Charters: It’s a space case

With more than 50 public charter schools opening in the next two years, the administration must end space discrimination.

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NEW YORK businesses are getting the home field advantage in five minor league ballparks around the state.

The quintet, including the Staten Island Yankees, are making a major commitment under the “Taste NY” program to serve locally-produced stadium food and beer.

Visitors to Richmond County Bank Ballpark can chow down on a Sabrett’s hot dog or knock CITY CHARTER schools in public school buildings are far more overcrowded than their districtrun counterparts, a new analysis of Education Department data shows.

More than half of all charter schools located within public school buildings are overcrowded compared to only 16% of district schools they share space with, according to the analysis of data conducted by the pro-charter school group Families for Excellent Schools.

The group’s look at city enrollment data also shows that more than half of all charter school students attended overcrowded schools in the 2014-15 school year, compared to only 17% of students in co-located district schools.

Families for Excellent Schools CEO Jeremiah Kitteredge says the numbers show that Mayor de Blasio is swindling students of privately run, publicly funded charter schools.

“Even with 150,000 empty seats, this administration chooses to discriminate against public charter school students by granting them less space,” said Kittredge, referring to the number of empty seats projected in a city tally of public schools from 2015.

“With more than 50 public charters opening in the next two years, the administration must end space discrimination,” Kittredge added.

In the 2014-15 school year there were 117 city charter schools that shared space in public school buildings and another 78 located in private space.

Under the terms of a 2014 state law, the city must provide space for charter schools in public school buildings or else pay their rent in private space.

Influential charter school leaders, including Success Academy founder and longtime de Blasio foe Eva Moskowitz, urged de Blasio to hand them space in city classrooms in a strident letter sent to City Hall Thursday.

But city Education spokeswoman Toya Holness said charter school advocates have misstated the true nature of available space in school buildings.

“This report is misleading and does not accurately characterize the utilization of school buildings,” Holness said of the Families for Excellent Schools analysis.

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