Facing the prospect of a new mayor opposed to expanding charter schools, the prominent leader of New York City’s leading charter network has sent out an SOS to supporters.
“There are currently serious threats to the educational excellence your child deserves,” wrote Eva Moskowitz, the CEO of Success Academy, in an email obtained by Gothamist. “We need 100% of parents to get on the bus with us.”
Moskowitz urged families to attend an all-hands-on-deck “Rally and March for Excellence” on Sept. 18. Classroom instruction will be canceled so students, staff and families can march across the Brooklyn Bridge. Moskowitz also asked parents to “contact their elected officials five times.” The email, which described powerful “anti-charter forces,” 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.
While Mamdani’s 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’s cutthroat real estate market by opening in underutilized city-owned school buildings.
Mamdani has also said he would review charter school funding as mayor.
The assemblymember from Queens has been endorsed by the city’s 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.
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.
“It’s a good question to ask what’s the motivation because this issue has been relatively quiet,” de Blasio said.
He said he believed the city had “moved on” from heated debates about charters taking over public schools that characterized his early mayoralty — and that there were “good” charter schools worthy of City Hall’s support.
But Mamdani’s 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’s primary campaign.
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.
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.
Declining federal funding means charters must also fight for a piece of a smaller education pie.
The charter school debate fits into Mamdani’s 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.
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.
“The big picture is that there is a demand for charter schools in New York City, particularly among families of color,” said Joseph Viteritti, a Hunter College professor who has written a book on the school choice movement. “Because they tend to be the people who are most dissatisfied with their regular public schools.”
Mamdani’s campaign criticized charter schools and pledged he would prioritize “fully funding” public schools as mayor in a statement.
“Zohran knows that New York City’s public schools are the foundation of our communities, our economy, and our workforce,” said Dora Pekec, a spokesperson for the campaign. “Yet charter schools siphon resources away from public education, often without real accountability or oversight.”
A spokesperson for Success Academy confirmed the upcoming rally but declined to make Moskowitz available for an interview.
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.
“Your child’s education is threatened. Our very existence is threatened. Opponents want to take away our funding and our facilities,” she wrote at the time. “These attacks are a real danger — we cannot stand idly by.”
Jessica Gould contributed reporting.
Ballot Box
This week we're wondering: Do you agree with Zohran Mamdani that new charters should not share buildings with traditional public schools?
Last week we asked: Since Zohran Mamdani's opponents have tried to use his lack of executive experience against him in the New York City mayoral race, we’re wondering if that is an important issue to you as a voter?
“I think Mamdani’s “lack” of executive experience could be an advantage, honestly. It means he hasn’t been corrupted by power, co-opted by special interests, and jaded by the fecklessness of the system. My hope is that he keeps someone who knows which levers to pull and what forms to fill out, like Brad Lander, close but continues to introduce new ideas and fresh people to government.”
- Mike, Queens
“You can hire expertise; you can’t hire morals. It is refreshing to have a politician who continually supports a particular point of view, admits when views are evolving from experience and appears honest.”
- Madelon, NYC
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(1) Rep. Ritchie Torres introduced a bill that would ban pools at residential day cares after a 20-month-old child drowned at a Bronx day care early last month. Read more about the bill.
(2) New York City Council leaders are urging the Board of Elections to reject three housing-related ballot proposals submitted by Mayor Eric Adams’ Charter Revision Commission. Here’s why.
(3) Beach lovers are thanking state lawmakers for including funding for resiliency work at Fire Island and other Long Island beaches in this year’s state budget. Here’s how much.
(4) The New Jersey governor’s race is heating up as the countdown to Election Day continues. Here’s what to watch for.
(5) Arrests and deportations by federal immigration agents in New York City are surging after an initial slow start in President Donald Trump’s second term. Here’s a look at the data.
(6) Mayor Adams is deploying 1,000 NYPD officers to the Bronx. Here’s why.
(7) Listen: Sen. Andy Kim came on “The Brian Lehrer Show” to talk about his work in the Senate and the issues in New Jersey as Congress returns to work. Listen here.
