NY State Senate Bill 2021-S8459

Senate Bill S8459

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Relates to reimbursing charter schools for leasing certain facilities, and prohibition of non-disclosure agreements; repealer

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Education Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 03, 2022	referred to education

2021-S8459 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Education
Law Section:: Education Law
Laws Affected:: Rpld §2853 sub 3 ¶(e) sub¶¶ 4 & 5, amd §§2853 & 2854, Ed L
Versions Introduced in 2023-2024 Legislative Session:: S5461

2021-S8459 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Prohibits the city school district from reimbursing charter schools for leasing a privately owned or other publicly owned facility, and prohibits charter school employee contracts from including a non-disclosure agreement.

2021-S8459 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8459

SPONSOR: JACKSON
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to reimbursing charter
schools for leasing certain facilities, and prohibiting charter school
employee contracts from including a non-disclosure agreement; and to
repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto

 
PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to prohibit the New York City school
district from reimbursing charter schools for their expenses on renting
or leasing space in a private facility.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends subparagraph 1 of paragraph (e) of subdivision 3 of
Section 2853 of the Education Law stating that a city school district of
one million or more shall not reimburse a charter school that rents or
leases space in a private facility.

Section 2 repeals subparagraphs 4 and 5 of paragraph (e) of subdivision
3 of Section 2853 of the Education Law, and renumbers subparagraph 6 as
subparagraph 4.

Section 3 amends paragraph (d) of subdivision 3 of Section 2853 of the
Education Law to require that any capital improvement required to be
made for a non-charter public school in a city school district of one
million or more shall be paid for by the State.

Section 4 amends subdivision 3 of Section 2854 of the Education Law to
prohibit charter schools from including non-disclosure agreements as
part of a contract with any employee or as a condition of employment.

Section 5 amends subdivision 4 of Section 2853 of the Education Law that
requires the New York City Comptroller to conduct annual audits that
shall include, but not be limited to, any matching funds spent on char-
ter schools.

Section 6 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York City (NYC) is the only municipality in the state that has a
requirement to reimburse private spaces leased by charter schools. A
Class Size Matters (CSM) report(1) analyzing charter school rental
subsidies, facility upgrades and expenditures for co-located public
schools; found that the New York City Department of Education (DOE)
appeared to overspend on lease payments to thirty-nine charter schools
in an amount that exceeded their base rents.

CSM reported a 41% increase in rental subsidies from FY 2019 to FY 2020.
In FY 2020 DOE paid $11.6 million in rental subsidies for 8 charter
schools whose Charter Management Organization, affiliated organization,
LLC, or foundation owned their own spaces. In some cases, the base rents
of these charter schools also increased by as much as 400% in one year,
raising questions about whether the rents were fairly assessed, and
whether the increases reflected improper self-dealing. In one especially
egregious example, the rent for the two Success Academy charter schools
housed at Hudson Yards increased from approximately $793,000 to over
$3.4 million despite that the space is owned by the Success Academy
Charter Management Organization. This increase in rent allowed Success
to charge the DOE $3 million in rental subsidies in FY 2020 for two
schools, a 38% increase from the previous year.

DOE continues to rent buildings to charter schools, rather than having
the schools rent their own spaces which would allow the city to receive
60% in state reimbursement. In FY 2020, NYC was ineligible to receive an
estimated $8 million in state funds by holding leases for charter
schools. The cost to DOE of rental payments for charter schools is
increasing fast and will likely to continue to do so, as enrollments
expand and rents increase, funds which could be used instead to upgrade
and expand the capacity of our public schools.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
STATE AND LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

To be determined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
(1) Class Size Matters, "DOE Overspending on Charter School Facility
Costs and Underspending on Matching Funds to Public Schools:  Confirma-
tion of Class Size Matters' Original Findings," March 2021.
https://secureservercdn.net/198.71.233 .96/3 zn.338
Spending_Charter-Schools-Facilities_FINAL-3 .21. pdf

2021-S8459 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8459
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 3, 2022
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. JACKSON -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Education
 
 AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation  to  reimbursing  charter
   schools for leasing certain facilities, and prohibiting charter school
   employee  contracts  from including a non-disclosure agreement; and to
   repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto

   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. Subparagraph 1 of paragraph (e) of subdivision 3 of section
 2853  of  the education law, as added by section 5 of part BB of chapter
 56 of the laws of 2014, is amended to read as follows:
   (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, within
 the later of (i) five months after a charter  school's  written  request
 for  co-location and (ii) thirty days after the charter school's charter
 is approved by its  charter  entity,  the  city  school  district  shall
 either: (A) offer at no cost to the charter school a co-location site in
 a  public school building approved by the board of education as provided
 by law, or (B) offer the charter school space in a  privately  owned  or
 other  publicly  owned  facility  at  the  expense  of  [the city school
 district and at no cost to] the charter school. THE CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
 SHALL NOT REIMBURSE A CHARTER SCHOOL WHICH RENTS OR LEASES  SPACE  IN  A
 PRIVATE FACILITY. The space must be reasonable, appropriate and compara-
 ble  and  in  the  community school district to be served by the charter
 school and otherwise in reasonable proximity.
   § 2. Subparagraphs 4 and 5  of  paragraph  (e)  of  subdivision  3  of
 section  2853  of  the  education law are REPEALED and subparagraph 6 of
 such paragraph is renumbered subparagraph 4.
   § 3. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 3 of section 2853 of  the  education
 law,  as added by chapter 101 of the laws of 2010, is amended to read as
 follows:
   (d) Notwithstanding any other provision to the  contrary,  in  a  city
 school  district  in  a  city having a population of one million or more
 inhabitants, the chancellor must first authorize in writing any proposed
 capital improvements or facility upgrades in  excess  of  five  thousand
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD14892-01-2
 S. 8459                             2
 
 dollars,  regardless  of  the source of funding, made to accommodate the
 co-location of a charter school within a public school building. For any
 such improvements or upgrades that have been approved by the chancellor,
 capital  improvements  or  facility  upgrades shall be made in an amount
 equal to the expenditure of the  charter  school  for  each  non-charter
 public  school  within  the  public  school  building.  For  any capital
 improvements or facility upgrades in excess  of  five  thousand  dollars
 that  have  been approved by the chancellor, regardless of the source of
 funding, made in a charter school that is already  co-located  within  a
 public  school  building,  matching  capital  improvements  or  facility
 upgrades shall be made in an amount equal  to  the  expenditure  of  the
 charter  school  for  each  non-charter  public school within the public
 school building within three months of such  improvements  or  upgrades.
 ANY  CAPITAL  IMPROVEMENT  REQUIRED  TO BE MADE FOR A NON-CHARTER PUBLIC
 SCHOOL PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS PARAGRAPH SHALL BE PAID FOR BY
 THE STATE.
   § 4. Subdivision 3 of section 2854 of the education law is amended  by
 adding a new paragraph (e) to read as follows:
   (E) NO CHARTER SCHOOL SHALL INCLUDE A NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT AS PART
 OF A CONTRACT WITH ANY EMPLOYEE OR AS A CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT.
   §  5. Subdivision 4 of section 2853 of the education law is amended by
 adding a new paragraph (f) to read as follows:
   (F) IN A CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT IN A  CITY  WITH  A  POPULATION  OF  ONE
 MILLION  OR  MORE, THE COMPTROLLER OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK SHALL CONDUCT
 ANNUAL AUDITS, WHICH SHALL INCLUDE BUT NOT BE LIMITED  TO  ANY  MATCHING
 FUNDS SPENT ON CHARTER SCHOOLS.
   § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.

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