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Running Head: NYC EDUCATION SYSTEM: CHARTER VS. PUBLIC SCHOOL

Kerrion Smith
Molloy College
October 18, 2014
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Running Head: NYC EDUCATION SYSTEM: CHARTER VS. PUBLIC SCHOOL
Recently, a dilemma has been formed within the edcation system in !ew "or# City$
!ow, %arents mst decide whether to send their children to %blic school, %ri&ate or a charter
instittion$ 'ring the last decade, charter schools ha&e emerged as a form of edcation reform
for a city that has had a long history of %oor %erformances by stdents$ (t is the tactic actally
wor#ing) *re charter schools actally better for !"C #ids)
+he !ew "or# City 'e%artment of ,dcation -'O,. o&ersees the largest school system
in the /nited States, ser&ing o&er 1$1 million stdents$ +he 'O, is res%onsible for more than
1,000 schools$ 1owe&er, charter schools and %ri&ate schools are not inclded in the 'O,2s
3risdiction$ Reslts gathered by the !ew "or# +imes in 2012 showed 3st abo&e 405 of
stdents in grades 674 were considered %assing$ Stdents in grades 878 didn2t fare as well$
!either of the grades -878. scored abo&e 405 and less than a 9arter of those tested recei&ed
mar#s that wold 9alify them as reaching basic standards$
/nder former Mayor Michael (loomberg, the 'O, introdced se&eral methods to
im%ro&e the o&erall %erformance$ One idea that has hel%ed %rodced %rogress is the choice
system, which allows stdents attending %blic high school to choose their instittion$
:+he %rocess by which stdents are assigned to !"C %blic high schools has changed
fndamentally$ ;rior to the (loomberg administration, nearly all stdents were gi&en a defalt
assignment to the school within their commnity school district that was geogra%hically closest
to their %lace of residence$ +he %rinci%al e<ce%tions to these so7called =i% code assignments were
for s%eciali=ed schools that were city7wide and had com%etiti&e entrance re9irements, e$g$,
(ron< 1igh School of Science$ >n 2004, a ni&ersal high school choice %rocess was
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Running Head: NYC EDUCATION SYSTEM: CHARTER VS. PUBLIC SCHOOL
im%lemented$ /nder the new system, which %re&ails to the %resent, all incoming high school
freshmen are re9ired to ran# % to 12 %rograms they wold li#e to attend$ +here is no defalt
school assignment, i$e$, e&eryone has to choose$ * centrali=ed com%ter7based algorithm
designed to %rodce the smallest o&erall discre%ancy between choices and otcomes assigns
stdents to schools? -@hitehrst, School Choice and School ;erformance in the !"C ;blic
Schools.$
*lthogh gains ha&e been noticed nder these new %olicies, school officials are still
trying to streamline the tactic$ Crrently, families with stdents in elementary or middle school
are still sb3ect to the rles instilled by their res%ecti&e districts$ Some ha&e also initiated a
choice system, while others rely on the old method of sending children to the closest school in
their district$ +his year, the city has introdced a citywide a%%lication %rocess for #indergarten
admission$ ;arents are allowed to list their %referred schools and only ha&e to fill ot the
designated forms once$ +he choice system hasn2t o%erated withot flaws bt it has o%ened %
new doors for city charter schools to enter into the %ictre$
*ccording to The New Yorker, the nmber of charter schools citywide has grown from
se&enteen in 2002 to a hndred and eighty7three in 2016$ :+he city2s charter schools enroll si<
%ercent of !ew "or# City2s 1$1 million stdents? -Kra&it=, newyor#er.$ >n generally lower
income areas sch as districts in 1arlem and the (ron<, more than twenty %ercent of stdents are
now attending charter schools$ +he o&erwhelming amont of a%%licants left more than 40,000
stdents on a waitlist last school year$ O&er 8A,000 families a%%lied for 3st nder 1A,000
a&ailable s%ots in charter schools$ +he lottery a%%roach is far from flawless$

