NYC charters outperform public schools— and do it at less than half the cost per student
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Loading... - Tanit Ramses
- 27 Feb 2023
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New York City charter schools are giving taxpayers more bang for their buck, routinely outperforming traditional public schools — and doing it at less than half the cost per student, data show.
The charters’ mostly minority student population bested its public school counterpart by up to 8% on both state math and reading tests in the 2021-21 school year, show statistics compiled by New York City Charter Center.
And the impressive results come courtesy of a relative shoestring budget, with city charters spending just $17,626 per student compared to the $35,941 spent on each public student, according to the center and Citizens Budget Commission.
The situation provides a strong argument in support of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s push to increase the number of charter schools in New York, despite opposition from many progressive Albany Democrats and their deep-pocketed teachers’ union donors.
“The numbers speak for themselves about the performance of charter schools and the transformational opportunities they are providing students — the performance and the results are undeniable,” said Joseph Belluck, chairman of SUNY’s Board of Trustees Charter School Committee, which doles out most of the state’s charter licenses.
Belluck said he didn’t expect the stiff opposition to Hochul’s plan, given the broad support by the most important constituency in education: parents.
“What surprises me about the opposition to charter schools is it doesn’t take into account what parents think. It’s surprising that parents’ voices haven’t been heard,” Belluck said. Read More…
