Nyc Charter School Leaders Plan Rally As Mamdani Says They Siphon

Leo Migdal

-Dec 3, 2025, 11:18 AM

nyc charter school leaders plan rally as mamdani says they siphon

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The prominent leader of New York City’s leading charter network has sent out an SOS to supporters as the schools face the prospect of a new mayor opposed to their expansion. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani didn’t give charter school officials and advocates any of the 37 seats on his transition team’s education committee — even though 15% of Big Apple students now attend the city’s 285... The democratic socialist didn’t appoint any officials from the charter sector to his Committee on Youth & Education — one of 17 teams that include 400 people — nor did he appoint members of... “It’s a mistake for Mamdani not to have people on his transition who advocate for families in charter schools — mostly black and brown students,” said Ray Domanico, a senior fellow at the pro-charter... “These charter school students in the poorer neighborhoods score higher on the state’s standardized exams. It’s well documented,” said Domanico, who previously worked for the Metro Industrial Areas Foundation, a group that supported charter schools and the opening of small traditional high schools.

There are now more than 150,000 students enrolled in 285 charter schools, or more than one in six of all students in publicly-funded schools in the five boroughs. Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC’s public schools delivered to your inbox. More than a decade ago, thousands of charter school families and staff marched across the Brooklyn Bridge in a show of strength one month before Bill de Blasio was elected mayor. They feared the progressive candidate would follow through on promises to make it harder for charters to operate in city-owned space. Now, in an echo of that 2013 rally, charter leaders are gearing up to march across the bridge on Thursday as Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist and charter school critic, is the frontrunner to... The mayor, who oversees the New York City public school system, does not have direct authority to expand or shrink the charter sector.

He can, however, set the tone on whether the city is a welcoming environment for charters, which are privately managed and publicly funded. The sector educates nearly 150,000 children, or 15% of public school students, up from 6% a dozen years ago. More than 40% of charter schools operate in Education Department buildings. Mayor Eric Adams has not been a major booster of charters, but, unlike de Blasio, has avoided big clashes during his tenure. Mamdani, a Queens assemblyman, has signaled he might take a more antagonistic approach. NEW YORK (WABC) -- More than 15,000 charter school students and parents marched across the Brooklyn Bridge Thursday in a "Rally and March for Excellence." It was billed as non-political, but comes as Zohran...

The rally started at 9 a.m. in Cadman Plaza in Downtown Brooklyn. Following the speeches, the huge crowd began their march across the Brooklyn Bridge. The Success Academy, the city's leading charter network, cancelled classes so students could attend. Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz wrote in an email, "Unfortunately, anti-charter forces are powerful and we have had to fight for everything we have achieved over the past 20 years. There are currently serious threats to the educational excellence your child deserves."

Moskowitz did not specifically name Mamdani, an opponent of charter school expansion. Thousands of charter school leaders, students, parents and staff marched across the Brooklyn Bridge on Thursday amid a highly contentious mayoral election in which frontrunner Zohran Mamdani has leveled criticism at the charter movement. Organizers insisted the timing was a coincidence and the rally was not about electoral politics. But the political undertones — and parallels to another massive demonstration more than a decade ago — were hard to ignore. In 2013, an army of charter advocates took to the same bridge after then mayoral front-runner Bill de Blasio drew the sector’s ire for his unapologetic criticism of the schools. Mamdani’s campaign has said charter networks “siphon resources away from public education, often without real accountability or oversight.” Charter schools are publicly funded but operated independently of the local school system.

One charter school leader’s comments seemed squarely aimed at Mamdani. Charter school supporters held a large rally in 2016 in Prospect Park. Zohran Mamdani opposes the co-location of charters with traditional public schools. A rally later this month will push back against "anti-charter forces." [ more › ] Supporters of charter schools, including thousands of students, rallied and marched across the Brooklyn Bridge on Thursday. "It shouldn't matter what we look like.

Our background, our zip codes. We as parents have a right to choose whatever we want our kids to go,” said Noreen Cooke-Coleman, principal of Zeta Bronx Tremont Park Lower Elementary School and a parent of two charter school... Charter schools are public schools funded with taxpayer money but privately managed. They are typically not unionized. The rally — attended by staff, students and parents who were bused in by the schools — came at the start of the school year and less than seven weeks before the mayoral election. Leaders say the rally was not targeted at any particular elected official, but Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, who is endorsed by the teachers’ union, is the only candidate that has been critical of charter...

Nyc Charter School Leaders Plan Rally As Mamdani Says They Siphon

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The Rally Started At 9 A.m. In Cadman Plaza In