In what would be a first among New York charters, a new school wants to bail out kids in failing public schools by enrolling them directly rather than leaving their fate up to a lottery.
Explore Excel Charter School — which is expected to get approval from SUNY today to open in central Brooklyn next year — has said that if the city closes an elementary school in the area, it will absorb three grades of its students.
Explore Excel would enroll all of the first- through third-graders who want to attend if their school is shuttered, while running a normal lottery for only the kindergarten class.
President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have been pushing states to close and restructure at least 5 percent of their failing schools — including by having charter operators take over as managers.
If it succeeds, the Explore Excel proposition could go a long way toward silencing critics who charge that charter schools don’t attempt to serve the highest-need students.
“Our intent is to create a proof point that the same kids and same families can really achieve at high levels when the operations are run differently,” said Morty Ballen, CEO of Explore Schools. “If the grown-ups are doing what they’re supposed to do, those kids are going to achieve.”
Under the proposal, fourth- and fifth-graders at the closing school would continue on through graduation in a refurbished version of their old school.
The SUNY board is expected to approve six new charters today.