As the public school year comes to a close, a dispute over the return of a charter school to Sunset Park continues to unfold.
Brooklyn Rise Charter School is building a four-story facility at 410 40th St. The school, which originally opened in a different Sunset Park location in 2019, moved to Downtown Brooklyn in 2022 over co-location issues and other conflicts. But the school promised families that it would return to Sunset Park permanently and plans to open in its new location next year.
But that promise has been met with opposition from local public school parents and supporters. Many feel another charter school is not needed in the area, with public schools facing declining enrollment across the city, due to families moving and falling birth rates.
"I'm really livid about the situation," said parent Shilpa Narayan, who sends her child to public school. "Our community didn't work so hard for so many years to achieve great strides concerning our public schools, only to be thrown under the bus. There's a clear relationship between enrollment and public funding for our public schools."
Javier Salamanca, a member of the nonprofit Voces Ciudadanas, helped local schools solve their overcrowding issue 10 years ago. He explained there is no reason to have another charter school in Sunset Park when area public schools already offer good services, such as Multi-Language Learner and IEP programs.
"We don't need more schools that are not offering anything unique," Salamanca said. "We have plenty of long-standing schools and new schools that are addressing a lot of the needs that we need."
Critics point out the school's site is mere blocks from other schools, including Sunset Park Prep, I.S. 136 Charles O. Dewey and P.S. 24.
Cary Finnegan, the head of school of Brooklyn Rise, argued the merits of her school, including how the school stays open until 4:15pm, longer than public schools that usually shut down around 2:30pm.
"A lot of our families don't need to do after-school, because we are able to fit into 45-minute enrichment periods each day for all of our kiddos," she said. "A lot of families were choosing our school because of our capped class at 26 and the two-teacher model."
Finances are another factor. For Finnegan to keep her school's charter, a required number of students must be enrolled. This makes charter school opponents think the school will pull away public school students, therefore lowering the public schools' funding.
Part of the Department of Education (DOE)'s budget goes towards charter schools, as per a 2014 New York State law, known as the Facilities Aid Law. The law requires the DOE to reimburse charter schools, created or built after 2014, for rental costs in private spaces. This has been controversial among charter school critics, including members of Community Education Council 15 (CEC15).
On June 17, CEC 15, which includes Sunset Park, unanimously voted to approve a resolution that repeals the use of public funds for charter schools. President Antonia Martinelli said she spent months working on the resolution, and its vote coincidentally happened during the dispute over Brooklyn Rise.
"It's all the same money between charter and public," she said. "They're all pulling from the same pot. But charter schools can turn to private funding but public schools can't."
The resolution astonished James Merriman, chief executive officer of the New York City Charter School Center, a charter school advocacy group.
"We're talking about schools that are the least well funded," he said. "Brooklyn Rise is eligible for rental assistance, should get rental assistance and will get rental assistance."
Finnegan explained that the resolution will not change the state law. But she is open to the community's concerns and wants to earn their trust.
David Bloomfield, professor of Education Leadership, Law & Policy at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center, said it is a good time for education advocates to discuss how charter schools are funded with the mayoral race heating up ahead of the general election in November.
In the meantime, Jennifer Sanchez Perez, who sends her children to Brooklyn Rise, said she is excited the school is returning to Sunset Park.
“We are all public-school parents," she said. "My taxes help pay for my own kids’ school and the buildings other children attend, so why don’t they think their taxes should help my child?”
