Teachers Union Criticizes Charter Perk
Charter Schools defend law that lets them set aside seats for employees’ children
The new ability of New York charter schools to set aside seats for employees’ children drew fire Monday from the United Federation of Teachers, which said such “nepotism” defied charters’ stated goals of serving the neediest children.
A state law letting charters give first dibs to staff for up to 15% of enrollment passed in June. Union officials chose to highlight it in advance of a pro-charter rally on Wednesday that is expected to draw a big crowd in Brooklyn.
The union and other critics of charters often accuse them of failing to serve their fair share of the most challenging students. UFT President Michael Mulgrew said at a news conference Monday that charters have long promised to teach the neediest children better than the district, so set-asides for largely middle-class staff were the “height of hypocrisy”—especially when charters say more than 40,000 applicants are on wait lists in New York City.
Charter advocates fought back. They said letting staff enroll their children where they work helps retain talented teachers. “I can’t think of a better endorsement than a teacher who is willing to send her own child to the school she teaches in,” said James Merriman,chief executive of the New York City Charter School Center. “Sadly, for way too many teachers in way too many traditional schools, the school they teach in is one to which they’d never send their own child.”
By law, charters admit students by lottery, but must give preferences to siblings and children in their neighborhoods. Some charters say they also give preference to students who are at-risk, struggling with disabilities and English language learners.
About 6% of charter students were English language learners, compared with 14% citywide, according to a New York City Charter School Center analysis of 2013-14 enrollment. About 16% of charter students had special needs, compared with 18% citywide.
The new policy was passed too late to affect admissions for this fall. Officials at Uncommon Schools, which has 21 charters in Brooklyn, expect that next year fewer than 20 of its 1,400 openings will go to staffers’ children. Barbara Martinez, a spokeswoman for Uncommon Schools, said, “This new opportunity allowed by law gives educators one more reason to choose teaching as a long-term profession.”
Charters are taxpayer-funded and independently run, usually free of union rules. They have grown rapidly in recent years. The New York City Charter School Center released a report Monday saying that one in three students in Harlem, the South Bronx and central Brooklyn attends a charter.
The center says more than 90% of the city’s charter students are African-American or Latino, and over 70% are from low-income families. This school year, 205 charter schools Teachers Union Criticizes Charter Perk - WSJ:
