School Choice

Parents now have many choices for choosing a school for their child. Your child can go to your local, zoned school, to any school within your district, or, with a variance to a school outside your district. For more information, see Choosing a New York City Public School. There are also many alternative schools that have been set up, including those at New Visions which is part of a citywide initiative for school reform which has set up a number of schools in New York City. The New York Networks for School Renewal has more information on this topic. Information on a number of additional schools can also be found at the Center for Collaborative Education.

There are two aspects of school choice currently being debated: charter schools, which are publicly funded independent schools, and vouchers, which permit the use of public funding to send children to private schools.

In New York State, there is a new charter school policy, but a voucher system is not currently in place. In December of 1998, the New York State Charter Schools Act of 1998 became a law. It allowed for the establishment of up to 100 new charter schools in New York.

For information regarding Charter Schools in New York, we have a Fact Sheet on Charter Schools.

For further information, the NYSED Charter School Act page has a summary of the law, the text of the law, and a Q&A about the act. There is also a page on charter schools from the NYC Board of Education, within its page on Charter and New School Development. For a more concise description, the New visions website has a briefing on the New York charter school legislation.

Some places to go for analysis of charter school legislation in New York State and the US, and school choice in general:

The Center for Education Reform has research and discussion areas about charter schools.

The New York State School Boards Association has a site on Charter Schools in NY, and why the NYSSBA opposes them.

Education Week offers information about school choice and vouchers, with defnitions and links to relevant articles.

There is a website that details reasons for opposition and the mission statement of those opposed of the voucher system.

For a positive view of charter schools and vouchers, the Center For Educational Reform has a FAQ on vouchers and charter schools, which also gives examples of state school systems using charter schools and vouchers.

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