Pols silent as thousands await charter spots in their districts
The waiting lists to get into charter schools are around the block in the districts of state Assembly members who haven’t challenged attempts to limit the alternative schools, according to data obtained by The Post.
In Harlem, where Keith Wright presides over a neighborhood with 15 charters, 3,975 kids are clamoring for seats.
But Wright told The Post he still opposes giving charters the right to share space in public school buildings, a practice known as “co-location.”
“I hate co-locations,” said Wright, who is chairman of the Manhattan Democratic Party. “It’s torn at the fabric of my community.”
Asked if the state should provide extra aid or facilities for the shut-out charters, he said, “We’re looking at everything.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and leaders of the state Senate are pushing for facility funds in the state budget to rescue charters that find themselves homeless under the policies of the de Blasio administration.
But the union-friendly, Democrat-run Assembly is resisting, Albany insiders said.
There are 15 charters in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn represented by Annette Robinson, with 2,323 students pleading to get in.
Gabriela Rosa of northern Manhattan has 2,196 students waiting for openings. Another 1,583 students are similarly situated in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn led by Nick Perry.
And James Brennan, who represents part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s home turf in brownstone Brooklyn, has 1,379 stranded charter students.
None of the four legislators responded to requests for comment about their positions.
But other Assembly members said they’ll go to the mat for charters.
East Harlem’s Robert Rodriguez has 14 charter schools and 2,790 students awaiting seats.
Rodriguez said charter schools deserve state aid to find their own building space.
“We should look at providing building funds to children in charter schools if they’re not co-located. If they are forced to move out and have to find private space, they should get money to do that,” Rodriguez said.
Matthew Titone, who has 954 students on waiting lists in his district on Staten Island’s North Shore, said charter schools in his area “do excellent work serving kids with special needs.”
There are currently 183 charter schools in the city serving 70,000 students.
More than 70,089 students have applied online for 22,000 new seats opening this fall — well ahead of the 44,910 applications filed at this time last year, sources said.
By Aaron Short and Carl Campanile