What if the charter cap were raised, but no one bothered to open a charter school?

That would be the likely scenario if the United Federation of Teachers got its charter school agenda, unveiled last Sunday, adopted by the state legislature.

In fact, the scenario would be worse -- existing charter schools would close their doors since it would be fiscally unsound to operate a viable education program.

Mandates have consequences. The UFT's agenda is choc full of them that raise the cost of education without helping students that are suppose to be the beneficiaries. Make charter schools do more stuff that has nothing to do with improving education, and you will have fewer charters. Few, if any, will spring up to replace them. School districts can raise taxes to meet higher costs; charters can't, nor can they grow money on trees.

Fewer charter schools--actually, no charter schools--has been the goal of UFT and its state parent organization, NYSUT, from the very beginning, since charter schools were first introduced in this state in the mid-1990s. After eleven years, 140 charter schools, and documented academic success (including the new CREDO study on charter success in New York City, reported here), the UFT still wants them smothered.

Even more amazing is that the union's leadership is willing risk up to $700 million in discretionary federal education funding for New York which will accrue primarily to school districts. Today's New York Post comments on this here.

We've seen this act many times by the UFT and NYSUT, especially in 2007 when the cap was last raised. Dozens of harmful, costly and superfluous charter provisions were pushed, most of which dropped in the end when the cap was finally lifted by the legislature. These machinations are too risky as the Race to the Top deadline of Jan. 19th fast approaches.

Abiding UFT Distracts from the Prize - and Self-Defeating
The legislature must keep in mind that abiding the UFT risks our state's chances of being awarded this desperately needed federal funding. Raising the cap accompanied by anti-charter requirements will fool no one, and will not garner the necessary support from the charter community. They will not sign on to the fraud being advanced by the UFT, and the $700 million lost to New York will be on the union leadership's doing.

The legislature realistically must enact education reforms in the next week to enable the state's Race to the Top application to be competitive. Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the Senate that would codify the Board of Regents charter agenda - it should be passed.

The UFT should urge legislators to do what it takes to get this money for New York, rather than derail it by pushing its self-serving agenda that will hurt charters and the interests of its member teachers who ultimately lose the federal money.

It's way past time for distractions.

Peter Murphy
for The Chalkboard