s Charter School Board of Trustees has the legal right to authorize new charter schools and get the two Long Island schools approved, even if the Board of Regents rejects them. The SUNY board is considering whether to overrule state education officials, said one trustee.
