Another way for charter schools to expand

A round of applause for Gov. Hochul, whose proposed budget opens the door for more charter schools across New York City. At present, the city is capped at roughly 275 charters according to state law. By lifting that cap and instituting a few sensible reforms, the governor’s innovative proposal would allow for as many as 108 additional charters to take root across the city.

But to make her charter plan truly complete, the governor must also commit herself to ensuring that charters are led and staffed according to the most up-to-date standards of diversity and inclusion. She must embrace the vision that is now energizing and enhancing so much of corporate America.

The unfortunate, little-known fact is that those who operate the city’s charter schools are not representative of the students they serve. Remarkably, while 91% of New York’s public charter school students are Black and Latinx, only 6% of public charter schools were founded by educators of color. The result is a charter system that cannot reach its full potential. Studies show that teachers of color boost the academic performance of students of color, including improved reading and math test scores, higher graduation rates, and a greater commitment to attending college.

In addition, teachers of color help close achievement gaps for students of color and tend to be highly rated by students of all races. Greater teacher diversity can also mitigate feelings of isolation, frustration, and fatigue that often lead to teachers of color leaving the profession. At the same time, school administrators of color tend to hire and retain teachers of color at rates higher than predominantly white institutions. Finally, visual representation — i.e. seeing teachers and principals who look like you — positively impacts students’ self-confidence and emotional development.

This lack of representation within charter schools has two primary root causes:

1 – It is driven by a historic underinvestment in Black, Latinx, and Asian-founded schools in New York.

2 – It is sustained by New York’s cap on public charter school growth, which not only limits access to new, high-quality public-school options for tens of thousands of children of color across the state, but also prevents countless school founders of color from opening their culturally affirming schools.

In fact, an astonishing two-thirds of city public schools have no Black or Latinx teachers at all. And only 18% of New York public school teachers are teachers of color.

Based on our organization’s experience, the solutions are clear:

1 – Equitable Access to Funding: Increasing access for public charter school leaders of color to financial resources and economies of scale.

2 – Capacity Building: Investing in capacity-building activities that address the most acute challenges faced by culturally affirming public charter schools in New York.

3 – Legislation: Albany should pass the Public Education Racial Equity And Diversity Act — or “READ Act” — which would ensure that a greater proportion of the leadership of new charter schools or their governing boards are people of color. The measure would also expand the number of minority teachers by exempting them from paying state and local income taxes, providing them college loan forgiveness, and permitting charters to offer alternative teacher licensing.

If corporate America can commit itself to diversity and inclusion, so too can New York City’s charter schools, so many of which serve predominantly children of color. Hochul, along with the Legislature, must insist on the highest standards of diversity and inclusion as part of any charter plan for both the city and state.

Raccah is CEO of the Black, Latinx, Asian Charter Collaborative.