City set to begin paying millions for charter-school rent under new law

[Profits for the private sector, from the taxpayers, for public services. Shit. ---Bozo]
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by Geoff Decker on April 29, 2015 4:03 pm
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The city is getting ready to cut its first checks to charter schools that are paying for their own space-an outlay that could stretch to nearly $10 million for this school year, based on charter school enrollment figures.
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By the end of May, the Department of Education will have sent money to dozens of expanding charter schools to cover this year's facility costs, according to a letter sent to school leaders this month. The schools are the first to reap the significant financial benefits of a state law passed just over a year ago that is sure to grow more costly for the city in the coming years.
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"It's huge," said Great Oaks Charter School founder Michael Duffy, who became the first school leader to test the nascent law's limits this summer. Duffy estimates his Lower Manhattan school stands to receive about $300,000 to cover rent for about 109 students in seventh grade this year.
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Great Oaks is one of 46 city charter schools in private space that added grades, according to the New York City Charter School Center, and more than 3,600 students from those schools were enrolled in new grades. Most of those schools successfully appealed to the State Education Department for rental assistance over the last several months.
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Under the law, eligible schools can receive up to 20 percent of their total school funding for those students - which this year rounds to $2,755 per student. (The actual amount paid to each school could be less, depending on how much the school pays in rent. The department is reviewing leases to calculate what to pay each school.)
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Not all eligible schools have applied for the funding, a department spokesman said, though the charter center said most are expected to have applied or to apply in the future. If they do, the city would be on the hook for as much as $10 million for this school year, although that sum will likely be lower because some school leaders said they paid less than $2,755 per student in rent.
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