(photo: Kevin P. Coughlin/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul)

This month, the New York State Legislature has the chance to pass a state budget that will have a profoundly positive impact for thousands of students in New York City.  

In February, Governor Kathy Hochul proposed lifting the regional cap on charter schools in New York City, and reviving “zombie” charters – a proposal that would finally allow more public charter schools to open their doors. The proposal would mean two things: more good schools in the communities

UFT President Mike Mulgrew hugs Mayor Adams (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

The United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the union representing the majority of educators in New York City’s public schools, has been bargaining with the city for a new contract since October of last year. Now, the union is expected to be next in line for an agreement after District Council 37 (DC37), the city’s largest municipal worker union,...

UFT President Michael Mulgrew (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

February 28, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: UFT President Mike Mulgrew on Contract Negotiations, Charter Schools, & More

Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), joined the show to discuss his union's contract negotiations with the city, the governor's charter school expansion proposal, and more.

Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the

Gov. Hochul and Mayor Adams (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)

Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams have a strong working relationship, one that they have repeatedly emphasized at joint announcements, news conferences, and speeches. It’s in clear contrast to their predecessors, who spent years squabbling over many issues, both parochial and consequential to New Yorkers. But with the recent release of the governor’s budget plan, the two first-term Democrats find themselves at odds over various cuts, cost shifts, and unfunded mandates for New York City that the mayor is none too

Classical Charter Schools

A random number in a lottery is chosen, and a parent breathes a sigh of relief. But I’m not talking about the New York Lottery – I’m talking about our education system. 

It’s no secret that schools in some of New York City’s poorest districts aren’t getting the job done for students. That’s why public charter schools were created in the first place, and the results for families have been promising. 

But as demand from families for seats in charter schools has

Students at school (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

I was a kid from Harlem, a first generation immigrant, and the first in my family to graduate from college – the U.S. education system was not built for kids like me to succeed.

Thankfully, along the way, I got the support I needed to excel and live out the dreams that my parents had for me as well as the aspirations I had for myself. Sadly, that is not the reality for countless kids from underserved communities just like me. But it

A past rally for charter schools with James Merriman, right (photo: @nyccharters)

“We have a lot more friends in private than we do in public,” James Merriman, the CEO of the New York City Charter School Center, told host Ben Max in a recent conversation on Gotham Gazette’s Max Politics podcast. Half-joking about the political environment related to charter schools in New York, Merriman outlined the current duality for the controversial sector of privately-run public schools:

NYC Charter School Center CEO James Merriman, left (photo: @nyccharters)

February 22, 2022 - Max Politics Podcast: The Growth of Charter Schools in New York City

Democratic Mayoral Candidates Stake Out Education Policy Positions

(photo: Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office)

Late last year, Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza proudly announced “record increases” in internet bandwidth in public school buildings – an important milestone because in a digital world, every school deserves good internet access.

But, the announcement invited more questions than it answered, especially in light of the Department of Education’s other recent announcement of planning to create or redesign 40 schools “of the future.” 

What is a “school of

(photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

Recently, a group of charter school supporters received media attention by protesting at an Elizabeth Warren

(photo: the governor's office)

James Merriman has been involved in the charter school movement in New York since its inception 20 years ago, first as the general counsel for the Charter Schools Institute and now, for the last 12 years, as CEO of the New York City Charter School Center, a leading charter school advocacy and resource group.

“My parents were both professors. I thought I was going to be a professor. It’s all anybody did in my house,” Merriman said in ...

What's The [Data] Point? Episode 78 -- 118,977, the Growing Charter School Sector in New York City, with James Merriman of the New York City Charter School Center[You can download What's The [Data] Point? wherever you get your podcasts, including on iTunes]

James Merriman, the CEO of the New York City Charter School Center, joined the podcast to discuss the state of

(image: @EmberCS_BedStuy)

[Update (6/3/19): shortly before the Board of Regents meeting on Monday, June 3, Ember Charter School's application to expand was added to the agenda]

[Update (6/5/19): the Board of Regents sent application back the city DOE with comments, no final decision has been made]

The founder of a black-led charter school in Brooklyn with a focus on African and African-American cultural education is alleging the New York State Education Department (SED) is surreptitiously blocking the school’s

(photo: Governor's Office)

