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BwCCS and CPCS Families Advocate for Charter Equity |
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Members of the BwCF community joined with thousands of charter school supporters in Albany on February 2, 2010 for Charter School Advocacy Day, meeting with local legislators and advocating for equity in funding for charters.
3000 charter school supporters from the entire state gathered to rally against a potential funding freeze on charter schools which would make an already unfair state funding formula even worse. Charter schools receive less money per student than traditional district schools and receive no facilities aid. The complex state formula for funding charters is based on what district schools spend two years earlier, so charters feel the impact of bad times with a two year lag. The proposed freeze would financially cripple charters even more by freezing funding twice--not allowing them to receive what they are entitled to currently receive based on what districts spent two years ago, and also granting them less aid in the future when they will feel the impact of the current freeze on district expenditures.
Notable speakers who supported the charter rally included Reverend A.R. Bernard, Pastor of Brooklyn's Christian Cultural Center, and state senators Craig Johnson, Pedro Espada, Martin Golden, Sam Hoyt and Bill Perkins, who addressed supporters and advocated for charter equity. Governor David Paterson was applauded after speaking candidly about his now more positive outlook on charter schools and his goal to help New York win federal Race to the Top Funding.
After the rally, BwCCS and CPCS parents, teachers and students met with Senator Martin Malave Dilan and a representative from Assemblyman Joseph Lentol's office to tell their personal reasons why they sought an education outside of the regular DOE school system and advocate against the proposed funding freeze and for a lift on the "cap" or limit of charters currently in the law.
Lower school and middle school BwCCS students meet Senator Martin Dilan
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