NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6882
SPONSOR: Benedetto TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requirements for
applications for charter schools
PURPOSE OF GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To include school districts and community school districts in the
approval process for the issuance of new charter schools in over-en-
rolled districts.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends paragraph d of subdivision 2 of section 2852 of educa-
tion law to include school districts and New York City community school
districts in the approval of new charters when the districts are'already
over-enrolled with charter students.
Section 2 establishes the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Current education law establishes a threshold for the denial of new
charter school applications when the district in which the charter is to
be located has already reached at least five percent of its student
enrollment in charter schools. However, there is an exception to this
provision that allows the charter to be approved in these over-enrolled
charter districts when a "significant educational benefit to the
students expected to attend the proposed charter" exists.
This bill would add another level of approval by the school district or
in New York City the community school district in order for additional
charter schools to be approved in areas of high concentration of charter
pupils. Educators and community members in areas where there is a
proliferation of charters have raised increasing concerns over the
fiscal impact of charter schools on traditional public schools in their
districts. This measure affords these individuals with an opportunity to
participate in the process for charter approvals.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023/24: S2292 (Mayer) / A6710 (Benedetto): referred to Education
2021/22: S548 (Mayer) / A5116 (Benedetto): referred to Education
2019/20: S5978 (Mayer) / A8028 (Benedetto): referred to Education
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6882
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 18, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BENEDETTO -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requirements for
applications for charter schools
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 2 of section 2852 of the
2 education law, as amended by section 4-a of part A of chapter 56 of the
3 laws of 2023, is amended to read as follows:
4 (d) in a school district where the total enrollment of resident
5 students attending charter schools in the base year is greater than five
6 percent of the total public school enrollment of the school district in
7 the base year (i) granting the application would have a significant
8 educational benefit to the students expected to attend the proposed
9 charter school [or] and (ii) the school district or in a city having a
10 population of one million or more inhabitants, the community school
11 district in which the charter school will be located consents to such
12 application; and
13 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01377-01-5
