Don\u2019t charter a course without them.<\/p>\n
New York\u2019s charter school educators say they\u2019re being frozen out of Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s big new universal childcare expansion.<\/p>\n
The pair\u2019s lofty, $4.5 billion plan to beef up pre-K and 3-K programs \u2014 in addition to providing universal daycare for the city\u2019s 2-year-olds \u2014 awaits final approval in the state\u2019s upcoming budget.<\/p>\n
But charter school advocates warned Hochul and Mamdani in a letter this week that the expansion would fall short of being truly \u201cuniversal\u201d if those institutions\u2019 pre-K programs continue to receive $20,000 less per child than those in traditional public schools.<\/p>\n
Charter schools should receive full funding in the recent push for universal childcare, advocates argued at a Friday rally. Paul Martinka for New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a direct divestment in the 1-in-6 public school families who rely on publicly funded options like charter schools,\u201d the letter argued. \u201cAll public school children are entitled to equal treatment and funding, regardless of what public school they attend.\u201d<\/p>\n
The advocates coupled their emphatic letter with a rally Friday on City Hall\u2019s steps calling for local and state leaders to close the funding gap and fully fold charters into the early childhood education and care push.<\/p>\n
They carried signs declaring \u201cDon\u2019t discriminate against charter kids\u201d and \u201cTreat my child equally.\u201d<\/p>\n
The rally comes amid an uncertain time for New York City\u2019s charter schools \u2014 privately managed, publicly funded alternative schools that enroll 150,000 students citywide.<\/p>\n
Mamdani kept charter schools at arm\u2019s length<\/a> \u2014 and opposed expanding them<\/a> \u2014 amid his improbable rise from little-known democratic socialist state Assembly member to mayor of the largest city in the nation.<\/p>\n His seemingly hostile stance toward charters leaves it an open question how they\u2019ll fit into the wider push for universal childcare, which likely would involve expanding early education programs.<\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul have teamed up on an expansion of pre-K and 3-K programs. Matthew McDermott for NY Post<\/p>\n Advocates argued charter schools should be part of the expansion, noting they account for 50% of the top performing public schools in the city, \u201cproving daily that zip codes need not, and should not, determine academic destiny,\u201d their letter to states.<\/p>\n