NY Gov. Kathy Hochul roasted for refusing to push charter school expansion

Gov. Kathy Hochul refused to advocate for an increase in charter schools in her $252 billion proposed budget, in what education-choice advocates say was ceding to the powerful teachers union ahead of her re-election campaign next year.

“Hochul blinked — big time, to the disadvantage of a lot of kids and families,” said Eric Nadelstern, who served as a New York city deputy schools chancellor under former Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

“Unfortunately, Hochul appears more concerned with re-election than doing the right thing. She is not a strong leader.”

New York City has hit the legal cap on charter schools allotted to it under state law, and no more of the popular, alternative publicly funded schools can open without additional action in Albany.

Hochul did fight to lift the cap two years ago but after a bruising battle with the union-friendly state lawmakers, only 14 more licenses were made available — and they’re now all been gobbled up.

Educators in the charter school sector expressed disappointment, but said they would appeal to the governor and lawmakers to revisit the issue before adopting a new state budget on April 1.

“The charter school cap should be lifted. Kids should have access to an excellent education,” said Bishop Raymond Rivera, founder of the Bronx-based Family Life Academy Charter Schools network and a board member with the Black, Latinx, Asian Charter Collaborative.

BLACC represents 40 charter schools run by minority educators.

“The politicians should be listening to the parents who are voting with their feet,” said Rivera, referring to families who are leaving the city.

Jeremy Grace, interim executive director of BLACC, said parents are “desperate for other educational options.”

“We have many charter schools with children on waiting lists. It is important to fight for what’s right,” Grace said.

Charter school advocates acknowledge that New York’s lawmakers are wary of standing up to the teachers union, which opposes charter schools — and has painted them as competitors that divert funding from traditional public schools.

Many of the privately managed charters have a longer school day and school year than traditional public schools, and studies show their students outperform their peers on standardized math and English exams.

There are now 282 charter schools serving nearly 150,000 students in the city. The charters make up about 15% of publicly funded Big Apple schools.

Melinda Person, president of the New York State United Teachers union, said increasing charter schools is not even on the radar.

“No one’s been asking for it that I’ve heard,” Person told The Post Wednesday during an unrelated event with Hochul in support of a ban on cellphones in schools, when asked about the charter school cap.

“I don’t think it was necessarily something people were interested in,” Person said.

Nadelstern, the former deputy chancellor, said the United Federation of Teachers’ opposition to charter schools in the city is “unconscionable” and a stain on its legacy.

He said leaders are afraid their schools can’t stand up to the competition from charters and want the public school system to “be a monopoly.”

“But this is a winnable fight because the parents and communities — particularly in poorer communities — support charter schools. There aren’t enough good public schools to go around,” Nadelstern said.

“We need more, better schools and opening more charter schools has been an avenue for that.”

A Hochul rep defended the governor’s budget for education while sidestepping a question as why she’s not fighting to lift the charter school cap.

“Governor Hochul’s FY 2026 Executive Budget makes a record $37.4 billion investment in our schools while also taking an ambitious step toward ensuring classrooms are distraction-free and improving educational outcomes for students across the state,” Hochul’s spokesperson said.

“The governor remains committed to delivering a final budget that ensures every kid in New York State has access to a high-quality education.”

A Citizens Budget Commission report released last week found that New York funnels more money into its schools than any state in the nation — with only mediocre results to show for it. The governor’s own spending plan released Tuesday confirmed that New York is the biggest spender on education.