Clinton: Raising charter cap is "the right thing to do";
Silver can bring it over the finish line for RttT.

Former President Bill Clinton spoke out yesterday in favor of raising the cap on charter schools, irrespective of federal Race to the Top funding, and encouraged the state Assembly to follow the Senate and "lift the lid" (here).

Bill Clinton knows a thing or two about charter schools. His administration got the Public Charter Schools section--Title X of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act--adopted by Congress in 1994 that provided planning and start-up funding for charter schools - a critical source of support before state funding would kick in for charters. His leadership and support on this issue in the 1990s was crucial.

Al Sharpton also is working on the state Assembly to broker a compromise with the Senate to raise the cap to allow more charter schools.

National Spotlight on State Assembly
The focus now is on Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver, to follow the Senate and adopt a cap lift. The Speaker recently raised concerns about co-location of charters in NYC district space - a sensitive issue in among many of his Assembly majority colleagues. Still, the Speaker's leadership is being spotlighted to adopt an effective bill that will help the state's chances for Race to the Top funding by raising the charter cap without "poison pills" that the unions have traditionally attempted to inject into charter legislation.

Importantly, the Senate passed a charter bill with bipartisan support, which is an absolute necessity given the narrow Democratic majority that includes several non-supporters of charter schools (e.g., Sen. Perkins). That means that a charter bill with negative provisions is unlikely to pass the Senate, as was demonstrated in January for Round 1 of the Race to the Top.

Also, key national leaders are backing charter schools--vocally--including Secretary Duncan and now Bill Clinton and Al Sharpton. If nothing else, the Assembly Speaker has cover and gravitas to do the right thing and resist negative pressures as, for example, he showed last summer when he led the effort to renew mayoral control of the New York City school system.

With all this, Speaker Silver is balancing a variety of interests converging. Significantly, several key members have stepped up to support the Senate charter bill, which was introduced by Assemblyman Karim Camara (A.10928). They are doing the right thing and more Assemblymembers should follow suit.

Not for nothing has Sheldon Silver been the Speaker of the Assembly for 16 years and counting. He can get this right, but the clock is ticking.

Peter Murphy
for The Chalkboard
Twitter.com/petermurphy26
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