Charter schools
Charter schools continue to provide
diverse and inclusive education
Kids at play at Challenge Charter School in Far Rockaway, Queens. Photo via Facebook/Challenge Charter School
Caribbean Life, JANUARY 21-27, 2022 25
BY ISABEL SONG BEER
With 272 charter schools
throughout the fi ve boroughs
of New York City, many parents
are wondering what exactly
makes a charter school
different from a more traditional
public school.
If there are drastic differences
or benefi ts between public
and charter schools that
suit their children’s learning
styles, is it a good idea to
make the switch? And what
exactly is a charter school?
According to the National
Alliance for Public Charter
Schools, charter schools receive
government funding
but operate outside the previously
established school
system in the area where the
charter school is physically
located. They maintain independent
operation from traditional
school districts, giving
them freedom “to design
classrooms that meet the students’
needs.”
The New York State Education
Department (NYSED)
reports that approximately
145,000 NYC students are enrolled
in charter schools –
roughly 14 percent of all NYC
students.
Charter schools in NYC
also encourage a diverse enrollment
of students. According
to the NYSED, in the
2020-21 school year half of
the student body in the NYC
charter school system identifi
ed as Black and 40 percent
as Latinx. Additionally, 79
percent of charter school students
are economically challenged,
8 percent are multilingual
and 9.3 percent live
in temporary housing.
“Charter schools employ
many many Black and Latinx
educators,” said James Merriman
the CEO of NYC’s
Charter school system on
Jan. 13. “I think increasingly
we are having a ‘moment’,
and I think people are beginning
to realize that while it is
fi ne to have a white teacher
and white administrators,
it is so important that Black
students see people like them
in positions of leadership
in front of the classroom,
who understand some of the
struggles that kids come into
school with.”
Since charter schools do
not operate in any of NYC’s
established public school systems,
they are able to implement
certain rules and regulations
that other public
schools in the area are not –
especially COVID protocol.
“Charters are overseen
by an independent board of
trustees, which itself is overseen
usually by one of three
entities in New York City
– either by the board of education,
by the NYS education
department Board of Regents
and also by the Charter
School Institute of the SUNY
Trustees,” said Merriman.
Because of this, charter
schools are not governed by
the NYC Schools Chancellor
or the Department of Education,
and each school is able to
make independent decisions
regarding the safety of their
students as the COVID-19 pandemic
continues to spread.
“Charter schools have to
follow the same health and
safety regulations that district
schools do,” said Merriman.
“They follow what the
department of health NYC
and NYS tell them to do in
terms of testing, vaccination.
social distancing. But on the
other hand, they can also
make their own decisions
about whether it makes more
sense to go virtual. Many of
the charters – not all – stayed
open, but many decided that
they would hold the fi rst two
weeks of class virtually.”
Charter schools are designed
to accommodate the
individual learning needs of
students, and this includes
students in need of special
education.
“At the NYC Charter
School Center we actually
have a collaborative which
almost every charter school
belongs to better provide special
education,” said Merriman.
“Providing special
education well is very very
diffi cult, but charter schools
are stepping up to that and
have basically the same rates
of students who are identifi ed
as needing special education
as those in district schools.”
With fi ve more charter
schools being planned to open
in the coming year, it is clear
that the popularity of charters
is increasing.
“We are trying to make
sure students actually get the
services they need, and beyond
that succeed as we hope
all students do,” said Merriman.