In 1998, Albany legislators traded the establishment of charter schools for a 38% pay hike. 

Former Gov. George Pataki painted then-state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver into a corner by threatening to veto a planned pay increase – the first in ten years – if the speaker didn’t make some concessions on charters. Until then, the Assembly, which was (and is) controlled by pro-teachers’ union Democrats, hadn’t entertained the idea of approving charter schools. 

Pataki’s gambit succeeded.

But one of the compromises to come out of negotiations was that one of two entities could create charters: the New York State Board of Regents, whose members are elected by the state Legislature, or the State University of New York, which is controlled by the governor’s office.

In the 25 years since Pataki signed the charter bill into law, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) have been fighting tooth and nail to roll it back.

This year, they have some help from state Sen. Robert Jackson, the original plaintiff in the “Campaign for Fiscal Equity” school funding lawsuit. 

Jackson sponsors a bill that would remove the SUNY Board of Trustees as one of the two entities to authorize charters, in effect, removing the executive from the process.

“We believe there should be one chartering entity, not two,” UFT’s Michael Mulgrew told Capital Tonight. “New York state is the only state that has two.”

Mulgrew said he would be lobbying Monday and Tuesday, specifically on the “dynamic” of having two chartering entities.

According to Kathryn Connell-Espinosa, interim executive director of SUNY Charter Schools Institute, SUNY remains the standard for charter school authorizing nationally.  

"The SUNY Trustees, with support from the Institute, remain the standard for charter school authorizing nationwide. SUNY-authorized charter schools are among the highest performing public schools in New York state. In 2021-22, 80% of SUNY schools outperformed their local district in math and 81% in English Language Arts (ELA). Additionally, 41 schools in our portfolio scored in the top 10% of public schools statewide in math and 32 in ELA. And, remarkably, 17 SUNY charters have been recognized with a national Blue Ribbon. SUNY is proud of our two decades of work to create an environment where great public schools can take root and thrive and look forward to remaining the standard-bearer for decades to come."  

During Spectrum News' gubernatorial debate in October, Gov. Kathy Hochul expressed support for raising the cap on charter schools. If a hike in the cap appears in her budget address on Wednesday, Mulgrew said that UFT will respond with “a very aggressive lobbying campaign."