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Lawmakers, Regents spar over charter funding and heavy impact on Hempstead and other Long Island districts
Summary
At a legislative interview for Board of Regents candidates, lawmakers and Regents members flagged charter school enrollment and funding as a major strain on some Long Island districts, citing large transfers of per-pupil funding out of public-district budgets and calling for legislative fixes.
Lawmakers on a joint legislative panel pressed the Board of Regents and candidates about the fiscal and operational impact of charter schools on Long Island school districts, singling out Hempstead as an example where charter enrollments have strained district finances.
An assemblymember from Nassau County told the panel that several districts' Hempstead, Westbury, Freeport, Roosevelt, Baldwin and Uniondale' were sending large sums to charter schools and that the transfers create a disparate impact on remaining district students and programs. The speaker said Hempstead is sending roughly $140 million to charter operators while receiving about $236 million in total state aid, a gap that panelists said undermines district capacity to sustain programs for enrolled students.
Regent Tellis acknowledged the problem and said she has raised charter-funding issues at Regents meetings for several years. "The way we fund our charter schools creates an impossible situation," she said, and urged reevaluation of approval and renewal practices for charters, plus changes to funding rules that reimburse districts when students leave for charters.
Panelists described several recurring issues: loss of per-pupil funding when students leave for charter schools; uneven practices on charter discipline and student reenrollment that push higher-cost students back to districts; and differences in oversight and moral-conduct enforcement between district and charter teachers. Some speakers urged the Legislature to change funding mechanics so districts are not forced to cut programs for remaining students.
Regent Tellis said the Board of Regents has identified problems in the charter-approval and renewal process and is concerned about financial impacts in suburban and Long Island districts where the proportional loss of students is acute. She said the Regents have limited direct authority over charter funding formulas, which are set by the Legislature, and called for legislative action to adjust funding and oversight rules.
Legislators on the panel said they are considering bills to change how charter funding is distributed and to require parity in behavioral- and moral-conduct codes for teachers across district and charter settings. No bill votes or formal actions occurred at the hearing.
Ending: Lawmakers asked the Regents to provide evidence and recommendations on charter approvals, renewal standards and financial mitigation so the Legislature can weigh statutory fixes. Several panel members said they would continue pushing for changes to the state aid and charter finance rules to prevent what they called an unsustainable drain on public-district budgets.
