Whitney Tilson's School Reform Blog: State Senate Passes Charter School Bill

A HUGE step forward in Albany! (with a nice quote from Joe Williams)

A bill to raise the state cap on charter schools sailed through the state Senate 45 to 15 today, immediately receiving cheers from charter proponents and the Bloomberg administration -- and boos from the city's teachers union.

The legislation would raise the state's cap on charter schools from 200 to 460. The state cap has been cited as one of the reasons for New York's dreadful showing in the first round of the federal Race to the Top education funding program.

The fate of the bill -- which moved through the Senate with bipartisan support and lightning speed, having been submitted only Friday -- is uncertain in the Assembly, but that didn't stop boosters from celebrating the Senate vote.

"The New York State Senate today took a significant step toward positioning New York to win $700 million in Race to the Top funding by passing reforms that include a significant increase to the cap on charter schools," said Joe Williams of the pro-charter Education Reform Now. "We are grateful to the Senate for their work, and we look forward to working with the Assembly and Speaker Silver to address their concerns in a way that ensures that New York's Race to the Top application is as strong as possible."

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May 3, 2010 7:59 PM 2 Comments