"Gov. David Paterson announced this afternoon he is calling lawmakers into a special session Monday—a state holiday—to pass legislation New York needs to increase its chances of securing up to $700 million in federal “Race to the Top” funding. The governor is not happy with a joint Senate/Assembly bill that is different than the one he proposed. States’ applications for the competitive grants have to be in Washington by Tuesday afternoon, so New York officials are racing against the clock. Tomorrow’s session is at 8 p.m.
The most critical element the legislation has to include is increasing the cap of 200 charter schools, a limit the state has almost reached, but lawmakers and the governor disagree on what the new number should be and whether there should be changes to the administration and oversight of charters. Charter schools have been controversial in New York because per-pupil state funding follows students who leave traditional public schools for the publicly funded but privately run charter schools, which some believe hurts the traditional public-school system."