EdVANTAGE Blog

Last week we reported that U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan had warned that states’ chances to win a share of his $5 billion “Race to the Top Fund” could suffer if they cap the number of charter schools they allow to operate.  New York is one of those states, with a cap allowing 200 charter schools to be approved.

But a leading national charter advocacy group takes a more subtle view, and ranks New York State as having the 6th strongest charter school law in the nation, despite its cap.

The Center for Education Reform argues that,

…growing great schools is about more than caps. For charters, the Secretary’s Race to the Top is being treated like a sprint, when to be effective, it should be viewed more like a triathlon with the successful accomplishment of many events leading to the finish line.

The Center gives New York high marks for having multiple charter authorizing agencies (i.e., the State University, Board of Regents, and individual districts) and for providing independence from state and district rules.

The state also wins above average scores for the level of operations funding its law provides and for the number of schools allowed, even with the cap.