That 21 charter schools have closed since the establishment of the charter school law 25 years ago speaks to the core issue at play here. When charter schools fail, or even when they fail to attract enough students despite their best efforts, they close. The same is true of religious and private schools; when families abandon them, for whatever reason, they close. Outside of New York and the state’s other four large cities—Buffalo, Yonkers, Rochester, and Syracuse—the average school district has a little over 2,000 students. When those districts lose students, they must close public school buildings out of financial necessity; their limited tax base and generally small enrollment does not allow them to keep inefficiently used buildings open. They prioritize what best serves schoolchildren, not maintaining unneeded buildings or staff.
Compare these fiscal realities with the recent statement by State Senator John Liu (chair of the chamber’s NYC Education committee) that the cap “has historically served to strike the balance between giving parents so-called ‘choice’ and the constitutional requirement to keep public schools open, and it’s not common sense to upset that balance.” Sorry, senator, but Article 11 of New York State’s Constitution contains fewer than 250 words of text, and none prohibits the closing of schools that parents are shunning. It simply charges the legislature to “provide for the maintenance and support of a system of free common schools, wherein all the children of this state may be educated.” That cannot be read to require the maintenance of zombie schools.
[I would not hold out much hope that Hochul will choose to defy the teachers unions. Perhaps if parents began organizing quickly, though, they might have a chance of prevailing. — Ed]
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