Photo by Lucas Jackson/REUTERS
New York City charter school open house month
continues for prospective students and parents
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | FEB. 18 - FEB. 24, 2022 23
BY ISABEL SONG BEER
February is New York
City’s charter school open
house month, and despite
the pandemic NYC charter
schools have been performing
incredibly well – offering
educational support and resources
to students across the
city. Charters have been doing
so well, in fact, that this year
marks the sixth consecutive
year of growth for the NYC
Charter School Center.
This month, prospective
students and interested parents
will be able to schedule
virtual and in-person visits to
charter schools within their
neighborhoods to see if the
services offered would better
benefit the student.
According to data released
Jan. 31 by the NYC Charter
School Center, charters citywide
have seen a 1.3% enrollment
increase this school
year, 20% growth for English
Language Learners (ELL) –
leading to an overall increase
of 63% of ELL students over
the past five years – and an
increase in Black student enrollment,
with current figures
indicating 25% of Black students
across all five boroughs
are now attending charter
schools.
“Despite a cap on the creation
of charter schools in
New York City and the historic
challenges of the past two
years, the City’s public charters
continued to grow during
the pandemic – by 9%,” said
James Merriman, CEO of the
New York City Charter Center.
“Our growth is a direct result
of the incredible work of our
teachers, staff and school leaders
across 272 schools to provide
a high-quality education
to the students who make up
our diverse and vibrant public
charter school community,
and to give families a choice to
find the school that’s best for
their child.”
Charter schools are public
schools that run independently
like private schools, but are
funded by state income tax,
grants, awards and donations.
While “normal” public schools
are federally funded. This allows
charters to tailor their
curriculum more personally
to fit the needs of independent
students, while still fulfilling
the overall mission of educating
a community of students.
Charter schools are also held
to a standard they set of advancing
student achievement
and if they don’t reach these
goals, they can be shut down.
“The difference between
public and charter schools
at a government level is that
charters are of course run independently
of the district,”
said Merriman in an interview
with amNew York in January.
“This gives charters the
ability to give more options to
parents regarding class size
and curriculum or way in
which the school approaches
how they view parent/student
relationships and parent/
teacher relationships or a particular
emphasis on certain
school subjects.”
This more hands-on approach
to learning seems to
be appealing to more NYC
parents, with the ability to be
more informed on a child’s
individual needs and educational
development being one
of the reasons parents are
gravitating towards charter
schools, and another reason
being racial representation
within educational spaces.
“There are many many
Black and Latinx educators
in NYC charter schools,
and there are charter schools
that are diverse by design,”
said Merriman. “Because
charter schools often cater
to low-income families,
they were created precisely
to serve those families because
those are the families
where the system hasn’t
well-served all kids historically.
So for those students,
it is about making sure that
they are performing well and
getting a rigorous education
and getting themselves ready
for college or careers.”
CHARTER SCHOOLS
/QNS.COM
