Mayor Incites UFT Wrath With Charter Growth Plan

MAYOR BLOOMBERG: ‘Building on success.’ Mayor Bloomberg proposed a huge expansion of the city’s charter school network in a campaign announcement Sept. 30, promising to double the number of schools in the city by lobbying to lift the state cap currently in existence.

United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew reacted strongly against the plan, saying it ignored the needs of the vast majority of city schoolchildren.

Mr. Bloomberg is proposing, if reelected in November, to create 100 new charter schools by 2013, expanding the number of charter school seats to 100,000, almost 10 percent of the total in the city.

‘Brought Huge Improvement’

“Charter schools have paved the way for huge jumps in student achievement,” he said. “To build on their success, we need to do two things—create more seats and get them the support they need to thrive.”

MICHAEL MULGREW:‘Pitting systems against each other.’ But Mr. Mulgrew said he found the announcement “curious” because of its focus on a small part of the school system. “Don’t you think that as a city we should be advocating to bring these services to all children?” he asked in a phone interview. “He’s targeting the help towards a small segment of the student population.”

He said he was also perplexed by Mr. Bloomberg’s pledge to convene a task force of philanthropists, developers and municipal agencies to find new ways of creating charter buildings and accommodating the schools. “We should take that type of effort and motivation and use it for all the communities of New York City...how many communities were out there picketing because of overcrowding in their schools last year?” Mr. Mulgrew asked.

“Are we trying to create two school systems? Pit one school system against another?” he continued. “I’m not going to get involved in that. It goes against every fiber of your being as an educator.”

Pledges to Raise $100M

Mr. Bloomberg also said he would raise $100 million in funds from private sources for new construction for charters.

He made the announcement outside the Sisulu-Walker Charter School of Harlem, the city’s first charter, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary.

Along with lifting the cap on the schools, a process that would have to be approved by the State Legislature, Mr. Bloomberg also wants to create two new “Children’s Zone” networks that echo Geoffrey Canada’s Harlem program providing after-school and community support to its students.

The new Children’s Zones would be in Central Brooklyn and the South Bronx, which along with Harlem are the three neighborhoods with the vast majority of charters.

Wants Chancellor to Decide

The Mayor would seek legislation in Albany that would transfer all power for approving charters to his Schools Chancellor. Currently the Chancellor can approve charter applications but must wait for final approval from the state Board of Regents. A press release from Mr. Bloomberg’s mayoral campaign criticized this process for “[creating] unnecessary delays.”

Other legislation Mr. Bloomberg promised to push would end the ban on pre-kindergarten charter school classes, allow high-achieving charter boards to operate more than one school, and lengthen the amount of time successful schools get before having to renew their charters.

“The services he was advocating for the charter schools are services he should be advocating for all schools,” Mr. Mulgrew said.