Remove the Limit and Allow for Growth

The influence of special interests in New York is so profound that the Legislature refuses to permit the establishment of additional charter schools in the city — while the city’s bureaucracy is unwilling to provide available school facilities to charters that desperately need and rightly deserve them.

Consequently, students at Success Academy High School are forced to hold choir practice in a cramped staircase and clarinet sessions in a broom cupboard.

Meanwhile, thousands of other children in the city remain on waitlists, unable to transition from the traditional public school system to a charter — despite high-quality operators being eager to meet the demand.

The state’s teachers unions effectively control legislative leaders, not only refusing to raise the cap on new charters but also gradually undermining mayoral control over the city’s Department of Education.

This results in Department of Education bureaucrats being hesitant to allocate space even for existing charter schools.

As a result, Success Academy Charter High School for the Liberal Arts, located on Manhattan’s East Side, is forced to squeeze its students into closets and corridors within its 33rd Street building, while the three traditional public high schools sharing the site enjoy ample space.

The 888 students at Success outnumber the total enrollment of the other three schools combined; Success HS operates at over 100% capacity of its designated space, while the other schools are at 39%, 61%, and 74% of their respective enrollments.

State law mandates that the Department of Education provide charter schools with space in public-school buildings, yet in reality, it leads to a disgraceful squeezing of charter students throughout the city (not limited to Success schools).

The unions even succeeded in having the Legislature enact a New York City-only class-size law, partially to consume space that could otherwise be allocated to charters.

As a result, Success HS classes have an average size of 26 to 27 students, compared to just 16 at the other three schools.

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Department of Education did everything possible to stifle charter growth; Mayor Eric Adams is more supportive in principle of parental choice in charter enrollment — yet remains constrained by union allies in Albany (and on the City Council).

Meanwhile, Governor Kathy Hochul seems to be focused on appeasing teachers’ unions as she eyes her re-election campaign next year; she notably did not advocate for lifting the charter cap in her $252 billion budget proposal.

Despite lifting the cap presenting a significant opportunity for more children to pursue higher education.

However, the power of unions cannot overshadow the pursuit of academic excellence or parents’ aspirations for their children’s futures: The school choice movement is gaining momentum even in New York, as traditional public schools consistently underperform across all objective metrics — prompting families to leave the established system.

Restricting charter schools merely compels them to seek alternatives — whether private or Catholic schools, if they can secure funding or scholarships, or even to exit New York entirely.

Lawmakers who persist in denying families educational choices solely to appease their special-interest allies risk a political upheaval.

Sooner or later, New York’s charter schools — and the students who cherish them — will find a way to thrive.