ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s Legislature and Gov. David Paterson on Friday agreed to expand the number of charter schools in an effort to qualify for more than $500 million in federal Race to the Top education funds. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and his Democrat-led chamber worked overnight to negotiate and take the vote in time for Tuesday’s deadline to...
ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s Legislature and Gov. David Paterson on Friday agreed to expand the number of charter schools in an effort to qualify for more than $500 million in federal Race to the Top education funds.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and his Democrat-led chamber worked overnight to negotiate and take the vote in time for Tuesday’s deadline to submit the application. The measure will raise the number of charters available for the innovative public schools to 460 over four years, from the current 200.
The Democrat-led Senate acted Friday to pass the same bill.
Paterson said he’s confident the bill will “greatly increase our competitiveness in the second round of Race to the Top. Agreement on this measure signals recognition by all of our state’s leaders that for the sake of our children, our schools and our economy, we cannot afford to let these critical education dollars slip away.”
In January, the Assembly and Senate failed to agree to increase charters. Paterson has said the limit needed to be raised to at least 454 charters to have a shot at the competitive federal grants. New York lost in the first round.
The state’s powerful state teachers unions had opposed the efforts.