Running Head: NYC EDUCATION SYSTEM: CHARTER VS. PUBLIC SCHOOL

Charter schools ha&e been able to im%lement their own crriclm and %olicies$ >n
addition to recei&ing fnding from the !ew "or# City (oard of ,dcation, allocated money from
the state, federal and wealthy bac#ers ha&e hel%ed charter schools accmlate roghly thirteen
thosand fi&e hndred dollars %er stdent last year$ Many feel that these fnds are ta#ing away
from the city2s %blic schools, while others %raise the high le&el of %erformance these schools
ha&e %rodced$ One of the city2s most %o%lar charters is 1arlem Sccess *cademy$ Bast year,
the e<clsi&e grade school, also #nown as 1arlem 4 ot%erformed its neighboring %blic schools$
Sixty-four per cent of Harlem 5s third graders passed the state English exam and eighty-eight
percent passed the state math exam. At P.S. 123, the Mahalia Jackson School, which is located in
the same school building as Success, only eighteen percent of students passed the English test
and only five percent passed the math test (Kravitz, newyorker).
>n *gst, data showing &ast im%ro&ement from both %blic and charter schools in the
city was released$ +he com%arison between each has consistently ser&ed as a testament to
whether or not the charter system is wor#ing$ 64$45 of stdents in %blic schools were deemed
%roficient or better in math, an increase of 145 from the year before$ >n ,nglish, %roficiency
increased from 20$45 to 2A$45$ Stdents at charter schools recorded an 85 bm% in math
%roficiency$ 42$45 of stdents are %roficient or better, almost 105 higher than %blic school
stdents$ (t 3st 28$A5 of stdents in charter scored %roficient or better in ,nglish$ @hile the
%ercentage increased from last year, stdents are still behind their %blic school %eers in ,nglish$
;articlar charters li#e Sccess *cademy recorded e<ce%tional scores$ Ot of thirteen Sccess
*cademy schools C %artially ran by the Mayor C A45 of stdents are %assing math and 845 are
%assing ,nglish$
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Running Head: NYC EDUCATION SYSTEM: CHARTER VS. PUBLIC SCHOOL
>t2s difficlt to determine whether charter schools are in fact better than %blic schools$
>nno&ati&e %olicies, higher fnding and ad&anced means of learning %oint to a better e<%erience
for charter school stdents bt test scores across the board ha&en2t otlined a clear ct &ictor$ *s
a stdent that has attended %blic school for the ma3ority of my life, > can trly say that yor
en&ironment does %lay a significant role in yor sccess$ (t ltimately, factors li#e %arent
in&ol&ement, e<tra7crriclar acti&ities, income and desire are e9ally as im%ortant$ +he charter
&erse %blic debate is nearly a decade old$ *s more statistics become a&ailable and strategies are
reformed, > trly belie&e the city will head in a better direction for its stdents$ >f !"C trly
intends to im%ro&e edcation and the sbse9ent li&es of stdents, both forms of schooling are
needed to %romote healthy com%etition$
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Running Head: NYC EDUCATION SYSTEM: CHARTER VS. PUBLIC SCHOOL
References
(rown, S$ -2012, *gst 14.$ !ew "or# City 7 !ew "or# State +est Scores 7 +he !ew
"or# +imes$ Retrie&ed from htt%DEE%ro3ects$nytimes$comEnew7yor#7schools7test7
scoresEnew7yor#7city
Kra&it=, '$ -2016, !o&ember 18.$ >s !ew "or#2s Charter7School ,ra @aning) 7 +he !ew
"or#er$ Retrie&ed from htt%DEEwww$newyor#er$comEbsinessEcrrencyEis7new7yor#s7
charter7school7era7waning
@hitehrst, F$ -2016, October 14.$ Retrie&ed from
htt%DEEwww$broo#ings$edEGEmediaEresearchEfilesEre%ortsE2016E10E08520school
520choice520in520new520yor#520city520whitehrstEschool520choice520and
520school520%erformance520in520nyc520%blic520schools$%df