As parents, the decision to enroll your child in a charter school depends on how much you know about charter schools and what they have to offer. The New York City Charter School Center provides answers to basic questions about charter schools through its FAQ page.
Parents can search for charter schools by community school district, grades served or borough by clicking here. The NYC Department of Education created a directory of NYC charter schools, available in multiple languages. A list of the new charter schools opening across all five boroughs in Fall 2010 can be found here. Also, Parents can now fill out a common charter school application, created by the NYC Department of Education and available in multiple languages. Charter schools may follow up with parents for additional information not included on the common application.
Parents have the power to fight for the needs of their children and schools. Without a strong parent voice supporting the needs of public charter schools – and fighting against harmful budget or policy decisions – charter schools are vulnerable to attack. The Charter Center works with parents by assisting them in their efforts to organize and advocate on behalf of their children and charter schools. The Charter Center's "10 Things Everyone Should Know About NYC Charter Schools" is a document that can be used to counter ten common myths about NYC charter schools.
Finally, the Charter Center created the Charter Parent Advocacy Network (CPAN) to provide a forum for charter parents to lend their voice to the public charter school movement. As part of CPAN, parents from all boroughs can organize to prevent legislators from undercutting NYC charter schools' success and decreasing funding to their students.
