Crony capitalism and the inequities of NYC charter funding: Julian Robertson and the case of the billionaire scion's preschool
The portion of the NYC budget going into the pockets of charter school operators is growing fast, according to the Independent Budget Office, and will top $1 billion next school year. See graph below.
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| (Source: GothamSchools from IBO data) |
In addition, there are many hidden funding sources not reflected in this graph, reflecting significant inequities between the way charters and district public schools are funded in NYC.
First of all, for the two thirds of the charters that are given space and services free in public school buildings - which we believe is illegal -- amount to many millions of dollars in additional subsidies per year, and result in these students receiving more than the average per student funding that districts public schools receive, according to the an analysis from the Independent Budget Office.
Charter school students are also twice as likely to get free busing paid for by the city -- another expense not