Say No to Expanding Charters!

Advocacy Toolkit

Charter schools are funded by extracting resources from public schools, therefore any expansion of charter schools in the enacted budget — whether the reauthorization of zombie charters, or lifting the regional cap — will negatively impact the overall budget for public schools, in New York City in particular.

The State Legislature must stand its ground and keep any expansion of privately run charter schools out of the enacted budget, so that the majority of the Foundation Aid increase goes to the majority of students, as is intended.

There’s very little time left to influence the outcome of this year’s budget, but it isn’t too late. Take action now with the toolkit below! 



Action #1 | Call New York State's Elected Leaders

Use the script below to call your state leaders, and when you’re done, please encourage family and friends to make a call too.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins: (518) 455-2585
Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie: (518) 455-3791

Call Script

“My name is _________ and I am a (parent/ provider/community member) calling from (your town). 

I am calling to urge you to say no to charter schools, and reject Governor Hochul’s proposals to expand charter schools, so that the majority of the Foundation Aid increase goes to the majority of students, as is intended.

Charter schools are funded by extracting resources from public schools, therefore any expansion of charter schools in the enacted budget — whether the reauthorization of zombie charters, or lifting the regional cap  — will negatively impact the overall budget for public schools, in New York City in particular.

Your community is counting on you. Stand your ground and keep any expansion of privately run charter schools out of the enacted budget.

When you’re done, download the below graphic to share with others and ask them to make calls too:
Say No to Expanding Charters! 1

 

Action #2 | Send an email to Your State Legislators

Click to send an email to the main budget negotiators — Governor Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Carl Heastie — and your own State Senator and Assemblymember now.

Action #3 | Amplify on your social media channels

Help us amplify our message using your personal social media accounts! You can find sample Tweets and posts, as well as graphics and videos, at the toolkit linked below. And remember to follow AQE and the hashtag to see what’s happening in real time.

Start by retweeting our video explainer on the impact of charter schools on public education.

Sample Graphics

Click to download and save all the following graphics, or tap and hold an individual image on mobile to save to your phone: 

Say No to Expanding Charters! 2 Say No to Expanding Charters! 3Say No to Expanding Charters! 4 Say No to Expanding Charters! 5

Sample Social Media Posts 

Below are sample messages you can copy and paste to post with your photos or videos from your own social media accounts.

If policy debates were driven by data, charter schools wouldn’t be on the table in the #NYSbudget. Why should we allow more charters to open when there aren’t enough students to fill existing seats? #DontRaiseTheCap #NoZombieCharters 

Charter schools use long waitlists as an excuse for why they want to open more charters. But the numbers tell a different story. There are already thousands of unfilled seats in existing charter schools #DontRaiseTheCap #NoZombieCharters 

It’s clear that high demand isn’t the real reason why @GovKathyHochul is pushing for more charters. @GovKathyHochul: whose side are you on? Students and families or your billionaire donors pushing for more charters?  #DontRaiseTheCap 

Charters are on the agenda because of @GovKathyHochul’s billionaire donors. The #NYSbudget needs to put students and families first, not wealthy donors looking to profit off of charters #DontRaiseTheCap #NoZombieCharters 

As charters lobby Albany to expand, NYC charters eliminated 7,500 spots for students by requesting reductions in enrollment authorizations. That’s 1 in 4 seats originally authorized at these schools #DontRaiseTheCap #NoZombieCharters