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(Washington, DC, February 8, 1999) Joining its 34 colleagues who have passed charter school laws since 1991, the Empire State's December 1998 charter law has made the top ten strongest of all charter laws, according to official rankings by the Center for Education Reform. Charter schools are public schools that remain committed to health, safety and civil rights laws, but are free in their approach to meeting the standards of their contract and open to all children by choice.
"New York gets a lucky seven in terms of charter viability," said CER president Jeanne Allen, putting it less than a tenth of a point behind Minnesota, but ahead of other huge states such as California, Florida and Texas.
"The strength of New York's charter school law is owing to the tenacity of Governor George Pataki, who despite pressure to retreat, chose to stick to his guns," said Allen. "This paves the way for civic-minded citizens across the state to join in the effort to provide quality, public education to children who need it the most."
Among the features meriting its high national ranking, New York's charter school law provides for 100 new schools, multiple approval agencies (authorizers) beyond school boards, blanket waivers from state and district rules, and complete fiscal autonomy to develop programs.
However, states like Massachusetts provide even greater potential for high quality charter schools, and allow for freedom from teacher certification rules and guarantee that charters will get full per pupil funding, matching that of other public schools.
This is the third edition of Charter School Laws Across the States: State by State Ranking and Legislative Profiles published by the Center for Education Reform since it began assessing the relative strength and weakness of each charter school law. Strong laws tend to encourage more activity, are home to larger numbers of high quality schools, and reduce the amount of interference from bureaucratic tinkering. The complete analysis of all charter school laws, including NY, is available by contacting the Center for Education Reform at 800-521-2118 or here on the website.
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The Center for Education Reform is a non-profit, national advocacy group founded in 1993 to provide support and guidance to individuals, community and civic groups, policymakers and others who are working to bring fundamental reforms to their schools. For more information about this or other education reform issues, please call (202) 822-9000 or (800) 521-2118, or send e-mail to cer@edreform.com.
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