Charters’ Gain, City’s Pain (NY)

December 13, 2010

The Albany school district has to find $5 million in savings before the end of the school year. The gaping midyear budget hole is the result of the state Legislature’s failure to reinstate a charter school funding freeze, as many expected would happen last week. Because the freeze was not restored, charter schools will get nearly $2,400 more per pupil.

That could mean the district will have to drain its reserve fund, make more staff cuts or borrow money just to stay in the black, Superintendent Ray Coluciello said. Class sizes could increase, and the district’s maintenance headquarters may be sold.

"We’re looking to lift up every stone, look for pennies everywhere, to try to have the least impact on the classroom," he said.

Albany will pay the new rates when the state Education Department advises them to do so, Coluciello said.

The freeze was included in a bill to appropriate $607 million of federal education aid, which is designated for the preservation of teaching jobs, but was not acted upon before lawmake rs left town. The bill came close to passage during special sessions in November and last week, but ultimately failed due to last-minute amendments, a failure to secure any Republican votes and the absence of several members of the Democratic conference.

The district has been reimbursing charters at $11,712 per student for the last two school years. The new funding rate currently stands at $14,072. School board President Dan Egan has said the change will leave the district with $500 less per pupil.

Charter advocates, including the New York Charter School Association spokesman Peter Murphy, have complained that districts are intentionally penalizing children who choose to attend other schools. Murphy said public districts receive building aid as well as state money to offset the costs of new charters.

"Simply put, charter students are not typically viewed by school district administrators as the same as students within the four walls of a district building, even though both charter and district students are in the public school system, and may even live in the same dwelling," Murphy wrote recently on his education blog, The Chalkboard.

Charter school funding is determined by the district’s spending rate; the 2009-10 reimbursement rate was frozen at the 2008-09 levels. The district spends close to $20,000 per student, and charters will likely receive less money in the future as school districts across the state tighten their belts amid dwindling resources.

The Albany district will now send more than $30 million to charter schools this school year, out of a total budget of $203 million, and did not plan for the unexpected lifting of the freeze. The Albany district, along with the Rochester and Buffalo districts, has been paying the old reimbursement rat e, even though the freeze was technically lifted in July and the new rates were applicable. After the freeze was not restored last week, the Buffalo school district relented and agreed to pay the higher reimbursement rate.

The state Education Department has not penalized districts for withholding funds now owed to charter schools. However, the department may begin "intercepting" state aid for public schools that are not paying the new rates, spokesman Tom Dunn said.

Albany has about $8 million in a reserve fund, which could have been used to offset any possible tax increases next year. The district has eliminated 200 staff positions in the last two years and school administrators across the state are expected more state aid reductions this year.

The Albany school board is expected to discuss the issue at an upcoming meeting.