Charter school (New York)

Charter schools in New York are independent, not-for-profit public schools operating under a different set of rules than the typical state-run schools, exempt from many requirements and regulations. Any student eligible for publics schools can apply.

A charter school may be authorized by the State University of New York (through its Charter Schools Institute),New York State's Education Department's Board of Regents, or the New York City Department of Education (through the Chancellor's office and the Deputy Executive Director).

State laws govern the establishing and supervision of charter schools. The New York Charter Schools Act of 1998, as amended, is codified as Education Law, §§ 2850–2857. Regulations appear in New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR).

Any locality that has authorization to establish charter schools may have local law governing the process.

The 1998 State statutory provisions passed when then-Governor George Pataki included them in legislation giving otherwise-opposed legislators a pay raise and limiting the number of charters.

A state legislator's election was contested because of charter school issues.

In New York City, the numbers have grown from 17 charter schools serving about 3,200 students in 2002 to 78 charter schools serving about 24,000 students in 2008. Currently, in 2017, there are 216 charter schools serving 106,600 students.

A maximum of 100 charter schools statewide was the limit in 1998 legislation, so legislators could determine their success before expansion. Whether to double the maximum was debated and the legislative bill was subjected to lobbying in 2007 before it passed.

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