City and charters settle on an expensive Catholic-school ‘Band-Aid’
Eliza Shapiro
The de Blasio administration and New York City's charter sector are looking to empty Catholic schools as a solution to their fight over shared school space, though that space won't come cheap for the city.
Charter operatives say school space in Catholic school buildings has recently become a desirable option now that a new pro-charter state law mandates that the city is now mandated to pay charters' rent in private space. That can work in two ways: if the city and a new charter or expanding network do not reach co-location agreement, the city pays up to $40 million for private space rent or increases the school's funding formula to allow the charter to pay for its space.
The city's largest and best-known charter network, Success Academy, recently settled a months-long battle with City Hall over school space by moving three of its schools into former Catholic school buildings. Both charter and administration operatives pointed out that charter-related headlines stopped after the Catholic school space solution was announced.
Housing charters in former parochial schools could, at least temporarily, lower the political temperature over charter co-locations into district schools, which have been the central point of contention in the local fight over charters as charter critics accuse them of taking much-needed resources away from district school students.
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/05/8545010/city-and-charters-settle-expensive-catholic-school-band-aid?top-featured-2
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