NYSUT: 400 charters "Ridiculous!"
No so, according to the Feds.


"She threw it all away just to make me look ridiculous, and a man in my position cannot afford to be made to look ridiculous!"

-Jack Woltz (John Marley) to Tom Hagen (Robert Duvall)
in Godfather (Part I)


New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) Executive Vice President, Alan Lubin, thinks raising the charter cap to 400 schools "would be ridiculous," reports New York Observer Capitol reporter, Jimmy Vielkind (here).

Indeed, like Mr. Woltz, the elite movie director in "The Godfather," a man in Mr. Lubin's position as 2nd in command at the most powerful interest group in the state, cannot afford to be made to look -- ridiculous!

What's next? Maybe Mr. Lubin or one of his colleagues dressing down state legislators in Tom Hagen's position: "Tell that [Governor/Chancellor]... that I ain't no band leader!"

400 Charter Cap Consistent with Federal Guidelines
Of course, a higher charter school cap is not about anyone looking bad. It's about accomplishing one of many reform-minded policies to meet federal standards. The Regents charter proposal did not specify doubling the cap to 400 from its current level of 200. But, Commissioner Steiner indicated that such an increase would be consistent with the Obama Administration's Race to the Top guidelines. Specifically, states with a "high" charter cap would score more points on the U.S. Department of Education's scoring rubric.

A "high cap" is defined in the federal regulations such that "if it were filled, > [or equal to] 10% of the total schools in the State would be charter schools." The equivalent of allowing enough charter schools to equal 10 percent of the number of schools in New York amounts to about 400 charters.

No, Mr. Lubin; neither the Regents nor Senate President Malcolm Smith, who proposed a bill to lift the charter cap to 400, are "throwing buck shot out there."



Lubin's metaphor doesn't work; but
we now know where he may hang out.


Then there is School Boards Association President, Tim Kremer, who, when it comes to charter schools, too often sounds like NYSUT's echo chamber, even as he has plenty of his own differences with the union. Mr. Kremer is "very concerned" about this number of charters. He should note that the Regents recommendation of charters operating multiple sites is not getting around the cap. Sen. Smith's bill (S.6339), for example, specifically provides that each additional site under a single charter would count as a "charter issued" to allay this very concern.

It's also surprising that Mr. Kremer would be concerned about "tremendous bureaucracy" since he represents so many in his own organization, the school boards, which govern those bureaucracies at "tremendous cost." The fact is that charter schools are part of the public school system, not something else. To be fair, charters also indeed are a competitive challenge to district schools, most of which Tim Kremer and the School Boards Association represent.

RttT Money Helps NYSUT and NYSSBA the Most
So let us reason together, and do whatever is necessary, beginning with this nugget: the two organizations that would benefit the most from a federal Race to the Top award are NYSUT and School Boards Association, as up to $700 million would accrue to their teacher and district membership. They shouldn't allow their distaste for charters to stand in the way.

Instead, they should be asking if 400 charters is enough?

President Obama is pro-charter and made state charter policy an important part of federal discretionary assistance to states. It would be senseless and self-defeating to try and dumb down New York's Race to the Top application on raising the charter cap or facilities funding for charters. Dumbing-down on reform would risk getting a smaller federal grant or none at all. Then everyone loses.

Peter Murphy
for The Chalkboard