Council Member Stephen Levin announced today that he is calling for a moratorium on the opening of all charter schools in New York City. The announcement follows the release of the city�s executive budget, which includes a $210 million, or 25 percent, increase in funding for charter schools.

The growth in spending on charter schools is 200 percent more than expected. In the city�s preliminary budget, charter schools were proposed to grow by $70.9 million, or 8.6 percent, from Fiscal Year 2013 to a total of $899.3 million for Fiscal Year 2014. The Mayor�s executive budget, however, increases funding for charters schools by $210 million � a difference of $140 million, or 200 percent, from the preliminary budget. Levin will be introducing a City Council resolution that would put a moratorium in place on the opening of all charter schools in New York City.
�The executive budget released yesterday is further proof that charter spending is out of control,� said Council Member Stephen Levin. �An increase of 200% from the preliminary to executive budget shows that the cost to taxpayers in order to finance charter schools is only going to continue to increase.�

�To increase funding for charter schools by 25% in a single year, at a time when the executive budget calls for the decimation of programs that New York City children, families, and seniors depend on, is outrageous. Given these astonishing numbers, I am calling for a moratorium on the opening of all charter schools in New York City.�

(YWN Desk – NYC)