Charter school limit withdrawn
From Times Union

ALBANY -- After nearly four hours of debate, city lawmakers on Monday night withdrew a controversial resolution calling on the state to limit the number of students that can enroll in charter schools in Albany.

The move to pull the resolution was made by its sponsor, 7th Ward Common Councilwoman Cathy Fahey, as it appeared headed toward failure -- or at least a tight vote that she and others feared would send a mixed message to the state Legislature.

A defeat would have been a sharp blow to boosters of the city school district, including Fahey, who have cast the proliferation of charter schools as a drain on the district that unfairly forces taxpayers to support two distinct school systems.

The resolution also called on the state Legislature to provide relief for the city school district to compensate for the money it has to pay to fund the charter schools -- some $100 million over the last decade, Fahey said.

Fahey's move capped a sometimes bizarre meeting that centered on an issue largely outside the scope of the council's authority.

The resolution was nonbinding and debate mostly symbolic, with four of the five council members from the city's more urban, lower wards that have high concentrations of children in charter schools saying they would not support it.

The Common Council has no direct authority over city schools, and the charter schools -- despite the fact that they are funded from public school budgets -- operate independently under five-year contracts with the state.

The split pitted parents who said they've seen their children flourish in the schools, as well as their teachers and administrators, against those who cast the charter system as an unfair burden.

Parents of children in charter schools accused the resolution's backers of trying to take away what often is the only choice low-income, inner-city families have to pull their children out of failing conventional schools.

"I think it's very important that you look at what you're saying and what you're doing," said Allaine Woodard, an Albany native whose seven grandchildren attend charter schools. "People choose where they think that their child is going to get the best education. They should not take that away."

But supporters of the measure, like Fahey, insisted it was not about limiting choice but imposing stability on the existing system, which she said has made it impossible for the city school district to plan and budget without knowing how many of its students would continue to leave -- or return to -- its schools for charters.

"I'm not against choice," said Ken Lein, principal of the city school district's Montessori Magnet School, who spent most of his 21-year career in suburban schools before coming to Albany. "But I am against the continued dismantling of the Albany schools."

Fahey said she would continue to work on the resolution to arrive a compromise acceptable to more of her colleagues.