According to a new Quinnipiac poll released yesterday, 40% of voters want NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio to increase the number of charter schools. Only 14% want a reduction. Thirty-nine percent want the number of charters to stay the same. (Hat tip: Daily News.)
In related news, Democrats Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Representative Jared Polis of Colorado have an editorial in the Wall Street Journal urging Mayor de Blasio to expand charter schools:
While many public schools in low-income neighborhoods are preparing their students well, it is fundamentally unfair and frankly inexcusable that some children are relegated to chronically underperforming schools just because of their families’ neighborhood and financial situation. It doesn’t have to be this way.
Public charter schools are changing what is possible for all children, particularly low-income, minority and disadvantaged students. One of us has witnessed transformational results in New Orleans, where public charter schools have helped to rebuild and reinvigorate the city’s economy. The other was the founder of two innovative public charter-school networks in Colorado and New Mexico serving at-risk kids and has seen students make tremendous strides in high-performing public charter schools. Across the country, excellent public charter schools are demonstrating results for disadvantaged students that have not been seen in generations.
Now is not the time to hit the brakes on this progress. Instead, we should hit the accelerator and make sure every child has access to an outstanding, high-performing public school, building on the proven model of public charters.
