Lawyer says Eric Adams is sowing concerns about the cost of additional NYC charter schools

Mayor Eric Adams is trying to panic city taxpayers over the cost of building new charter schools with the city’s latest budget projections, one of the charter’s leading supporters said Tuesday.

An internal budget note released last week suggested that the Big Apple could be on the hook for $1 billion in rent payments under Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to lift the cap on new city charters.

A memorandum from the city’s Office of Management and Budget went so far as to call Albany’s “unfunded mandate” removal of the charter restriction.

But James Merriman of the nonprofit New York Charter School Center said such a scenario would not materialize for at least the next ten years, if ever.

This is because it takes years for city charter schools to get the approval of state officials and actually open their doors to students, usually as little as five to ten a year.

“This is not a case where they can reasonably say that $1 billion has hit their budget, except for the next few years – and nobody talks about budgets in 10 years,” he said. “You might as well be talking about Tolkien’s Middle-earth.”

Merriman added, “The thing is, it’s bananas counting beans.”

And the OMB’s bleak outlook is likely to be cited by opponents of the Albany charter school, where Adams will champion billions of dollars in additional public funding at Wednesday’s budget hearing, known as “Tin Cup Day.”

Controversy over the Office of Management and Budget’s bleak outlook flared when Adams, who had campaigned for the choice of a parent school, was offered a way to increase the number of charters in the city.

The Big Apple is limited by state law to a maximum of 275 charter schools, all of which have already received approval.

But Hole’s record-breaking $227 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2024, which begins April 1, would remove the city limit and allow operators to seek approval for another 85, which can now only be opened in other parts of the state.

Hochul’s plan also includes a provision to unlock permits for 21 closed “zombie” charter schools across the state that may also be located in the city.

The budget note comes after Adams came under fire last month when school chancellor David Banks abandoned a plan to “co-locate” three Success Academy charter schools in Department of Education buildings in Queens and the Bronx.

Banks cited community resistance to proposed statutes that are costing taxpayers an average of $17,626 per student statewide in the 2022-23 school year, according to the state Department of Education.

In comparison, 2019 US Census data shows the Department of Education spending $28,004 per student.

Bronx mom Arlene Rosado, who has two kids, one at a charter school and the other at a Department of Education school, said it’s time for Adams to stand up for the city’s kids.

“I’m glad Governor Hochul wants to lift the restriction. Many parents are behind this. Parents want it,” she said. “I’m a little surprised that the mayor isn’t pushing for more charter schools to open.

“Mayor Adams, you need to give us more options! Take action! Take a risk!” Rosado added.

Queens dad Dave Bell, who tried to enroll his daughter in kindergarten at one of the proposed Success Academy schools that were blocked last month, called the situation “frustrating.”

“You have Hochul pushing for charter schools and Adams backing down,” he said. “Adams said he was open to everything new. Mayor Adams: Listen to your parents.

City Hall did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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