Wants Rules Changed
NYSUT Lashes Out At Charter Closing

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

A long-troubled Albany charter school will close its doors in June, throwing its unionized Teachers into chaos as they scramble to find new jobs and prompting their union to criticize the entire charter system.

'THERE'S NO ACCOUNTABILITY': New York State United Teachers President Richard Iannuzzi says the lack of regulation of charter schools denies their staffs essential rights and can throw Teachers and students alike into chaos when an institution like New Covenant Charter School abruptly closes.

The New Covenant Charter School, which was managed for six years by the controversial for-profit company Edison Schools, had been placed on probation twice since it opened in 1999. It is shutting down two years before its charter was due for renewal. New York State United Teachers officials said the abrupt closure was evidence of the need for reform of the charter law.

"This law really is so dysfunctional," said NYSUT President Richard C. Iannuzzi, "that it's just inept in how it deals with employees and in how it holds the schools that receive charters accountable."

Spitzer Silent

A spokesman from Governor Spitzer's Office said he had no comment on the law or the closing, saying that it was a "local matter." Officials at the City School District of Albany said their main concern was ensuring a "smooth and positive transition for the students who will enroll" in the Albany public school system.

"We send them per-pupil payments," spokesman Matt Leon said of New Covenant, "but we play no role in the decision-making there."

The charter school law allows for unionization, but indicates that staff at each school comprises its own bargaining unit that must negotiate its own contract with an individual school's management. Teachers at New Covenant, who unionized in 2002, are not considered school district employees and are not members of the Albany Public School Teachers Association, which represents Teachers in that city's public schools.

Key Rights Omitted

Both groups are locals of NYSUT, but New Covenant Teachers bargained with New Covenant directly, instead of with the city as the APSTA does. The law does give them access to a state pension by including them in the Teachers' Retirement System. They do not have any of the seniority or transfer rights that public school Teachers have for jobs available in the Albany public school system.

"The law is written so poorly and with such an anti-union flavor," said Mr. Iannuzzi. "They have taken students and money out of the public schools and created a separate entity where the staff doesn't have any of the rights or guarantees that are afforded to the Teachers in the public schools."

Charter schools are government-funded but are exempt from many of the regulations that cover traditional public schools. None of the other nine charter schools in Albany are unionized.

New Covenant's problems began the first year it opened, according to reports from the Charter Schools Institute of the State University of New York, which granted its charter and was charged with overseeing it. The school's leaders replaced its first for-profit management organization, Advantage, in the fall of 2000 after the school was put on probation for poor financial reporting and for a facility that was "overcrowded" and "in disrepair."

Subsequent Problems

Under Edison management, the school was removed from probation in April 2002. New Covenant received a new five-year charter in May 2004, but it was conditional. The school Principal knowingly violated one of those conditions that September by enrolling new students in seventh and eighth grade classes.

The school was placed back on probation in March 2006 for violating the second of the conditions, which demanded timely financial reports. Its major report was 53 days late.

New Covenant began the 2006-2007 school year with its 10th Principal in its seven years of existence. While students' math scores on state tests showed minor improvement over the years, only one-third of the school's students in 2005 scored well enough on the state English exam to be deemed proficient.

The school was under-enrolled and hundreds of thousands of dollars in the red last year, and the report's authors questioned whether New Covenant would be able to pay Edison the $1.3 million it would owe in 2006-2007. The school switched to Victory Schools' management for the past year.

A spokesman for Edison said the relationship "ended mutually" and that details about any outstanding financial commitments were "in discussion."

Institute: A Good Thing

The Charter Schools Institute of SUNY released a statement saying that it "applauded" the school's decision to voluntarily close due to, among other things, financial instability because of low enrollment for the coming school year. The Institute had the right to revoke the charter, based on inadequate organization or fiscal mismanagement, but a spokeswoman said officials stood by their decision to allow the school to stay open as long as it did.

"Test scores at the time of renewal had showed improvement," said Cynthia M. Proctor. She added that charters could be renewed if a "school had met or come close to meeting its accountability goals and has a program on the ground that is likely to improve student achievement."

Ms. Proctor noted that charter schools that started with a large number of students in multiple grades, like New Covenant, often had a more difficult time succeeding. Of the 50 charters originally approved by the SUNY Trustees, only five have not been renewed for failing to meet achievement standards. Four of those schools began their first year with more than 275 students spread across several grades.

This year's state budget included a provision that will raise the charter school cap from 100 to 200 statewide, including 50 new charter schools in New York City. Two new charter schools are scheduled to open in Albany in the fall.

"The Teachers' last day will be in June," said Mr. Iannuzzi. "They were given less than a month's notice; it was done without any recourse at all. At the end of the day, you have students, Teachers and parents who are stressed and hurt."