An influential Brooklyn legislator is calling on the state to step in if Mayor de Blasio follows through on his plan to limit charter-school expansion in the city.
Democratic State Assemblyman Karim Camara said he’s studying whether a state authority could provide housing support for new charters if the de Blasio administration makes it more difficult for charters to build new facilities or “co-locate” within existing public schools.
“We should not criticize, scrutinize or punish charter schools that are giving a great education to children,” Camara said Thursday at a pro-charter rally in Downtown Brooklyn.
“We should be doing everything in our power to support them. These policies that have been advocated by the city administration will be to the detriment, not just to the schools, but to the students who are getting an excellent education,” he added.
Camara, chairman of the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Caucus, said he would seek a “legislative remedy” through the state-run Dormitory Authority to provide funding for charter-school expansion if the city fails to accommodate charters.
The authority primarily finances and constructs higher-education buildings, public hospitals, courts and nonprofit facilities.
It has built public schools over the past 10 years, but would need legislative approval to give loans to charters, according to an authority spokesman.
Camara said all options would be on the table — including other revenue streams to boost charters — if de Blasio follows through on his plan to limit their expansion.
“If co-location is a problem, let’s do everything in our power to help charter schools with independent, stand-alone schools to not have to co-locate with a public school,” Camara suggested.
Charter-school leaders have been bracing for cutbacks since de Blasio took office in January.
The mayor has called for a moratorium on school co-locations, including those approved in the final months of the Bloomberg administration.
De Blasio also announced that he wants to charge rent to charters that hold classes in public buildings and have the financial ability to pay.
The mayor further has shifted $210 million in the Department of Education’s five-year capital budget from charter-school construction to provide more pre-K and other classroom seats.
Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña said she would review all school co-location proposals approved by the prior administration.
Charter-school leaders, who fear de Blasio will overturn some of the co-location approvals granted by in the Bloomberg era, are due to meet with Fariña Saturday at the New York City Charter Center’s Manhattan headquarters.
Fariña has said she wants charter schools to “raise the bar” for public schools, which she said serve a much larger and less selective population of students.
“You’re not going to hear me say I don’t believe in charters,” Fariña told Capital New York.
But “if you are creating a private school within a public-school system, don’t say your scores are better because the reality is we’re not comparing apples to apples.”
Legislators are calling on de Blasio to re-think his attitude toward charters, which are independently managed public schools.
“Charter schools are a proven entity for a quality education,” said state Sen. Marty Golden (R-Brooklyn). “They’re not going away, nor should they. If anything we should give them more opportunities.”