There has been much discussion that the state Legislature and Governor Cuomo may raise the cap on charter schools, especially since the sub-cap of 235 charter schools in New York City has now been reached. As public school parents and co-chairs of the Education Council Consortium, which represents the elected parent leaders of Community Education Councils across the five boroughs, we overwhelmingly oppose raising the cap

Gov. Cuomo at a charter school rally (photo: governor's office)

After several new charter schools were approved last month, the cap on such schools allowed in New York City was reached. New York State has a cap on the number of issuable charters, which allow a group to start a new charter school, the controversial, privately-run, publicly-funded schools that mostly proliferate in the five boroughs and educate roughly 10% of the city's 1 million students. Within the larger cap, there is a sub-cap for charters that can be issued for schools in New York

(photo: the governor's office)

Throughout his tenure, Governor Andrew Cuomo has been a strong advocate for charter schools as part of his broader education policy, even as many of his fellow Democrats are far less friendly toward, if not opposed to, the privately-run, publicly-funded schools. Cuomo has repeatedly supported and helped orchestrate a raising of the cap on the number of charter schools allowed in New York, both across the state, and the sub-cap for New York City, where the vast majority of charters exist.

Now, as that sub-cap on charter

(Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)

When the New York State Board of Regents met last month, the mood was despondent. “The needle hasn’t moved for minority children in decades,” said Regent Kathy Cashin, decrying the racial achievement gap on the newly-released 2018 state exam scores for students in grades 3-8. The reaction of the Regents ran the usual gamut of hand-wringing, blaming the tests, and calling for more dilatory “analysis.”

And then came ...

Mayor de Blasio on a school visit (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

My daughter is a third-grader in one of Mayor de Blasio’s so-called Renewal Schools in Harlem. When I first heard about the program, I was hopeful: P.S. 149 needed attention and change to become the kind of school I wanted for my daughter. But, as a parent, I have not seen much renewal.

Since the program started, enrollment at P.S. 149 has dropped 25 percent. For the kids who have stayed, scores haven’t improved much – students passing the English Language Arts

Opportunity Charter School leader Leonard Goldberg, middle, the author

A new report from the city's Comptroller showed once again that the City is unable to fulfill its responsibility to provide the necessary services to students with disabilities, failing to track $84 million allocated for disabled student services. Worse still, these findings come on the heels of the Public Advocate's report that revealed a troubling trend whereby the city offers parents vouchers instead of the necessary, required services for children with special needs. Troubling, but not surprising.

It’s

A charter school rally (photo: @SuccessAcademy)

Questions: How do you turn a 25 percent graduation rate into a misleading claim of 100 percent success? When does a school’s 30 percent proficiency rate on an 8th grade reading test translate into the assertion that nearly half of the students passed?

Answer: when charter schools do their own accounting, and authorizers allow them to paper over the fact that huge percentages of the children who start in charter schools get driven or eased out.

Charters claim that they serve the same children

(via @MoskowitzEva)

There's a reason why New Yorkers reject Eva Moskowitz's "bipartisan" defense for her photo ops and meetings with the governing Republican Party in Washington, D.C.. While Ms. Moskowitz touts her registration as a Democrat, her actions are

(photo: Demetrius Freeman/Mayor's Office)

A much talked-about provision of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s 13th-hour deal to have his control over city schools extended was the agreement that 22 revoked or surrendered charter school charters could be reissued without counting towards the predetermined state cap on the number of charter schools.

In exchange for a two-year extension of mayoral control of city

Mayor de Blasio at City Hall, June 29 (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)

Mayor Bill de Blasio negotiated a deal to extend mayoral control of city schools in exchange for a set of administrative actions benefitting charter schools. When the mayor celebrated the extension of mayoral control -- which was due to expire at the end of June, but was extended June 29 -- he did not release the details of the charter-friendly promises he was making to Republican state Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, and

Michael Mulgrew, the author (photo: UFT)

Children who miss 20 or more days of school in New York City have lost so much instruction time that they are classified as chronically absent, which studies have linked to lower test scores and higher dropout rates.

So it is hard to see the educational purpose behind Success Academy's suspending a special-needs 7-year-old for 45 days, even if some form of alternative instruction was provided. This one recent example is part of a much larger pattern, both for Success Academy and the larger charter school sector