Two-thirds of NY voters want to lift cap and expand charter schools: poll

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Nearly two-thirds of New York voters support lifting the government-imposed cap to open more charter schools in the Big Apple, according to a poll conducted by a new charter…

Nearly two-thirds of New York voters support lifting the government-imposed cap to open more charter schools in the Big Apple, according to a poll conducted by a new charter school advocacy group.

The Great Public Schools New York poll, conducted by HarrisX and SKDK, found 64% of voters in support of lifting a cap while only 22% said they were opposed and another 14% said they were unsure.

That means voters across the state who want the cap lifted outnumber opponents by a 3-to-1 margin.

Participants were asked if they support or oppose raising the cap after being told “When one charter school closes, its license to operate can’t be used by another school — so the total number of schools shrinks.”

Some 63% of voters in the suburbs and upstate support raising the cap, compared to 19% who oppose it, with the remainder unsure, according to the survey of 4,478 registered voters.

Charter schools are publicly funded but privately managed and typically have a longer school day and year than traditional public schools. Most educators in charters are not represented by a union, while traditional public schools are unionized and hold immense sway in the Democrat-dominated state and city governments.

Authorized by state law in 1998, there are now 286 charter schools serving 152,000 students in the city, about 15% of public school students. Many charter students outperform their traditional public school counterparts on the state’s standardized reading and math exams.

But in 2023, Gov. Kathy Hochul and the legislature allowed just 14 new charter schools to open in New York City, following a grueling political fight with anti-charter teachers unions.

The cap has been reached in the city, so no more charter licenses can be issued unless Albany raises or eliminates the cap.

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