“We applaud the New York State Board of Regents and the State Education Department for declining to approve the proposed charter school applications in Brentwood and Central Islip.
At a time when these districts are working to strengthen their public schools, approving new charter schools would have meant diverting resources away from the very students who need them most.
Public schools are the heart of our communities. They serve every child, no matter their background or needs. The Regents’ decision today recognizes that state law for new charter schools requires findings of community support and likely educational benefit, and that approving applications without clear evidence of these elements only undermines our mission to New York’s students.
It sends a clear message: Education department leaders are committed to strengthening public education, not weakening it.”
Background: In October, SUNY’s Charter Schools Committee approved applications for The Academy Charter School Brentwood Elementary, The Academy Charter School Brentwood Middle, and The Academy Charter School Central Islip Regional High and sent them to SED for approval.
Today, SED’s Board of Regents declined to approve the applications, “based on significant community opposition to the proposed schools which SUNY has not adequately addressed, and the inability to make the required findings that granting the application is likely to improve student learning and achievement and materially further the purposes set out in subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred fifty of Article 56 of the Education Law.”
The action will send the proposed charter applications back to SUNY with comments, allowing SUNY and the applicants to modify the proposals for resubmission.