Senate Bill S4374

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S4374REVISED 2/24/25

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to prohibiting co-loca-
tion of a charter school in a public school building in a city school
district in a city having a population of one million or more inhabit-
ants; and to repeal certain provisions of the education law related
thereto

 
PURPOSE:

To remove the obligation for the city of New York to provide facilities
to charter schools.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 repeals paragraphs (a-3), (a-4), (a-5) and (e) of subdivision
3 of section 2853 of the education law.

Section 2 sets the effective date
              

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York City is the only city in the nation obligated to provide space
for charter schools. State law requires that the Department of Education
arrange for co-location in city owned school buildings, or directly
leasing or subsidizing rental payments in private buildings.  The money
spent by the city to accommodate charter schools drains resources from
public schools which are already severely underfunded.

Each year, charter school rent payments increase by a significant
amount. According to a 2019 Class Size Matters report, the total amount
spent by the DOE on charter schools in private spaces increased from
$13.3 million in FY2015 to a projected $100.7 million in FY 2019. Anoth-
er report published in 2021 found that the DOE routinely overspends on
charter school facilities, with projected rent subsidy payments to 39
charter schools exceeding their total base rent by $20.9 million.

According to the DOE website, only about 13% of NYC students attend
charter schools, of which there are 271 out of 1,859 schools in the
city. Though charter schools operate independently from NYC public
school districts, they are still entitled to public funds, and enjoy
further funding from wealthy donors. Former NYC mayor and billionaire
Michael Bloomberg announced a five year campaign committing $750 million
for charter schools, and most recently donated $200 million to two char-
ter schools in NYC.

Co-location takes learning space away from public schools, while paying
charter school rents directs hundreds of millions of dollars away from
the DOE budget. All New York City students lose out. The NYC DOE should
not be obligated to spend taxpayer dollars to provide space for inde-
pendently run charter schools which have more fundraising ability and
serve fewer students.

 
FISCAL IMPACT:

None
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S6138 OF 2024

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately