We’re glad Mayor Bill de Blasio has admitted he never gave a good reason for his decision to yank solid public schools out from under hundreds of New York City students, most of them black and Latino. And maybe he’ll reconsider that decision, along with the $210 million in capital funding for charters he also cut.
But even if he does so, it’s no excuse to ignore the fundamental long-term problem exposed by the mayor’s high-handedness: the vulnerability of charter students to political vindictiveness, which is a function of a gap in law that leaves these public schools without the space they need.
The good news is Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said charters need the support to “thrive and grow,” while even de Blasio now says, “We need charters to succeed.”
But these words mean nothing without a permanent fix on space. The solution is to provide charters either co-located space in other public-school buildings they find acceptable — or the funding to rent or buy their own facilities. To channel Mayor Bill, these public-school students require a “dedicated stream of funding.”
Plainly, the charter parents need it. But there are other kids who need those fixes, too — not least the 50,000 New York City schoolchildren on charter waiting lists.
Assuming a school size of 500 children, New York needs roughly 100 new charters to accommodate them all. Which is precisely the number of new charters The Post called for during the mayoral race.
New York was once a leader in the movement for new public schools where children learn and officials are accountable to parents. It can be again. But moms and dads desperate for good schools for their children have learned they cannot depend on the mayor’s good will.
It will happen only if Cuomo and Albany act to remove the unfair treatment — and end the uncertainty this creates about the future of charter schools.