Mayor Bill de Blasio this week put an unceremonious end to Renewal Schools, his marquee education program that promised “fast and intense improvement” in 94 low-performing schools in the Big Apple. It was a necessary if belated admission of defeat.
His move underscores the urgency of lifting the cap on the number of New York charter schools, which have proved far more effective at making big academic gains with low-income students of color than the Renewal boondoggle ever did.
De Blasio campaigned against his predecessor’s education reform efforts, which included closing schools to increase educational opportunity in needy communities. Instead, de Blasio pumped $180 million a year into broken schools, beginning in 2014. He wanted to show that injecting resources could turn these schools around.
Parents and families weren’t convinced. They had been avoiding these schools prior to the de Blasio program, and enrollment continued to plummet as the city implemented Renewal. As of 2018, enrollment in the 50 schools that remained in the program was 17 percent lower than it had been in 2014-15.
In the same years, enrollment in New York charter schools increased by 29,000 students, or 34 percent, and thousands more applicants are trapped on waiting lists.
In many ways, the administration’s announcement that it was canceling Renewal mirrored the program itself: just words.
The Renewal School label is being removed, but the extra money will continue to flow to these schools. Much of the Renewal funds went to community organizations to provide wrap-around social and other services and to extend the school day. What these organizations were doing with the cash was never clear, as their contracts were opaque; the city refuses to release a RAND Corporation evaluation of the program.
The academic outcomes were lousy. After three years in the program, 14 schools had to be closed for non-improvement, and an additional nine were merged with other schools. Twenty-one of the original 94 were deemed sufficiently improved. The mayor’s claims notwithstanding, however, the gains were modest at best.
So what needs to happen with the 50 schools that remain in the program in its last days? First, some of them should be closed. That approach worked under Mayor Mike Bloomberg, and it should be reinstated.
Charters, meanwhile, are working in the neighborhoods where Renewal failed. They need to be part of the effort to provide high-quality education in these communities. But the state’s arbitrary cap on the number of charter schools, which the city is expected to reach this year, stands in the way.
The mayor insists New York has enough charters and that the cap should stay in place. But his own “reform” program has imploded spectacularly. Now de Blasio needs to man up, admit he failed and support the growth of charter schools that have a track record of success.
As I have written in these pages, New York’s charters have helped students in the elementary and middle grades to make significant gains, and they also make a smaller but growing impact in the high school years. On the state’s annual English and math exams, black and Hispanic students in the city’s charter schools substantially outperform their peers statewide. Why not give more kids access?
To replace the 19 secondary schools remaining in the Renewal program, city and state should support schools focused on college preparation. But not every student will or should attend college.
To better serve this population, New York also needs to create pathways to living-wage, entry-level jobs while also equipping kids with the skills needed to earn higher-level credentials. Charter schools, and new or expanded district schools, can house such programs.
As the city reevaluates its approach to former Renewal Schools, it needs to focus relentlessly on academic outcomes. Four years have been wasted on a misguided program. Children only get one chance at school, and by opposing charter expansion, the mayor has already squandered precious time for too many children.
This piece originally appeared at New York Post
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Ray Domanico is the director of education policy at the Manhattan Institute and author of the new issue brief, Lift the Cap: Why New York City Needs More Charter Schools.
This piece originally appeared in New York Post