This column originally appeared in The Politics Brief,<\/b> our weekly newsletter on the people, power and policies that shape New Yorkers’ lives.<\/p>\n
Sign up<\/a> to get the full version where you can ask questions, share news tips and weigh in on the conversation. Hits inboxes on Wednesdays.<\/p>\n The prominent leader of New York City\u2019s leading charter network has sent out an SOS to supporters as the schools face the prospect of a new mayor opposed to their expansion.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are currently serious threats to the educational excellence your child deserves,\u201d wrote Eva Moskowitz, the CEO of Success Academy, in an email obtained by Gothamist. \u201cWe need 100% of parents to get on the bus with us.\u201d<\/p>\n Moskowitz urged families to attend an all-hands-on-deck \u201cRally and March for Excellence\u201d on Sept. 18. Classroom instruction will be canceled so students, staff and families can march across the Brooklyn Bridge. Moskowitz also asked parents to \u201ccontact their elected officials five times.\u201d The email, which described powerful \u201canti-charter forces,\u201d did not mention Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani by name. But Mamdani is the only major mayoral candidate running in November who has been critical of charters.<\/p>\n While Mamdani\u2019s education platform has mostly centered on universal child care, he said in a candidate questionnaire he opposes the co-location of charters in buildings with traditional public schools. Such a move would present obstacles to new charter schools, which avoid the city\u2019s cutthroat real estate market by opening in underutilized city-owned school buildings.<\/p>\n Mamdani has also said he would review charter school funding as mayor.<\/p>\n The assemblymember from Queens has been endorsed by the city\u2019s teachers union, which is a fierce adversary of the charter movement. The union has argued that charter schools rob resources from public school students. Teachers at the schools are not typically unionized.<\/p>\n The brewing debate and rally evoke the intense clashes between Moskowitz and former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who also opposed the expansion of charters inside traditional public schools.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good question to ask what\u2019s the motivation because this issue has been relatively quiet,\u201d de Blasio said.<\/p>\n He said he believed the city had \u201cmoved on\u201d from heated debates about charters taking over public schools that characterized his early mayoralty \u2014 and that there were \u201cgood\u201d charter schools worthy of City Hall\u2019s support.<\/p>\n But Mamdani\u2019s main rival Andrew Cuomo has shown interest in reviving that debate. The former governor recently released an education plan that would shut down underperforming public schools and potentially replace them with charters. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and hedge fund billionaire Daniel Loeb were among the prominent charter supporters who donated to Cuomo\u2019s primary campaign.<\/p>\n Mayor Eric Adams, meanwhile, received backing from a pro-charter PAC in 2021. In January, he signed a bill into law giving charter schools public funding for security guards.<\/p>\n The rally comes at a precarious moment for the charter sector. Charter schools, which are publicly funded and privately run, serve 15% of city students but have seen slower growth in enrollment since the pandemic, according to the New York City Charter School Center. Albany lawmakers have shown little interest in raising a statewide cap that would allow new schools to open.<\/p>\n Declining federal funding means charters must also fight for a piece of a smaller education pie.<\/p>\n The charter school debate fits into Mamdani\u2019s democratic socialist platform. Charters have served as a proxy war between pro-business interests who support free-market competition and left-leaning Democrats who are skeptical of privately run schools funded by billionaires.<\/p>\n Some have said Mamdani is vulnerable when it comes to charters as his opposition to expanding charters conflicts with his stance on improving affordability and social equity. The need for better schools is most pronounced in low-income neighborhoods that are mostly home to students of color.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big picture is that there is a demand for charter schools in New York City, particularly among families of color,\u201d said Joseph Viteritti, a Hunter College professor who has written a book on the school choice movement<\/a>. \u201cBecause they tend to be the people who are most dissatisfied with their regular public schools.\u201d<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s campaign criticized charter schools and pledged he would prioritize \u201cfully funding\u201d public schools as mayor in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cZohran knows that New York City\u2019s public schools are the foundation of our communities, our economy, and our workforce,\u201d said Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for the campaign. \u201cYet charter schools siphon resources away from public education, often without real accountability or oversight.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Success Academy confirmed the upcoming rally but declined to make Moskowitz available for an interview.<\/p>\n Moskowitz is leaning on an old message. The email sent out last week was virtually identical to one she crafted for a march in 2013, when de Blasio was the mayoral front-runner.<\/p>\n \u201cYour child\u2019s education is threatened. Our very existence is threatened. Opponents want to take away our funding and our facilities,\u201d she wrote at the time<\/a>. \u201cThese attacks are a real danger \u2014 we cannot stand idly by.\u201d<\/p>\n Jessica Gould contributed reporting.<\/p>\n We want to hear from you<\/b><\/p>\n Do you agree with Zohran Mamdani that new charters should not share buildings with traditional public schools?<\/p>\n