Lawmaker says Assembly reaches charter school expansion deal

A senior Democratic lawmaker from Long Island said last night that an agreement had been reached in the State Assembly to expand the allowed number of public charter schools to 460 from 200 statewide.

The lawmaker, Assemb. Robert Sweeney (D-Lindenhurst), said leaders in his chamber had announced the agreement at a members conference late last night and that the measure was expected to be approved by the Assembly early this morning.

Expanding families' choices of such schools is considered a key step toward strengthening the state's chances of winning a share of $4.3 billion in federal "Race to the Top" school grants.

"They obviously believe it's going to put us in a very good position to obtain up to 700 million in federal dollars," said Sweeney, the senior Democratic assemblyman from Suffolk County.

Sweeney, who has voiced skepticism about charter school expansion in the past, said he would reserve further comment until he had reviewed details of the proposed legislation, which was not immediately available last night.

Austin Shafran, a spokesman for the State Senate - which passed its own charter school bill in the beginning of May - declined to comment last night.

Until recently, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) had expressed little enthusiasm for expanding charter schools.

Charter school expansion has been a hotly debated issue in Albany since last winter, when federal Education Secretary Arne Duncan announced the race for federal dollars. Early on, Duncan had suggested that states such as New York that limited the number of charter schools allowed to operate might be at a disadvantage in the competition.

Charter school expansion has been pushed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and by state education officials, who have said the federal school grants are sorely needed to compensate for shrinking state aid.

On the other hand, teacher unions had insisted that any expansion of charter schools be accompanied by laws strengthening state oversight of such schools, especially the millions of dollars paid annually to the schools' private management companies.

Charter schools run independently of school districts, with public funding based on the number of students they attract. Five such schools currently operate on Long Island — in East Hampton, Riverhead, Roosevelt and two in Hempstead. A sixth has recently been proposed in the Bellport area.
 

With Matthew Chayes