ALBANY — New state Senate GOP Majority Leader John Flanagan is floating a proposal that would extend mayoral control of New York City schools for just a year in return for lifting the cap on charter schools.
Flanagan (R-Suffolk County) and Senate Education Committee Chairman Carl Marcellino (R-Nassau County) this week introduced a bill tying the two issues together.
Gov. Cuomo and the Assembly Democrats have sought to extend mayoral control for three years, while Mayor de Blasio wants it extended permanently.
“We support mayoral control, but before extending it for more than one year, we want to ensure that it’s working, that improvements are being made where necessary, and that low-wealth, underperforming schools are receiving adequate funding from the city,” said Senate spokeswoman Kelly Cummings.
Flanagan’s bill would place new mandates on the mayor and school system to provide reports on how funding is distributed to individual schools and per pupil.
It would also require the city to submit an education budget plan to the state budget director and legislative leaders for approval and to make the city Education Department’s other info available online and to state leaders.
Meanwhile, Flanagan wants to increase the current statewide cap on charter schools to 560, up from 460. The bill would also remove any caps placed on charters in other areas.
In addition, it would allow charter schools to hire more uncertified teachers.
The Assembly has shown little interest in wanting to expand the number of charter schools in the state.
Assembly Education Committee Chairwoman Cathy Nolan (D-Queens) said while she’s willing to discuss Flanagan’s bill with the Senate, “I have a lot of concerns.”
She questioned why the city would be required to provide far more information to the state than “required of the 122 districts on Long Island” where Flanagan lives.
“It seems unfair at first blush,” Nolan said.
The Assembly Dems got support from the influential Partnership of New York City, which released a letter to Flanagan and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie signed by 72 business CEOs calling for mayoral control to be extended for at least three years.
“Failure to enact this extension before the end of June will throw New York City’s public education system into chaos,” the letter says.
And while the group also supports increasing the number of charter schools that can be established in New York, “this expansion should be approved on the merits, rather than as a political trade-off for mayoral control,” the letter says.
Among those who signed are Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, Morgan Stanley Chairman & CEO James gorman, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, and American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault.
