Res. No. 617
By Council Member Avilés
Resolution calling upon the New York State Legislature to pass and the Governor to sign S.423 and S.4449-A, which would respectively, repeal the state law requirement that the City of New York must either offer to pay for space rented by charter schools or offer charter schools space within existing public school buildings, and make the City of New York eligible for transitional aid for charter school payments
Whereas, Paragraph (e) of subdivision 3 of section 2853 of the Education Law, requires the City of New York (City) to either offer to pay for “space in a privately owned or other publicly owned facility at the expense of the city school district” for new or grade-level expanding charter schools “at no cost to the charter school,” or offer them “at no cost to the charter school a co-location site in a public school building approved by the board of education as provided by law”; and
Whereas, Under subdivision 41 of section 3602 of the Education Law, the City is not eligible to receive aid from the State of New York (State) to cover the costs associated with the reallocation of funding by the City away from district schools and towards charter schools for students enrolled in charter schools; and
Whereas, As reported in QNS, a local newspaper in the Queens borough, in their March 2025 article entitled “Hundreds sign petition to prevent charter school from opening in Sunnyside’s P.S. 150 Annex,” and by BKReader, a “digital daily news and information source covering Brooklyn,” in their June 2025 article entitled “Tensions Rise in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park Over Charter School Plans,” parents and local elected officials have expressed concern and frustration over district school divestment caused by the redirection of funding by the City away from district schools and towards charter schools for students enrolled in charter schools; and
Whereas, According to an October 2025 New York State Education Department fact sheet entitled “New York State Charter School Fact Sheet,” from the 425 authorized charter schools across New York State, 328 are authorized to operate in New York City (NYC), with 352 charter schools open to students in the 2025-2026 school year and 285 of these schools based in NYC; and
Whereas, In an October 2023 piece entitled “It is Time for New York City Schools to Receive Charter School Transitional Aid,” the Education Law Center, a nonprofit engaged in public school advocacy, noted that the City is “the only district in the state, and indeed the nation, with the . . . onerous financial obligation” of providing charter schools with rental assistance for private space rented by these schools; and
Whereas, The Education Law Center further estimated in such October 2023 piece that the City was “deprived of $2.81 billion in transitional aid” from the State that would have helped offset the financial burden of considerable charter school growth within NYC from 2011 through 2023; and
Whereas, According to lease payment data published by the New York City Council for fiscal year 2025, the New York City Department of Education (“NYC Public Schools”) was obligated to pay approximately $267 million in public taxpayer money for charter school lease payments before accounting for reimbursements from the State; and
Whereas, Per a February 2024 report by the New York City Independent Budget Office entitled, “Budget Options for New York City: Education,” the City would have saved “$75 million in charter rental payments in fiscal year 2023” alone, after the State reimbursed 60 percent of charter rental expenses, as per subdivision 6-g of section 3602 of the Education Law; and
Whereas, The fiscal year 2026 budget for NYC Public Schools is $44.6 billion, 60 percent of which comes from City funding, 35 percent of which come from State funding, and 8 percent ($3.5 billion) of which is appropriated to charter schools in accordance with State law; and
Whereas, Despite being publicly funded, charter schools, unlike district schools, are privately governed by nonprofit boards of trustees according to the New York State Education Department; and
Whereas, Community Education Council District 15 unanimously adopted a resolution on June 17, 2025, calling for the passage of Senate Bill 423, sponsored by State Senator John C. Liu and pending in the State Senate, which would repeal paragraph (e) of subdivision 3 of section 2853 of the Education Law; and
Whereas, Senate Bill 4449-A, sponsored by State Senator Robert Jackson and pending in the New York State Senate, would amend subdivision 41 of section 3602 of the Education Law to make the City eligible for transitional aid for charter school payments; now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York State Legislature to pass and the Governor to sign S.423 and S.4449-A, which would respectively, repeal the state law requirement that the City of New York must either offer to pay for space rented by charter schools or offer charter schools space within existing public school buildings, and make the City of New York eligible for transitional aid for charter school payments.
MH/LJB
LSRs #24283 and #24288
6/26/26 [3:09 pm]