Grassroots momentum is growing among New York’s minority communities to lift the cap on charter schools, with Asian-American parents holding a rally Friday outside the city Dept. of Education headquarters.
The push from the Asian community for school choice comes just three days after 500 predominantly black and Hispanic parents held a pro-charter school event outside City Hall.
“We say, ‘Kids over politics,’” said Phil Wong, president of the Chinese American Citizens Council of New York, one of the three groups organizing the pro-charter event.
The newly elected Brooklyn Republican Assemblyman Lester Chang, a charter school booster, is expected to speak.
Wong said many frustrated Asian parents might leave the city altogether if Albany blocks charter school expansion, as some did during the COVID-19 pandemic, enrolling their kids in suburban schools.
The parent-driven campaign comes as Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to lift the cap has faced fierce resistance from state Democratic legislators allied with the anti-charter teachers union.
But some frustrated Asian parents have complained that their kids have been languishing on charter school waiting lists for two years, Wong said.
“The parents see the rigorous curriculum and serious teaching at the charter schools. The charter schools have a longer school day,” Wong said.
Wong also said he’s outraged by state Sen. John Liu’s opposition to lifting the charter cap.
Liu, the former city comptroller whose 2013 campaign for mayor crashed following a criminal fundraising scandal, is the most prominent Asian-American in the state…
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